by Jess Nelson , December 21, 2017

Hostelworld Group boosted email volume without sacrificing engagement rates after partnering with Adobe to develop more targeted and relevant email campaigns, with a particular focus on Millennials.

Hostelworld, which powers a travel-booking platform for hostels around the world, turned to Adobe to learn more about its audience and what they are interested in. The company had already been using Adobe Analytics in the Adobe Analytics Cloud, but broadened its partnership this year to also include some of Adobe’s marketing capabilities.

Hostelworld now utilizes Adobe Media Optimizer in the Adobe Advertising Cloud for search optimization, as well as Adobe Campaign in the Adobe Marketing Cloud for cross-channel marketing including email.

Marketing for hostels differs from marketing for hotels because they cater to different audiences. Hostel guests are far younger — with 90% under the age of 35, according to Hostelworld, and they are much more tech-savvy. Traditional advertising routes like print and television ads are less likely to have an impact because hostel guests consume information differently. They also book their travel differently. An estimated 30%-40% of hotel bookings occur online, while 70% of hostel bookings are made online.

The combination of Adobe Analytics and Adobe Campaign has enabled Hostelword to deliver more personalized email campaigns to their largely Millennial, tech-savvy audience.

Customer and behavioral data collected by Adobe Analytics seamless flows into Adobe Campaign, which then automatically begins to develop more finite audience segments. Hostelworld now orchestrates messages across its website, mobile application, and email to deliver travel recommendations to those at home and sightseeing recommendations to those traveling abroad.

The company previously faced challenges in developing and delivering email marketing campaigns — a common problem for strapped marketing teams with limited resources — but Adobe has helped the Hostelworld Group team improve marketing efficiency with automation. Whereas it was previously difficult to send 300 emails, Hostelworld now sends more than 1 billion emails a year to customers around the world.

“Even though we’re sending out so many more emails, we’re seeing lower unsubscribe rates and higher click-through rates,” states Otto Rosenberger, CMO at Hostelworld Group, in an Adobe case study. “The difference is that we’re using segmentation to target customers with only the deals and information that they’ll find interesting. By improving the customer journey through personalization, and remarketing in real-time, we’re helping to retain customers with 61% of bookings coming from repeat Hostelworld customers.”

In addition, Hostelworld reduced its cost per booking by 20% and improved engagement across its website and social presence by 500%.

MediaPost.com: Search Marketing Daily

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