The Great Travel-Marketing Whodunit Is Attributing Credit for the Last Click
Photo Credit: Digital marketers are trying to apportion which ads get credit, and how much, toward the last click or purchasing decision. Kenshoo
Skift Take
Which ads get credit, and how much, toward the last click? Damn, it's complicated. Some travel companies are just now transitioning from analysis to action.
How do travel marketers attribute proper credit to the various stages of consumers’ sometimes-multiweek journey from research to a booking?
While previously – and often still today – the last click got all of the credit, marketers are now trying to assess the impact of various interactions whether it was an early click on “cheap tickets,” a branded keyword such as “Expedia” or perhaps a click on a hotel through Kayak or TripAdvisor that ultimately led to a hotel site or online travel agency booking.
The assessment is key for marketers who not only want to track what led to the ultimate click but also want to rework their campaigns based on their attribution findings.
The issue also is front-of-mind for metasearch players such as TripAdvisor as CEO Stephen Kaufer knows that his company doesn't always get appropriate credit for an online travel agency booking that it might have greatly influenced.
Kaufer referenced the issue during TripAdvisor's fourth quarter o
