Visit Orlando: Airline Video Ads in 2026

The strategic deployment of video advertising has redefined how destinations engage potential visitors, moving beyond static imagery to immersive storytelling. Visit Orlando’s partnership with Azul Airlines exemplifies this shift, using video ads to show the destination’s unique appeal directly to a key international audience. The question isn’t whether video is effective, but how precisely marketing teams can replicate such a targeted, impactful campaign in 2026?

Step 1: Campaign Setup and Goal Definition in Google Ads

Replicating a successful airline partnership video ad strategy, such as Visit Orlando’s with Azul, begins in the foundational setup within your advertising platform. For campaigns targeting broad reach and engagement, particularly with an airline’s passenger base, Google Ads remains a dominant choice due to its extensive reach across YouTube and the Google Display Network. I’ve found that defining your campaign’s core objective from the outset dictates every subsequent decision, from bidding strategy to audience targeting.

1.1 Create a New Video Campaign

Navigate to your Google Ads account (ads.google.com). On the left-hand navigation menu, click Campaigns. Then, click the blue plus button and select New Campaign. When prompted to choose your campaign objective, select Brand awareness and reach. This goal aligns perfectly with the initial phase of an airline partnership, focusing on introducing a destination to a new audience. For the campaign type, select Video. You’ll then be asked to choose a campaign subtype. For maximum flexibility and to use various video ad formats, select Custom video campaign. This allows you to combine different ad formats and bidding strategies later.

1.2 Define Budget and Bidding Strategy

After naming your campaign (e.g., “Orlando_Azul_Partnership_Q2_2026”), you’ll set your budget. For an airline partnership, consider a daily budget that reflects the scale of the airline’s passenger volume. A Visit Orlando-level campaign might allocate upwards of $5,000 to $10,000 daily, depending on the duration and target reach. For bidding, choose Target CPM (cost-per-thousand impressions) or Maximum CPV (cost-per-view). Target CPM is often preferred for brand awareness, pushing your ads to a wider audience, while Maximum CPV optimizes for actual views. I typically start with Target CPM to establish broad reach, then pivot to Maximum CPV once initial engagement metrics are stable.

Pro Tip: Google Ads’ 2026 interface offers predictive performance metrics based on your budget and targeting. Pay close attention to these estimates for impressions and views, adjusting your daily budget until the projected reach aligns with your campaign goals. Don’t be afraid to experiment with budget allocation. Sometimes a slightly higher daily spend can unlock significantly better audience segments.

Common Mistake: Setting a budget too low can severely limit your reach, especially when trying to capture a large, specific audience like airline passengers. Your ads might struggle to compete in the auction, leading to under-delivery. Conversely, an excessively high budget without proper targeting can lead to wasted spend. Find the sweet spot based on your target audience size and campaign duration.

Expected Outcome: By the end of this step, you will have a video campaign shell with a defined objective, budget, and a bidding strategy optimized for brand awareness and reach, ready for detailed audience and content targeting.

Step 2: Audience Targeting and Placement Strategy

The success of any partnership campaign hinges on reaching the right people. For Visit Orlando and Azul Airlines, this means precisely targeting individuals likely to travel to Orlando who are also flying with Azul or similar carriers. Google Ads offers sophisticated tools to achieve this, moving beyond broad demographics to behavioral and affinity-based targeting.

2.1 Custom Segments for Airline Passengers

Within your campaign settings, navigate to Audiences. Instead of relying solely on demographic data, create a Custom Segment. Choose the option “People who searched for any of these terms on Google.” Here, input keywords directly related to Azul Airlines and Orlando travel, such as “Azul Airlines flights to Orlando,” “Orlando vacation packages,” “flights to MCO from Brazil,” or “things to do in Orlando family.” This captures individuals actively researching or planning trips relevant to the partnership. Also, create another Custom Segment using “People who browse types of websites” and list URLs of Azul Airlines’ website (voeazul.com.br), major travel booking sites for Orlando, and competitor airline sites flying similar routes. This helps in capturing a broader, yet still highly relevant, audience.

2.2 Affinity and In-Market Audiences

Supplement your custom segments with Google Ads’ pre-built audiences. Under Browse, select What their interests and habits are (Affinity) and look for categories like “Travel Buffs,” “Frequent Travelers,” and “Luxury Travelers.” More importantly, dig into What they are actively researching or planning (In-market). Here, you’ll find highly relevant segments such as “Travel – Air Travel,” “Travel – Travel Destinations – Orlando,” and “Hotels & Accommodations – Orlando Hotels.” These segments indicate a strong intent to travel. A 2025 eMarketer report highlighted that 78% of travel ad spend targets in-market audiences for better conversion rates, underscoring their value.

2.3 Content and Placement Targeting (YouTube)

While audience targeting focuses on who sees your ads, placement targeting dictates where. For video ads, YouTube is paramount. Under Content, select Placements. You can target specific YouTube channels related to travel, Orlando tourism, or even specific videos that discuss travel to Florida. For an airline partnership, consider targeting popular travel vloggers who cover destinations similar to Orlando, or channels that review airlines. Plus, targeting specific YouTube videos related to Azul Airlines’ own content (if publicly available for ad placement) can create a highly contextual experience. Ensure you exclude irrelevant or low-quality channels to maintain brand safety.

Pro Tip: Use Google Ads’ “Placement exclusions” to avoid showing your ads on channels or videos that might be brand-unsuitable or have very low engagement rates. Regularly review your placement reports to identify underperforming placements and add them to your exclusion list. This iterative optimization is critical for budget efficiency.

Common Mistake: Over-reliance on broad audience categories without refining them with custom segments or in-market data. This can lead to your ads being shown to individuals with only a passing interest in travel, diluting your campaign’s effectiveness and wasting ad spend. Another error is neglecting to refine YouTube placements, which can result in your ads appearing next to content that does not align with your brand image.

Expected Outcome: You will have a finely tuned audience and placement strategy, ensuring your video ads are delivered to individuals most likely to be interested in Orlando travel and who align with the Azul Airlines passenger demographic, maximizing relevance and potential engagement.

Step 3: Ad Group Creation and Video Ad Formats

Once your targeting is set, the next step involves structuring your ad groups and selecting the most effective video ad formats. This is where your creative assets come into play, and matching the right video type to your campaign objective is non-negotiable.

3.1 Structure Ad Groups by Message or Audience Segment

Within your campaign, create multiple ad groups. I recommend structuring these based on either distinct messaging themes or different audience segments. For instance, one ad group could target “Families planning Orlando trips” with video creatives showing theme parks, while another targets “Couples seeking romantic getaways” with videos highlighting dining and nightlife. Alternatively, ad groups could be segmented by custom audiences created in Step 2. This granular approach allows for more tailored messaging and easier performance analysis. To create an ad group, click Ad groups in the left menu, then the blue plus button .

3.2 Select Video Ad Formats

Google Ads offers several video ad formats, each suited for different purposes:

1. Skippable in-stream ads: These play before, during, or after other videos on YouTube and across Google video partners. Viewers can skip them after 5 seconds. This format is excellent for brand awareness, especially when your video is compelling enough to hold attention past the skip threshold. For an airline partnership, these short, engaging ads can quickly convey the allure of Orlando. I often allocate at least 40% of my video ad budget to this format in the initial stages for broad reach and cost-efficiency.
2. Non-skippable in-stream ads: Up to 15 seconds long, these play before, during, or after other videos and cannot be skipped. Use these for critical messages where you need guaranteed viewership, though they can be more expensive and potentially lead to viewer fatigue if overused.
3. In-feed video ads (formerly Discovery ads): These appear alongside YouTube search results, next to related videos, or on the YouTube mobile homepage. They are driven by user intent, as viewers choose to click and watch them. Ideal for users actively browsing travel content.
4. Bumper ads: Non-skippable ads up to 6 seconds long. They are highly effective for concise, memorable messages and driving reach. Think of them as digital billboards.

For Visit Orlando’s partnership with Azul, a mix of skippable in-stream ads for broad awareness and in-feed video ads for intent-driven engagement would be highly effective. Bumper ads could be used for retargeting or reinforcing key messages.

3.3 Upload Video Creatives and Craft Ad Copy

For each ad group, upload your video creatives to YouTube and link them in Google Ads. Ensure your videos are high-quality, visually appealing, and directly address the target audience segment. For skippable in-stream ads, the first 5 seconds are critical. They must hook the viewer. Your video creative length for these should ideally be between 15 and 30 seconds to deliver a full message without overstaying its welcome. Craft compelling headlines and descriptions that complement your video, using strong calls to action (CTAs) like “Plan Your Orlando Getaway” or “Book Your Azul Flight to Orlando.” Your final URL should direct to a dedicated landing page on Visit Orlando’s website, potentially with integrated Azul flight information or a direct booking link.

Pro Tip: A/B test different video creatives and ad copy variations within each ad group. Even subtle changes in a headline or CTA can significantly impact click-through rates (CTR) and view-through rates (VTR). Don’t just set it and forget it. Continuous testing is paramount.

Common Mistake: Using a single, generic video creative for all ad groups and formats. This dilutes your message and fails to resonate with diverse audience segments. Another frequent error is neglecting to optimize the landing page experience, leading to high bounce rates even with effective ads.

Expected Outcome: You will have well-structured ad groups containing a mix of video ad formats, each with tailored creative and copy, ready to deliver targeted messages to specific segments of Azul Airlines’ potential passengers.

Step 4: Tracking, Measurement, and Optimization

A video ad campaign, especially one involving a strategic partnership, is only as good as its measurable impact. Effective tracking and continuous optimization are what transform impressions into actual visits and bookings. This step outlines how to monitor performance and refine your strategy.

4.1 Implement Conversion Tracking

Before launching, ensure strong conversion tracking is set up. For Visit Orlando, conversions might include brochure downloads, newsletter sign-ups, clicks to Azul’s booking page, or even actual flight bookings if deep integration is possible. In Google Ads, go to Tools and Settings > Measurement > Conversions. Create new conversion actions for each key event on your landing page. Install the Google tag (or Google Tag Manager) on your website and configure event snippets. This provides concrete data on how your video ads are contributing to business objectives, moving beyond simple views.

4.2 Monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Regularly review your campaign performance in the Google Ads interface. Key metrics to watch for video campaigns include:

• Views and View Rate (VR): Indicates how many people watched your video and the percentage of impressions that resulted in a view.
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): Measures how often people clicked on your ad after seeing it.
• Cost-Per-View (CPV) and Cost-Per-Mille (CPM): Essential for budget efficiency.
• Conversions and Conversion Rate: The ultimate measure of success, showing how many desired actions were taken.
• Audience Retention: For YouTube videos, analyze viewer retention graphs to understand where viewers drop off. This informs future creative adjustments.

For a partnership like Visit Orlando and Azul, I’d also look closely at geographic performance data to see if ads are resonating more strongly in specific regions or cities where Azul has a strong presence, allowing for targeted budget shifts.

4.3 Use Brand Lift Studies

For large-scale brand awareness campaigns, Google Ads offers Brand Lift studies. These surveys are shown to a control group (who didn’t see your ads) and an exposed group (who did). They measure changes in metrics like ad recall, brand awareness, consideration, and purchase intent. This is invaluable for understanding the qualitative impact of your video ads beyond clicks and views. To set one up, contact your Google account representative or navigate to Tools and Settings > Measurement > Brand lift. A Brand Lift study costs extra, but for significant partnerships, the insights gained are worth the investment, providing concrete evidence of the campaign’s impact on perception.

4.4 Ongoing Optimization

Optimization is not a one-time task. It’s a continuous process. Based on your KPI analysis and Brand Lift insights:

• Adjust Bids: Increase bids for well-performing ad groups or placements, and decrease them for underperforming ones.
• Refine Audiences: Exclude audiences that are not converting. Expand into similar audiences that show promise.
• Test Creatives: If a video has a low view rate or high drop-off, test new creatives or edit existing ones. Perhaps a shorter intro or a different call to action is needed.
• Optimize Landing Pages: Ensure the experience after clicking the ad is smooth and relevant. A slow loading page or confusing navigation can negate even the best ad.

A recent IAB report (iab.com/insights/iab-video-advertising-report-2025/) indicated that advertisers who actively optimize their video campaigns see an average of 15% higher ROI compared to those who do not. This isn’t just about tweaking. It’s about making data-driven decisions that propel your campaign forward.

Pro Tip: Don’t make drastic changes all at once. Implement one or two changes, allow sufficient time for data to accumulate (usually 3-7 days), and then analyze the impact before making further adjustments. This isolates the effect of each optimization.

Common Mistake: Launching a campaign and then neglecting to monitor its performance, assuming it will run effectively on its own. This leads to missed opportunities for improvement and potentially wasted ad spend. Another pitfall is making emotional decisions based on anecdotal feedback rather than relying on concrete data from your tracking systems.

Expected Outcome: A continuously optimized video ad campaign that delivers measurable results, demonstrating a clear return on investment for the Visit Orlando and Azul Airlines partnership, and providing actionable insights for future marketing efforts.

The teamwork between a destination like Visit Orlando and an airline partner such as Azul Airlines, amplified by precisely targeted video advertising, creates a powerful pathway to engage potential travelers. By carefully configuring campaign goals, refining audience segments, using diverse video ad formats, and committing to continuous data-driven optimization, marketers can craft campaigns that not only capture attention but also inspire action, translating digital engagement into real-world travel experiences.