Travel Marketing

Feb 12 2019

Travel Storytelling – or Story Selling?

Travel brand storytelling – or storyselling, if you’d like – resides at the intersection of two questions: What makes you remarkable? and What do your guests hope and dream?

Think about the last really great movie or book you enjoyed. I’m talking about one that really pulled you in – real life fell away, you could hear nothing but this new world, and you forgot to eat or sleep. You escaped.

Escape is a wonderful feeling, especially when it comes to travel. Because travel is escape. When people search for travel – when they research their travel purchasing decisions – they’re already in the escape frame of mind.

That makes you lucky.

Travel brand storytelling is easier than most brand storytelling. After all, it’s easier to get someone excited about a wellness retreat in Costa Rica, than it is to sell them on a new brand of orange juice or a vacuum cleaner. Sure, they may be searching for a new brand of orange juice or a different model of vacuum cleaner – they may even be willing to put some time, energy, and a squeeze of excitement into that research – but travel is in a whole different league.

Travel is inherently sexy. We want to be sold our travel dreams.

But, easier doesn’t mean easy. Travel brand storytelling isn’t easy. Your story must resonate with travelers, if it’s going to work for you. Your story must appeal to the logical brain and charm the emotional heart. Your story must compel a purchase decision.

And that’s where travel brand story-selling comes in.

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Feb 05 2019

16 Quotes (+ Takeaways) to Inspire Travel Brand Storytelling

For time immemorial, humans have told stories. Gathered ’round the fireside, on the laps of our parents, agog before a museum painting, in the embrace of a favorite reading chair – we crave stories and how they make us feel.

Be they the lyrical prose of epic poems or crudely scratched paintings on cave walls, beautifully bound tomes or water cooler chat-worthy Super Bowl ads, we love stories. Stories are the framework to understand our world and to spread ideas.

Even if I didn’t say that stories are necessary for human survival or mention the most recent neurological research behind stories, you’d already know – we, as humans, seek out great stories.

You – yes, you – did it. When you were little and every once upon a time captured your attention. When you were a little older, and you became engrossed in your first favorite TV or book series. And even now, when a good TED Talk gets your click. You, we – all of us – we love a good story.

And so, it should come as no surprise that your travel marketing needs stories.

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Sep 03 2018

Just Launched: Facebook Group for Travel Copywriting & Content Marketing

travel copywriting facebook group — This group is for you. Yes, you!

Want more bookings? Then, this Facebook group is for you.

Yes, you – for all you small-business owners in travel & hospitality. For the hotels, the vacation rentals, the travel & tour agencies, and all you other tourism and hospitality businesses that want to fill your calendars.

This is for everyone who wants to grow a business through a better website, better copy, and better content marketing.

For anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed by all the you-musts and you-shoulds of building, maintaining, and growing your own website.

This group is dedicated to all things travel copywriting and travel content marketing – from creating killer calls-to-action and writing for organic (unpaid) SEO goals, to sending more effective email marketing campaigns and blogging for bookings.

Ask questions. Share challenges. Revel in your successes.

Because this group is for you.

Jul 25 2017

The Importance of Travel Reviews (and How to Respond to Negative Reviews)

In the travel industry, we all know the importance of reviews: An unsurprising 93% of travelers use online reviews in making their booking decisions.

No reviews mean you probably won’t get reservations. (Study says: 53% of travelers won’t book a place that has zero reviews.) Bad reviews can mean you won’t get reservations. Even four-star reviews can cause a traveler to pause.

And yet, five-star reviews are hard to get, aren’t they?

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Jun 27 2017

Travel Calls-to-Action (CTAs): 9 Best Practices and 6 Examples

Do your website and blog inspire travelers to trust, remember and interact with your brand?

If your answer is “I don’t know” (or worse, “no”), then Houston, we have a problem.

The good news: There’s an easy solution to that problem. And that solution is to deploy powerful, engaging travel calls-to-action throughout your website.

This post will walk you through the what, why, and how of the travel call-to-action, or travel CTA. Because, while they may sound like marketing-speak, in practice, calls-to-action are very straightforward: they simply guide travelers to whatever action they should take next. Think of a CTA as your final instruction to website visitors – an instruction you present in the form of a button or a link, such as Sign Up, Download Now, Leave a Comment, Contact Us, or Read More.

What is a Travel Call-to-Action?

Now that we have the basic definition down, let’s get a little more specific; let’s talk about tourism. In hospitality, a travel call-to-action provides direction to, well, travelers. (Shocking, right?)

But really, that’s as complicated as it gets. The sole purpose of a travel CTA is to help travelers do what they already want to do.

They’re already interested in your destination, your inn, your itinerary, your vacation rental, your fill-in-the-blank. So, if they’re looking for more information about your bed & breakfast, then your CTA should direct them to more information about your bed & breakfast. If they’re hunting down great travel advice for your area, then your travel call-to-action should link to your downloadable travel guide. Etc. etc.

From there, it’s up to your messaging and travel bookings funnel (aka “the buyer journey”) to do the rest: How does interest in your destination, become interest in your inn, become a confirmed booking? Your calls-to-action are an important part of the equation.

So, back to the topic at hand. Common travel industry CTAs include Book Now, Check Availability, Reserve, Inquire, and similar terminology. (More on that later.) For now, my point is simple: Strong, well-planned travel calls-to-action are your direct path to converting website visitors into booked travelers.

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