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Traveler path to purchase insights for affiliate marketers

Uncover insights on where and when to connect with travelers looking to book and strategies for getting them to book through an affiliate link.

March 13, 2024

Marketing strategy Traveler research

Understanding the traveler path to purchase

The digital landscape and travel industry continues to change. Online content consumption is rising and travelers have many options and considerations when booking travel. This means there are more touchpoints for travel affiliate marketers to connect with, influence, and engage travelers along their path to purchase, and engage travelers along their path to purchase.

 

To better understand how travelers research and book trips and evaluate their behaviors and influences in the 45 days leading up to booking a trip, we partnered with Luth Research to conduct a digital study and survey of travelers in seven countries (Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Mexico, and the U.K and U.S.). The Path to Purchase: Uncovering How Travelers Plan and Book study shares insights into what factors influence travelers’ decisions and helps affiliate marketers develop effective marketing strategies to reach these travelers who are ready to book. 

Inspiration: How travelers decide where to go

The average path to purchase or trip consideration window — when a traveler starts thinking about booking a trip — is 71 days.* This includes 33 days in the inspiration phase and 38 days in the research and planning phase. During these two phases, travelers are deciding where to go, how to get there, where to stay, and what they’ll do, and they’re using various resources for inspiration and information.

 

Nearly three in five travelers didn’t have a specific destination in mind or considered multiple destinations when they first decided to take a trip, creating an opportunity to influence traveler decisions early on during the inspiration phase.

 

But how are travelers being inspired? Among those using a resource throughout the path to purchase, social media is the leading online resource used for inspiration.

Leading online resources for inspiration:
  • Social media: 77%
  • Online travel blogs or review sites: 49%
  • Destination websites: 45%
  • Online travel agencies: 35%

What this means for affiliate marketers

With travelers looking for inspiration and conducting research before booking, you have a unique opportunity to diversify your content to reach travelers early in the purchase journey. This can range from inspirational photography and videography to sharing top destinations and trending hotels of the season. 

It’s also important to understand that your audience might be a mix of people actively researching a destination for their next trip, and those who are browsing their social feeds as they daydream about their next getaway. Share tailored content that appeals to and inspires an even wider audience to stay top of mind for current and future trip consideration. 

Share social media content with broad appeal to stay top of mind with travelers.

The role of affiliate links and social media

Travelers using social media prior to booking a trip are primarily using it for inspiration and recommendations. For travelers that used social media during their path to purchase, 18% used links or codes from influencer recommendations. Package bookers who used social media for trip planning were the most likely to use links and codes from influencer recommendations (23%), followed by vacation rental bookers (22%).

 

When it comes to using links or codes from influencers, 55% of travelers used them during the middle of their booking journey while 43% reported using them earlier in the process.

How travelers use links or codes from influencers:
55%

during the middle of the planning & booking journey

43%

early in the planning & booking journey

What this means for affiliate marketers

The study shows a strong correlation between travelers who use social media during the path to purchase and affiliate link usage. To better stand out, leverage social channels to post affiliate links in effective ways like adding a link to your bio.

Using a link-in-bio tool on social channels enables you to measure clicks, drive traffic, and promote multiple affiliate links in one place. Plus, by investing in a link-in-bio solution, you can analyze your marketing efforts and refine your promotions to focus on top-performing products. 

Factors influencing where to book

During the path to purchase, travelers consider a variety of factors when deciding where to shop and book their trip. However, these factors differ slightly depending on the type of travel purchase. For example, flexible cancellation is more important for vacation rental bookers (33%) than hotel guests (29%). More than one-quarter (28%) of travelers value travel ratings and reviews, which jumps to 36% for vacation rental bookers and 30% for hotel guests.

 

Overall, hotel guests want the best guest experience — including getting the best prices on travel (47%) — and this dictates their booking decisions.

What this means for affiliate marketers

Travelers prioritize multiple factors when booking a trip. Tailor your content and messaging to your audience’s specific needs, whether highlighting hotels with flexible cancellations, vacation rentals with the best reviews, or resorts with the best rates and amenities.

From a blog that shares top-rated resorts in the area to using trackable links that drive to filtered pages highlighting top-rated or refundable options, tailoring content to your audience’s needs will help generate more clicks. 

 

Travel inspiration can happen anytime and anywhere, providing affiliate marketers with an opportunity to influence traveler decisions leading up to booking. Check out the Path to Purchase study for a deeper dive into global insights that will help you succeed as a travel affiliate marketer in today’s online landscape.

Research & Insights

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