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3 Key Takeaways from FADMO: Destinations Florida Marketing Summit – 2022 Consumer Travel Trends

This past May, GroundTruth had the pleasure of attending the annual 2022 Destinations Florida Destination Marketing Summit — the largest gathering of Florida destination marketing organization executives and industry suppliers.

Now that summer travel is up and running again, it’s never been more important for travel and tourism business leaders to invest in new and innovative ways to promote the localities they work in. Consumer needs are shifting, so it’s imperative that travel and tourism brands and agencies stay tuned into how to best retain and attract new customers.

Here are 3 key takeaways we learned about 2022 Consumer Travel Trends gathered by attending the Florida Destination Marketing Summit:

1

Re-Imagined Travel: Consumers are Back in Control

Travel Industry Insight:

Now that many travel restrictions have lifted, friends and families are hitting vacation locations in record numbers.

According to UStravel.org, “Hotel and resort occupancies are reaching new highs – adjusting to almost pre-pandemic levels. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, travel spending ($100 billion) was 3% ABOVE 2019 levels in April 2022.” In addition to that, more than one-quarter (28%) of travelers plan to spend significantly more this summer over their 2019 travel budgets for marquee trips, due to higher prices as well as accumulated savings.

To learn more about marketing during a recession, listen to our Webinar.

Travel Industry Marketing Strategies:

Generate Awareness

Consumers are back in control of the travel market and are hungry for more. So what does that mean for travel and tourism companies? Gain consumer interest by generating awareness and demand at every level of the consumer journey. Start by building a comprehensive marketing plan: research your target customer, attract awareness, uplevel conversion, and then secure brand loyalty.

Be In-Market with Location-Based Marketing

If you’re not front and center with your key audiences, they’ll forget you. The consumer journey starts at the impression level​​. It’s important to get in front of the customer BEFORE they begin planning. Here are some location-based marketing strategies to get you started:

• Reach the right audience by using location, audience, and contextual targeting capabilities in real-time by activating mobile ads.
• Reach customers at home to influence future planning behaviors: Reinforce your brand messaging with CTV ads to reach customers at home.
• Leverage weather triggering targeting capabilities to entice and influence travelers to take actions.

Turn Insights Into Outcomes

Gather consumer insights and take action. Build custom insights using tools such as GroundTruth’s Blueprints technology to tell you where your audiences are coming from and their interests based on the places they visit and more.

2

Immersive Content is the Future

Travel Industry Insight:

According to Statista, “Over the past two decades, digitalization has been seen increasingly across most industries worldwide.The travel and tourism industry is no exception, with the emergence of the online travel market and increasing consumer demand for digital travel services.”

To learn more about marketing during a recession, listen to our Webinar.

Travel Industry Marketing Strategies:

Discover AR/VR Technologies

Immersive content is a new marketing format that relies on two technologies: virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). It gives travelers a unique way to experience and learn about places they are interested in visiting. Marketers who use immersive content can create virtual environments to build brand awareness as well as “call to actions” (CTA’s) that move consumers through the marketing funnel.

What’s transformative about AR/VR technology is that you can be transported to another world by experiencing simulations. Travel customers are now embracing this type of alternative reality technology. Different types of VR technologies seen across the market include VR products, immersive drone footage, augmented reality simulations, and more.

Leverage QR Codes

Over the last couple of years, QR codes have proven that they can be an effective engagement tool. And, well, they don’t seem to be going away anytime soon. Remember: no one scans a QR code by accident, which means it can capture true engagement. Leverage QR Code overlays for CTV ads and live streaming promotions. Alternatively, supplement CTV spots with engaging ads to influence a decision to travel to your destination.

3

From a Cost-Conscious Consumer to a Value-Driven Consumer

Travel Industry Insight:

Consumers in 2022 are traveling and spending money, but also focusing on what travel experiences they are spending their money on and why. That’s why we present you with an updated concept of consumer personas: the value-driven consumer.

Before, cost-conscious consumers were controlling the market, fearing pandemic-related recessions, lockdowns and travel restrictions. Value-driven consumers are rethinking their priorities, perhaps rethinking career choices along with other life stage decisions. Now that summer is in full swing, and despite murmurs of a different recession, consumers are traveling and enjoying themselves, but they are also picking and choosing which experiences they participate in.

To learn more about marketing during a recession, listen to our Webinar.

Travel Industry Marketing Strategies:

Differentiate Yourself

Since travelers are interested in spending money now, all travel and tourism companies need to step up and differentiate themselves amongst the crowd of competitors. Whether going far or spending within their local communities, travelers are really taking the time to enjoy local community life, appreciating sustainability efforts, seeking out opportunities to give back, and more.

Consider providing experiences that support social impact efforts and relate to what your customers care about: use sustainable materials when possible, give back to communities, support local economies, and more.

There you have it! Three of the consumer travel trends for 2022 and the best marketing strategies to capitalize on these trends. If you ever need a location partner to help power your advertising campaigns, look no further. GroundTruth is one of the most trusted and effective ad platforms to work with to gain travel and tourism consumer insights, identify the right customers, and engage with them in a multitude of ways. Contact us today to find out how we can help you drive meaningful marketing results for your business.

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The summer season sizzles with an increase in backyard bbqs, pool days, summer wardrobes, and jet setting. Consumers are beginning to shape their summer plans and that’s where we come in. GroundTruth can help brands and marketers tap into insightful visitation and audience data to drive meaningful and engaging advertising campaigns across all channels.

In this webinar, we:

• Highlighted shopper and travel trends throughout the summer months, along with actionable insights to create standout campaigns
• Shared recommended targeting tactics and solutions with proven success
• Dived into multichannel advertising strategies to increase purchases and bookings during this peak season

The post Best Practices: Setting Up Summer Season Strategies for CPG and Travel appeared first on GroundTruth.

The Restaurant Franchising and Innovation Summit

The pandemic has had long-lasting effects on the restaurant industry, impeding success for many. In an effort to support the restaurant industry, the annual Restaurant Franchising and Innovation Summit brings together executives from leading brands to share their recipes for success in building their companies and sourcing techniques to tackle challenging problems.

This past summer, GroundTruth attended the most recent 2021 Restaurant Franchising and Innovation Summit to offer industry leaders high-impact advertising solutions to recover from pandemic declines and help get patrons back in their doors.

Working with restaurant clients isn’t new to the GroundTruth team. Throughout the throes of the pandemic, GroundTruth continues to work with restaurants of all types from Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) and Fast Casual establishments to Fine Dining venues. Our past clients include brands such as McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Outback Steakhouse. Our approach to the market helps our clients pivot in real-time to achieve their goals, whether those be to drive physical store visits, increase sales, steal market share, or others.

While supporting restaurants has long been our bread and butter, this space is ever-changing and our strategies track to keep pace with the industry status quo. This past summit reinforced that there are some unique challenges (and solutions!) present in the market. Let’s take a look and learn about how we can best approach them.

3 Key Takeaways from the Restaurant Franchising and Innovation Summit

#1: Labor Shortages Impede Restaurant Operations

Restaurants of all sizes have experienced staffing issues as the economy has entered post-pandemic recovery mode. And the disparity shows. According to Fast Casual, “data tells us that the median limited-service chain ran its stores with nearly one less employee this May [2021] than in May 2019.”

Along similar lines, QSR Magazine states that 28% of restaurant operators believe it will be 7 to 12 months before staffing returns to normal.

This presents a challenge for all restaurant brands that are not only trying to drive diners to their locations during a global pandemic that has already weakened their bottom line, but now need to split their focus to attract qualified candidates to help support their operations.

Solution: Localized Digital Campaigns

A solution to this conundrum can be seen in how brands leverage localized digital campaigns in their hiring efforts. Increased awareness of open jobs with location-based targeting across all screens, from mobile to desktop to CTV can get potential applicants engaged and interested in applying to your company. Companies can save marketing dollars by strategically recruiting with solutions like Proximity Targeting, Custom Audience Targeting, or Neighborhood Targeting within relevant markets.

#2: Restaurants Need to Shift to Accommodate Off-Premise Dining

“Going out to a restaurant” just doesn’t mean the same as it used to. Thankfully, there are so many ways to accommodate off-premise restaurant dining, a practice that’s become the norm for many brands.

Brands that offer drive thru and contactless pickup have truly come out on top as major industry differentiators. In fact, the National Restaurant News states 43% of consumers said drive-thru is the most preferred method for ordering restaurant food during the pandemic. Takeout and curbside pickup is preferred by 33%.

Throughout the ambiguity of the pandemic, restaurants that pivoted to curbside pickup managed to maintain operations compared to those that did not. This theme hasn’t changed as consumers continue to prioritize safety and convenience which are inherent in off-premise dining.

Solution: Dynamic QSR Ads

Digital media provides brands more flexibility in creating dynamic ads. With GroundTruth media, you can serve specific messages or creatives to targeted audiences based on their past behaviors. For example, if you want to reach a QSR Diner Behavioral Audience to let them know that a new location with a drive-thru has opened up near them, GroundTruth can use our Audience and Proximity Targeting solutions to help hone in on a particular subset of diners. Alternatively, we have the Cost-Per-Visit advertising platform that only requests payment when an actual visit occurs.

#3: Consumers Need More Dining Options than Ever

Throughout this past year and at present, it’s clear that it’s important for customers to have a variety of options to meet their daily needs for ordering, acquiring, and enjoying their meals safely. Beyond that, restaurateurs are looking to their favorite meal purveyors for fast service, convenience, and Covid-19 safety regulations.

From setting up in-app order ahead capabilities, to making sure restaurant sit-down locations are Covid-compliant, restaurants have been accelerating their digitization and hygiene efforts in order to keep up with demand and maintain relationships with their patrons.

When it comes to placing a restaurant order, “70% of respondents prefer to place their order through a mobile app or website, with the restaurant mobile app being the most preferred channel [32%] followed by the restaurant website [26%].”

Solution: Geofencing Restaurant Locations

GroundTruth’s BlueprintTM, our proprietary mapping technology, geofences or outlines curbside pickup areas for restaurant locations to create and identify custom audiences who enjoy contactless pickup options. This technology helps brands build timely connections with consumers looking for convenience and safety in their food pickup.

Want More Insights into the Restaurant Industry?

The Restaurant Franchising and Innovation Summit is a great place to discuss the direction national restaurants must go in in order to be successful during an ambiguous time. Although there are some challenges in the market at-present, we’re confident that our solutions can help brands get back to hiring, targeting patrons, and getting visitors back in their doors. We can’t wait to learn more at next year’s Restaurant and Franchising Innovation Summit. Until then! Register here.

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