The forthcoming peaks selling season in travel will be “unlike any other” thanks to the “amazing” reach of YouTube and the ability of AI to help advertisers reach the right consumers.
That’s the view of Anna Sawbridge, director of travel at Google in the UK, who works with travel agencies, tour operators, hoteliers and aggregators across the travel industry.
She said the world of entertainment has “really shifted”, with billions of viewers and high-quality content on YouTube – which is owned by Google – plus new ad formats that use AI to help travel advertisers reach their goals.
“What’s really interesting this year is this collision between this new form of entertainment, how YouTube has developed as a platform, and the ability that provides advertisers to engage and reach audiences that are highly engaged…as well as the opportunities that AI provides in reaching those audiences in a really efficient way that is directly aimed at driving business results,” she said.
“There is real excitement in this opportunity to pull together both the changing entertainment landscape and the opportunity to leverage AI.
“This will be a peak unlike any other because you’ve got some very different trends in the marketplace to take advantage of.”
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Sawbridge said YouTube has “democratised” content production, giving rise to a new generation of “talented and diverse” creators who are building content that is aligned to individual users’ passions.
Globally, YouTube has about two billion logged-in viewers each month, while viewers on the connected TV platform watch about a billion hours of content every day.
“It is an amazing platform in terms of its reach and engagement from the audience, which is being driven by the tremendous amount of high-quality content,” she said.
She cited examples of creators such as Brandon B, with 14.5 million subscribers, and channels such as Hot Ones, which has been nominated for an Emmy.
Sidemen, the biggest content producing group in the UK, has 21.7 million subscribers, and the first episode of its recent series, Inside, eclipsed the viewership of TV show Love Island, she added.
“We have developed these incredible new ad formats that leverage AI to drive the goals that travel advertisers have,” she added.
“The system will find the right user at the right time with the right message and deliver on the business goal that you set.
“You can target a specific audience category to find a niche group or you can target a specific passion.”
Furthermore, the content is available in both short and long forms.
“The YouTube platform enables you to reach users when they’re viewing long-form content and sitting back, with a TV screen…and a more snackable, on-the-go environment where they might be commuting and they’re flicking through videos on their phone,” she explained.
“You can tie the two together, because it’s all happening in the same platform. You can also tie up with what’s happening then in search.”
She said Etihad Airways has used YouTube along with AI to create adverts and deliver them in a “hyper-personalised” way to individuals. The airline’s YouTube campaign for Black Friday last year generated a 56% increase in bookings, almost two million website visits and the highest revenue-generating day from paid search.
Sawbridge also pointed to wider search trends that bode well for the travel industry.
“In about 2004, searches for ‘cheap’ far outweighed searches for ‘best’. In the last 20 years, we’ve seen that completely reverse,” she said.
“Now users are searching for ‘best’ far more than ‘cheap’. That’s really interesting for the travel industry, and a lot of hope, because people want what is right for them.
“Being able to communicate your brand online and talk about the features of the brand that make it unique will satisfy what users are looking for.”
She also pointed to an “elongation” of the holiday search process, noting: “Users are starting their searches earlier and they can also be waiting to book until later.
“From an advertising perspective, it’s really important to not just think about that peak period. That peak period obviously remains vitally important but there is an opportunity ahead of peaks to start building that brand saliency.”
Sawbridge, who has worked with Google for more than 12 years, took up her role as director of travel a year ago.
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