How can content marketing be used to grow your business in the highly competitive travel industry? Drawing from examples, let’s look at ways to improve your content marketing using buyer personas, blogs, e-books, videos and podcasts.
“Logic makes you think. Emotion makes you act”
– Weiss
Let’s start with a definition of content marketing. According to Baker “Content Marketing is the process of planning, creating, distributing, sharing and publishing content via channels such as social media, blogs, websites, podcasts, apps, press releases, print publications and more” Based on this it is no wonder content is considered king. Compelling story telling can be a powerful way to reach your audience emotionally. Weiss puts it well, “Logic makes you think. Emotion makes you act”. This is particularly relevant in the travel industry where content can evoke a sense of wonder and need.
Buyer Personas
First let’s look at buyer personas. The travel industry typically segment their audience quite well. For example, CN Traveller have sixteen personas such as Islands and beaches or style and culture. These lead to inviting blogs with stunning imagery focusing on that persona. They go one step further and have a vacation finder where the user can shape their own persona, creating a highly personalised experience. Interestingly, Bookings.com presumes the visitor already knows where they are going and what they are looking for. They offer a simple trip planner with limited results that direct you to the hotel bookings page.
Blogs
Capturing the imagination of your audience through storytelling is at the heart of tourism marketing. Blogs engage your audience emotionally and express your brand personality. For example, Escape use keywords and tactics like “Best of” or “Top X” in their titles enticing the reader to find out more. They use evocative imagery that enthrals, with practical links sprinkled throughout the post to improve user experience, credibility, and search rankings. They feature guest bloggers such as Melissa Leong, who have a huge following. And they are mindful of conversions, including a subscribe CTA at the end of blogs leading to a landing page.
In contrast, Fodor’s blogs while certainly of quality with beautiful photography, their titles are less inspiring with minimal links and their CTA’s aren’t as noticeable.
E-books
E-books are another way to showcase content, offering more detail than blogs. Lonely Planet and Fodors are both world renowned for in depth and visually captivating guidebooks. Lonely Planet have incorporated CTAs throughout their stories and blog pages – subscribe and get 20% off our online shop. This is a compelling offer, and it pushes the buyer along their journey. Fodor’s CTA in comparison, is quite low profile. There is no incentive to subscribe, with the guidebook links taking you to Amazon.
Video
Online video consumption is growing. The average Internet user will spend 88% more time on a website with video. They tend to offer more engagement and conversions while being more content-rich (Rayco, 2021). Video lends itself to the travel industry because the onlooker can immerse themselves in the visual experience. Intrepid Travel have woven video through many of their blogs, aiming to offer a more enriching user experience. Likewise, Australia Tourism have used video in a fun and engaging way to highlight various locations. Websites like Escape and Traveller, while offering a wealth of beautifully presented blogs with captivating imagery, have less video content and could be missing an opportunity, considering you are fifty times more likely to appear in Google’s first page if you use YouTube and films on your site (Torres, 2016).
Podcasts
Podcasts importance is rising. Fernandez explains “One of the reasons that listeners are flocking to podcasts is because it allows them to be entertained while still completing productivity tasks like driving (road-trips!), working-out, cooking or chores.” Listeners feel connected to the speaker, like listening to a friend chat about a topic of interest.
Traveller offers their Flights of Fancy podcast series, interviewing experts on their amazing experiences and with this, taking the listener all over the globe. CN Traveller also promote their “Women That Travel” podcast, delivering a fun and informative listening experience. But these sites were the exception, the use of podcasts in the travel industry, appears underutilized.
“Content Marketing is all the Marketing that’s left.”
– Seth Godin
Summary
The importance of content marketing whether it’s within the travel industry or elsewhere, is clear. Quality content that is visually appealing, considerate of the buyer’s persona, their journey and consistent, will lead to audience engagement and sales. Afterall, without content, there would be nothing to post or email. As Seth Godin neatly puts it “Content Marketing is all the Marketing that’s left.”
References
Baker, K. (2019) The Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing in 2022. Hubspot. [Online] Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/content-marketing Accessed 20 October
Fernandez, L (2021) What Travel Marketers need to know about podcasts. PhocusWire. [Online] Available at: https://www.phocuswire.com/What-travel-marketers-need-to-know-about-podcasts Accessed 25 October
https://www.intrepidtravel.com/
Rayco, (2021) The Consideration Stage: Strategies and Types of Content. Pathmonk. [Online] Available at: https://pathmonk.com/the-consideration-stage-strategies-and-types-of-content/#:~:text=The%20ultimate%20role%20of%20the,to%20have%20any%20promotional%20content Accessed 26 October
Torres, C. (2016) Why Video is so Important in Tourism Marketing. Tourism Marketing Agency. [Online] Available at: https://tourismmarketing.agency/why-video-so-important-tourism-marketing-and-how-make-it-successful/ Accessed 24 October
Weiss, A. (2019) Logic and Emotion. [Online] Available at: https://alanweiss.com/logic-and-emotion/ Accessed 21 October
DigiTrek 