The travel industry was one of the hardest hit during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it doesn’t change the fact that there is still tons of potential and the sudden halt is just temporary. You might not be seeing any sales right now, but growing your online presence and leveraging digital marketing strategies for travel agencies is a great way to secure customers for the future.
In this article you will learn more about the different types of strategies you can implement. Here’s where to start!
1. Optimize your website
As a travel agency, chances are, you already have your own website. Your web design should be attractive and appealing, with high quality photographs to best showcase the different destinations. But did you know that the hi-res images that you are hosting on your site could decrease your customers’ user experience?
Our first tip is to optimize your website to make sure your file sizes are not much larger than the minimum required for a good display. Your loading speed is more important than you realize – 47% of users expect a web page to load in 2 seconds, and 40% will leave a page if it takes more than 3 seconds to load! This means that a slow loading site will see potential customers leaving, before they even walk in the door!
Reducing your loading speed is a simple way to increase user experience, web traffic and even conversions. It doesn’t take more than a few minutes to check your current loading speed, and there are free tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to help you.
2. Ensure your site is mobile-friendly
In 2021, having a mobile-friendly site is no longer just an option. With over half of all web traffic coming from mobile phones, not having a mobile-friendly site means you’re losing out on more than half of the business you could be having! Not to mention, this would also negatively impact your SEO rating.
Having a mobile-friendly site means you would be able to reach a wider audience. It also encourages social sharing, as 57% of users say they will not recommend a business that is not mobile-friendly! It will also make it simple for customers to get in touch with you, since they can easily call or send you an email directly from the phone.
3. Start blogging
Start blogging if you haven’t already! There are a whole host of benefits to blogging, including the fact that businesses who blog have 55% more web traffic. As a travel agency, there are endless topics for you to blog about, and each new post is one more indexed page to improve your SERP ranking, bring in traffic and even conversions. It also goes hand-in-hand with your SEM efforts, as it’s an easy way to insert relevant keywords.
Another reason why you should blog is because it helps to establish your brand as an authority and industry leader. By creating blog posts that are engaging and informative, it will help to make you the go-to figure within the travel industry and give you an edge over competition.
4. Create video content
One of the most powerful and effective digital marketing strategies for travel agencies is to create video content. People love video – it’s super easy to consume, works across all ages, and can capture a wide audience!
Some types of content are also better conveyed via video than a blog post. For example, a tour guide that shows viewers what they can expect from the moment they land in a destination, along with stops that they will make along the itinerary. A blog post for this would most likely take thousands of words, and some people just don’t have the patience for it!
5. Grow your social media following
Social media is important for all types of businesses, including (or especially) the travel industry. More and more people are also now picking their next travel destination based on what they see on social media, so this is an effective way to reach out to potential customers!
You can grow your social media following in a variety of ways. For example, sharing offers and promotions, or organizing contests! Regularly putting out engaging content is important too, as they encourage social shares, and 76% of users say they will share interesting content! Shares cost-free advertising for your company. They increase brand awareness and bring traffic to your site!
6. Send out email newsletters
Email marketing is one of the most effective (and cost-effective) ways of digital marketing. You can build an email list with the information of past customers, as well as gain new subscribers with a landing page ad and offering a discount code to everyone who subscribes.
One important statistic to take note is that 86% of users who subscribe to receiving emails from travel agencies are looking for discounts and travel deals – so make sure to send out offers from time to time! But regardless of the type of content you want to send out, there’s no doubt that email marketing is a great way to keep both past customers and new subscribers engaged, especially during this period of time where people are unable to travel freely.
7. Work with influencers
Working with influencers is one of the most effective digital marketing strategies for travel agencies, because you can easily reach out to a wide audience.
You can engage influencers to do a simple shout out, or you can also sponsor a trip and have them share their experiences with their followers. Getting travel influencers to lead a tour group can also be a very powerful way to boost sales! To further encourage their followers to make a booking with you, you can also give them a unique discount code for them to share with their followers.
