Hotels
Vacation rentals
Airlines
Destinations
Travel agencies
Cruises
Car rentals
Financial institutions
Activities
The strongest co-ops start with shared intent, not just shared interest. Yosemite Mariposa co-op program: Hotels and businesses pooled media spend, with the DMO covering around 30%.
BLOG POST
What is co-op marketing?
Behind the hype
Co-op marketing is having a moment. Learn what it is, why it matters now, and how travel partners can get more value by working together.
Co-op marketing is having a moment
Budgets are tighter. Expectations are higher. And destination marketers are being asked to do more with less and to prove that it’s working. Everyone wants a stronger ROI, but it’s not always clear how to get there.
That’s where co-op marketing comes in.
At its core, co-op marketing is simple: multiple advertisers pooling budget into a single, shared campaign. It’s not just any partnership; it’s a coordinated effort built around a common audience, moment, and outcome.
And it's gaining traction. Tools like Google Trends show growing interest in terms like “co-op marketing” and “co-op advertising” in the U.S. since 2024, with noticeable spikes in 2025 and 2026. That's a strong signal that marketers aren’t just hearing about co-ops; they’re actively exploring how to make them work.
What’s behind the momentum? Results.
For Destination Canada, a joint co-op with Expedia Group showed how a single, shared media plan can move top-of-mind awareness and intent to visit an entire country among U.S. travelers.* In New Orleans, a co-op campaign for Jazz Fest helped participating hotels see a 150% year-over-year increase in room bookings, versus 34% for non-participants.**
Ready to see what's behind the hype? When partners show up together, the impact goes further.
How can we help you?
- What is co-op marketing?
- Co-op campaigns in the wild
- Get the most out of your campaign
- Best practices to win bookings
Co-op marketing is when multiple advertisers pool their budgets into a single, integrated campaign. You’ll see it in a lot of familiar setups, like a brand and retailer promoting a launch together, an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) coordinating campaigns with local dealers, or a destination working with hotels or airlines around a season or event.
Behind the scenes, it’s usually straightforward. Budgets are shared through matching funds, national-to-local partnerships, or pooled investment. Creative, media, and timing are aligned, often leading to co-branded landing pages or offers.
It’s just as important to understand what it’s not. It’s not simply saying “we have a partnership,” and it’s not brands running separate campaigns on the same platform. Without shared investment and a shared outcome, it’s not really a co-op.
Co-op marketing isn’t new. It’s just newly relevant. A few shifts are driving that:
Budgets are tighter, so leverage matters more.
Pooling spend helps partners show up bigger together, instead of competing with smaller, fragmented campaigns. Whether you’re aiming to drive bookings, visitation, or revenue.
Digital has changed the playing field.
Advertising once meant print or radio. Today, co-op campaigns can run across search, social, programmatic, and video, making them more flexible and easier to scale.
Measurement matters.
The road to ROI isn’t always clear, but measuring your performance can be. With co-op campaigns, you can track engagement, leads, conversions, and more.
The role of co-ops is evolving.
What used to be a tactical add-on is increasingly becoming a repeatable, strategic way to drive growth.
If co-op marketing still feels niche, it helps to look outside of travel. Across industries, it’s already common and art of how brands go to market. The pattern is consistent: shared investment, execution, and outcomes.
Retail and CPG
Brands and retailers often co-fund campaigns across search, display, retail media, and influencer channels, connecting a product’s story with where to buy it.
Automotive and franchises
OEMs allocate co-op budgets to dealers based on performance, reimbursing campaigns that meet brand standards and support local execution.
Local and social media
Brands fund local partners’ social campaigns across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest, combining national investment with local relevance.
Platform-led, hyperlocal co-ops
Some brands run centralized campaigns on behalf of many locations, using pooled budgets to deliver targeted, localized media at scale.
Three DMOs teamed up for a SoCal co-op campaign, turning soccer-driven demand into extended stays and delivering a 75:1 return on ad spend.
Instead of each brand running separate campaigns, a co-op approach brings those budgets together into one shared media plan:
- Co-branded ads built around the event
- A shared landing page experience highlighting the destination
- Reporting tied to outcomes like room nights or bookings
One event. Multiple advertisers. One coordinated campaign.
Across campaigns and categories, the strongest co-ops tend to share a few things in common.
A shared objective
Everyone is working toward the same core goal, whether that’s driving bookings, increasing visitation, or supporting a specific moment. Individual partners may have their own KPIs, but the campaign needs a clear, shared purpose.
A strategic budget pool
The most effective co-ops are built around a true shared investment that operates as one campaign, including partner contributions, matching funds, or platform support.
A story to bring partners together
Strong co-ops are usually anchored in a clear moment: a season, event, or theme. When a campaign is cohesive, every partner plays a part in the overall storyline.
Digital-first, full-funnel strategy
Pooled budgets work best across a media mix. Build awareness with video, display, social, and out-of-home, then convert that demand with search, OTA placements, email, and retargeting.
Track your impact
A strong co-op makes it easy to see what the campaign delivered and what each partner gained. Clear measurement builds trust and momentum, making it easier to repeat and grow the partnership.
How to get started
The work of co-op marketing is here to help you do more with less. It's a way to stretch budgets, share risk across partners, and create a clearer connection between media and meaningful outcomes.
The good news? You don’t have to solve everything at once. A focused pilot can be a simple way to learn what works and build from there. Whether you start small with a seasonal moment for a key travel window or go big with for an upcoming event for a tournaments or festivals, or anything in between, the opportunities are endless.
And remember, you don't have to do it alone. That is the beauty of co-op marketing.
We’re here to support you
With more than 30 years in travel, Expedia Group works across destinations, hotels, airlines, attractions, and brands to help reach the same traveler. Here are a few ways we can support your co-op efforts:
Audience insights
A clearer sense of where demand is building and where it needs support can help partners focus co-op investment where it matters most.
Partner orchestration
Multi-partner campaigns can get complex quickly. Aligning creative, timing, and execution helps keep everything moving smoothly.
Clear measurement
When campaigns can be tied back to real outcomes like engagement, bookings, or revenue, it becomes easier to see what worked and how to elevate the next campaign.
Get the most out of your campaign
Whether you’re joining an existing program or building something new, here are a few questions to help you get started:
Keep up to date
Sign up to let us know you'd like to be notified of future blog content.
Expedia Group Advertising
Expedia Group Advertising is the world's leading travel media network. We connect advertisers with hundreds of millions of travelers across the globe. Our exclusive first-party data on traveler trends, search behavior, and booking data provides travel marketers with unique insights to inform their strategies. We offer a full-funnel suite of solutions to help you convert travelers, and our digital experts can help you create advertising campaigns that deliver.
Was this page helpful?
Tell us how we did so we can improve our site.
Recommended for you
*Nielsen Expedia Destination Canada Brand Impact Report (US), 2024
**Expedia Group internal data, Sept 2023-Feb 2024