HomeAway Uses Data-Driven Attribution to Increase ROI

HomeAway is the leading online marketplace for vacation rentals. This company represents almost 900,000 listings of rentals around the world through the websites HomeAway.com, VRBO.com and VacationRentals.com in the U.S. and multiple sites in other countries.

Through the HomeAway sites, travelers can search for a vacation rental according to many filters, including location, number of guests, number of bedrooms, property type and features such as swimming pool, air conditioning, fireplace or pets allowed. Here is a sample of a filter screen for a property search in Orlando, Florida.

HomeAway depends on web searches for its business and uses paid display and search ads to drive traffic. There is no phone number posted on the homepage or in the header or footer of the website. The Contact Us page does offer a phone number, but not until after the user goes through a process to identify the type of user and the category that best describes the question and takes a third step beyond following the website links that offer support. This screen shot shows the Contact us page. 

Note that subsequent steps do not appear on the page until each step has been answered, so it takes three clicks on this page to show the phone number for customer support. Once the user finds a link to a phone number, there is a note that “Customer Service is available 24 hours a day and seven days a week.”

A focus on keeping activity on the website suggests that it should be easy to track traffic and conversion data, but with multiple online channels directing visitors to the website, it is difficult to identify exactly how a visitor made a conversion. Google Analytics Premium introduced a new Data-Driven Attribution model in August 2013 with a goal of better understanding the attribution process.

Data-Driven Attribution Improves ROI

HomeAway wanted to increase the number of inquiries on the HomeAway website. To do that, it needed to have a better understanding of the impact of paid search and display ads on conversions. The company used the new Data-Driven Attribution feature of Google Analytics Premium in order to identify the source for all campaign interactions.

Data-Driven Attribution uses statistics and economic principles to assign value to marketing touch points such as display ads, paid search, email campaigns and specific keywords. The model compares different channels that visitors use to find a site and make a conversion or purchase and then assigns value to the various channels. Craver explains that it uses 90 days worth of data “to determine which channels and keywords within a channel have the best probability of creating a conversion visit. This data-driven model automatically adjusts itself weekly, re-analyzing visit data from a rolling 90-day history.”

As a result, the model shows which channels are most successful and offers insight into planning for future marketing spends. Google notes that this algorithm is based on actual behavior of customers, but it is an estimate and does not guarantee results.

After using Data-Driven Attribution, HomeAway adjusted their keywords and their cost-per-acquisition information. It spent $6,000 to test the findings and as a result, the company saw a 23% increase in attributed conversions. The Senior Director of Global eMarketing for HomeAway, Will Lin, shares the impact of this new model on his company: “Data-Driven Attribution enabled a much cleaner and more balanced view of our marketing effectiveness. It really showed us where we were driving conversions, and where we needed to invest more.”

Other Tools That Would Benefit HomeAway

As noted, HomeAway is an e-commerce site. In addition to the new Data-Driven Attribution model, there are many other tools that the company could use to improve its analytics efforts.

Currently the HomeAway site offers a login option for travelers and owners, but it doesn’t require visitors to login in order to perform a search. UserReport is an online survey tool that would allow HomeAway to collect data about visitors who do not want to create a profile on the site. UserReport surveys collect demographics and user satisfaction information about a website. Collecting this data enables analysts to have a complete picture of the audience and then to target content to them. UserReport data can be used to build demographic and behavioral segments in Google Analytics. Some key outcomes as stated on the UserReport overview on the Google Analytics App page can include:

·      “Tracking demographics and satisfaction rates for specific visitor groups to better evaluate landing and exit pages, search keywords, traffic sources and campaigns.

·      Measuring conversion rates in different segments to gain a better understanding of the conversion cycle.

·      Comparing demographics over time, pages visited, sections visited and geographic region.”

Another application that HomeAway could incorporate on its site is Analytics Visualization which depicts activity to and within a website. The description of this app on the Google Analytics App Gallery says the company focused on one question: “how can we let users uncover the unexpected?” The app has several answers to that question, including showing what sites are linking to HomeAway.com, VRBO.com and other owned websites, and which specific pages on those sites are being linked to. It can also show frequently used keywords and how they are combined. Visualization like this offers a very focused view of what is happening and what is causing the activity.

An email system like MarketTraq Email™ would enable HomeAway to communicate with users in a meaningful way, based on their interests, demographics and behavior. The HomeAway website does not currently have an email sign-up form, but this feature could easily be added. The company has already defined three audiences on their Contact Us page: traveler, vacation home owner, and property manager.  The company could plan unique emails to go out to these groups and customize each message according to the specific user’s interests. For example, a traveler who lives in the northeast and plans a trip to a warm locale one winter could receive highly ranked listings in warm-weather destinations the next year, and based on filters used for previous rental searches, the newsletter could highlight similar properties. For the property manager audience, newsletters could feature best practices for property listings or warnings about fraudulent practices. The MarketTraq Email system would ensure that relevant messages are sent at appropriate intervals.

In summary

HomeAway is a successful vacation rental website, known and used throughout the world. It can continue to improve its return on marketing investment with further use of tools that it already owns, such as Google Analytics Premium, as well as additional applications that integrate with this rich tool.