Based on the Q1 U.S. Travel Association Consumer Quarterly Tracker conducted by Ipsos, 52% of American adults are eagerly planning to embark on leisure travel within the next six months. With the pandemic limiting travel opportunities for so long, people are more willing than ever to prioritize travel and make up for lost time. With the summer vacation season upon us, it’s crucial to identify consumers who are eager to travel and implement a targeted travel advertising strategy. To help you stand out in the competitive marketplace, we’ll share five audiences you should consider when building out your summer travel advertising activation plan.
Five travel advertising audience categories
With so many travel audiences out there, it can be overwhelming to figure out which ones to target. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the top five audience categories you should focus on:
- Seasonal spenders
- Frequent travelers
- Travel transportation methods
- Luxury travelers
- Vacation type
Let’s break down each category so you can better understand the travel behaviors and preferences of each group.
Seasonal spenders
These travelers are known for their willingness to spend during peak travel seasons. They’re willing to spend more for travel experiences and have a high propensity to travel.
Let’s take a look at a few audience segments included in this category that you can activate as part of your summer travel advertising strategy.
- Retail Shoppers: Purchase Based > Travel > Vacation/Leisure Travelers: Summer Trips: Consumers in this segment are frequent, high spenders of summer travel.
- Mobile Location Models > Visits > Summer Break Travelers: Consumers in this segment are likely to travel during summer break.
Retail Shoppers: Purchase Based
With Experian’s Retail Shoppers: Purchase Based audiences, you can reach consumers who have a high propensity to buy in specific categories like toys, furniture, apparel, and more. This audience is created by combining known credit and debit transactions with advanced modeling to ensure the highest likelihood of future purchases.
You can use these audiences to find travelers interested in the outdoors that spend their money on related gear and activities, or travelers who use rental cars throughout their trip.
Mobile Location Models
Our Mobile Location Models are based on a statistical analysis of mobile location data from devices. The model is built from individual, household, and area-level Experian Marketing Data.
You can use these audiences to find travelers that like to visit theme parks, travel during the July 4th holiday, and travel during summer break.
Frequent travelers
Consumers in this audience category prioritize travel as a lifestyle choice and they’re always looking for their next adventure. They’re willing to spend money to make their travel dreams come true and often participate in loyalty programs to earn rewards.
Here are just a few examples of the audience segments you can activate to target frequent travelers as part of your travel advertising strategy:
- Lifestyle and Interests (Affinity) > Travel > Frequent Flyer Program Member: Consumers in this segment are likely to be members of frequent flyer programs.
- Retail Shoppers > Purchase Based > Travel > Hotels > Frequent Spend: Consumers in this segment frequently spend at hotels like Holiday Inn, Hyatt, Marriott, and Wyndham.
Lifestyle and Interests
Experian’s Lifestyle and Interests audience segments make it easy to identify and target consumers based on their lifestyle characteristics. These audiences cover a wide array of lifestyle categories, such as:
- Activities/Interests
- Purchasing Behavior
- Contributors/Memberships
- Lifestyle/General
You can use these audiences to find travelers that enjoy boating, like to visit zoos, and are fishing enthusiasts.
Travel transportation methods
This audience category consists of the transportation methods travelers use to reach their destination or use throughout their travel experience.
Here are just a few examples of the audience segments you can activate to target travelers based on their preferred mode of transportation as part of your travel advertising strategy:
- Autos, Cars, and Trucks > Vehicle Lifestyle Ownership > Recreational Vehicle (RV) Travelers: Consumers in this segment are likely to currently own an RV and use it for travel.
- Lifestyle and Interests (Affinity) > Travelers > Air Travel (FLA / Fair Lending Friendly): Consumers in this segment are interested in traveling by plane based on their internet activity in the last 90 days.
Luxury travelers
These high-end travelers seek exclusive, high-end experiences, from top-tier dining to luxurious accommodations.
Here are just a few examples of the audience segments you can activate to target luxury travelers as part of your travel advertising strategy:
- Consumer Financial Insights > Discretionary Spend – Travel > $10,000+: Consumers in this segment are likely to spend more than $10,000 for travel.
- Retail Shoppers: Purchase Based > Travel > Hotels: Luxury: Consumers in this segment are frequent, high spenders at high-end hotels like Renaissance Hotels, Westin, and Hilton Hotels.
Vacation type
Unlike the previous categories, our vacation type category focuses on the type of trip a traveler is planning and the destination they’re heading to. Whether it’s a beach getaway or an adventure-filled trip, segments within this category can help you target consumers looking for those particular experiences.
Here are just a few examples of the audience segments you can activate to target travelers by vacation type as part of your travel advertising strategy:
- Retail Shoppers: Purchase Based > Travel > National Park Travelers: Consumers in this segment are likely to travel to national parks.
- Travel Intent > Activities > Winery Distillery Brewery Tours: Consumers in this segment are likely to visit wineries, distilleries, and breweries while traveling.
Family size and structure
In addition to our five recommended summer travel advertising audience categories, it’s important to add audiences related to family size and structure to your targeting strategy for the summer travel season.
Families with children, for example, are a significant market for summer travel, as parents are looking to create memories with their kids before they go back to school. Families with children have distinct needs and preferences when it comes to travel. For instance, they may need larger accommodation options, kid-friendly activities, and safe environments.
On the other hand, married couples with no children or single travelers may have different preferences for their travel experiences. These groups may be looking for more adventurous or adult-oriented experiences, such as camping, hiking in national parks, or winery tours. By segmenting your audience based on family size and structure, you can provide more relevant and personalized recommendations to your target audience, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.
Here are just a few examples of the audience segments you can activate to target travelers based on their family size and structure as part of your travel advertising strategy:
- Demographics > Marital Status > Single: Consumers in this segment are likely to be single.
- Lifestyle and Interests (Affinity) > Moms, Parents, Families > Married Mothers: Consumers in this segment are likely to be married females with at least one child under the age of 18 years old.
- Demographics > Presence of Children > Ages: 0-18: Consumers in this segment are likely to have children between the ages 0 to 18 years old in a household.
- Demographics > Presence of Children > Ages: 7-9: Consumers in this segment are likely to have children between the ages 7 to 9 years old in a household.
We can help you reach summer travelers
From seasonal spenders to luxury travelers, there are a host of audiences you should keep in mind as you build out your summer travel advertising strategy. Experian audiences can help you tap into the potential of your summer campaigns by enabling you to identify, reach, and engage with a variety of travelers in their preferred channels.
Latest posts
Experian Marketing Services pinpoints rising social network sites in new study – Instagram and Pinterest lead the pack According to a new study by Experian Marketing Services, niche social networks significantly increased their market share of all visits to social sites, with Instgram and Pinterest leading the pack. The following graph illustrates the global growth between July 2011 and July 2012, based on share of visits to all sites by country: Social site North America Australia Hong Kong New Zealand Singapore UK Instagram 17,319% 362% 132% 843% 8121% 2028% Pinterest 5124% 798% 2373% 643% 623% 1489% Other niche social networks that have experienced significant gain include Stock Twits in the US, Redidt in Australia, and FanPop in the UK. According to Bill Tancer, head of Global Research at Experian Marketing Services, the growth of Instagram and Pinterest over the past year has been successful because they haven’t tried to be ‘another Facebook.’ Both networks are image based – something people love and relate to better than just words. For retail brands, sites like Pinterest present a great opportunity to promote products in a compelling and organized way to a wide group of people, globally. Deeper functionally, combined with a lower technical barrier to entry, will result in new leaders in social media being created, accepted and used within a matter of days – compared to the rate of adoption happening now over the course of weeks and months. Also included in the study for July 2011 to July 2012: Country Social network Description Percentage increase of market share of visits to All Sites between July 2011 to July 2012 North America www.skillwho.com Social networking community which allow users to find people with skills from friends, friends of friends, local area or the community. 7435% increase http://stocktwits.com StockTwits is an open, community-powered investment idea and information service. 943% increase Australia www.reddit.com Site where users vote for what is popular or not. 177% increase Brazil Google+ Google+ integrates social services such as Google Profiles, and introduces new services identified as Circles, Hangouts and Sparks. 5750% increase New Zealand www.reddit.com Site where users vote for what is popular or not. 107% increase Singapore https://steamcommunity.com Community site that assists users in finding games to play, people to play against, and serves as a meeting place for friends and team mates. 124% UK Google+ Google+ integrates social services such as Google Profiles, and introduces new services identified as Circles, Hangouts and Sparks. 476% http://www.fanpop.com Network of fan clubs for fans of television, movies, music and more to discuss and share photos, videos, news and opinions with fellow fans. 178% What social networks do you use most frequently? Do the results of this study surprise you at all? Feel free to share your thoughts with our readers in the comments section below.
The Republican and Democratic parties are gathering in the coming days to officially launch the Presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. In doing so, the candidates, the parties and their support groups will unleash unprecedented amounts of cash in an effort to influence American voters through advertising, much of it on TV. As such, Experian Simmons has released a new list of the top 20 television programs for reaching party loyals as well as three key swing voter segments. The segments come from the PoliticalPersonas consumer segmentation system, which classifies U.S. adults into one of 10 unique segments based on the individual’s political outlook and party ID as well as their attitudes and opinions towards key topics. The segments we will focus on in this post include the Super Democrats and Ultra Conservatives segments, which represent the most party loyal voters for Democrats and Republicans, respectively. We will also profile the TV preferences of three important swing voter segments during this election cycle, including: Mild Republicans, On the Fence Liberals and Green Traditionalists. For more information about the PoliticalPersonas segments, download the PoliticalPersonas Report. The shows in each list include those cable and broadcast TV shows with the highest concentration of viewers from each segment. For example, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central has the highest concentration of Super Democrats of any non-news cable or broadcast show on TV. Likewise, Rules of Engagement on CBS has the highest concentration of Mild Republicans. Candidates, political organizations, and even traditional advertisers trying to connect with any of these voting segments would be wise to consider advertising on the programs listed below. For more information on PoliticalPersonas, watch our Webcast.
Marketers have always struggled to target the right consumer with the right offer. And with more than 313 million people live in the United States according to the U.S. Census, the challenge is more difficult than ever. With the proliferation of the Internet and mobile technology, today’s consumer operates differently and expects more from their favorite brands. To adapt to that new American consumer, marketers are using highly targeted strategies to drive interest. These can be messages that are relevant to a few hundred consumers or detailed one-on-one communications that target individuals at the point of sale or online. But some marketers struggle to execute these tactics effectively. Most segmentation is currently done prior to a campaign, meaning that marketers determine which message a consumer will receive before ever interacting with that individual. Unfortunately, with the rapid nature of purchasing decisions and buying transactions, businesses often miss opportunities because it takes too long to get the right message to the right consumer. To keep up, marketers need to collect intelligence at the point of contact so they can understand each individual consumer’s habits and preferences during that connection. This intelligence can then feed modeling algorithms that enable automatic offers based on an individual’s preferences. To develop a strategy around real-time marketing intelligence, marketers should take the following steps: Clean existing data – at the root of any intelligence strategy is data. Information determines a company’s ability to reach target individuals – and understand who they are and what they’re interested in. Unfortunately, if the data that feeds intelligence efforts is inaccurate, marketers are simply unable to communicate with or understand consumers. Ensuring the validity of contact information, internal records and third-party data elements helps organizations target consumers and ensures that sophisticated analysis is as precise as possible. Identify strategies – organizations should analyze their target markets and determine which communication channels could benefit from a more personalized customer experience. Marketers should decide how they want to change each communication to help drive the desired action from each consumer. Consider personalizing website displays based on geographic regions, customizing an introductory message or revamping loyalty campaigns based on purchase history and consumer interests. Real-time intelligence – marketers should build models to help predict the best offers for each target audience. These models can be designed to take into account demographic and behavioral information, as well as purchase history and internal data. Marketers can feed these models with intelligence gained at the point of contact to prompt consumers in real time with specific, relevant offers. As marketers continue to enhance and refine targeting efforts, it’s important to gain customer insight. Those who leverage these advanced technologies and strategies will create stronger customer engagement. Segmenting customers and taking measurable action in real time are advanced techniques that appeal to many marketers today. Achieving this level of interaction allows organizations to optimize marketing efforts and provide the right offer at the right time to the right consumer.