Tackle Complex Buying Behaviors in Travel & Entertainment

SPRING INTO ACTION

What you’ll walk away with1. Understanding of how travel and entertainment differ from retail

2. Examples of Travel and Entertainment Personas

3. How to analyze your funnel

4. Keys to effective testing

5. Eight test ideas

SPRING INTO ACTION

Blue Acorn• Premium eCommerce agency in Charleston, SC• Full service: design, development and

optimization• Clients span multiple industries and include

Ticketmaster, Olympus, Everlast, Le Creuset, Char-Broil, Rebecca Minkoff, Signature Hardware, Southern Tide.

Jay Atkinson• Director, Optimization• 15+ years in

eCommerce• Source of mustache

envy

Travel & Entertainmen

t

SPRING INTO ACTION

Opportunity greater in this space than traditional eCommerce

Retail eCommerce vs.

Travel & Entertainment

SPRING INTO ACTION

Digital Travel Sales Worldwide (2014-2019)

SPRING INTO ACTION

Travel vs. Retail

• Booking vs checkout• Time sensitive inventory AND pricing• Option/package variation• Price• Convenience• Consideration cycle/length

SPRING INTO ACTION

Online Ticket Sales

SPRING INTO ACTION

Entertainment vs. Retail

• Scarcity and capacity• Time sensitivity• Mood/temporal circumstances• Social considerations

Optimization

SPRING INTO ACTION

We’re going to answer…How would we rapidly strategize and launch multiple tests in a short time

frame?

What would we do if we had no time for rigorous data analysis?

What assumptions could we safely make about the travel and entertainment industry?

23:59:59

Personas

SPRING INTO ACTION

SPRING INTO ACTION

Understanding personas

SPRING INTO ACTION

Craft effective personas

Doug

Goals:1) super bright smile

2) perfect hair

Behavior1) shops constantly

2) uses mobile phone while walking

Becca

Goals:1) 1st 28-year-old VP at

company2) Learn HTML/CSS

Behavior1) eats and exercises

simultaneously2) tablet addict

SPRING INTO ACTION

Our Sample Personas: Travel

The Opportunist• Has disposable income, open to travel at

any time• Looking for opporunities to get out of

town• Motivated by limited deals or sense of

urgency• May be looking for minimal alignment

(friends, favorite artist/sports team, bucket list)

The Planner• Is more likely to travel for a particular

occasion• Needs to be able to assess the full picture• Will likely be comparing across multiple

sites and sources

SPRING INTO ACTION

Our Sample Personas: Entertainment

The Opportunist• Looking to find a unique experience

that’s worth her time• Fear of missing out (FOMO)• Can be impulsive in preferences and

decision making

The Planner• Needs to be able to iron out the full

experience and details• May need to coordinate friends or family and

accommodate their needs• Needs more validation to avoid risk of

disappointment

The Funnel

SPRING INTO ACTION

SPRING INTO ACTION

React

Find

Choose

Buy

Retain

SPRING INTO ACTION

Understanding your Funnel

Quantitative Analysis&

Qualitative Analysis

16:32:40

SPRING INTO ACTION

React

Find

Choose

Buy

Retain

Effective Optimization

SPRING INTO ACTION

Goals Themes Experiments Actions

SPRING INTO ACTION

The process

Goals Themes Experiments Actions

SPRING INTO ACTION

The process

Goals Themes Experiments Actions

SPRING INTO ACTION

The process

Goals Themes Experiments Actions

SPRING INTO ACTION

The process

12:23:50

A Few Starting

Experiments

SPRING INTO ACTION

SPRING INTO ACTION

Limited Time Special Rate Hero

• Hypothesis - By immediately showing the Opportunist the best deals and giving her a deadline for booking, we can minimize bounce rates and encourage impulse bookings.

• kpis - bounce rate, conversion rate

React

Find

Choose

Buy

Retain

Experiment 1

SPRING INTO ACTION

Experiment 2Group Rates Advertising

• Hypothesis - By explicitly indicating the value and efficiency of a group package to the Planner on his first experience, we will entice him to commit to our site and complete booking for their entire group.

• kpis – average order value, conversion rate

React

Find

Choose

Buy

Retain

SPRING INTO ACTION

Experiment 3Day by Day Price Comparison

• Hypothesis - By showing Planners rates broken down by day, they can easily see which dates provide the most value to travel on. Also reduces friction of having repeat search queries just to evaluate slight variations.

• kpis – average order value, conversion rate

React

Find

Choose

Buy

Retain

SPRING INTO ACTION

Experiment 4Social Validation on Event Pages

• Hypothesis - By visualizing the attendees and social connections of the Opportunist that are already committed to the event, we will increase her interest and ultimate conversion.

• kpis – bounce rate, conversion rate

React

Find

Choose

Buy

Retain

SPRING INTO ACTION

Experiment 5Best Price Guarantee

• Hypothesis - By emphasizing a low price guarantee on package/trip/room pages, we can give the Planner a greater sense of confidence and reduce the likelihood of purchasing from OTA’s or competitors.

• kpis –conversion rate, average order value

React

Find

Choose

Buy

Retain

SPRING INTO ACTION

Experiment 6Race to Finish the Purchase

• Hypothesis - By stressing the diminishing inventory and time to the Opportunist once she is in the checkout process, we will increase her sense of urgency and push her to convert

• kpis –conversion rate, cart abandonment

React

Find

Choose

Buy

Retain

SPRING INTO ACTION

Experiment 7Sharing Based Checkout Promotion

• Hypothesis - By enabling and enticing the Planner to share their ticket choices, you will give facilitate and encourage their coordination with friends, resulting in higher conversion rates and referrals

• kpis –social sharing rate, conversion rate

React

Find

Choose

Buy

Retain

SPRING INTO ACTION

Experiment 8F.O.M.O. Newsletter Signup

• Hypothesis - By stressing the fear of missing out the cool activities available, we can get the Opportunist to sign up and become a recurring purchaser

• kpis – returning Purchasers, newsletter signups

React

Find

Choose

Buy

Retain

03:58:25

Key Takeaways

SPRING INTO ACTION

SPRING INTO ACTION

Key Takeaways

1.Create Personas2.Visualize the Funnel3.Build a Plan4.Take Action

00:00:00

Questions?

SPRING INTO ACTION

Thank you!

Twitter: @jatkinson10 @blueacorn

Email: jay@blueacorn.com

SPRING INTO ACTION

www.blueacorn.com