B2B Marketing Specialist · Case Study
Booking.com
for Business
Lifecycle Plan
A 90-day plan to get SMEs activated, booking, and coming back
MV
Maria Vataman
Presented for B2B Marketing Specialist Role
Strategic Overview
Closing the Opportunity Gap
Booking.com for Business
Current State
37%
SME Drop-off Rate
Industry benchmark is 22%
18
Avg. Days to First Booking
28%
90-Day Repeat Rate
Our Mission
0–14 Days
Activation
15–45 Days
Engagement
46–90 Days
Retention
58%
Activation Target
+21pp increase
6
Days to First Booking
3x faster
45%
Retention Target
+17pp increase
Note: All current state statistics are estimates used for planning purposes.
Audience Strategy
The Gatekeeper vs. The End User
👩‍💼
Travel Manager
The Gatekeeper
Demographics
Office Manager / Finance
15–200 employees
Age 32–48
Psychographics
Motivation: Cost control & compliance
Fear: Reconciliation nightmares
Criteria: Spend analytics
Value Prop: Control + Visibility
"Cut reconciliation time by 14 hrs/mo"
All travel in one dashboard
Automatic spend limits
✈️
Business Traveler
The End User
Demographics
Sales Director / Consultant
15–200 employees
Age 28–52
Psychographics
Motivation: Convenience & rewards
Fear: Complex expense reports
Criteria: Mobile-first, last-minute
Value Prop: Freedom + Perks
"Book in 47 seconds at the gate"
Earn Genius rewards on business trips
Free cancellation on 92% of rooms
Friction Analysis
Pre-Booking Barriers: Days 0–7
🧭
41%
Decision Paralysis
Too many options, no clear starting point. New users bounce before they've even run a search.
Data Point
Avg. 8.3 pages visited before abandonment
✅
34%
Approval Confusion
Getting CFO sign-off is hard when the platform doesn't make the business case for you.
G2 Review
"Needed CFO approval but couldn't show ROI easily."
👥
29%
Technical Friction
Setting up multiple travellers and adding a corporate card isn't intuitive. People give up.
Pain Point
Corporate card integration not clearly signposted
Analysis drawn from G2 reviews and competitor research. Statistics are estimates used for planning.
Critical Window
Post-Registration Drop-off: The First 14 Days
0–24h
No Immediate Need
Most sign-ups don't have a trip coming up. Without a reason to use it straight away, they just don't come back.
Competitor Intel
SAP Concur segments onboarding by role and keeps people engaged from day one. We don't have that yet.
Day 2–5
B2C Noise Filter
Business users land in the same email queue as leisure travellers. The B2B message gets buried before it lands.
Pain Point
By the time a business user gets a relevant email, they've already switched off.
Day 7–14
Competitor Nurture
TravelPerk and Navan put serious effort into the first two weeks. That's exactly when we're losing people.
Benchmark
TravelPerk converts 62% of sign-ups in 10 days using dedicated onboarding specialists.
Our Advantage
3M+ listings and genuine price transparency. The onboarding just needs to show that faster than anyone else does.
Full Funnel Strategy
Awareness → First Booking → Habit
Stage Travel Manager Business Traveler Channels Core Message
Awareness
Top of Funnel		 Blog: Travel management guidance & trends
Ebook: "The Hidden Cost of Manual Business Travel"		 Blog: Travel hacks, productivity
Short-form video: "Book in 60 seconds"
SEOPaid AdsOrganic Social
 Get in front of the right people and make it obvious we exist.
Consideration
Mid Funnel		 Setup guide + ROI-focused webinar
Comparison pages & case studies		 UX walkthrough demos
"60-sec booking" demo + pre-filled trip suggestions
SEMEmailPaid EmailDirect Mail
 Switch with zero risk. Lower the barrier to trying it.
Decision
Conversion		 ROI Calculator (NEW ASSET)
Concierge onboarding: human support for the first dashboard walkthrough		 Real hotel options
AI trip suggestions + "No fees" messaging
DB EmailPaid AdsDirect Mail
 Just book your trip. Everything else is handled.
Post-Purchase
Retention		 Dashboard nurture email
Account Manager support		 First-booking guides + customer support
Invoice and reporting content
CRMDB EmailSupport
 Reinforce the value, drive the second booking, build the habit.
Activation Engine
Multi-Channel Lifecycle Marketing
Email Lifecycle
Behavior-Based Triggers
Paid Retargeting
Role-Specific Messaging
Email drives intent → Paid removes hesitation
Execution Plan
90-Day Activation Timeline
📅
Month 1
May
Activation Focus
  • Launch onboarding email sequence
  • Pre-filled trip suggestion test
  • Retargeting on Google + LinkedIn
  • "Book your first trip" demo
🔧
Month 2
June
Optimisation
  • Browse abandonment email campaigns
  • Dynamic hotel retargeting
  • A/B test: incentive vs no incentive
  • Webinar: "How SMEs simplify travel"
🔁
Month 3
July
Retention & Habit
  • Rebooking email campaigns
  • "1-click repeat trip" push
  • Case study ads on LinkedIn
  • Monthly travel insights report
⚡
Always-on throughout: CRM · Paid Media · Analytics
Measurement Framework
Data-Driven Optimisation
Activation Metrics
Activation Rate (% booking within 7 days)
Time to First Booking
Business Impact
Booking Volume
Revenue per Account
Retention
60-day Repeat Rate
Churn Rate
Measurement Approach
Cohort tracking — Day 0, 7, 30
Funnel: Sign-up → Search → Booking
Channel attribution
A/B Testing Plan
Test 1
Onboarding Experience
A
Empty dashboard
B
Pre-filled trip suggestion
Does removing the blank slate help people take action faster?
Test 2
Incentive Strategy
A
No incentive
B
"Unlock Genius Level 2 after booking"
Does the Genius reward actually move the needle, or would they have booked anyway?
Test 3
Email CTA
A
"Book now"
B
"See your trip plan"
Direct ask vs softer invite. Which one actually gets the click?
🔥 Focus: Optimise for bookings, not clicks
Growth Mechanic
The Network Effect: How Growth Becomes Self-Sustaining
BOOKING.COM FOR BUSINESS 📨 INVITE 🛎️ BOOK 📊 REPORT 🔁 EXPAND
1
Manager Invites Team
The manager sets up the account and adds travellers. That's the moment the platform starts working for the whole company.
2
Traveller Books
A team member books their first trip. That's when the platform proves its value to the person actually using it.
3
Manager Sees the Data
All trips visible in one dashboard. That visibility is what sells it internally and gets more people added.
4
The Loop Grows
More people get added, more trips get booked. The account grows on its own without any more push from us.
Maria Vataman
Why This Role Is the Right Fit
01
🎯
Obsessed with B2B Lifecycle
I find the problem of SMEs falling back to personal accounts for work travel genuinely interesting to solve. I want to make the corporate experience so easy that switching back isn't even a thought. That's the kind of challenge I'm good at.
02
🔗
I Connect the Dots
My background covers digital, campaigns, content and automation, so I tend to see how the pieces fit together. I can spot where a tighter email workflow changes a conversion rate, or where a content gap is costing qualified leads. I care about the outcome.
03
🚀
I Raise My Game Around Good People
Booking.com sets a high bar and that's exactly the kind of environment where I do my best work. Being around people who challenge how things are done and hold each other to a high standard pushes me to think harder and work better.
Booking.com for Business · Lifecycle Plan
Over to You
Happy to go wherever the conversation takes us.
Maria Vataman
mvvataman@gmail.com
Open Q&A · ask me anything