The EU’s Ruling on Data Transfers- Updates to Google Ads Terms

August 7, 2020 by Lisa McGivney

Why Did Google Ads Send Me An Email Re: Updates about GDPR Compliance?

In July 2020, the EU’s highest court ruled against the validity of the Data Privacy Shield for protecting EU citizen data when it is transferred out of the EU to other countries including the US. This caused many businesses, including Google and other ad tech companies, to have to revise their platforms’ data processing terms.

What Did the EU Rule on Data Transfers to the US in July 2020?

In July 2020 the Court of Justice of the European Union, the highest court in the EU, ruled that the current Privacy Shield that allowed transfers of online advertising and measurement personal data out of the EU to the US was invalid. This was based on the court finding that EU citizen data could be interfered with by the US government based on the country’s current surveillance laws.

TechCrunch.com’s Natasha Lomas explains that, The CJEU’s finding is that “the requirements of US national security, public interest and law enforcement have primacy, thus condoning interference with the fundamental rights of persons whose data are transferred to that third country”, and that mechanisms in the EU-US Privacy Shield ostensibly intended to mitigate this interference (such as an ombudsperson role to handle EU citizens’ complaints) are not up the required legal standard of ‘essential equivalence’ with EU law.

The Court of Justice of the European Union did keep Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) in place as a valid and legal way for businesses including banks, Facebook, and Google to transfer online advertising and measurement personal data out of the EU and into the US. This effectively provides these companies with a way to maintain data transfers outside of the EU and into the US (and other countries) for the time being.

How Does The EU Ruling on Data Transfers Impact My Google Ads Account?

Since SCC’s are still considered an allowed method of transferring data from the EU to servers in the US, Google is moving to use them for all transfers of online advertising and measurement personal data out of the EU, Switzerland and the UK in order to stay in compliance with the ruling.

Google is also updating its existing Google Ads Data Processing Terms, Google Ads Controller-Controller Data Protection Terms, and Google Measurement Controller-Controller Data Protection Terms to add the relevant SCCs as adopted by the European Commission. These updated contract terms for using Google Ads will apply starting on August 12, 2020.

How Can I Make Sure My Google Ads Account Is Still In Compliance with GDPR?

First off, we are not legal experts and you should be consulting your lawyer regarding how to keep your business in compliance with GDPR and other consumer data privacy protection laws.

Google’s updated contract terms that add the relevant SCCs ensure your agreement with their ad platform keeps the account in compliance with the updated ruling.
Make sure you have a cookie preference solution in place (such as OneTrust) on your site. Make sure settings are specific for traffic from visitors from the EU countries, allowing them to control how their personal data is used across the site and ad platforms.
We also recommend that you have detailed information regarding your business’ privacy policies that can be found on the privacy policy page on your website.

The court’s standing on SCC’s and how EU citizens’ data is transferred out of the EU could come under further scrutiny, which could further complicate things for banks, ad tech companies, and other businesses.

Have further questions about the recent EU ruling on data transfers and how it affects your Google Ads account? Please make sure to consult your lawyer and be sure to reach out to GCommerce to help you implement cookie compliance tools on your website.

Flywheel News | July 2020 Hotel Digital Marketing News | GCommerce

August 6, 2020 by Lisa McGivney

1. Expedia Travel Ads Credit Program

Expedia has launched a new Travel Ads Hotel Recovery Program to encourage hotels to re-launch campaigns on Expedia’s Travel Ads program. Hotels who have advertised through the program during 2019 or earlier in 2020 are eligible to receive a credit equal to 20% on top of their initial qualifying deposit. Learn more about the program here.

2. Google Ads Image Extensions Beta

Earlier this summer, Google announced that they were sunsetting the Gallery Ads format. The format was first announced in 2019 at Google Marketing Live and will be replaced by the launch of Image extensions. Image extensions are officially in beta and starting to roll out to some accounts for testing. These ad extensions allow you to feature images alongside your text ads directly in the search results.

The implications for improved CTR and performance could be dramatic for hotels and other industries. We’ll be testing these within client accounts that are eligible for the beta test.

3. Facebook LDU enabled until July 31st

Facebook’s transition period for LDU is set to expire at the end of July. Once this transition period is over, LDU will be disabled unless you update your settings and pixel to comply. Learn more about Facebook’s LDU setting and what it means for your hotel’s CCPA compliance here.

4. Google Keyword Planner Forecasts Are Updated Daily

This turbulent time in markets across the country makes forecasting and planning even more difficult. The situation and consumer sentiment is changing constantly. Google Ads Keyword Planner, which is used by many across the SEM industry for keyword research and account planning has noted that “data from past 7-10 days to take into account any impact of market changes during this time period”.

This allows us to better understand current search volume trends and interests for key phrases related to our clients in addition to monitoring Google Trends.

5. GCommerce Partners With R + D to provide wholesale acquisition of facemasks for hotels & brands

GCommerce has partnered with R + D Retail Group to provide wholesale, branded facemasks for hotels and brands. R + D’s reusable face-coverings are the embodiment of style, sophistication, and comfort and offer a superior solution for your business’ need for a facemask solution. R + D facemasks are crafted out of lightweight non-woven material, provide comfort and fit for extended all-day use and offer effortless breathability. Brands including Wynn Resort, Hotel & Casino, Hotel Figueroa, and The D Casino & Hotel have already taken advantage of their functional and stylish, custom facemasks.

6. Google Announces Upgraded GMB profiles

Google has launched a new experiment with an upgraded Google My Business profile option targeted solely at local service providers including cleaning companies, plumbers, lawyers, and more. The cost to participate is $50/month and features a Google Guaranteed badge on participating businesses’ business profile. Currently, only certain types of businesses are eligible and must meet certain requirements. Although it’s only available for local service providers as an experiment right now, it opens up the larger question of future monetization of Google My Business across other industries.

Photo credit: SearchEngineLand

We Increased ROAS 123% For Our Hotel Clients’ Google Ads, Here’s How

July 27, 2020 by Lisa McGivney

At the end of 2018, Google turned the SEM industry on its head by once again changing the definition of its exact match keyword targeting. The definitions and performance by match type have historically dictated campaign structure for many across the SEM industry, GCommerce included. Google’s 3rd and most recent change to exact match forced paid search marketers to reexamine their account structures and best practices. When we did, we found an incredible opportunity to reinvent our paid search account structure to drive substantial improvements in performance for our clients. Read below to find out how we did it.

A Quick History of Google’s Keyword Match Type Definitions

To set the stage, let’s take a quick look back over the evolution of Google’s exact match keyword targeting definitions.

Pre-2014: Exact Match means the searcher has to type your keyword in exactly as you have it written in order for the search to trigger your ad.

Search = luxury hotel in park city Keyword = luxury hotel in park city

2014: Google updates its exact match keyword definition to allow your ad to trigger for the exact spelling of your keyword PLUS plurals and misspellings

Search = luxury hotels in park city Keyword = luxury hotel in park city

2017: Google updates its exact match keyword definition again to trigger your ad for the exact phrase or misspellings and plurals OR different word order and function words

Here are two great tables from Search Engine Land’s article to help explain:

Function words:

Word Order:

What Do These Changes Mean For My Hotel’s Google Ads Account Structure?

But, what does this all mean for paid search optimization and account structure? Separating campaigns by match type used to mean we had more control of where to funnel our ad dollars based on what keywords and match types were performing the best. We found that with Google’s latest updates to match type definitions, if we had the same keyword with a different match type located in different ad groups within the account, they would now compete with each other. The theory became, if we restructured our accounts to keep all keywords (of all match types) within the same ad group, we should see lower CPCs which in turn would drive more traffic, more conversions, and higher ROAS. We tested the theory across a sampling of our hotel client Google Ads accounts.

Results of Our Hotels’ Google Ads Restructure Tests Based On Match Types

Let’s dive into the test results. On average this is what resulted from the changes we made in account structure based on the new keyword match type definitions:

CPCs declined by 30%
ROAS increased by 123%

This meant our paid search campaigns were able to drive 80% more revenue on average for our hotel clients across the sample set of test accounts. After reviewing the results, we rolled out the change across all of our hotel Google Ads accounts and continued to see outstanding results across the board.

It’s important to always keep an eye out for announcements from Google Ads and make sure you’re testing, restructuring, and updating your accounts based on what provides the best results. If your agency isn’t constantly evolving your campaigns based on changes within the platform and your industry then you risk wasting budget and sacrificing performance. Have questions about how we can help your hotel launch or test this new account structure? Please reach out to one of our hotel digital marketing experts today.

5 Phases to Relaunch Your Hotel's Marketing Campaigns During COVID-19

July 27, 2020 by Erin Fischer

The world is slowly opening up again, and as hoteliers and other players in the hospitality game that means it’s time to welcome guests back with open, yet socially distant, arms. Similar to phased reopening plans throughout the country, your hotel’s marketing efforts should take the same approach. By phasing out your hotel marketing targeting you’ll be able to provide the most value for your property in this current market for less (we know many will still be operating with smaller budgets at this time). Below we’ll outline a great phased approach that can be curated to fit any property’s strategy amidst the COVID-19 crisis.

PHASE 1: Focus efforts on your hotel’s current and upcoming guests

If your property isn’t ready to resume marketing efforts and outreach quite yet, then the most basic approach should be to focus on the guests you have. People are still traveling, even to the most restrictive areas, and your top priority should be to make their stay at your hotel as safe and comfortable as possible. This could include imposing smaller capacity caps, ensuring social distancing between guests, using stricter and more frequent cleaning guidelines, and more.

Focusing on your current hotel guests presents the opportunity for providing a much more intimate and personalized experience. Fewer guests mean you can get to know them by name, provide upgrades and other premium amenities, and showcase the service of your hotel in new ways. This focus on guest experience can turn into positive reviews and chatter throughout the web, which has a great impact on your hotel’s reputation, website traffic, and conversion rates.

PHASE 2: Initiate your hotel’s marketing with loyal and previous guests

When you are ready to begin your hotel’s marketing efforts again, we recommend starting small, especially if your hotel is located in a very restrictive area. Your audience should be focused primarily on loyal guests like pass holders and loyalty program members first and then broadening to previous guests or families that return year after year. One of the best ways to engage with this audience is through email marketing because you already have these guests’ contact information and you can draw them in with a more personalized approach.

PHASE 3: Engage with your hotel’s local audiences

Once you’ve taken care of the loyal users, it’s time to move on to your hotel’s local drive market audiences. Whether this is within city limits or up to a day’s drive away, your local market will be the first to return to your property through serious marketing efforts. This is when you really want to make sure your Facebook, display and paid search efforts are ramping up to draw that awareness and highlight the benefits of a staycation or long weekend out of the house.

PHASE 4: Draw in regional guests for your hotel

As we start seeing the United States and other parts of the world opening up more safely we’ll also start seeing people traveling further distances. This goes beyond day trips and weekends and dips more into longer stays. These guests will be driving to your hotel from places that are over six hours away or even taking short flights in.

Some properties are already seeing an influx of regional guests, especially those located in larger metro areas, while some are barely getting local visitors. It’s important to pay attention to your state or city’s reopening guidelines and phases to determine which audiences are worth targeting at any given time.

PHASE 5: Return to normal by reaching your hotel’s destination audiences

Eventually, things will go back to normal and travel will continue as it had before COVID-19 hit. This fifth and final phase includes all guests and normal operations, meaning you can return to targeting your new top-of-funnel audiences and guests that live out of your property’s region.

While this phased approach is simply a guided recommendation, it’s still important for any property or business to evaluate their current standings and plan out their future marketing efforts. Eventually, this will be all over and we will return again to a saturated marketing landscape, but until then you can lean on GCommerce to create a strategy for your hotel’s marketing efforts during COVID-19.

Our hotel digital marketing experts are standing by to help you craft a custom digital marketing relaunch strategy for your hotel. Contact us today.

3 Questions to Ask Your Hotel's Digital Marketing Agency

July 23, 2020 by Lindley Cotton

Over the last few years, the customer journey has been a major topic and how important it is for us as marketers and hoteliers to reach people at every stage of that journey with relevant messaging. If this is a new concept for you, I encourage you to start here.

Understanding the customer journey and all the opportunities to get in front of your hotel’s guests has opened up doors for new technology companies to provide specific touchpoints and push travelers through the funnel. Examples of this are companies like Podium, Zoottle, TrustYou and even CRM specific companies like NAVIS and Revinate. All of these companies provide meaningful services to hoteliers all in an effort of improving the guest experience and ultimately incremental revenue to the property. (Check back soon for a full run-down on all the tech companies GCommerce recommends.)

Outside of these customer-centric technology companies, most hotels have a digital marketing agency managing their paid media, their search engine optimization, content generation, and social media marketing. So the question then becomes “How do I, as a time-starved hotelier, manage both my digital marketing agency and these other 3rd party partners?” The answer? You don’t.

I can tell you after working with hotels for the last 12 years, you as the hotelier should be looking for digital marketing agency partners that want to be your digital marketing arm, not just take orders and manage your paid search campaign. I recently was in a meeting with a luxury hotel brand and they explained how overwhelming and time-consuming it is to first understand all the different tech companies that exist and what they do but also to understand how they overlap with technology they already have and to identify what the right mix is.

Of course, I am biased and I am not ashamed to say so. That does not diminish the argument that hotel digital marketing agencies (should) have the capability to help you navigate the digital landscape and help you identify the correct tech-stack for your property. Further, your tech-stack should look a lot different than the hotel down the street and their agency is hopefully (or maybe we hope they aren’t) helping them understand what they need and what partnerships will actually improve their guest experience and ultimately increase their bottom line. My point is it should be a custom approach that is grounded in a deep understanding of what’s possible and being able to orchestrate all the tools that exist into a fine-tuned program to maximize your hotel’s position in the customer journey. And, this program should ultimately improve your customer’s journey both before arrival and after.

Here’s my homework assignment for you - on your next conference call with your hotel’s digital marketing agency, ask them the following questions:

Do we have the right tech-stack?
Are we doing everything we should be to be ever-present in the customer journey?
What else can we do to increase bottom-line revenue for our hotel?

I encourage you and your hotel’s digital marketing agency to forget about ROAS for a minute and think about your digital presence start to finish. What is the guest experience when travelers interact with your property online? Could it be better with less friction? It’s certainly worth some thought.

4 Marketing Strategies to Reposition Your Hotel to Attract Leisure Guests

July 22, 2020 by Scott van Hartesvelt

As they say, the numbers don’t lie. At GCommerce, we are constantly reviewing trends in our proprietary reporting platform Summit, and the trends are clear. Hotels and resorts that don’t rely heavily on group business; those located outside of large city centers and that have appeal to leisure clients are doing far better than their peers. It is frankly jarring to look at reports showing properties getting HUGE returns on their media dollars and achieving occupancies that are approaching normalcy while also observing properties with a far different and more dire outlook.

Hotel group business, and to a large degree hotel business transient bookings, are likely to be scant for the near future. If your property was built to serve those markets, you are likely grasping at straws and wondering what steps you can take, however small, to drive some much-needed occupancy. Appealing to leisure travelers might be part of the solution for your hotel. While we can’t promise that leisure business will be plentifully available, there are some simple hotel marketing strategies you can take to attract any demand that exists.

First, learn from recent history. Smith Travel Research conducted an in-depth post-mortem of the 2009 hotel market. They found that hotels that drastically reduced their rates, flailing in an attempt to attract customers, performed the poorest, and took the longest to recover. You worked for years to establish your price/value. Do whatever you can to suppress the urge to sacrifice it for short term gains. Price is not the answer; positioning, offerings, and hotel media strategy are.

Four Hotel Marketing Strategies to Attract Short Term Leisure Guests

Speak Directly to their Needs- Start by looking at your hotel’s website through the eyes of a leisure customer. Chances are your copy, your images and your overall presentation feature the property’s group and business traveler amenities. Can you make some simple changes using your hotel website’s CMS (hopefully easy to implement) that will start to highlight your leisure offerings? While the business and group travelers tend to fit more into the road warrior category, understanding the nuances and expectations of life on the road, leisure travelers tend to need more hand-holding before making a reservation. Do your hotel’s room types clearly outline what they include, from double vanities to full-size mirrors to laundry service? Are you painfully clear when describing your property policies? Small copy changes can go a long way to providing leisure guests comfort during booking.
Address COVID-19 Head On- Speaking of policies, like many of you we have thought long and hard about how to address COVID. In our estimation, the best approach when appealing to leisure guests is to loudly acknowledge your COVID policies on your homepage and other relevant pages of your hotel’s website. We believe that exuding thoughtfulness and competence in your approach to COVID outweighs concerns about reminding guests of the risks. GCommerce recently published recommendations on ways to communicate your property’s COVID-19 precautions if you are looking for additional suggestions.
Merchandise- Offers and packages provide a great opportunity to appeal to leisure travelers while helping position your property accordingly. Can you easily offer late check-out or free breakfast packages? Simple leisure-focused offers can appeal to hotel guests without eroding your long term price/value. Packages also give you space to feature and draw awareness to attractions that are safe and open in your area. “Day at the museum” or “Free kayak rental” packages may help convince a leisure guest to choose your property while giving them itinerary ideas they might not have found otherwise.
Laser Targeted Hotel Media Campaigns- Finally, fine-tune your hotel’s media campaigns. Our current data shows that a lion's share of all leisure business is being booked by guests within 150 miles of the property. Focus on the local drive market, and focus on media that appeals to “getaways” or “escapes.” Make sure your hotel’s messaging through that media highlights your new offerings. Your future leisure guests are your current neighbors in search of a reason to leave isolation for something better. For a more in-depth look at hotel media strategy during COVID, see the blog from our talented marketing team.

Appealing primarily to leisure travelers may not be central to your DNA, but with some thoughtful work, it can be done and done without great expense.

If you have additional questions or need help crafting a new marketing strategy for your hotel, please reach out. Our experienced hotel digital marketing team is standing by to help.