Tourism, Hospitality and Hotel Copywriting
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?
Travel chatbots, direct bookings via Facebook, sales through friendship, effective email subject lines – this roundup is a powerhouse. My head is still spinning a bit. So much information, in so short a time.
I’m just back from a week at the beach – a week of swimming, hammocking, and reading my days away. I didn’t check email, didn’t flip through my feeds, didn’t even engage much on social media. I just dug in the sand with my kid, played lots of Pokémon Go, and drank plenty cold rosé. It was perfect.
But wow. There’s nothing like coming back to the office and opening my Feedly to more than 1,000 headlines. Sifting through industry news for this post… well, let’s just say it’s been a task! I can unequivocally say it’s been a very busy (and productive) two weeks in the travel marketing & copywriting world.
Here we go:
(This post is Part 2. Before you read any further, you may want to brush up on the first 5 travel copywriting mistakes that are costing you bookings.)
Here’s a copywriter secret for you: Copywriting is a pretty straightforward kind of deal.
That’s not to say it’s formulaic – the best kind of copywriting depends heavily on the client and target audience – but it is a science.
And that means, there are rules that we copywriters follow. There are definite dos and don’ts. Don’t focus on features. Do focus on benefits. Do spend lots of time brainstorming killer headlines. Don’t rely on clichés and hyperbole. Do keep your writing simple and descriptive.
Etcetera, etcetera.
There are reasons behind these rules. Those reasons are based on buyer psychology, science, user experience, and other tried-and-true copywriting rules, honed over decades of marketing successes and misses.
All this to say, copywriting is relatively straightforward because there’s a mostly-right way (and a mostly-wrong way) to do it. If you deviate from these rules, disaster may follow. The easiest solution: Don’t. Don’t make these travel copywriting mistakes, and you’re already halfway to effective copy that makes connections, appeals to travelers, and gets more bookings. Yes, as easy as that.
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.