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In a world with unlimited choices, a constant stream of media pushed to customers only companies with a clear and unique message are able to succeed.
For travel organizations, this means they need a strategy as a roadmap that guides potential travelers from the discovery of their experiences and destinations to bookings, ensuring that every digital interaction moves them closer to their next adventure with your brand.
Foundation of a Strategic Direction
Therefor the foundation of any successful business lies in its strategic direction; your company's niche, mission, vision, values, and unique selling propositions (USPs) and your ability to turn that with the help of Digital Marketing Channel into content that reaches and resonates with your target audience.
Within this broader framework, your digital marketing strategy focuses on achieving your sales objectives through digital means. You plot a coherent plan to consistently communicate your core messages to your target audience while guiding them through their customer journey. A well-defined digital marketing strategy prevents confusion and ensures a seamless experience for potential travelers.
Digital Marketing Strategy Components
In your digital marketing strategy you define how you communicate your strategic direction through your different digital channels and what kind and type of messages and content you need to guide a traveler to a sale. Also known as distributing the right content, to the right persona, at the right time.
Choosing the appropriate channels is crucial, don't use more then you can handle. Make sure your channels complement each other, and are set in support of your website with is your digital shop, see Facebook and socials as newspapers to advertise in, your website is really yours and should be the core of everything.
Don't forget to think about email marketing too, another channel that is really yours.
Where in your overall strategy you set the direction of your company. In your digital marketing strategy you set what you will do digitally to achieve your sales goals.
You plot an aligned plan to consistently share, your vision, values usp's, key products, and messages to your target audience and guide them through their customers journey.
It's important to plan this based on your strategy, to avoid that you confuse travelers
The main goal of your digital marketing strategy is to design an integrated digital marketing framework that shows your travel products to your ideal customers who will like your services and then guide them to a sale.
In short; create the right content and distribute this to the right persona on the right time.
Setting your channels right is important because you have so many of them to choose from and they only benefit from each other when you use them in the right way.
Content Creation
Content is the backbone of digital marketing. Your strategy should outline the types of content you will create to inspire, assist, validate, and sell to your audience. This includes content that:
- Highlights the unique aspects of your destinations and experiences, making them must-visit choices for your personas.
- Demonstrates your reliability and the satisfaction of your past customers.
- Show for who your experiences are great by showing your personas in your content, and make sure they are diverse if they come from different countries or age groups.
Your content should support the core message of your vision, values, USPs, and key messages, seamlessly integrating into your overall strategy.
Content Distribution
Of the classical marketing 4 P, maybe place was the big winner in tourism marketing. Having your tour operator office in the the crowded tourism center with attractive visual on the glasses and a board before your shop works excellent. And so it does online. You need to have your content there where the crowd is. But online it's more specific, crowds hang around topics and or algorithms, keep driving them back to content they are interested in. Understanding and planning around this will help your company making more money.
Your target audience will use different platforms for entertainment, shopping, learning, information etc. To be able to assist a potential buyer smoothly to a sale you need to be present on those platforms that are important for your target audience. You design the way to present your content and stories in a distribution strategy that defines how you will spread your content across various channels to move your target personas from awareness to planning, and finally, to booking. Doing this helps in delivering the right content and that the right time to the right person. This involves a detailed plan for each channel, including:
- Website Optimization: Strategies to enhance visibility in search engines and improve user experience. This includes creating a flow on each page that inspires, helps, proves, and sells, as well as updating content, such as repurposing blogs.
- Email Marketing: Determining the type of content to send, frequency, and tactics for increasing subscriber numbers.
- Social Media: Identifying which platforms align with your personas and detailing your approach for each, including content calendars and hashtags.
- Online Travel Agencies (OTAs): Strategies for distributing your trips and experiences through platforms like Trovatrip.
Channel Strategy
It's essential to recognize that email and your website are owned assets. Investments in these areas remain under your control. Conversely, social media platforms are borrowed spaces where you distribute content with the hope of driving traffic back to your website, your primary conversion channel. Each channel's strategy should reflect this understanding, emphasizing the creation of content that engages and redirects to your owned platforms.
Website as a Central Hub
The website serves as the central hub for your digital presence. It should be designed to be user-friendly, incorporating elements that inspire, assist, validate, and sell across all pages. Detailing what specific improvements will be made and what new content will be added is crucial for a comprehensive strategy.
Email: Engaging Your Audience
Email marketing remains a powerful tool for direct engagement. Your strategy should outline the content you'll share, how often you'll send emails, and methods for growing your subscriber base.
Social Media: Building Communities
Social media strategies should be tailored to each platform, focusing on creating a community around your brand. This involves sourcing and posting content that resonates with your audience, using the right type of posts, and engaging with your community.
Lead / Contact Follow Up;
You have been successful, people go to your channels and start inquiring. Now what ? How do you automate these follow ups and how do you chose to put extra attention in those prospects you think have the highest change of becoming a customer. Standard templates, procedures and scripts to call back can help to increase your conversions drastically.
Realizing the Integrated Approach
An integrated digital marketing strategy ensures that all your digital efforts - from your website to social media, emails, and OTAs - work in harmony. This cohesive approach not only amplifies your reach but also enhances the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, ultimately guiding your ideal customers through their journey from awareness to booking.
