Snapchat has launched its Dynamic Travel Ads product to help brands create different ads according to their products and services.
The social media platform says it will serve the most relevant ads to "Snapchatters" interested in travel, whom it claims are 37% more likely to book travel after seeing an advertisement.
Snapchat says the ads have a number of unique benefits for travel advertisers including targeting according to a Snapchatter's interest in travel and locally relevant campaign delivery using the company's visitation data.
The company says Etihad reduced the cost per flight search fourfold using the dynamic ads product and achieved "a 307% increase in ROAS (return on advertising spend) as well as a 76% decrease in cost per purchase compared to their non-dynamic campaigns."
Phil Dodwell, marketing media lead for Etihad, says the airline was able to "maximize relevance by matching customers to specific destinations, dramatically improving performance metrics across the booking funnel in the process."
He adds: "The prospecting solution in particular is currently the best-in-class catalog solution for dynamic travel ads on social, and we are extremely pleased with the results we have been able to achieve. We look forward to building on this approach in Q2 and beyond.”
Meanwhile, Booking.com also reduced its advertising costs by using images from its product catalog to present locally relevant listings to the audience based on previously viewed products.
Sharon Silverstein, head of U.S. verticals at Snap Inc, says, "Snapchatters are a particularly salient audience for the industry, with many eager and more likely to travel than users of other platforms."
Subscribe to our newsletter below
The company says 76% of Snapchatters are making plans or have already returned pre-pandemic travel behavior.
It adds that the platform has more than 600 million monthly active users and 332 million daily active users.
Many travel brands are experimenting with social platforms with their millions of users as a way to extend reach and boost engagement beyond more traditional marketing channels.
In addition, a number of travel brands have made their own media moves recently with Marriott, for example, launching a media network in partnership with Yahoo that enables other advertisers to target its audience.
Initially, brands will be able to target Marriott customers via the hotel company's website and mobile application expanding to in-room television screens and its Bonvoy loyalty program later.