H-ON Le Mag April : How to Maximize the ROI of Your Advertising Campaigns in 2025

Jean-Dominique Brivet, Chief of Digital Agency at D-EDGE, has authored a new report on the evolving landscape of direct bookings. He stresses the enduring nature of structural trends and advises hoteliers to embrace ten strategic recommendations to maximize their potential.

It is projected that there will be continued moderate revenue growth in 2025, with Google maintaining its stronghold and distribution costs on the rise. To effectively navigate these challenges and optimize revenue and cost-efficiency, professionals in the hospitality and travel tech industry offer the following insights:

1. Emphasize Direct Distribution
In 2024, the average cost of direct distribution stood at 3.5% in Europe and APAC, considerably lower than OTA commissions (15–28%) and wholesalers (20–40%). Direct bookings not only boost profitability but also grant ownership of the guest relationship, upselling opportunities, and access to valuable first-party data.

2. Provide the Best Rate on Your Official Website
With metasearch engines facilitating price comparisons, maintaining rate parity is no longer sufficient. To enhance conversion rates and lower acquisition costs, ensure that your direct channel consistently offers the most competitive rate. Hotels following this strategy have reported improved conversion rates and revenue performance.

3. Drive Organic Traffic with SEO
In 2024, SEO and direct traffic contributed to two-thirds of direct booking revenue, with a distribution cost of just 1.7%. To enhance SEO effectiveness, focus on:

– Improving website speed and mobile responsiveness
– Crafting quality content centered around targeted keywords
– Increasing organic visibility to attract high-intent traffic

4. Optimize Paid Search Campaigns
Search advertising outperformed other channels in 2024. To achieve a higher ROI, consider:

– Bidding on branded and long-tail keywords (hotel name, location, USP)
– Crafting compelling ad copy for better conversion rates
– Exploring Bing Ads as a cost-efficient alternative to Google

5. Diversify Metasearch Advertising
Despite a decline in revenue in 2024, metasearch remains a valuable ROI-positive acquisition channel. While Google Hotel Ads remains dominant, experimenting with Tripadvisor or Trivago can help reduce overreliance on a single platform. It is essential to monitor and adjust budgets based on the performance of each platform.

6. Utilize Free Booking Links—While Available
Although Free Booking Links (FBL) saw a revenue decrease in 2024, its future remains uncertain. However, as long as it remains active, it presents a cost-free opportunity worth seizing.