Content marketing is an essential element for any business to grow. As more travellers take the digital route for research, content marketing strategy for travel industries has become even more essential.
Content marketing is a great way to attract and engage travellers. Create blogs on dreamy destinations, fun travel tip videos, or design infographics about what to pack. The goal is to answer your audience’s questions and help them plan their perfect trip. It’s also a powerful way to drive high-value traffic to your travel websites.
There are innumerable travel sites today; however, only a few get noticed. In this article, I will provide a comprehensive guide to help you avoid this. I’ll cover everything from what makes great content to how to measure your success.
Let’s get started!
What is Content Marketing Strategy?
In basic terms, a content marketing strategy is a plan that focuses on creating and distributing valuable content relevant to the business.
This content can take many forms, including blog posts, ebooks, infographics, videos, and web pages.
The goal is to inform, educate, and entertain your target audience without directly pitching your product or service.
However, content marketing is more than just publishing a thin piece of content that offers little value. The focus is on creating valuable content your audience can discover while browsing.
Therefore, you should be aware of a few things before creating content for your travel agency.
For instance, your content planning should answer the following questions:
- Who will read your content?
- How does it help your audiences to solve their problems?
- What type of content format do you focus on?
- What makes you unique from others?
- What other channels will you publish your content?
- How will you plan and manage the whole content creation and publication process?
Why is Content Marketing Strategy Important?
About 70% of consumers prefer to know about a company via content. Similarly, 72% of marketers think branded content is more effective than advertising. [source]
Content marketing benefits travel businesses in many ways. When done right, an effective content marketing strategy can:
1. Builds Brand Awareness
Great content gets shared and discussed online, increasing brand recognition. The more people see your content, the more familiar they become with your brand and services.
2. Boosts Trust and Expertise
Travel companies can establish themselves as trusted advisors by sharing in-depth knowledge and showcasing a destination’s unique aspects. This builds confidence and positions them as the go-to resource for planning dream vacations.
3. Improves Search Engine Ranking (SEO)
Search engines favour websites with fresh, informative content. By creating high-quality content relevant to your target audience’s search queries, you can improve your website’s ranking in search results.
4. Boosts Organic Reach and Bookings
Travellers heavily rely on online research before booking trips. High-quality content optimised for search engines increases a travel company’s online visibility. This translates to more organic website traffic and, potentially, more bookings.
5. Enhances Customer Engagement:
Travel content, particularly user-generated content and social media interaction, fosters a community around your agency. This keeps travellers engaged with your company long after their initial visit.
6. Cost-Effective Marketing
Content marketing is often cheaper than traditional ads. It’s a wise investment that gives benefits over time, like planting a seed that grows into a fruit tree.
Types of Content Marketing
Now that we understand content marketing and its importance, let’s examine its different types.
1. Written Content
- Blog Posts: Informative and engaging articles addressing your target audience’s interests and needs.
- Ebooks: In-depth guides offering valuable insights and solutions on relevant topics.
- Case Studies: Demonstrate your expertise by showcasing successful client experiences.
- Email: Regularly deliver updates, industry trends, and exclusive content to your subscribers.
2. Visual Content
- Infographics: Present complex information in a visually appealing and easily digestible way.
- Images and Photos: High-quality visuals can evoke emotions and tell stories effectively.
- Presentations: Slides can be used for educational purposes or to showcase data in a clear format.
3. Video and Audio Content
- Videos: Highly engaging format for demonstrations, tutorials, travel vlogs, or interviews.
- Podcasts: Establish yourself as an industry thought leader with informative and entertaining audio content.
4. Interactive Content
- Webinars: Host live sessions to educate your audience and answer real-time questions.
- Quizzes and Assessments: Interactive tools can engage your audience and provide valuable insights.
5. Social Media Content
- Social media posts: Share updates, industry news, and behind-the-scenes glimpses on relevant platforms.
6. Other Content Types
- Checklists and Templates: Offer practical tools to help your audience solve problems.
- User-Generated Content: Encourage customers to share their experiences and build brand loyalty.
How Does Content Marketing Work?
Before you create a content marketing plan, you must understand that people have different needs at different stages in the booking process.
To ensure your content meets a need at every stage, you’ll want to consider your conversion funnel.
Think of the conversion funnel as a traveller’s journey – a roadmap from initial inspiration to booking a trip.
At the top of the funnel (Awareness Stage), travellers are broad in their search, browsing destinations and dreaming about adventures.
As they move down the funnel (Consideration Stage), they become more specific, researching details and comparing options.
Finally, at the bottom (Decision Stage), they decide and convert their travel dreams into reality by booking with you.
1. Awareness
At this stage, your goal is to make potential travellers aware of your travel agency and the destinations you offer.
You can create inspiring and educational content to capture their interest. Optimise your content for search engines and social media to rank higher and get more shares.
The best content for this stage includes articles, blog posts, ebooks, videos, infographics, social media posts, short-form videos, and newsletters.
2. Consideration
In this stage, your goal is to nurture leads by demonstrating your travel knowledge and expertise.
You can create content that showcases what sets your travel services apart and builds trust with potential customers.
The best content for this stage includes case studies, newsletters, longer-form videos, webinars, customer success stories, interactive content, travel guide articles, and checklists.
3. Decision
In the final stage, your goal is to turn leads to book their trip with your agency.
You can create content that infuses a sense of urgency and addresses any last-minute questions. Make it easy for travellers to book by providing clear and simple instructions.
The best content for this stage includes case studies, user-generated content, personalised emails, pricing pages, video testimonials, and research reports.
How to Get Started with Content Marketing?
Now, let’s dive into the steps you’ll want to work through in order to develop an effective content marketing strategy.
1. Understanding Your Audience
Who am I creating content for?
Given that you established your travel business to serve specific audience segments, you likely have a good idea of the answer.
However, avoid trying to target everyone with your content. It will be practically worthless if it doesn’t resonate with the right people.
For example, if you specialise in luxury tour packages, your content wouldn’t resonate with budget travellers.
To create the right content and reach the right audience, there are three key actions you need to take:
1. Collect Demographic Data
The first step in understanding your audience is collecting their demographics. Web analytics, social media analytics, and email subscriber analytics can provide the data you need on your audience’s age, gender, and so on.
For instance, Google Analytics, a web analytics tool from Google, allows you to view detailed data about your travel website’s visitors.
This includes demographics like age and location, as well as insights into their interests and behaviour on your site, such as traffic sources and how they interact with your pages.
Social media platforms also offer valuable data about your audience. For example, Facebook Page Insights provides demographic information about your Facebook followers.
2. Get Customer Feedback
Collecting feedback from your current customers is one of the best ways to learn more about your target audience.
Customer feedback gives you insights into how they feel about the content you are producing, what they expect from you, and how you can address their concerns with your content.
By understanding your readers’ priorities through customer feedback, you can then decide on the best places to reach your potential customers.
For more tips on obtaining customer feedback, check out HubSpot’s article How to Ask for & Actually Get Customer Feedback.
3. Create Buyer Personas
After gathering customer feedback and demographic data, you can now create buyer personas. Buyer personas represent your ideal readers and customers, allowing you to better target your content.
An effective buyer persona incorporates details like your customers’ challenges, preferred information sources, and behavioural motivators. Once you collect all these facts, you can gain a deeper understanding of the right kind of content your audience will engage with.
In summary, to know your audience, you need to answer questions like:
- Who are they? Go beyond just basic demographics to their deeper beliefs, values, fears, and aspirations.
- What are their biggest pain points, challenges, and problems related to your tour packages/services?
- Where do they spend time online? And which information sources do they trust most?
- What types of content capture their attention and compel them to take action?
The video by Masters in Marketing offers some helpful tips and even includes a free template to get you started!
Example:
Name: Sarah Jones
Age: 28
Occupation: Marketing Professional
Location: Seattle, Washington
Travel Style: Adventurous, budget-conscious, eco-friendly
Challenges:
-> Finding unique and exciting travel experiences on a limited budget.
-> Feeling confident and prepared when travelling to new destinations, especially off-the-beaten-path locations.
-> Balancing the desire for adventure with responsible tourism practices.
Information Sources:
-> Travel blogs focused on adventure travel and budget tips.
-> Social media influencers who showcase eco-friendly travel experiences.
-> Travel review websites and forums.
Behavioural Motivators:
-> A desire to explore new cultures and see the world beyond tourist hotspots.
-> A need for authentic travel experiences that connect her with nature and local communities.
-> A strong interest in sustainability and minimising her environmental impact while travelling.
Content that Resonates:
-> Blog posts about unique destinations and off-the-beaten-path adventures.
-> Engaging social media content featuring stunning visuals and travel tips.
-> Eco-tourism guides and sustainable travel recommendations.
-> Webinars or workshops on responsible travel practices.2. Set Your SMART Goals
Now that you know who your audience is, the next part of your content marketing strategy is to define goals.
What are your goals for content marketing?
Why are you creating content? What do you hope to achieve? Your goals will shape everything about your strategy, so make sure they’re clear upfront.
Some common goals for travel agencies include:
- Improving revenue as a result of your content marketing strategy (e.g., more tour bookings).
- Generate high-quality leads that convert into bookings and contribute to your revenue goals.
- Drive more traffic to your website, as increased traffic creates more opportunities to achieve other goals.
- Improving the perception to establish yourself as a thought leader and gain influence in the travel industry.
- Improve SEO ranking to attract more organic traffic.
- Reduced marketing costs as your content becomes more effective.
- Boost social media engagement to drive website traffic and build brand authority.
But when setting goals, you should think SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
For example, a SMART goal could be to:
- boost website traffic by 20% over the next six months;
- attract 100 new adventure travel leads each month through engaging content.
These specific and time-bound goals keep you focused on attracting more potential customers who share your passion for travel.
3. Determine Your KPIs
Next, set key performance indicators (KPIs) for your SMART goals.
KPI is a measurable value that reflects how effectively your actions are contributing to achieving your travel agency’s goals. It helps you to track progress and identify areas for improvement across various aspects of your business.
| SMART GOAL | RELATED KPI |
| Brand awareness | Website traffic, social media followers, subscription sign-ups, mentions (by customers and partners) |
| Revenue | Daily Sales/Bookings |
| Conversions | Conversion rate, shopping cart abandonment rate, competitive price trends, Occupancy Rate, Customer Acquisition Costs |
| Brand loyalty | Returning customers, promoters, trip reviews, referrals |
| Customer engagement | Likes, shares, follows, mentions, backlinks |
| Rapport and trust | Returning customers, promoters, followers, mentions |
| Strategic partners | New partnerships, mentions, backlinks |
Learn how KPIs can help you measure what matters most in “Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Travel Business.”
4. Choose Your Content Channels
Where should I publish content?
With new social media platforms constantly emerging, choosing the right ones for your travel agency can feel overwhelming. Here are some popular options:
- YouTube
- TikTok
- Blog
- TripAdvisor
- Podcasts
So, which platform should you choose?
The answer is simple. The one where your audiences spend their time online.
Here’s how you can identify the right platform for your travel business:
- Trust your instincts: You likely have a sense of where your target audience is most active online.
- Research your competitors: Analyze which platforms your competitors use to promote their content. This can offer valuable insights into your audience’s preferred channels.
5. Decide on the Content Types
The next step is to choose the content types you’ll focus on.
As mentioned already, there is a variety of content you can focus on, like:
- Blog posts
- Videos
- Podcasts
- Ebooks
- Infographics
So, how do you decide which ones are best?
The answer lies with your audience.
Once you understand where your ideal customers discover and consume content online, the types of content you need to create become clear.
For example, if you’re targeting Millennials and Gen Z, who are primarily active on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. You can create engaging travel videos featuring quick tips, destination highlights, or travel trends.
One cool trick is to check out what your competitors are doing.
Take a peek at their content strategy and see what’s hitting the sweet spot. Do they go heavy on visuals? Is their content mostly short and sweet, or do they dive deep into topics?
Pay attention to what clicks with their audience, and then put your own spin on it.
If you already have a blog, consider running a content audit. This can help you identify what content types are already performing well and resonate with your audience.
6. Find Topic Ideas to Cover
Now, it’s time to discover the specific topics you’ll create content around.
If you’re focused on blog posts, you need to choose topics that have high search demand.
For more guidance, you can check out our article on How to Start a Travel Blog?
Keyword research becomes crucial in this step. Using relevant keywords is an essential part of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It helps you discover the terms your target audience uses to search for information online.
You can use paid tools like Ahrefs or free tools like Google Keyword Planner to search for such keywords. When choosing the right keyword, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Find Focus Keyword: Look for keywords with high search volume and low competition. These keywords offer a good balance of reach and attainability.
- Explore Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI): Expand your keyword strategy by identifying LSI keywords. Enter your main keyword into a search engine and look under the “People also search for” section and related searches.
While keyword research is essential for optimising blog posts, its importance also extends to other distribution channels. Each platform has its own algorithms for helping users discover relevant content.
For example, on YouTube, research popular search terms and trending hashtags. You can then add these keywords to your video titles and descriptions to improve discoverability.
Similarly, identifying popular hashtags on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter can help your social media content reach a wider audience.
7. Create a Content Calendar
So far, we’ve addressed key questions in your content marketing strategy:
- Why am I creating content?
- Who am I creating content for?
- Where should I publish content?
- What kind of content should I publish?
Just like effective content marketing involves various strategies, consistent creation and publication are also crucial for success.
To ensure consistent output, you need to have clear answers to these key questions when creating content:
- What content will you create?
- Who will be responsible for creating it?
- When will each piece be created and published?
- Where will it be published?
This is where a content calendar becomes your handy roadmap.
A content calendar is a document that helps you plan, coordinate, and execute your content strategy.
Your content calendar serves as a detailed record of your upcoming content, outlining essential information for each piece:
- Topic and Title
- Owner (who is creating the content)
- Content Type (e.g., blog post, video, infographic)
- Status (writing, recording, editing, etc.)
- Due Date
It acts as your roadmap, ensuring consistent content creation and publication across various channels.
One essential element of content planning is prioritisation. If you plan your tasks well, you can identify which task requires critical attention. With that, you can protect your strategy from failing and land more opportunities for experiments that can boost your results.
Thankfully, there are many editorial tools that you can use to create a comprehensive content calendar.
You can use something as simple as Google Sheets to create a content calendar. You can also use tools like Trello or Asana if you need something more sophisticated.
8. Promote the Content
If you understand your audience’s preferred channels and choose a content type based on that, you’re already halfway there on the distribution front.
Content distribution is the process of getting your ideas and content in front of potential customers. This involves publishing and promoting your content in various formats across multiple channels.
For example, we recently released a new theme, “TravelVerse”, on our website.
To promote it, we distributed the content to our Facebook page with a community of 1,200 users.
And our 50,000+ newsletter subscribers.
However, not every tactic will be equally effective for all businesses. The promotion channels you prioritise should align with your specific goals, audience preferences, and budget.
To help you identify the best places to share your content and reach more adventure seekers, explore our article: “9 Best Distribution Channels for Tours and Travels.”
9. Measure and Adjust Your Strategy
A successful content marketing strategy extends beyond creating and promoting content. It’s an ongoing process that requires regular monitoring to assess its impact.
This allows you to see if your content aligns with your goals and identify areas for improvement.
Remember the KPIs and goals we discussed earlier? Now’s the time to put them into action.
For example, if your goal is to “Boost social media engagement to drive website traffic and build brand authority,” you’ll want to track key engagement metrics like likes, comments, and shares on your social media posts.
If your posts are generating a decent amount of likes and shares, and this translates into good website traffic, then your social media strategy is on the right track!
Here are some helpful tools to track and measure your KPIs:
- Website Analytics: Google Analytics, SEMrush, HubSpot
- Social Media Analytics: Hootsuite, Buffer
- Email Marketing: Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Brevo
- YouTube Videos: YouTube Analytics, vidIQ
Don’t just collect and review your data. Connect it to your content strategy efforts. Analyse your KPIs for effectiveness, run marketing experiments, and use your data to adjust your strategy.
In addition, data-driven insights can support your case for trying new ideas with your content strategy.
Tips for Effective Content Marketing
Now, let’s have a look at other essential things you need to have a thorough content marketing strategy in place:
1. Brand Guidelines
Brand guidelines are essentially a rulebook that defines how a company or organisation wants to present itself to the world.
They act like a roadmap, ensuring consistency in how a brand communicates across all channels, from website and social media to marketing materials and even employee interactions.
Here’s what brand guidelines typically cover:
- Brand Look: This includes the logo, colour palette, typography (fonts), and any other visual elements that make the brand instantly recognisable.
- Brand Voice and Tone: This defines the overall personality and communication style of the brand. Is it friendly and conversational? Formal and authoritative? Playful and humorous?
- Brand Message: This is the key message the brand wants to convey to people, such as its core values, mission, and important announcements.
- Writing Style: This explains how the brand wants its writing to sound, including sentence structure, formality level, and language use.
- Do’s and Don’ts: These are clear instructions on correctly using the brand’s elements and what mistakes to avoid.
The purpose of brand guidelines is to ensure that everyone involved in representing the brand (from marketing teams to social media managers) understands how to communicate in a way that is consistent, recognisable, and aligns with the overall brand strategy.
For further insights into creating effective brand guides, check out our article on the Power of Brand Storytelling in the Tourism Industry.
2. Competitor Research
By now, you’ve likely grasped the importance of competitor research. To thoroughly understand your competitive landscape, take a closer look at your competitors. Analyse the content they create, their formats, the channels they leverage, and their overall performance.
A strong strategy incorporates competitor research throughout every phase of your marketing strategy. This includes choosing content types, creating engaging content, and publishing it across various platforms.
If you’d like to learn more about how to research your competitors, HubSpot has a great article called ‘What is a Competitive Analysis — and How Do You Conduct One?‘. It breaks things down in a clear way.
3. Content Repurposing
Content repurposing is another main form of content marketing. It is the process of using all or some elements of existing content to increase its reach.
Repurposing your content eventually earns you great results in terms of traffic and revenue. The best thing about this content promotion strategy is that you can save valuable time on content creation promotion. Since you will be repurposing your existing content, you can allocate more time to promote it.
You can repurpose your content in several ways. You can either utilise your posts to create email campaigns or reshare your older posts on social media platforms.
Similarly, you can create slideshows, infographics, video posts, and podcasts to make your old content more interesting for your audience.
For more ideas on repurposing content, you can watch the video by Masters in Marketing.
4. Content Audit
A content audit is where you analyse the performance of existing content to find opportunities for improvement.
They’re useful, but you can skip them if you’re just getting started and have zero content. You can’t audit content you don’t have.
Want to learn more about content audits? Lauren Pope has a helpful video which is a great resource to get you started!
Content Marketing Examples
Here are a few examples of travel companies that have excelled in content marketing:
1. Lonely Planet
Known for its travel guides, Lonely Planet offers comprehensive destination guides, tips, and inspirational articles online. They effectively use blogs, social media, and a YouTube channel to engage travellers and provide valuable information.
2. Airbnb
Airbnb uses content marketing by featuring unique accommodations worldwide and sharing compelling stories about hosts and travellers. Their guidebooks on the platform, created by locals and hosts, provide authentic travel experiences, enhancing their community-driven brand image.
3. TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor effectively uses user-generated content (UGC). Its marketing strategy is based on real reviews and travel experiences shared by users, which helps create a trusted resource for travel planning.
Conclusion
Content marketing isn’t just a strategy, it’s your chance to become a travel storyteller! Share your passion, inspire exploration, and watch your travel business take flight.
Now, you’re equipped to craft captivating content, choose the perfect formats, and measure success. Remember, consistency is key! Keep creating valuable content, and the world of travel awaits your audience (and your thriving business).
