Hack My Stats! Using Google Analytics Rev Up Sales

In tourism, we have the luxury of selling “fun.” Total piece of cake, right? No need for super detailed marketing, because who in the world doesn’t like fun?!

While it seems simple in theory, tour and hospitality marketing takes a great deal of planning and strategy. There’s a lot of competition, a ton of noise in targeted publications, and countless visitor profile types to keep track of.

So where does one start? 

Begin with Data

To break through and create an action (i.e. sales), you’ll need to set goals for messaging. The types of goals depend largely on what you already have going for your brand…. But more importantly, where you can improve.

Ask yourself, what is your biggest traveler market segment? Where do they come from? Do they book on mobile or desktop? How far ahead of their visit do they purchase tickets?

To get an understanding, you’ll need to look at numbers – hard data with detailed tracking. 

For some, the idea of stats analysis is overwhelming. To others, data review becomes a rabbit hole of intrigue! It’s best to take things in their simplest form –try to set reference points to keep tabs on touch points while not going too far into the details. Without knowing what to track, you risk loosing countless hours on statistics that could have been better spent at planning, benchmarking, and assessing.

Statistics Vary - Know Where to Look

In regard to data sources, there are many areas one can inspect: reservations reports, call logs, group sales reporting, and website statistics. Each interface will vary a bit and there will be overlap at times. 

As most people look to web before and during booking, Google Analytics has a surplus of useful data, and is a great way to get a feel for your market’s behavioral and demographic foundation. It’s also FREE and is virtually real time in its delivery – which is perfect for marketing experiments.

A few wonderful ways to use Google Analytics data to directly increase sales:

• Setting up auto-generated reports to email you weekly info at top level view. (Look for dips and rises.)

• Year over year report comparisons to see areas of improvement.

• Geo filtering standard reports to designate city locations with high engagement – optimizing or initiating messaging per location.

• Behavioral website visitor flow to gauge interest in particular topics or pages.

• Conversion tracking and reverse goal flow views to go beyond who visited the site, and see the type of visitor who actually made an action.

When you know what to look for, Google Analytics becomes a quick and easy tool to poke through for pockets of opportunity. Now's the perfect time to give it a go.

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Want to find out more?

Join us for our next workshop discussion on Monday, October 9th, 2017, and get an in depth view of how to use YOUR analytics to boost sales.

Spots are booked on a first come, first served basis, for the event at Mardi Gras World, in New Orleans.

Register now on Eventbrite.

View workshop agenda.