A strong brand represents the essence of your business, shaping customer perceptions and driving loyalty. For travel brands, this is particularly crucial, as consumers are often investing in experiences and emotions rather than tangible products.
But how can you, as a travel company, truly measure the return on investment (ROI) of your brand strategy? Is it simply about increased bookings, or are there more nuanced metrics to consider?
The challenge of measuring brand value
Many travel companies struggle with quantifying the impact of their branding efforts. Unlike direct marketing campaigns, where clicks and conversions provide immediate feedback, brand strategy works more subtly, building value over time through improved perception, loyalty, and market positioning.
For travel businesses, where competition is fierce and consumers are constantly bombarded with options, strong branding can make all the difference. Whether you’re a boutique agency or a global tour operator, understanding your ROI allows you to:
- Align branding with business growth targets
- Justify budget allocation to senior stakeholders
- Identify areas for refinement or repositioning
- Stay competitive online
Step 1: Define what success looks like
Before diving into data or analytics platforms, ask yourself: What does success look like for our brand strategy?
It could be increased website traffic, higher booking conversion rates, improved customer retention, or stronger brand recognition in a specific market. These indicators will vary depending on your goals, which may include:
- Entering a new market
- Rebranding for relevance
- Increasing market share
- Enhancing user experience across digital platforms
Top branding agencies typically begin with a detailed brand discovery phase, and for good reason. Without defined objectives, ROI is impossible to measure meaningfully.
Step 2: Identify key metrics that matter
Brand strategy impacts both tangible and intangible elements of business. To get a full view, it’s essential to track a combination of quantitative and qualitative metrics.
Quantitative metrics
These are concrete figures that show how well your brand is performing in real terms:
- Organic search traffic: A rise in branded keyword searches shows growing awareness.
- Conversion rates: If users are converting at a higher rate post-rebrand, you’re on the right track.
- Social media engagement: Shares, comments, and likes help measure resonance and reach.
- Email open and click-through rates: Good branding increases trust, which drives better email performance.
- Revenue from repeat customers: Indicates long-term brand loyalty.
Qualitative metrics
These provide insight into how people feel about your brand:
- Customer feedback: What are customers saying about your brand or website?
- Brand sentiment analysis: Tools like Brandwatch or Talkwalker help gauge perception across media.
- Employee surveys: Internal alignment is often overlooked, but critical for brand consistency.
Step 3: Track performance
Thanks to modern marketing platforms, it’s now possible to closely monitor how users interact with your brand online. By integrating your content and advertising campaigns with analytics platforms, you can see which touchpoints are most effective.
- Google Analytics and Search Console: For tracking website traffic, user behaviour, and search rankings.
- CRM platforms: Systems like HubSpot or Salesforce track customer journeys, from ad click to purchase.
- Social media analytics: Platforms such as Meta Business Suite and LinkedIn Analytics offer a window into brand engagement trends.
- A/B testing tools: Optimise messaging, layout, or visuals across web and email to see what performs best.
These tools provide the performance data that allows digital branding agencies to make informed, strategic decisions for their clients, and they’re just as valuable to in-house teams.
Step 4: Consider the cost of investment
To calculate ROI accurately, you must consider both direct and indirect costs:
- Design and creative services
- Marketing campaigns (organic and paid)
- Web development or redesign
- Content creation (including blogs, video, and social media assets)
- Technology platforms and tools
- Internal time spent managing the project
Let’s say your brand strategy and new website design cost £25,000. Over the next 12 months, your revenue increases by £100,000, directly attributed to improved brand perception, search visibility, and customer loyalty.
Your ROI formula would be:
ROI = (Gain from investment - Cost of investment) ÷ Cost of investment
ROI = (£100,000 - £25,000) ÷ £25,000 = £75,000 ÷ £25,000 = 3.0 (or 300%)
That means for every £1 you invested, you gained £3 in return.
Step 5: Link branding with broader business outcomes
Branding doesn’t exist in a silo. It feeds into sales, product development, customer experience and recruitment. To measure true ROI, consider your branding’s impact across the business:
- Recruitment: Is your new employer brand attracting top talent?
- Customer experience: Has your new brand improved NPS or review scores?
- Sales performance: Are sales teams more effective using updated messaging?
- Partner relationships: Has the rebrand helped position your business as more premium or trustworthy?
Each of these reflects the full-spectrum impact of brand strategy, from awareness to advocacy.
Branding is a long game
It’s important to remember that the effects of branding compound over time. Unlike short-term sales campaigns, the benefits aren’t always immediate. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t real or very valuable.
Top-performing travel companies know that their brand is one of their most powerful assets, a driver of trust, awareness, and loyalty across markets. By taking a more strategic, data-led approach to brand measurement, you can ensure your investments are both creative and commercially effective.
Looking for a digital brand agency in London that can actually prove results? At Boost Brands, we blend creativity, strategy, and data to help your travel brand grow with confidence. Contact us today to get started.
