In a Forbes article, contributor Andrew Levine reports on a recent presentation on destination marketing by Google staffers to DMO Visit California.

Highlights:

• More than 50% of Google searches are being done via smartphone.
• Travel-related searches on mobile devices increased by 50% in 2016.
• Marketing messages need to be timed according to where the user is in the search/book process.
• YouTube (owned by Google) reaches more people aged 18-49 than any other network or cable provider.
• Interest in travel-related videos has increased by about 60% since 2015.
• VR is about to become very important in travel.
• Technology advances now allow marketers to become "inventors" of new kinds of interactions with consumers.

Actionable:

• Design content that's optimized for mobile devices first, then adapt for desktop.
• Target search ads according to where users are in the search/book process; don't try immediately to close people who have just begun to research a trip, and don't distract people who are ready to book with extraneous details.
• Create videos, post them on YouTube, link to them from your owned content.
• Get knowledgeable about VR.
• Use available technologies that can give you an edge, but let marketers control the message and the targeting.

- David