By Alice Almeida, Manager of Innovation & Insights, Hitwise
Getting on top of online behavioural data can be a challenging task, but understanding the information that’s now available to businesses can be key to growing a brand and boosting income.
For those of you who don’t know Hitwise, we are Australia’s leading online marketing intelligence company. We specialise in online behavioural data which tracks millions of digital Australian footprints each day across industries, websites, search, and device (desktop/mobile).
From this, clients are able to distinguish things like their current and potential customers, their true competitive set and the desires or interests of their customers.
They can also identify consumer behaviours as well as industry trends and performance, such as what to look out for or benchmark against.
Hitwise works with many of Australia’s largest travel brands every day, and has for the past 20 years. We pride ourselves on knowing Australian consumers better than anyone else. In this day and age, where ‘Big Data’ is talked about more than actioned or understood, brands can’t help but feel a little threatened or overwhelmed by it all. Where to start? Whilst I can’t help you with your own internal data, I can help you understand how to implement valuable third party data into your marketing strategy.
The travel industry has one of most active consumer bases online with almost 10 million Australians seeking out or booking travel just in the month of January 2017. Understanding this mass audience is key for travel brands, especially if they are seeking a slice of those consumers!
The chart below highlights the sub-industries of travel most heavily visited by potential travelers and its year on year growth. From this, you can see that all sub-industries have seen growth in the past 12 months, in particular Agencies, who saw a 17% increase.
So, what is leading this growth? Well, Australians love of travel at a heavily discounted price! Those sites offering travel packages at a discounted price are definitely getting a lot of interest from Australian travellers. Luxury Escapes grew by a massive 101% in Q4, 2016. Its promotions of resorts within Bali clearly resonated with Australian travellers. Cruise Guru, a cruise package discount site, saw phenomenal growth in Q4 — up 600% YoY. There clearly was a demand for a wide range of cruises at heavily discounted prices. Jetstar launched its annual Christmas sale, advertising flights for $29 to some incredible destinations — Hawaii and Bali to name a few. This sale resulted in Jetstar increasing its market share by 5%.
Whilst it’s not technically a ‘discount’ site, Airbnb saw 51% relative growth from Q4 2015 to Q4 2016. Because Airbnb enables travellers to stay in nicer accommodation than they could normally afford, there is a perception they are saving money by booking through this site.
Through search we are able to showcase ‘destinations to watch’. Whilst they may be small in the grand scheme of things, interest in them is growing, and very quickly. There are two destinations which have entered the fastest growing (by search share) top 10 for Q4, 2016. The first is India. Both Mumbai and New Delhi and India overall have all seen positive shifts QoQ. The other destination is very close to my heart, Norfolk Island, my home town. From Q4 2015 to Q4 2016, the interest in Norfolk Island doubled, increasing its search ranking by 43 positions.
Online behavioural data is one of the most accurate representations of current and potential customers and the market. Being on top of this will not only assist with building successful marketing campaigns, but it will help keep your brand growing in a competitive market.
