Mobile-first Searches Indicate Need for More Mobile
Marketing
Sojern, travel’s demand engine, today announces the release of an Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Travel Report
developed with Google. Drawing on Google search data and the billions of travel
intent signals used to develop Sojern’s 350 million traveller profiles, the
report takes an in-depth view of how local, regional and international
travellers search, compare and book travel.
“Our data shows tourism continuing to grow significantly in Australia
and New Zealand,” said Chris Greenwood, Sojern Regional Sales Director.
“Despite the increasingly complex traveler path to purchase, which spans
multiple devices, channels and platforms, this growth presents a huge opportunity
for travel marketers. Brands with personalised, cross-channel strategies that
engage with travellers on all devices and in all stages of the path to purchase
will win in this market.”
Key report findings include:
Mobile-first Searches
Indicate Need for More Mobile Marketing
56 percent of in-region Google travel queries for Australia and New
Zealand came from mobile phones indicating mobile-first behavior when searching
for travel. In our data, Sojern saw the mobile-first trend continue with
international travellers planning trips to this region: 43 percent of
travellers from outside the APAC region searched for trips on mobile. The
importance of a mobile strategy for marketers in this region cannot be
overstated.
Mobile-first, but Travelers
Moving Cross Device to Book
Tourists travelling to Australia and New Zealand engage heavily in
mobile while planning their trip, but many move cross-device when booking. APAC
travelers, those closest in distance to the ANZ market, are more likely to book
on their mobile phones. This is consistent with what we’ve seen in the past and
indicates that when consumers book within the region or book last minute, they
use mobile to do so. However, when booking a trip that is further away in
distance or time, they switch to a desktop.
Additionally, adding to the complexity of the travellers path to
purchase, mobile device usage trends for travel searches fluctuates based on
the day of the week. According to Sojern data, travel searches peak on Mondays
and Tuesdays across all devices. Travel search is lowest during the weekend,
but the share of mobile searches increases by nearly 10 percent during the same
time.
With mobile searches on the rise–despite increased
complexity–implementing a multichannel strategy that engages travellers on all
devices at every stage of the path to purchase is key for travel marketers.
Consumer Sentiment shifts
while Holiday Rentals, Cruise Growing
While air travel and hotels reign supreme in terms of volume, there has
been significant year-over-year growth for holiday rentals and cruise queries
for in-region travel. Even more interesting, “generic” queries are outgrowing
“branded” queries, indicating that consumer sentiment around brand loyalty may
be shift when evaluating travel options.This indicates that travellers may be
looking for alternative lodging and types of travel once in-destination, and
that they may search more generic terms or turn to the home sharing market to
try and find the best deals while browsing online.
“The Sojern Traveler Platform allows us to better understand in-market
audiences in real-time–talking to the right customers at the right time with
the right message,” adds Greenwood. “Whether you are an airline, a big
international hotel, or a tour operator, you need to understand the differences
between travellers looking to visit Australia and New Zealand and how to reach
them as they dream, plan, and book their trips.”
To learn more about our Australia and New Zealand travel trends, visit
the report.
About Sojern:
Sojern
is travel’s marketing demand engine for thousands of brands in the hotel, air,
cruise, transportation, and tourism industries. Specializing in traveler
path-to-purchase data for more than a decade, Sojern delivers branding and
performance solutions by combining search and booking intent signals with
proprietary data science methods to analyze and activate the world’s travelers
in real-time. Recognized as a Deloitte Technology Top 500 Fastest Growing
Company for 5 years in a row, Sojern is headquartered in San Francisco and has
teams based in Berlin, Dubai, Dublin, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London, Mexico City,
New York, Omaha, Paris, Singapore and Sydney. For more information, visit www.sojern.com.
