Introduction.
When it comes to the travel industry, the competition is pretty fierce. Cruise 118 and Six Star Cruises, part of World Travel Holdings, are renowned leading providers of luxury global travel. Offering exclusive, high-end getaways, both companies were looking to expand their online presence and increase bookings through paid media.
challenges
Inefficient account set-up
The account set-up was outdated and inefficient, so a full account restructure was needed to segregate the specific businesses to improve targeting and campaign structure.
Migrating from a manual CPC to an automated strategy was an added challenge. Cruise118 has always used manual bid strategies, which require daily attention. Switching to this approach would provide significantly more power to Google, and the algorithms work based on the target you set. The general goal was to maximise conversions on a target CPA, where we were looking for a high volume of leads at a low cost.
Limited currency options
They had multiple accounts all set up in American Dollars, which was proving to be a big blocker for a UK business. They were having to jump through numerous hoops to exchange currencies and it was proving to be a highly inefficient process. So the ability to pay in GBP was a high priority.
Broad audience scope
Upon reviewing the active campaigns, they lacked direction, with no focus on specific ships or packages, which limited the targeting options.
We found that the display audiences being targeted were extremely broad, including anyone with an interest in “trainers” or “cooking.” We tightened the scope of the audience drastically, so those interested in Caribbean cruise holidays would be pushed towards the Royal Caribbean Campaigns. With tailored packages and products available across the ships, specific campaigns would ensure the correct audiences were targeted and maximise campaign efficiency.
our solutions.
Account restructure
A comprehensive restructuring was a vital starting point to address multiple challenges. This involved creating two new accounts exclusively in GBP which simplified the billing processes and ensured we had specific accounts for the individual businesses and respective budgets.
Automated bidding strategy
We transitioned from a manual CPC to Maximize Conversions with a Target CPA, to boost lead generation efficiency and make the most of budgets. Using this strategy aligned seamlessly with Cruise118’s cost-per-lead metrics to measure campaign success.
Granular campaign structure
As well as the account restructure, we produced a more granular structure to enhance campaign management and facilitate targeted optimisation, enabling individual campaigns to be pushed or pulled based on performance metrics. Amending the structure provided us with significantly more control to pull levers more efficiently, meaning that if a specific campaign needed amendments, we could do so without impacting other ship-specific campaigns, improving the management of campaigns and driving a stronger CPL and performance level.
Ship-specific campaigns
We also introduced ship-specific campaigns, allowing for tailored messaging and bespoke audience targeting. The messaging was updated each week to reflect the offers that the cruise lines were targeting. From our research, we found that there is quite a following for certain ships that are more popular than others, which meant each ship group had its own copy, resulting in a higher CTR and a direct impact on lead generation.
our results.
Overall, the account restructure that we implemented allowed for a more targeted and defined strategy, with added currency options and ship-specific campaigns, which could be amended with ease. These changes resulted in positive outcomes for the paid media strategy, with highlights below.
