More than ever, travel brands are using partnership marketing to hit their key performance targets, reach out to new customers and support customer retention.
Before booking a holiday, customers heavily research their decisions and are exposed to scores of sites that compare flights and hotels. You need to capture their decision and get them to click the “book now” button.
At Acceleration Partners, our team helps you develop a successful travel affiliate marketing program with better tools, competitive commission rates, localized experience and a personalized approach to travel affiliate marketing.
Key Steps to Creating a Successful Travel Affiliate Marketing Program
Successful travel affiliate marketing programs are built on a shared vision, a sharp strategy — and a partnership between your brand, vetted publishers and an expert team of travel affiliate marketing professionals with decades of combined experience. At Acceleration Partners, we offer just that, along with a global network of trusted affiliates, expertise in the travel industry and other top niches, plus unrivaled knowledge to launch and optimize your travel affiliate marketing program.
Understanding the Process of Affiliate Marketing
At its core, affiliate marketing is fairly simple. Brands partner with third-party publishers — such as bloggers, content creators, traditional media partners or review websites — who then promote the brand’s products or services. Publishers typically earn a commission on conversions, which may be paid on a pay-per-sale, pay-per-click or pay-per-lead model.
Some brands launch their affiliate programs in-house, working from the ground up to establish relationships with publishers while managing performance and optimizing strategies. However, many of the most successful travel industry affiliate programs are based on strong partnerships between brands and affiliate program management groups like Acceleration Partners. In these cases, brands can take advantage of an affiliate program management team’s expertise, processes and publisher network.
Setting Clear Goals for Your Travel Affiliate Program
Setting clear goals at the start of your travel affiliate marketing program can help guide progress, improve strategy and ensure your campaigns meet or exceed key performance indicators (KPIs). Before launching a program, work with your team to answer the following questions:
- What KPIs should we track? Depending on your goals, you may track conversions, leads, referrals, sign-ups or clicks.
- Which affiliates should we partner with? Are you interested in review or deals sites, or would you prefer to work with a select group of content creators?
- How will we track conversions and monitor progress? Ensure you’re set up to track your campaigns to verify effectiveness and look for opportunities to improve.
Strategies for Growing Your Travel Affiliate Marketing Program
Once you understand the basics of affiliate marketing and have established goals for your program, here are a few strategies for launching and growing your affiliate campaigns.
