In what many are calling the year of technology investment, where should airlines focus their energy?

Airlines spend millions in sterling, euros and dollars to bring visitors to a particular page on their website for a specific destination or package. But what actually happens when a visitor arrives on the airline's homepage?

“In most cases, nothing. A visitor arriving on a homepage usually receives no targeted offers,” says El Al’s digital marketing manager Carmit Dotan.

Yet the technology exists today for airlines, and hotels for that matter, to be able to recognise the customer and make targeted, relevant offers for specific destinations or packages directly from the home page. And doing so absolutely benefits the airline.

Josep Bernat, formerly chief revenue officer for eDreams ODIGEO and now chief executive of NUK Consultants, argues that this will be the year of technology investment. He cannot stress enough that today all brands stuck with legacy systems need to invest in technologies that allow them to track the customer as they move through the different stages of travel, and to react quickly to their needs.

A visitor arriving on a homepage usually receives no targeted offers

El Al’s digital marketing Manager Carmit Dotan.

In Dotan’s view, however, many airlines are not investing enough time and energy in new website technologies and from her experience that's a missed opportunity for generating revenue and profitability. EyeforTravel’s latest research from its Mobile in the Air Travel Industry report backs this up; it finds that just over half of airline executives (51.2%) believe that their website will yield the biggest growth bookings. However, what Dotan says airlines sometimes don’t understand is that a visitor who entered an airline's homepage or another page directly in the browser is already predisposed to that particular airline.

“To not take advantage of this opportunity is like handing over an easy conversion right to your competitors,” she says.

In El Al’s case, they were looking to offer the right package – be that a first class ticket to and from Israel or a complete family holiday package including hotels and car rental with the aim of increasing digital revenue. By investing in campaign management software from Aimee Soft, which competes with technology from the likes of SDL and Sitecore, El Al’s efforts are paying off. To date, the airline has seen revenues rise by 10% and this Dotan says is directly linked to its technology investment. “We are able to serve the most relevant promotions to each website visitor using data to address different customer profiles, and while doing so, maximising customer revenue,” she explains.

Here are some specific outcomes from implementing on-site adaptive campaign management:

• The main campaign page includes four different promotions and is determined from 20 possible promotional options using the firm’s data and predictive analytics technology. 
• El Al can manage campaigns for each individual that lands on the home page.
• By using advanced behavioral prediction models and business intelligence the airline can target website visitors with the best possible marketing message in real-time.
• The ability to serve the most relevant marketing message based on an analysis of site-side data, anonymised search intent and business intelligence data and other industry data sources utilising proprietary predictive analytics technology.
• A 10% increase revenues