How Travel Brands Can Stand Out With DOOH Advertising

The travel industry is rebounding, with international tourism expected to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2024, according to the UNWTO. 

A Nationwide survey reveals that 91% of US consumers plan to travel domestically, and 50% intend to travel internationally in 2024. 

This surge in travel presents a golden opportunity for travel brands to leverage digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising, a dynamic and cost-effective channel that can improve visibility and engagement.

Advantages of DOOH for Travel Brands

DOOH is digital advertising that can be found outside the home in a public environment. The classic example of an out-of-home ad is a billboard ad, but ad campaigns can appear in various formats, like digital screens at gas stations, in elevators, on mall directory screens, or in taxi cabs.

DOOH advertising offers unique benefits for travel brands, especially within the main verticals of tourism, hotels and accommodations, and airlines. Here’s how:

1. Targeted reach: DOOH effectively reaches travellers at key points, such as airports and popular tourist attractions. This ensures ads are seen by individuals already in the travel mindset.
2. Dynamic flexibility: Travel brands can update content in real-time to reflect current conditions or events, for relevance and engagement.
3. Location-based targeting: Ads can be strategically placed in high-traffic areas like airports (e.g., JFK) and key destination spots, ensuring maximum visibility to travellers.
4. Interactive engagement: DOOH allows for interactive ads that engage travellers through touchscreens and QR codes, driving immediate actions.
5. Cost-effectiveness: By targeting specific locations, DOOH minimizes audience leakage, ensuring ad spend is focused on travellers with high intent, reducing wasted impressions and improving ROI.

Imagine targeting travellers interested in specific activities through DOOH. For instance, if someone is at a luxury mall in the US, you can place ads suggesting they visit Dubai or Singapore, renowned luxury shopping destinations. Similarly, for travellers headed to a city known for its dining, ads can be placed in popular restaurants, inviting them to explore culinary hotspots in other renowned locations.

This contextual targeting leverages DOOH’s capabilities to reach people based on their current activities. It ensures the ads are highly relevant and engaging, ultimately driving more interest and conversions for travel destinations.

These advantages make DOOH a powerful tool for travel brands looking to enhance visibility and engagement in a competitive market.

Strategies and Best Practices for DOOH Travel Campaigns

When planning DOOH campaigns for travel brands, leveraging targeted strategies, creative best practices, and robust measurement techniques is essential to maximize impact and ROI. Here’s how:

Targeting Strategies

1. Geotargeting: Place ads in strategic locations, such as airports, popular tourist attractions, and hotels to reach travellers at crucial points.
2. Contextual targeting: Display ads relevant to the surrounding environment or events, such as showcasing dining experiences near famous restaurants.
3. Time-parting/Day-parting: Schedule ads to appear at times when travellers are most likely to be receptive, such as during peak travel hours.
4. Weather-based targeting: Adjust ad content based on weather conditions to make the message more appealing and timely.

Creative Best Practices

1. Personalization: Use Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) to personalize ads based on location and audience. For example, brands like State Farm use DCO to create customized offers for different markets, dynamically generating ad versions with local contact information and offers.
2. Dynamic Content: Incorporate real-time information, such as local events, flight updates, or weather forecasts to keep content relevant and engaging.
3. Interactivity: Add interactive elements, such as touchscreens, QR codes, or augmented reality experiences, encouraging travellers to interact with the ad.

Measurement and Attribution

1. Metrics to track: Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs), such as impressions, engagement, and conversion rates to assess the campaign’s effectiveness.
2. ROI analysis: Conduct a thorough ROI analysis to determine the campaign’s financial return relative to the investment.
3. Case studies: Use case studies to showcase the success of previous DOOH campaigns and inform future strategies.

Benefits of DOOH Programmatic for Travel Marketers

• Efficiency: Programmatic platforms automate the buying process, enabling travel marketers to manage and optimize their DOOH campaigns efficiently.
• Targeting precision: Programmatic DOOH allows for precise targeting, ensuring ads are displayed to the right audience at the right time, reducing wastage and increasing effectiveness. For instance, StackAdapt uses a proprietary machine learning algorithm (US patent 11,748,776) to segment relevant audiences based on the content travellers consume online.

With StackAdapt’s programmatic platform, you can:

• Expand your 1st-party reach by using your CRM data as a seed audience to build lookalike audiences and target them with DOOH ads.
• Segment your audience by travel spend and reach frequent travellers by their travel intent, targeting users who are people evaluating destinations or building itineraries. You can also segment your audience by traveller profile, travellers who exhibit characteristics likely to connect with your products and services.

In other words, using DOOH as part of your multi-channel strategy, you can reach travellers at every funnel stage.

Emerging Trends in DOOH Travel

The DOOH landscape is rapidly evolving, with several key trends emerging that travel brands should be aware of:

1. Increased programmatic inventory: More inventory is available for programmatic buying, enhancing scalability and access to coveted placements. For instance, some major airlines now offer programmatic DOOH options, providing new opportunities for targeted advertising within travel hubs.
2. Advanced measurement and attribution: DOOH is increasingly recognized as a viable option throughout the marketing funnel, not just for upper-funnel awareness. Enhanced measurement and attribution capabilities enable more precise ad effectiveness and ROI tracking, making it easier to justify and optimize DOOH investments.
3. Interactivity and engagement: As DOOH becomes more interactive and capable of retargeting, it offers richer engagement opportunities. This trend is key to driving deeper consumer interactions and moving potential customers down the funnel.
4. Travel media networks: Travel media networks are revolutionizing the industry by leveraging first-party data and advanced technology to create targeted, personalized advertising. These networks use extensive data from airlines, hotels, and other travel services to deliver highly-relevant content across various platforms, including in-flight entertainment systems, airport lounges, and digital screens at tourist attractions. This approach enriches the traveller’s experience and opens up new revenue streams for travel brands by tapping into previously untapped incremental revenue sources.

Leverage the full potential of DOOH with the help of StackAdapt and create compelling and effective advertising campaigns that resonate with your target audiences. Request a demo today to get started.