Don’t Fall For Seemingly ‘Sexy, High And Sweet’ ROAS
Paid search has become the most effective channel to drive awareness for Hilton, Gino Abbate, vice president of Americas marketing at the company, said during an interview at the MediaPost Performance Marketing Insider Summit.
“In a performance world if you’re only talking about the ability to drive a conversion, you’re missing out on the big picture,” he said, “because performance marketing also can drive brand” awareness. “We look at marketing mix modeling as our source of truth,” he added.
That is what Hilton reports back to the higher-ups, but it doesn’t mean that return on ad spend (ROAS) metrics is obsolete.
Performance measurement has changed. “Platforms have broken us as an industry,” he said. “I’ve spent many years [at] platforms pulling the data to tell the story. Facebook and Google have an interest in making that ROAS seem sexy, high and sweet.”
The industry has made metrics easily attainable, but has not really made it matter. Abbate stopped taking ROAS to the CEO because he needs to show the incremental revenue on the income statement.
The company needed to think about metrics differently, he said, adding that “just because the platform is saying a number doesn’t make it real.”
Hilton hired an outside vendor to do its marketing-mix modeling (MMM) that examines all the factors outside of its control such as competitive media and pricing, its supply and general consumer confidence that might affect consumer buying. It also brings in its brand-health metrics to see how campaigns drive short-term revenue and build long-term ROI by building awareness and consideration.
Abbate said the MMM 10 years ago took months, during which time companies would run a test and campaign and find out about the results the following year. AI has accelerated the process. Now, the reports are run monthly.
Hilton also continues to test new features to all channels and tactics to determine whether it reaches all category buyers and to tell the brand’s story and have an avenue for consumers to discover information. The automated technology must prove the brand will appropriately serve in the correct space and place.
Sometimes the technology will take a chance on a “false hope,” and Hilton’s campaign impressions will only serve up to consumers 65 years of age or older, for example, because it was chasing the least expensive click. At the end of the day, it is impressions that make the marketing impactful, so guardrails need to be put in place.
Hilton also has begun to build out a platform to allow individual properties to buy media, complete with checks and balances.
The company’s brand campaign, Hilton is for the stay, also has moved from the top of the funnel down the funnel to drive performance.
When asked what he is most excited about in 2025, Abbate said it is that “Google will stop talking about cookie deprecation,” and that social has become a mainstay staple. He added that live events are coming back to life, and brands are integrating into live cultural moments.
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