Flywheel News | May 2023 Hotel Digital Marketing News | GCommerce

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June 8, 2023 by
  1. June Marks The Last Month Google Universal Analytics Will Process Data

As you read this, you’re currently in the last month that data will flow into your Google Universal Analytics account. If you don’t have GA4 setup by now, there’s a good chance you won’t have any analytics data available for your site for website traffic past June 30th. Reach out to GCommerce today if you’re unsure or need assistance on where to start with your GA4 setup.

  1. Google Ads Sitelinks vs Promo Extensions For Short Term Deals - What’s Better?

In the world of Google Ads, ad extensions (now referred to as assets) give your valuable extra real estate and call-outs in the SERP. But which ones are better for advertising your hotel’s short term/flash sales, sitelinks or promotion extensions? Read more in one of our recent tests.

  1. Google Marketing Live Focuses on AI in 2023

As the industry continues to lean into AI, Google’s Marketing Live 2023 seemed to focus solely on it’s investment of incorporating AI into all facets of it’s products. Exciting announcements included AI generated campaign builds, helping to automatically create text and images and better match messaging to search queries. We’re also pretty excited to test out the newest campaign types announced at GML23, most notably the Demand Gen campaign type which seems to target a social media style ad placement and “will show across YouTube Shorts, YouTube in-stream, YouTube in-feed, Discover, and Gmail to drive conversions”.

  1. Hotel Metasearch Channels Overview

Overwhelmed with all the different metasearch options? Metasearch marketing has been a proven way to increase bookings for your hotel, but there are many options in this space. Check out this quick-start guide to determine the best option for your hotel. Learn more here.

  1. How To Choose The Best Marketing KPIs

Not sure what KPIs you should be focusing on to judge the success of your hotel marketing campaigns? Read our blog post on how to choose the best marketing KPIs.

  1. Meta Announces AI Powered Ad Tools

Similar to Google’s use of AI, Meta is also incorporating AI into it’s platforms and tools to help provide more personalized advertising as well as give advertisers more text and image AI tools. Learn more here.

  1. FAQs for the Hotel Digital Marketer

Find the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions in hotel digital marketing in this insightful blog. What questions would you add to the list?

  1. Bing Chat Adds Visuals To Travel Queries 

Bing Chat has now added more visuals to travel queries with links directly into Bing’s Travel Planner.  Our hopes is that this means more impressions for the high ROAS yet low volume Bing Hotel ads placements. Learn more here.

Flywheel News | March 2023 Hotel Digital Marketing News | GCommerce

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April 6, 2023 by
  1. Less than 100 Days Until Google UA Stops Collecting Data - Are You Ready? 

On July 1, 2023 Google Universal Analytics will stop collecting data for your website. After that, any historical data within Universal Analytics will only be available for around 6 months (final date TBD by Google). That’s less than 3 months away. Are you ready?

  1. TikTok CEO Goes in Front of Congress Over Security Concerns 

The United States government has security concerns with TikTok and in previous months has banned the use of the platform by government run DMOs. This month, the CEO of TikTok went in front of Congress over security issues with the platform. Learn more here.

  1. Instagram Rolling Out New Ad Placement Types 

Instagram is rolling out 2 new ad placement types that caught our eye. The first is Reminder Ads, that could be a good option for event or offer reminders and the second is a placement for ads in the search results. Check out the news here.

  1. Meta Rolls Out Paid Verification 

Meta has rolled out a new fee based verification service that claims to offer enhanced support and potentially more reach for around $15/month. Is it worth it? The jury is still out and will require more testing. 

  1. Microsoft Ads Broad Match Modifier Keywords Now Serving as Broad Match 

We hope you’re keeping an eye on all these search engine announcements! The latest change coming from Microsoft Ads on match types is that any broad match modified keywords in your accounts will now be treated as broad. We highly recommend auditing your accounts to ensure your structure matches this new change so that performance is not impacted negatively.

  1. GA4 Rolling Out Custom Channel Groups 

GA4 continues to evolve it’s capabilities, this time with a long awaited custom channel group option. Up until now, GA4 accounts were limited to the platform’s decided grouping by channel for each user session source - which did not match up with UA groupings at all. Now you have the power to organize your traffic sources into your preferred channel groupings. Read more here.

  1. GPT-4 Launches 

The latest in the AI race, OpenAI’s GPT-4 launched in March. In order to access the latest version, you must be signed up for the ChatGPT plus subscription service. You can also play around with it when using Bing Chat. Read a breakdown of everything you need to know here.

8. Google Ads Vs Google Hotel Ads: Do You Really Need Both?
If you’ve been a loyal Google paid search advertiser all these years and you’re not running Google Hotel Ads via metasearch advertising then you’re losing out on a significant portion of the Google hotel search ecosystem - one that could be driving a substantial amount of direct revenue for your hotel. Learn more here.

Flywheel News | February 2023 Hotel Digital Marketing News | GCommerce

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March 9, 2023 by
  1. ChatGPT Takes Over The Feeds

Unless you’re living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about ChatGPT at this point. Although originally released back in November of 2022, interest around the platform really took off in February as Microsoft showcased it’s inclusion of the conversational chatbot technology in it’s search engine and Google responded with it’s own introduction of Bard. Now, everyone from students to coders to copywriters and beyond are learning ways to use the platform to help with research and writing. An incredible showcase of AI capabilities,ChatGPT’s output can still be inaccurate and a bit elementary in it’s writing style. We encourage everyone to try it out, but proceed with caution. The content it produces can still be fraught with errors and use a bit of finessing to use usable for marketing purposes.

  1. Google Announces Bard (it’s answer to ChatGPT)

The word on the street is that Bing’s announcement of using ChatGPT in it’s search engine caused a “code red” at Google. Not too long after, Google announced Bard, it’s answer to conversational AI in search. Just like ChatGPT, Google’s initial introduction of Bard to the world showed the AI providing an incorrect response to a question. While Google has used the power of AI as part of it’s algorithm in how to rank pages in it’s search results for years, this product takes aim at the ease with which ChatGPT can provide information to users. Want to be prepared for Bard, Bing ChatGPT and more from a search perspective? Continue to focus on adding quality content to your website, focus on building out Local SEO strategies and tactics and dig into these platforms’ other products like Google Hotel Ads and Bing Hotel Ads. As a hotel, it’s time to get even more serious about providing quality content, answers and information to potential customers and search engines.

  1. Microsoft Unveils Lodging Solutions

Showing it’s continued focus to follow in the steps of Google’s success in travel, Microsoft has announced expanded offerings to it’s lodging products with property promotion ads, hotel price ads, hotel price ads with room bundles, bing maps, bing travel hub and property promotion ads with vacation rentals. Hopefully this brings more impressions and visibility to highly profitable hotel ads throughout Bing’s ecosystem.

  1. Should You Be Using Google Hotel Ads Bid Adjustments?

To be successful in maximizing revenue production via Google Hotel Ads, you must be optimizing your campaigns with all the levers provided in Google Ads. Learn how we put them to the test in our client accounts.

  1. Hotel Marketing in a Down Economy: Part 1 & Part 2

Whatever you do, just don’t say the “r” word. Dig into our reading of the tea leaves with our portfolio data insights as well as the strategies to best position your hotel for when things go south. Check out Part 1 and Part 2 of Hotel Marketing in a Down Economy.

  1. [E-Book] Metasearch Advertising Pro Tips

Learn the metasearch advertising techniques the pro's use to boost your direct bookings. View the full E-Book here. 

  1. Hotel Metasearch Basics

Unsure of what hotel metasearch is? Don’t fret, our marketing experts have broken it down in this Hotel Metasearch Basics blog.

  1. 2023 Digital Marketing Trends To Watch

Just in case you missed it, check out a compilation of the top trends our hotel digital marketing experts have on their minds for 2023.

Flywheel News | January 2023 Hotel Digital Marketing News | GCommerce

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February 9, 2023 by
  1. Google Optimize To Be Discontinued (Moving into GA4)

To the dismay of marketers everywhere, Google announced that it will be discontinuing its UX testing tool, Google Optimize, on September 30th. Google plans on providing a new solution within GA4. Learn more here.

  1. Yandex Search Ranking Factors Leaked

Even though it’s not the Google search ranking factors that were leaked, the recent leak of Yandex search ranking factors provides some interesting insights into area’s of focus you should consider testing and evaluating for your website’s SEO. 

  1. Google Search Announces Debut of Chatbot Features Later this Year

Credit it to the Google “code red” about ChatGPT, but the search engine announced that it will debut chatbot features later this year within Google search. Read more here.

  1. Google Search Trends for 2022

I think we’re all eager to know what trends to capitalize for marketing in 2023. One of the best ways is to take a quick look back with Google’s year in Search 2022. Top trends for 2023 include Value, evaluated; Aid and allyship and revising priorities. All of these have very specific tie in’s to travel marketing. People want to feel represented in ads, they want ways to alleviate stress and they are seeking experiences that provide great value. How can your hotel incorporate these trends into your ad messaging? 

5. Check out Metadesk

Globally, huge amounts of hotel advertising budgets are shifting to metasearch advertising campaigns. And with the deprecation of cookies and 3rd party tracking, it makes complete sense. 📈📈📈 Learn more at https://metadesk.pro/

  1. Reports Show Facebook Usage Is Up 

Even with the rise of TikTok’s popularity, Wall Street Journal reported that usage and time spent on Facebook was up worldwide over the past year. Maybe it’s because of TikTok? The rise in usage could be attributed to increase in Reels consumption. Have you invested in your hotel’s short form video assets yet? If not, 2023 is the year no matter what social platform you focus your efforts on.

  1. 6 Ways Your Hotel Can Utilize Facebook’s Lead Generation Tool in 2023 

Are you looking for solutions to increase your hotel’s email database size, drive more wedding business or improve your remarketing ad performance? Discover new ways to drive more revenue with Facebook’s Lead Generation tool in 2023.

  1. The Power of Brand Collaborations 

Looking for new ways to inject fresh, excitement into your brand messaging or expand your reach to like minded audiences? It’s time you looked into the power of brand collaborations. Learn more here with some great examples to get you started.

Flywheel News | December 2022 Hotel Digital Marketing News | GCommerce

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January 4, 2023 by
  1. Metasearch Is Your Best Tool For Increasing Direct Bookings

Metasearch can be directly correlated with direct business. But, is your hotel truly optimizing metasearch? Learn how to take control and manage your metasearch here.

  1. Google Updates EAT With Another E 

Google updated it’s search quality raters guidelines by adding another E to E-A-T for experience. The new acronym is now E-E-A-T, standing for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. Although these ratings do not directly impact rankings, they provide important feedback that helps Google improve its algorithms. Learn more here.

  1. Meta Adds New Instagram Audience Targeting

A new audience type we’re very excited to test here at GCommerce, Meta announced the addition of audience type to target your Instagram followers. Now, you may be thinking - didn’t this already exist? Well, it didn’t. In the past you’ve only been able to target your Facebook followers, not your Instagram followers. Read more on this new audience type here.

  1. Check Out Google’s 2022 ‘Year in Search’ Overview 

Take a walk down memory lane with Google’s 2022 Year in Search Overview, showing a recap of what was trending in search this past year. You might just stumble across some new ideas on what to watch, where to travel (or not) and a new recipe to try.

  1. GCommerce Hosts Annual Employee Retreat

On December 1st and 2nd, the entire company met in beautiful Park City, Utah for two days of incredible sessions on travel and digital marketing, team activities and a fun year-end holiday party. Our team wishes you all a happy, healthy and prosperous new year! 

Flywheel News | November 2022 Hotel Digital Marketing News | GCommerce

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December 7, 2022 by
  1. Hour & Date Dimensions Now Available in GA4

It seems like every month there are new announcements coming out on changes in GA4. In November the newest update was that hour and ate dimensions are now available across Google Analytics 4 explorations and reporting customization. Learn more here.

  1. GCommerce Launches 2022 Digital Marketing Trends eBook 

It’s hard to believe 2022 is almost over. Get ready for your 2023 digital marketing journey with a look back at the top trends of 2022. Download our eBook here.

  1. Google’s Similar Audiences Are Going Away 

Heads up if you’re using Similar Audiences on Google Ads! They are sunsetting this audience type in August 2023. Learn more about how to prepare for this transition here.

  1. TikTok Launches New Audience Insights Tool 

Looking for more insights on who is interacting with your business on TikTok? Good news! TikTok advertisers can now access audience insights in the ad manager to dive into audience data including age, interest categories, interactions, device types and more. Read more about this announcement here.

  1. You’re Now Able to Add Music To Still Image Posts in Instagram 

Previously only available for Reels and Stories, the ability to add music is now available for still image posts on Instagram. Music brings emotion, context and personality to your content. Will it enhance engagement with your still posts? We recommend at least testing it to find out.

6. There's more to metasearch than they're telling you

Most hoteliers believe that once they've connected their booking engine to the metasearch channels there's nothing more they can do.But in reality, metasearch can help you address specific need periods, target your ideal guests, and increase direct bookings. Learn more here.

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