How relevant, dynamic campaigns can improve your Blue Monday results by over 400%

Planning to run a Blue Monday display campaign? Find out how relevant, dynamic campaigns are proven to increase results – in some cases by as much as over 400%.

In 2005, Dr Cliff Arnall, identified the third Monday in January as the most depressing day of the year. He worked this out by creating a formula that took into account debt, monthly income, Christmas blues and breaking New Years’ resolutions.

Since then, this date has been known as ‘Blue Monday’.

It has been disputed whether Blue Monday is actually as depressing as its label, even by Dr Cliff Arnall. But whether this genuinely is the saddest day or not, every year it’s become the tradition to escape the gloom by booking a holiday. 

As a result, Blue Monday has become synonymous with holidays, and brands offer travel deals on that date in an attempt to attract as many ski and sun-seekers as possible. 

How much was spent on Blue Monday in 2019 – and where?

Blue Monday 2019 was a successful year for travel brands in the UK, with consumers spending £3.3m – a 17% increase on 2018. And the biggest winner was the wellness sector, as Steve Byrne, Chief Executive at Travel Counsellor notes:

“We’ve seen a real uplift in bookings to wellness destinations as travellers opt for healthier, more active holidays, or experiences that offer the ultimate feeling of getting away from it all.”

During the December 2018 to January 2019 booking period, Travel Counsellors’ most popular experiences included golf holidays, beach-side resorts, horse riding, hiking and cycling.

On Blue Monday 2019, long-haul holidays to the Indian Ocean topped the company’s sales chart, with Mauritius and Sri Lanka among the top ten destinations booked.

How dynamic display ads can improve your Blue Monday sales

So, if you’re a travel brand looking to take a healthy share of this year’s Blue Monday sales, what should you do? 

For an example of how dynamic, highly relevant display ads can deliver remarkable results, even in an over-exposed audience, just take a look at our campaign for the department of culture and tourism Abu Dhabi (DTC).

To contrast the cold, dark miserable weather in the UK and Germany – and highlight the contrasting hot, sunny weather of Abu Dhabi – we created ads that showed live weather reports from Abu Dhabi. 

This campaign really connected with miserable sun-worshippers, and increased CTR by more than 300% in German cities, and over 400% in the UK. Consumers also booked trips that were more than 34% longer compared to the regular destination communication, and spent over 35% more on hotel stays. 

Indeed, the results were so remarkable that DTC are making this dynamic approach part of their ‘always on’ activity.

This campaign demonstrates the importance of dynamic, relevant campaigns in achieving cut through (and results) in a competitive marketplace – essential in a crowded Blue Monday travel campaign frenzy. 

Dynamic campaigns are proven to work

DTC aren’t the only travel client who has seen the benefits of running relevant dynamic creative. In a campaign for Jazeera Airways we delivered dynamic ads to users based on their location and language preference. We also used website pixel data to collect flight search details, then populated the creative with lowest possible prices from the data feed.

With continuous optimisation based on learning and seasonality, we were able to drive over 50,000 ticket sales for Jazeera Airways in the first half of 2019 – to their delight.

We were also able to triple South Africa Tourism’s daily website traffic, and drive 20k new users to it in a dynamic campaign targeting honeymooners. 

How we can put a smile on your face on Blue Monday – and every day

While Blue Monday is an important date for travel brands, it’s not your only opportunity during the year to increase your sales. 

So if you need cheering up this year, get in touch with us and find out how we can deliver a relevant, dynamic campaign that will exceed your expectations – and make your customers happy.