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While many industries have been hit hard by COVID-19, causing marketers to test new solutions, innovate with new messaging, and do more with less, the industry has undoubtedly been the travel industry hardest hit. However, given the rise in the prevalence and administration of vaccines, many are predicting a rebound in advertising spending in the industry with the prospect of real growth in 2022. In fact, earlier this week we reported that searches for destinations to Germany had increased almost to 10 times in Singapore, compared to the seven-day average for travel search industry players such as Expedia. The surge came after a vaccinated itinerary between the two countries was announced on Aug. 19.

Keeping in mind evolving industry trends, a recent Sojern survey of 300 travel decision makers in Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and the Middle East and Africa found that advertisers are starting to adjust their budgets to reflect consumer travel behavior to reflect their presence wherever the traveler may be. CNBC’s Bernstein analysts also predict that travel and hospitality companies will spend a larger chunk of their digital advertising budget on search rather than display in 2021.

In APAC, 44% of respondents currently spend 26 to 49% of their total marketing budget on digital advertising, while 32% of companies there spend around 50% of their budget on digital advertising. However, many marketers cite cyber threats, falling demand, tight budgets and the unpredictability of the current situation as the most common problems when optimizing their online advertising performance.

Lack of insight into key performance indicators, lack of customer response, and inability to personalize were other major obstacles. Globally, Ad Time was the most widely used metric to measure campaign success, cited by 23% of our respondents in Europe, 22% in Asia Pacific, 28% in North America and 27% in the Middle East. was also very important to 25% of our respondents in Europe, 20% in Asia Pacific, 23% in North America, and 23% in the Middle East.

An increased focus on branding

Trust and loyalty were the most common reasons travel marketers invest more in branding than in performance campaigns. For them, loyalty is better when the focus is on branding. Customers can remember the company more easily, and they are more attentive to promotional content when they see the brand name.

In general, the focus on branding creates more trust, according to brand marketers. The range of services of certain brands is better known and customers can quickly make a purchase decision because they already trust the brand. Branding also helps with differentiation. With social media marketing already replacing a large part of traditional communication, in 2021 travel marketers will be leveraging social media networking tools to cheaply promote their businesses and generate public interest.

New techniques such as live streaming and interactive social commerce tools will be important areas of investment.

The report says that many travel companies have also moved video from a side marketing aspect to a centralized advertising channel. They are now also making more compelling visuals available as the core of digital marketing strategies. Video optimization for mobile viewing is also crucial with so many consumers relying on smartphones and tablets to shop and plan trips, the report said. Mobile advertising spending has also scaled to meet demand.

According to the report, which cites Digital Vidya, over 78% of business travelers use a smartphone during the trip planning process, and around two-thirds (67%) of travelers do research online before making a travel decision.

One of the largest areas of expected growth in digital ad spend in the coming years will be programmatic. This growth is being driven in part by the increased use of retargeting by travel and hospitality companies. Brands are also integrating more of their own data into programmatic advertising strategies. Insights from first party data inform travel advertisers about their best programmatic buying targeting options.

In addition, bidding for Connected TV advertising (CTV) takes place on a private marketplace (PMP), which is just one level above the open exchange, as the programmatic media ecosystem works at different auction levels. This position favors marketers who are looking for targeted placement in an auction with fewer bidders, which gives them a higher chance of placing a successful bid.