What is Sponsored Listing?
Sponsored Listing (commonly referred to as SL) is the only marketing solution that guarantees prominent placement in the search results on Agoda’s platforms (website and app). By joining, you will secure a top ranking in the Top 3 or Top 15* spots (depending on your selection), which you can further target by specifying location tags and check-in dates. Many partner properties utilize Sponsored Listing at strategic times to top the competition during peak demand periods, or to highlight property developments. Remaining at the top of the Search Results page strengthens your brand’s credibility and ensures your listing is more likely to be seen by potential customers.
*Top 3 refers to spots 1-3 and Top 15 refers to spots 11-13 on Agoda’s Search Results page.
Sponsored Listing has helped properties to achieve remarkable results! On average, campaigns focused on the Top 3 search results spot that started from 1 January 2024 onward with a length of 30 days or more have gained:
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- +124% impressions
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- +32% clicks
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- +23% bookings
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- 13x return on investment (ROI)
Your Sponsored Listing campaign is transparent and flexible, never accruing any hidden costs. It is recommended to plan your campaigns in advance, as ranking positions for your city and/or area can sell out. Payment for Sponsored Listing is calculated as an incremental commission, or cost per booking, but is not available as a flat rate* due to variances in market demand. However, you will be informed of the cost per booking during the campaign creation with live performance estimates, allowing you to edit the campaign until you find a cost per booking that you are comfortable with. Further detail on creating a Sponsored Listing campaign is provided in the section: How can I join Sponsored Listing?
*Flat rate here refers to set incremental amounts, such as those provided in the Agoda Growth Program Basic (10%), Standard (12%), and Premium (15%) plans. This means that for Sponsored Listing, the cost per booking you see during campaign setup will be individualized based on your property’s location and the relative market demand.
How can my property benefit from Sponsored Listing?
Sponsored Listing is the only Agoda marketing program that provides a guaranteed placement on our Search Results page, leading to increased visibility.
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- Search rankings boost on Agoda
Boost your property’s ranking by securing a guaranteed placement in Agoda’s Top 3 or Top 15* search results for your city/area. Being listed in the top search results further enhances your property’s credibility and trustworthiness, leading to sustained interest and a higher possibility of positive reviews post-booking. As 90% of bookings are made with properties listed in the top 5 search ranks, your property is positioned for significant growth.
*Top 3 refers to spots 1-3 and Top 15 refers to spots 11-13 on Agoda’s Search Results page.
- Search rankings boost on Agoda
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- Enhanced visibility
Attract more travelers by claiming your top spot and being one of the first properties customers see when searching for your city/area*. Stand out in a crowded marketplace and stay top-of-mind for customers as they explore their booking options. Plant the seeds for future bookings! After having seen your property in the top search results, customers are also more likely to recall your property for future trips.
*Note that in your campaign setup, you will have an opportunity to select city, area, or both.
- Enhanced visibility
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- Strategic opportunities and campaign flexibility
Catch bookings when you need them most! Use Sponsored Listing to take advantage of market trends. From peak seasons to local holidays, international events and more – you choose the optimal time for your property to top the competition. Sponsored Listing also provides an opportunity to promote updates to your property, such as a rebrand or recent renovation, or to highlight newly added features and facilities. Campaign flexibility allows you to choose your dates, length of campaign, desired ranking, and search term targeting.
- Strategic opportunities and campaign flexibility
How can I join Sponsored Listing?
As you build your Sponsored Listing campaign, watch your performance estimates change according to the options you select. This live estimate helps you to build a campaign that will work toward your business goals, while ensuring that you remain informed of the cost per booking (shown in the Payment section below the campaign summary). As noted previously, the cost per booking is calculated as an incremental commission rate and varies due to market demand. Adjust your campaign settings to fine-tune your cost per booking and maintain full control over your marketing budget. Alternatively, if you prefer to preview the total cost of the campaign, you can select Credit card payment or Bank transfer in the Payment method section. The total cost will then update in the Payment section on the right-hand side of the page.
- Navigate to YCS >> Growth programs >> Sponsored Listing.
- Select your Campaign slot
On the calendar, drag the blue arrows to select the check-in dates you would like to include in your campaign. On the right-hand side of your selection, you can choose your desired ranking between Top 3 and Top 15.
Note that some ranking positions may be sold out for your selected check-in dates. We recommend setting up your campaigns early to lock in your desired ranking! - Select your Search term targeting
Click on the box for your property’s city or area (based on your property’s address in YCS) to include or remove this search term from your campaign. If the box is outlined in blue, that indicates that the search term will be included in your campaign. At least one (1) option must be selected. - Select your Payment method
There are three payment methods offered: Pay per booking, Credit card payment, and Bank transfer. Note that the availability of Credit card payment and Bank transfer payment methods may vary by country. Properties who need to maintain a set average daily rate (ADR) may choose to pay by Credit card payment or Bank transfer in order to allocate their marketing budget to the Sponsored Listing lump sum amount*.- Pay per booking
With the pay per booking payment method, the cost per booking will be deducted from the payable amount of each booking. When you confirm a booking amount for payout on YCS, your Sponsored Listing cost per booking will be deducted automatically. Note that this applies to all bookings made during the campaign period with check-in dates that correspond to your Campaign slot.
If you select the pay per booking payment method, you can choose to have the campaign renewed automatically when it ends. Your campaign will be renewed when there is an available spot at the same cost per booking. You can cancel the automatic renewal anytime. Tick the check box in the Payment section to enable this option. - Credit card payment
With the credit card payment method, you can pay for your entire campaign upfront as a lump sum. No further expenses will be charged. - Bank transfer
With the bank transfer payment method, you can pay for your entire campaign upfront as an invoiced lump sum. No further expenses will be charged.*The lump sum amount is calculated based on the total transaction value of your city’s previous 60-150 days, refreshed daily. A multiplier may be applied if your city has particularly high demand.
- Pay per booking
- Review your campaign details, including the Performance estimate, Campaign slot, desired Ranking, Search term targeting, and Payment method. If you have a Promo code, enter the code in the text field provided in the Payment section and click Apply.
- If all details are correct, click Create Campaign.
Where can I view Sponsored Listing performance for my property?
To view the performance of your ongoing Sponsored Listing campaign, navigate to: YCS >> Growth programs >> Campaigns. Then, click on the row that shows the Sponsored Listing campaign for which you would like to view the performance data.
On your Sponsored Listing performance dashboard, you will find the following information and data:
- Overview:
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- Campaign name and campaign number, Cost per booking, and Payment method
- Campaign details:
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- Campaign slot (check-in dates included in campaign), Boosted ranking (your desired ranking selected during campaign creation), and Search term targeting (city and/or area)
- Performance:
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- Room nights shows the total booked room nights that met the campaign’s criteria.
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- Revenue shows the total net revenue after commission from bookings that were generated by this specific campaign.
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- Cost shows the total cost of bookings that met the campaign’s criteria.
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- Impressions shows the number of times that a user saw your property in their Search Results page.
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- Clicks shows the number of times users clicked on your property after seeing it in the Search Results page (CTR is the percentage of conversion from impressions to clicks).
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- Bookings shows the number of bookings that met the campaign’s criteria (Conversion is the percentage of clicks on your property that resulted in bookings).
The conversion percentage shown can help you to understand the ROI (return on investment) in order to determine if this campaign setup is performing well for your property. If it is low, consider changing some of the selections in your next Sponsored Listing campaign.
- Advanced options
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- Automatically renew this campaign when it ends
If your payment method is payout reduction, you have the option to turn on/off automatic renewal. If the toggle is switched on, your campaign will automatically renew when there is an available spot at the same cost per booking. You can turn this option off any time.
- Automatically renew this campaign when it ends
How can I improve my property’s Sponsored Listing performance?
To ensure peak performance and continued success with Sponsored Listing, we recommend that you take some time to review your property’s Content Score on YCS (YCS >> Performance >> Analytics >> Content Score) and to optimize your content accordingly.
In addition to the guaranteed ranking that Sponsored Listing provides, customers will analyze your property’s offerings against your competitors to make their final decision. Factors that often influence customers’ choices are pricing, included perks, perceived quality, verified reviews, and cancellation policies. We encourage all partner properties to take these factors into consideration to further supplement the marketing success offered through Sponsored Listing.
Some additional recommendations include:
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- Creating Sponsored Listing campaigns ahead of time to lock in your desired ranking and to fully benefit from market demands. Keep in mind that spots can sell out for popular check-in dates!
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- Ensuring your availability and rates are updated in YCS. Double check that you aren’t setting up a Sponsored Listing campaign for check-in dates that are already full!
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- Create a campaign that targets both city and area search terms. Benefit from a boost in two search rankings within a single campaign at a lower cost!
FAQs
Sponsored Listing campaigns are best viewed as short-term boosts on top of other marketing solutions you may already have active. In that sense, your property may benefit from enhanced performance when bundled with Agoda Growth Program (AGP), Agoda Growth Express (AGX), or Agoda Intelligence (AI).
- Agoda Growth Program
Agoda Growth Program is a comprehensive, multi-channel marketing solution. As Agoda Growth Program has a more broad-based and general marketing reach, it can be strategically beneficial to stack Sponsored Listing campaigns at specific times to enhance the benefits of both marketing solutions. However, long-term participation is recommended for Agoda Growth Program in order to maximize the gains in impressions, revenue, and room night growth.
Through Agoda Growth Program, you will be awarded with a Preferred Partner badge, visible on your property listing on both the Search Results page and Property Page. If you also have an active Sponsored Listing campaign, the Preferred Partner badge will be included in the Top 3 or Top 15 placement that you select, further signifying your property’s credibility and trustworthiness. - Agoda Growth Express
Agoda Growth Express focuses on a targeted marketing approach, allowing campaigns to be customized based on parameters such as travel dates or customer origin. This flexibility ensures that your marketing reaches the right customers at the right time. Additionally, Agoda Growth Express is commitment-free, enabling you to edit or stop campaigns as needed in response to market changes or unexpected situations.
Sponsored Listing campaigns complement Agoda Growth Express by providing a guaranteed search ranking for city and/or area search terms, securing top placement in search results. Combining these two marketing solutions enhances your property’s exposure, maximizing visibility and potential bookings through a dual approach. - Agoda Intelligence
One of the primary benefits of our Agoda Intelligence program is a commission reduction. As Sponsored Listing is paid by an increase in commission (if the pay per booking payment method is selected), the Agoda Intelligence program essentially provides a discount on Sponsored Listing campaigns through its offering of a reduced commission amount. Bundling Sponsored Listing + Agoda Intelligence allows you to offset your incremental costs while still benefiting from targeted marketing solutions. Furthermore, Agoda Intelligence tools can provide valuable, data-driven insights into customer behavior and market trends, helping you to better optimize your Sponsored Listing campaign slot and details for improved performance.
Agoda Intelligence also offers automated rate optimization and advanced rate management tools to strengthen your pricing strategy. By automatically adjusting rates to match or beat your competitors, Agoda Intelligence ensures that your best possible rates are always displayed to potential customers. With Sponsored Listing providing increased visibility and Agoda Intelligence ensuring optimized rates, your impressions and engagement will lead to higher conversion rates and revenue. Note that Agoda Intelligence rate adjustments are fully transparent and can be disputed if deemed necessary.
Once created, Sponsored Listing campaigns are generally non-refundable or supported for deactivation. However, if there are outstanding circumstances that make it necessary to deactivate your Sponsored Listing campaign, please contact us directly via the YCS Need Help Button or other methods to request for deactivation. Requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
If your Sponsored Listing has the option for automatic renewal activated, note that you can cancel the renewal any time before the campaign ends. Navigate to YCS >> Campaigns, then click on the row that shows the Sponsored Listing campaign for which you would like to cancel automatic renewal. Under Advanced options find the option for Automatically renew this campaign when it ends, then click the toggle to turn this option off.
Agoda cannot manage Sponsored Listing campaigns on your behalf. To ensure continued success throughout your campaign, we recommend monitoring the performance through YCS on a regular basis. If there are any issues with your Sponsored Listing campaign, please contact us via the YCS Need Help Button or other methods.
If there is an issue with your Sponsored Listing campaign, please contact us via the YCS Need Help Button or other methods.
All bookings with a check-in date that falls within your Sponsored Listing campaign slot and matches the relevant search criteria will be considered as having been generated by the campaign. For a total number of bookings generated by the campaign, navigate to YCS >> Campaigns, then click on the row that shows the Sponsored Listing campaign for which you would like to view the bookings count. On the performance dashboard, in the third and fourth rows, you will see the total number of Room nights and Bookings attributed to this specific campaign.
Your Sponsored Listing campaign will automatically be named with the search term that you select (city and/or area). When viewing your Sponsored Listing campaigns on the Campaigns page, note that you can determine the specific campaign by the details shown under the campaign name, including the campaign dates and cost per booking (or total cost). At this time, we do not offer the ability to customize campaign names.
No, your payment method cannot be changed after you have created your Sponsored Listing campaign. For related inquiries, please contact us via the YCS Need Help Button or other methods.
Once a Sponsored Listing campaign has been created, it cannot be edited or changed through YCS, regardless of whether the campaign has started yet or not. If you need to make changes to your campaign, please note that the only adjustments that can be made are to the campaign’s check-in dates. To do so, please contact us directly via the YCS Need Help Button or other methods.
Sponsored Listing helps to enhance the effectiveness of your other active promotions by ensuring that customers see the discounts being offered if their search has overlapping criteria.
Growth programs, including Sponsored Listing, are considered as marketing solutions.
Promotions, including Essential, Seasonal, and Targeted, are considered as customer discounts.
Activating promotions that are relevant to your property’s business needs will further complement your participation in Sponsored Listing as your best prices will be presented in accordance with your campaign’s targeting parameters. The increased visibility offered through Sponsored Listing then improves your opportunities for conversion, as a higher percentage of customers book your property.
Contact us
Still looking for a solution? Contact us via the YCS Need Help Button or other methods.
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