Today we go retro. The tourism marketing landscape has changed. There is plenty of evidence to support this, but did you know that old-school marketing is still going to give your money and time the best ROI? It is just ‘same same but different’ marketing.
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Email Marketing
Yes, as retro as it sounds, did you know that email is still, by far, the most effective marketing channel we have available to us today? This is despite the fact that every day we are constantly subject to the launch of a new shiny new transformative marketing tool released by the latest Groovy Guru (flashback viewing for the over 40’s).91% of people check their emails at least once a day. That is no stat to scoff at. It is pure opportunity. And what’s more groovy, is that all those people on your list chose to hear from you. They WANT to hear from you. They WANT to know about your destination, tour, accommodation, or tour. As sales opportunity and relationship building goes, it just does not get better than that.
Email and web traffic expert Neil Patel reminds us that email gives you the ability to reach your current and potential customers whenever you want.
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Branding
Your branding now affects how you are ‘ranked’ in the search engines or your SEO. Poor and inconsistent branding means poor web presence and that you are less likely to be presented in a search no matter how big or small you are. And it is not about your logo or font.David Amerland tells us that authenticity and consistency in branding are more important than ever:
“Marketing has changed, which means branding needs to follow suit, and these days, both are also closely tied to search. You can’t talk about what you do and why you do it (which is where marketing and branding come in) without also taking into account the impact all this has on search” David Amerland, Author of Semantic Search
The world of semantic search has presented new and exciting opportunities for some and headaches for others. Branding has always been important, but in recent times, your branding influences how (and if) you are presented in the search engines when a potential customer is searching for your destination, product, or service.
You see, Google’s philosophy focuses on the customer experience – so should yours by the way. It wants to provide the very best pages and websites appropriate to the traveller sitting in their lounge room looking for travel ideas on Youtube or taking in a micro-moment at the bus stop.
So what’s branding got to do with it? One of the golden rules of branding is to provide consistency in messaging at all touchpoints. This is vintage marketing. But what is new is that creepy as it seems, Google is now looking at this too. Google’s algorithms are now specifically looking for sites that are trustworthy, of good reputation, and can stand for some authority on its topic – this could be beach holidays, family vacations, holidays with pets, or short spa retreats for stressed-out executives for example.
When you are consistent about who you are, your messaging, and your target markets, the search engines gain a further understanding of what you are all about – contextually speaking. If you talk about different things all the time and talk to different markets, then the search engines can’t figure out what your business or destination is all about – just like people. This is dangerous. If they can’t figure you out, they can’t trust what you are saying is of interest to the traveller, therefore, they are less likely to present your page to the traveller. They will present the webpage with a strong consistent brand and messaging.
A strong brand, that is consistent in what it stands for, who it markets to, and has a clear competitive positioning will stand out not only in the eyes of the customer but also in Google and the search engines.
So if you have been a brand that has historically, tried to be all things to everyone, you stand to lose. If you are focused, authentic, and consistent in your tone of voice, visual identity, and target markets you stand to win. Semantic search rewards those who are seen as expert and trustworthy. So, if you dominate a topic like family holidays, country holidays, or luxury vacations, consistently, you will turn up in search more often and be matched to more appropriate travellers searching.
I firmly believe that we are in a marketing landscape where the smaller operators can win over the larger operators in effective tourism marketing.
Between us, Carolyn and I have done a huge amount of research around destination and travel branding over our collective 55 years (ouch). MyTravelResearch.com Members click here for our presentation and insight as to what makes a great tourism brand. We give you all of the elements collected over years of research on the topic.
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Social Media
Still, a little retro for me to be telling you that social media is good for marketing, but it is far more important than you think!Do you know how you have to put your website URL into the settings of your social media accounts? Another way for search engines to figure your destination or business out is through ‘social signals’. There are several schools of thought here. Google doesn’t really tell us if they do or don’t take social signals into account. But there are a few experts like David Amerland and Eric Enge, from Stone Temple Consulting, conduct ongoing ‘unofficial’ experiments and research around the matter. They tend to all indicate, that social media does count toward your trust, reputation, and authority in the eyes of the search engines at some level.
Importantly, social media engagement means you are more likely to be presented in a search engine result.
In his book SEO Help, David Amerland talks about engagement as the litmus test of your social media success. It is also inextricably related to your branding success and helps build the picture and context around what you are about for the search engines. In this more recent article, he tells us: “The social component in semantic search leverages these interactions to determine the trustworthiness of news, fresh data, and the true importance of websites”.
Our end goal is to create social media engagement. Engagement is not liked, follows, or +1’s. Those engaged in your brand in social media are your true audience. Engagement is a result of conversations that extend beyond your social media page. So those operators with 5000 followers that ‘post and run’ stand to lose over the engaged brand with 100 followers and ongoing conversations where your content is interacted with, and commented on, with you being a part of the conversation. It’s even better if your followers come back into the conversation on a regular basis.
Engagement is actually really difficult to achieve, but you can do it. The key is to engage through relevant and interesting content that appeals to your target market.
In his article about the topic, Eric Enge talks about how people will automatically share and engage with great content that is great and relevant, it is a given. As a result, it means that there are more links to the content as it gets shared and talked about – links are still great for SEO.
“From an SEO perspective, your social media promotion can help provide exposure to your content that results in other people linking to it from their websites or blogs. As noted above, links are still a major driver for SEO”. Eric Enge, Stone Temple Consulting
So either way, a great social media campaign is driven by relevant content to your audience and can impact your SEO. It is one of the main reasons to build a social media campaign.Twitter real-time feeds to appear in Google search results
Back in February Twitter and Google joined forces. What this means is that Twitter feeds will show up in real-time Google searches. They seem to be still working this out. But when it happens, you need to be ready. So we are all being advised to ‘step on the gas’ when it comes to Twitter.
Content marketing, branding, and social media go inextricably hand in hand with semantic search.
Looking for related content? You can check our blog on boosting online presence with these 5 Step Travel & Tourism Marketing System.
MyTravelResearch.com members can download our content marketing and social media best practice guide for the semantic web here.
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Hey Bronwyn,
Excellent post! David Amerland brought me here:)
Indeed marketing has not changed and email marketing is one of the largest channels to drive engagement and build trust. Even I check my emails multiple times a day for different purposes.
As far as branding is concerned, there is certainly a search advantage of sorts. People tend to believe on brands more than those websites or businesses online who are just stepping their foot forward. However, “A strong brand, that is consistent in what it stands for, who it markets to and has clear competitive positioning will stand out not only in the eyes of the customer, but Google and the search engines. ” is important too.
Again, great post there.
Hi Ajay. I am really glad you enjoyed the article. I was hoping to help get through some of the marketing clutter. I dont know about you, but our clients are just so confused as to what to action, I think it helps to go back to basics sometimes. Thanks for taking the time to comment, I really appreciate it from a peer like yourself. Bron
Hi Bronwyn White want you to know I enjoy your blog since its covers a lot about marketing also now I know you have a senior travel blog have tips for seniors
well I am a senior just turned 68 while on my check list trip to Vietnam I am working on doing wine tours to Vietnam starting next year been doing my homework and have contacts and a vietnames partner who is a tour guide wine industry and the tourism industry is growing in Vietnam and I am getting my foot in what I would like to ask you is what would be a great way to market my wine tours to the senior market which is growing both in Australia and America I am American born but also have Australian citizenship I know that this market is big and have the money and time but also want to have an experience as well my web site is being updated now that I just returned from my trip If you have any suggestions or ideas to help me would be appreciated thank you raymond
Wow, thanks for following. And what an interesting concept, I had no idea Vietnam had a wine scene!
Lots of questions there, but the most important thing is to start and end with the customer. Do your research (of course I would say that). But travellers are increasingly travelling for their special interests, particularly seniors. Ensure you create a persona – and make sure that every decision you make about your business refers back to that personas, ask yourself if this is something they would like. It is just really hard work getting something off the ground Raymond. It really is blood, sweat and tears. We often say to our clients when you open the doors for business, you sign up to be Chief marketing officer. 80% of what you do on the business should be marketing. Bron