Think at a Glance: Marketing lessons from the modern traveler

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Think at a Glance Shoppers have the world at their fingertips. You can help them navigate it.

PREDICTIONS & TRENDS The paradox of choice — and what you can do about it  A decade or two ago, planning a vacation was a complex affair. For most of us, it involved a visit to a travel agent who presented us with a set of limited options: a handful of destinations, restricted departure and return dates, and few opportunities to adapt the trip to our own tastes. Fast forward to today, and thanks to the internet, we quite literally have the world at our fingertips.  This is true across many industries, from travel to automotive to homebuying and beyond.  But while technology has democratized the act of researching and purchasing, it's also created what psychologists call the paradox of choice. The more options we have, the more anxious and undecided we feel. And that's exactly what plays out in the travel data. For example, the average accommodation purchase journey lasted an incredible 36 days and involved 45 touchpoints across several devices and types of website.  Travel shoppers — and shoppers in general — are already facing a lot of noise. Instead of adding to the cacophony, help them make sense of it by being there in their moment of need with a relevant product or service. That also means taking an omnichannel approach. And while you might want to improve your conversion rate, resist the temptation to jump straight to the sale. Instead, focus on helping curious customers explore ideas and be inspired.  Read More

DATA FEED  Today, 48% of mobile users in the U.S. are comfortable researching, planning, and booking an entire trip to a new travel destination using only their smartphone. At the same time, people who have a negative experience on mobile are 62% less likely to purchase from that brand in the future than if they have a positive experience.  Read More

QUOTABLE "Despite variations of the creative, we repeated the same message throughout, no matter the length of video, to create one cohesive message."  —Dwight Pirtle, programmatic and paid social lead at Airbnb, on how to get mid-funnel impact out of your brand campaign Read More

THINK GLOBAL  "We were already thinking about how to make ourselves more customer-centric. So when the engineers started talking to us about site speed, we realized that adjusting prices would make no difference if visitors were still leaving the site because of slow speed." So says Martin Bystedt, head of user experience and digital at TUI Nordic. But leaders at the travel company knew that for a speed project to get off the ground, the whole organization needed to be on board, with dialogue between management, stakeholders and developers, silos broken down and agile processes put in place. "Fixing site speed is not only about code," Martin explains. "To get it right you need the right organizational setup and mindset." So the company tried a new approach, one that led to a 31% decrease in bounce rates, a 78% reduction in load times, and an 11% increase in mobile conversion rate relative to desktop.  Read more

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