Your ad campaign could have award-winning creative, a top-tier team, and a strong message — but if it’s landing in front of the wrong people, it won’t reach its full potential.

Enter: audience targeting.

By zeroing in on what makes your audience so unique, targeting connects you with the right travelers based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and more. As a core piece of every strong campaign strategy, it can be the difference between falling short of your marketing goals — or soaring past them.

Data is only powerful when you can put it to work, and that’s where we come in. At Expedia Group Advertising, audience targeting is part of our brand DNA. With more than 70 petabytes (PB) of first-party data at our fingertips, we know more about travelers and their behavior than anyone else.¹

We go deep to put your brand in front of the right travelers, and you don’t need to be a travel brand to take advantage of our reach. With access to our full-funnel suite of advertising solutions, you’re empowered to tap into a vast audience across brands like Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo — and reach exactly who you want, when you want.

Let’s take a closer look at the strategies, capabilities, and tactics that make effective audience targeting possible — and see how they can help you transform your ad campaign strategy.

Excellent audience targeting starts with a strong foundation. Here are best marketing practices to help maximize your reach, optimize your engagement, and get the most from your ad spend.

• Define clear campaign objectives: Know what success looks like. Is it driving traffic, generating leads, or boosting conversions? This helps make sure your targeting works toward the desired goal.


• Dive deep on your audience: Go beyond surface-level demographics to understand their motivations, intentions, behaviors, and pain points. The more you know, the better.


• Segment your audience where possible: Break larger audiences into smaller, high-intent groups who may have untapped potential or proven conversion histories.


• Balance awareness and conversion: Build momentum for the future by working to reach both new audiences and existing customers.

The best place to start is with the fundamentals. Our core targeting capabilities combine demographics, behavior, and placements to help you reach the right audience.

Core targeting is just the beginning. Our precise targeting helps you capture travelers’ attention from the first spark of inspiration to the moment they click “book” and beyond — keeping you front and center at every stage of their journey.

And, no, you don’t have to be a travel brand to leverage our extensive capabilities. As the leading travel media network, we have an unmatched audience of travelers at your fingertips — including 10 million average daily visitors across our trusted brands.²

With our audience targeting capabilities, you can create ads that put your brand exactly where and when it needs to be. 

Put your brand on display across Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo, reaching travelers as they actively plan, book, and prepare for their trips. With precise, data-driven placements, onsite display advertising showcases your offering where purchase intent is the highest.

Onsite display advertising targeting capabilities include:

• Travel intent (search behavior, dates, destinations, etc.)
• Demographics and traveler origin
• Contextual placements (search results, destination guides, hotel listing pages)
• Retargeting those who previously viewed your brand
• Targeting those who bundle trip packages when planning

Try this: Is your destination extra stunning in the fall months? Target people looking for seasonal vacations on Expedia Group sites with vivid imagery that gets them excited to book.

Show up in unexpected, strategic placements as travelers scroll commute, stream videos, and more. With access to our exclusive first-party data through EG Reach +, offsite advertising helps you target your ideal audience across Expedia Group platforms and beyond.

Offsite display advertising targeting capabilities include:

• Audience extension to target traveler audiences outside of Expedia Group sites
• Lookalike targeting to reach audiences like those who have booked or searched for your brand 
• Segmentation by travel intent, device, location, and more
• Retargeting those who previously searched your brand but didn’t convert

Get inspired: Target people who love watching lifestyle content on YouTube with ads that weave seamlessly into their viewing experience — and make your brand their natural next purchase.

Read the case study

Attract more guests to your property with eye-catching, precisely targeted sponsored listings. TravelAds give you a leg up in a crowded hotel marketplace, and they’re proven to lead to an average increase of 20% in both visibility and room nights.⁴

Targeting capabilities include:

• Destination and traveler origin to prioritize specific markets or geo-locations
• Stay dates and booking windows
• Loyalty-based prioritization with the option to boost exposure to Expedia Group’s One Key™ rewards members
• Length of stay

Get inspired: Customize your TravelAds creative with messaging and imagery that speaks to specific amenities or neighborhood must-sees.

Read the case study

Fill more seats and grow your market share with pay-per-click campaigns that get you in front of your ideal traveler. Flights Sponsored Listings have led to an increase of 8% in ticket sales and nearly 10% in gross booking value across participating airlines.⁶

You can:

• Target airline travelers based on origin and destination search.
• Gain prominent placement in flight search results.
• Highlight your airline’s unique amenities with custom ad copy.
• Maximize visibility across mobile, desktop, and app.
• Access real-time reporting to optimize your campaign performance.

Get inspired: Promote your airline’s excellence with custom ad copy that highlights top amenities and experiences. 

Learn more

You have the potential to inspire travelers and capture their attention at any point in their journey — and audience targeting is your edge.

Whether you implement core targeting strategies like location and demographics or dive deeper with strategic ad placements and specialized audiences, the right targeting helps ensure you reach the people most likely to convert.

At Expedia Group Advertising, we’ll help you take your ads, and your targeting, to the next level.