Tourism, Hospitality and Hotel Copywriting
Narrowing down this week’s list was no easy task. From huge shakeups in the vacation rental industry, to leaps in mobile travel bookings, to shortcuts to better social media, the past two weeks have been jam-packed with great travel marketing and copywriting advice.
I won’t keep you waiting. Dig in:
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.
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.
They’re baaaack! (I hope you just read that in a Poltergeist II voice.)
Yes, The Travel Copywriter blog and my bi-weekly blog roundups – that’d be, travel copywriting and marketing tips, advice, and insights from around the blogosphere – are back in action. And I’m pretty stoked about it.
It’s been a busy few years for me, and while I haven’t been blogging, I have been listening. I’ve been keeping up-to-date with the latest copywriting, SEO, marketing, and other related happenings in the travel industry.
That’s why I know it can be overwhelming. There are simply so many experts out there, with so much free (and wonderful) advice, that it’d be a full-time job just to read it all. So, that’s the idea behind these roundups: If you don’t have time to read it all, just hang with me.
Every two weeks, I’ll post a quick roundup of my favorite recent reads: copywriting, marketing, SEO, and other stuff important to the travel industry. I won’t link-bait you; there will always be enough info to determine whether you want to click for more information. And I’ll keep it short and sweet, with just a short summary for each article, followed by my thoughts (but only if necessary).
Now, let’s get to it:
It’s been nearly four years since I published the first version of 26 travel blog ideas to inspire travelers, and it’s still one of my most popular posts.
I hear you, Internet – loud and clear.
You crave travel blog ideas and content marketing inspiration. More ideas. Fresh ideas. You want your hotel content, your vacation rental website, your local travel agency blog to stand apart. You want to be the best in your niche.
Great thinking. But first, let’s talk a little bit about SEO.
Words have power.
In the travel industry, it’s easy to favor a shiny image over the written word. After all, sparkling photos effortlessly capture a traveler’s initial interest. But the visual affair is short-lived. So let’s say it again: Words have power.
After the wonder of a great photo has passed, it’s good hotel copywriting that will entice guests to stay a little longer. To click a little deeper. To disappear down the rabbit hole of travel planning.
Travel copywriting has power – the power to produce bookings. Likewise, bad hospitality copywriting has the terrible power [cue thunder, spark lightening!] to cost bookings. And unfortunately, bad copywriting is far too common in the travel and hotel industry.
Here are some of the worst (and most common) hotel copywriting mistakes I see – and simple ways you can avoid them, improve your copy, and boost the power of your words: