It is very simple: good content sells travel. And I define good content as that which stirs emotions and creates a desire for travel. Essentially, we need to connect with travellers and show them what they want, whether they know it or not. It is becoming increasingly important for tourism professionals to speak directly to travellers’ needs and wants through their marketing. The traveller has evolved, and so has travel marketing.
Travellers are empowered by an abundance of choices: they can choose from among many destinations and use any number of service providers. As competition to win their business intensifies, you need more effective content to engage them and score an enquiry. Travel companies are beginning to understand the power of quality content and its importance in competing for business. With good visual content becoming the norm, the new buzzword about town is ‘content marketing’ - good old-fashioned storytelling.
The latest shift towards content marketing requires an understanding of what the client wants to see or experience. They want to see what they’re getting. So you need to develop your content in such a way that it tells a story, inspires the traveller and creates that demand for your products. The question is: with so much content out there, how do you differentiate yourself? By telling your unique story through content marketing, and doing it simply.
Your clients exist in a global space that is bombarded with information that is often irrelevant, inauthentic or patronising. Your marketing needs to transcend that and your content needs to touch travellers deeply, on an emotional level, in a way that moves them.
People want experiences, not just a holiday. Experience is a new currency to be shared and shown off. What travellers desire is a genuine emotional connection and an authentic, memorable experience that they can relate to. With effective content marketing you can show you understand this and that you can deliver. The key is to tell stories with your images and text. An experience can be demonstrated in various ways with moving images, real life stories as well as carefully chosen works of photographic art and text.
Picture a herd of elephant on safari: a host of photo-shopped landscape images might look pretty but an image of people on a game drive viewing the elephants is far more appealing to the traveller who’s interested in game viewing. This way they can see themselves having that experience. It could be an image of guests sitting on the verandah of a beach resort watching the sunset, sipping cocktails. It has to be a true representation of the unique value you have to offer the traveller.
It is important that you know who your targeted clients are and what they want. That way you can build your awesome content around them in a way that engages them, and then you will connect with them far better. Personalisation of travel marketing puts the client into the presentation as the hero of whatever story you’re telling. This is where your modern traveller is at right now - they want to see themselves there.
The traditional marketing model has been turned on its head. For our business it translates thus: if you don’t have the right content and do not connect with your clients, they will go elsewhere.
I urge anyone who doesn’t want to be left behind to evolve with good content and direct your marketing efforts accordingly, from investing in relatable pictures and videos, to using your blogs and social media platforms to succinctly convey the story of what you want to offer to your clients. We cannot escape the reality that we’ll always be chasing new content, but what you need is to develop an understanding of how to tell your stories with your content and change the way you deliver it. This is why I see content marketing as a long-term investment you can’t afford not to make. Take the leap and make that connection.
