• The Five Stages of Travel – (The Buying Process)
• Importance of Google Analytics
• Audience Reports
• Acquisition Reports
• Behavior Reports
• Analytics in the Marketing Process
Five Stages of Travel
FB Posts, Blogs, Digital Display Ads….
76% of travelers have no set destination in mind at this point
Sources of Inspiration
Social Media Outlets Friends/Family
Display Ads
(online, TV, Magazines) Blogs
My Dream Begins…
• Google / Bing/ Yahoo • OTA’s
• Trip Advisor • DMO Sites
• FB, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram • Blogs
• Display Ads
• Hotel sites/ pricing comparisons
Search is the #1 source for leisure travelers and #3 for business travelers!
What are you doing to make sure I am finding you? • SEO, Paid Search, Display, Social
20 travel related sites in 9 separate sessions!
Time to Research…
Most travelers rely on Brand
Searches by this point.
Things you can do: • SEO/Paid Search
• Make Site Easy to Navigate
37% of travelers say the internet is what prompted them to book,
followed by word of mouth from a family member or friend
Make the Dream a Reality: Book It!
Once at a destination, 58% of travelers rely on online sources to
evaluate local activities
70% of travelers update their FB page while on vacation
I’m Finally Here – Experiencing it all!
What is important at this stage? • Hospitality
• Presentation • Information
What can you do to retain and grow customers?
• Ask them to write a positive review, share photos and experiences on your social feeds and theirs
This stage ties back into the dreaming and planning stage – so make sure you do the following:
• Ask guests for their information
(twitter handle, email, etc.) so you can send them timely messages for next year
• Create and execute a loyalty program • Encourage guests to write positive
reviews, post photos, share with friends, etc.
• Your Website is your virtual brick and mortar
• G/A is a free tool that tells you all sorts of things about your users/visitors
• Allows you to be proactive in your digital marketing efforts
• Helps you see areas where you may be falling short, helping you to adjust
your campaign at any time for better results
• Keeps your vendors honest
Basic Reports
• Overview (visits, unique visitors, page views, duration, bounce rate) • Geo (location)
• Behavior (new vs. returning, frequency, engagement) • Mobile (overview, devices)
• Visitor flow
Why do I need this information
• Are the right people being reached?
• Could/should other audiences be reached? • Are any audiences over/under performing?
Which stages of the traveler buying cycle do these reports help with
• Dreaming (geo, devices, bounce)
• Planning (new vs. returning, frequency, engagement) • Booking (devices, visits, visitor flow)
Visits: The number of people who were on your site
Unique Visitors: The number of unduplicated visitors to your site over a specific period of time Page views: Total number of pages viewed over a specific period of time
Pages per Visit: Average number of pages viewed during a visit to your site Avg. Visit Duration: The average duration of the session
Bounce Rate: The percentage of single page visits (people left the site after coming in with no other page engagement)
% New Visits: Percentage of first time visits
• Red indicates visitors leaving the site from that page
• Are people visiting the pages you want? (Someone may be accessing your “things to do” pages in the research stage, and the “hotels” or “reservations” page in the booking phase
Key Takeaways:
• Where are your visitors coming from?
• How can you determine where your biggest opportunity markets are?
• Can you use other marketing in these areas to help increase site traffic and conversions?
Key Takeaways:
• Aim for a good balance of new vs. return visitors (return visitors can indicate visitors in the dreaming or research stage. New visitors could be referrals from family and friends in the sharing stage)
• Monitor engagement for new vs. return visitors • What is your strategy for new customers?
Key Takeaways:
• Compare Desktop traffic to tablet and mobile traffic
• Match digital marketing strategy to how people are finding and accessing your site • How do people use devices differently? (Research vs. bookings)
• Know your mobile strategy • Is your site responsive design?
Basic Reports (available to all)
• Overview (channel, source, site) • Keywords (organic only)
• Social (overview only)
Business use for this info?
• Where sources are most of the visitors coming from? • Any sources underrepresented?
What stages in the buying cycle do these reports help with?
• Dreaming (are you running trackable campaigns to create awareness) • Researching (are you seeing referral traffic from OTA’s, DMO’s or
travel-related sites)
• Booking (are people coming to your site via social outlets)
Acquisition – Keywords
• Variations on business name or branded keywords indicate customers (researching, booking)
Acquisition – Social
• Social referrals relative to total traffic
• Click on Social Network rows to see landing pages
Basic Reports (available to all)
• Overview (page views, duration, bounce rate, exit rate) • Flow (granular views)
• Site Content (all, landing, exit)
• Site Speed (overview, page timings, speed suggestions) • In-Page Analytics
Business use for this info?
• What path do visitors take through the site • Is that what the business wants them to take
• What landing page works best for each campaign - Why • What pages do visitors leave from most often - Is that OK
What stages in the buying process do these reports help with?
• Dreaming – site content/speed
• Research – page views/duration/bounce • Booking- site speed / flow
Behavior – Content
• Select an audience to see a filtered flow report
Behavior – Speed
• Review speed suggestions regularly
• Create UTM Codes to see campaign activity in analytics
• Track campaigns to see if they are accomplishing the goals you want them to
• Set up custom goals and events to measure the success of your digital marketing
campaigns
• Use reports to figure out what is working best for your site and business so you
can invest in those programs that are most successful
• Create a custom dashboard quickly asses the health of your website
What are they?
A UTM code(Urchin Traffic Monitor) is a simple code that you can attach to a custom URL in order to track a source,
medium, and campaign name.
UTM Codes
Link to access the UTM builder page: