How Digital Marketing Can Be Used by the Travel Industry
For businesses in the travel industry, social media and digital marketing present incredible opportunities to grow. Since the world relies on the internet for everything from location research to hotel bookings, digital marketing is what helps pave the way for businesses that want to connect customers to goods and services.
Whether you are a travel agency looking to attract more clients or want to increase bookings at your hotel, here’s how you can use digital marketing to grow your business online.
Create a Travel Blog
No matter what you sell, a travel blog is a fantastic way to highlight your local expertise while improving SEO and creating link opportunities for your site. If you only operate in one city, then focus on crafting detailed guides that answer top questions travelers have in that area. If you operate in multiple locations, then divide your blog by city and make it as comprehensive as possible.
You can also create posts that tie into your niche, whether it’s “the best family hotels in Rome” or “how to buy travel insurance online.”
Use Social Media
Social media gives brands a chance to build a recognizable presence. People relate more to content online that is visual, so focus on offering video content and photos that really highlight your location or services. For example, a hotel chain could do room walkthroughs to highlight its suites. On the other hand, a travel agency might highlight different cities and special attractions they can book for their clients.
Promote Special Offers
A great benefit of digital marketing is the ability to track engagement on your site. One of the best ways to increase site traffic is to run specials, promotions, and discounts on other platforms. Go where your audience is, whether that’s Facebook, travel websites, or Instagram.
Paying for Google Ads can have your business promoted to people who are in your target audience even when they’re on other websites. Using social media ads can help target specific groups of people on the platforms you use.
In any case, offers incentivize people to take action and engage with your brand. They’re also a good way to build a mailing list that you can use in the future to nurture leads and drive sales.
Grow Through Influencer Collaborations
There are thousands of travel influencers online who make great partners for a business. You can pay them to promote your brand in their content. This is beneficial because their audience already trusts them, meaning they’re more likely to buy something based on the influencer’s recommendation.
Don’t have a major budget? There are nano and micro-influencers in many niches that are affordable to work with, even for small travel businesses.
Create a Community
Creating content on social media gives a business the chance to build engagement with its target audience. Posting polls, answering questions, and responding to comments are all free marketing tactics that help a company become more well-known and trusted online.
If you employ any of these strategies, you can begin to increase your brand awareness. Digital marketing is an essential strategy for any modern travel business, so start with a content strategy and build from there!