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 istanbul escort 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.

Story-Selling: What’s Your Travel Brand Story?

When marketers talk about “brand storytelling,” what they really mean is storyselling.

In other words, storytelling is the art of crafting your brand narrative around the story that travelers already tell themselves – the internal monologues they use to justify the purchasing decisions they want to make.

Or, let’s try it this way: Your travel brand story fulfills the needs of the logical brain – “how can I (or why should I) justify making this purchase?” – while simultaneously lodging itself deep in the dreamy heart, where purchase decisions are actually made.

The trick – and actually, “trick” is a terrible word, as this is the exact opposite of a trick – is to be authentic. Because, when we get down to it, all marketing – all good travel marketing, that is – is not B2C (business-to-consumer) but rather H2H (human-to-human): You are one human, connecting with another human. Hopefully, on a deeply emotional level.

No fibs. No lies. No glossing over the truth. If your travel brand story is completely honest, it will honestly resonate with the travelers it should. The people most moved by your authentic story, are the guests most delighted with your travel experience.

And that is the definition of storyselling: brand storytelling that is authentic, that is true, and that is deeply emotional – a one-two punch of logic and emotion. Once you’re through with this story, neither brain nor heart can imagine any travel experience but yours.

How to Craft a Compelling Travel Brand Story: Steps 1 & 2

Yeah, I said “Steps 1 & 2.” Implying that there are more to come.

We all have to start somewhere.

Because, here’s the thing: Travel storytelling isn’t complicated, but it is complex. There are many components.

It all starts with two questions: What makes you remarkable? and Who is your happiest traveler?

Or, if you want to get into industry speak, what I’m really asking is, What are your USPs? and Who are your guest avatars?

At the intersection of both: your travel brand story.

Yes, it’s that easy; that’s why I say it’s not complicated. But, there are many steps between here and there; and that’s why I say it is complex. Rome was not built in a day, and neither is your compelling story.

So, for now, let’s leave it as this: What makes you remarkable? and Who is your happiest traveler?

HOMEWORK

It may have been awhile since your last homework assignment – although, am I the only one who still has nightmares of forgetting an important assignment or, GASP!, walking into class only to discover it’s midterm day and I didn’t study?! just me? okay… – but I promise, this assignment will be worth it.

Set aside some time to read about travel brand USPs and guest avatars (aka personas). Don’t phone it in. Really dig in. Write them down.

And then, if you’re game, please post in the comments what you come up with. Or, just post your questions; I’m here to help.

SHHH! ↓↓↓ STORYTELLING SECRET BELOW ↓↓↓

You’ve made it all the way here, which means you’re genuinely interested in storytelling for travel. Well, then here’s a sneak peak – a pre-invite invitation to an upcoming free webinar, Travel Brand Storytelling. Reserve your spot today!

The post Travel Storytelling – or Story Selling? appeared first on The Travel Copywriter.

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 ataşehir escort 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.

It’s what The Industry calls “brand storytelling” but more importantly, it’s what you should call your own.

Because, in no industry is this more true than in travel. Storytelling is a direct connection with travelers. It is how you say “I am what you’re seeking.” My hotel, my vacation rental, my tour, my travel – this is the story that fits your existing internal travel narrative.

Without storytelling, you are not a travel brand. Instead, you are a travel product, a mere commodity. You are a checklist of features and amenities – nothing more. Easily substituted.

Tell your story, and you are something else. You become a tangible, dream-worthy, reachable travel goal. You become a brand. You are the story that travelers tell themselves, to justify the purchasing decisions they want to make.

I promise to dive deeper into the subject of storytelling for travel brands but, for the moment, I’ll leave you with this: 16 curated storytelling quotes, to inspire your own travel brand storytelling:

16 Quotes (+ My Takeaways) to Inspire Your Travel Brand Storytelling

1. “Most people can’t hear until they’ve been heard.” ~ Red Scott, Businessman

Takeaway: Travel brand storytelling starts with a traveler: Who is listening to you?

2. “The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon.” ~ Brandon Sanderson, Author

Takeaway: Tell a great story, but leave a little mystery in it.

3. “You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows that they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift.” ~ Erin Morgenstern, Author

Takeaway: Travel is transformative. Moving travel stories can be the same.

4. “It’s like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.” ~ Patrick Rothfuss, Author

Takeaway: Be sure your stories build travelers.

5. “Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.” ~ Seth Godin, Author, Entrepreneur & Marketer

Takeaway: The story you tell about your hotel/vacation home/tour/etc. is more important [in marketing] than the hotel/vacation home/tour/etc. itself.

6. “There’s always room for a story that can transport people to another place.” ~ J.K. Rowling, Author & Screen Writer

Takeaway: Write your stories to transport travelers to you, and only you.

7. “Sometimes reality is too complex. Stories give it form.” ~ Jean Luc Godard, Film director & Screen Writer

Takeaway: Hone in on a traveler’s story, and then give it form with your own.

8. “The world is shaped by two things – stories told and the memories they leave behind.” ~ Vera Nazarian, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer

Takeaway: Tell a story that is memorable; travelers will be more likely to remember you.

9. “Stories tell us of what we already knew and forgot, and remind us of what we haven’t yet imagined.” ~ Anne L. Watson, Author

Takeaway: Spark imagination.

10. “People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact it’s the other way around.” ~ Terry Pratchett, Author

Takeaway: Your travels stories can shape purchasing decisions.

11. At its very core, marketing is storytelling. The best advertising campaigns take us on an emotional journey – appealing to our wants, needs and desires – while at the same time telling us about a product or service.” ~ Melinda Partin, Multimedia Producer & Digital Marketing Director

Takeaway: Travel is emotional by nature, so be sure to stoke that fire.

12. “Story is a yearning meeting an obstacle.” ~ Robert Olen Butler, Author

Takeaway: Inspire yearning, then be the solution to overcome the obstacle.

13. “Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.” ~ Hannah Arendt, Political Theorist & Philosopher

Takeaway: Never define or confine; tell an open-ended travel story into which travelers can insert themselves.

14. “We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories.” ~ Jonathan Gottschall, Author

Takeaway: Be the dream travelers tell themselves at night.

15. “I think the best stories always end up being about the people rather than the event, which is to say character-driven.” ~ Stephen King, Author

Takeaway: All travel brand storytelling begins with your personas.

16. “Storytelling wasn’t about making things up. It was more like inviting the stories to come through her, let themselves be told.” ~ Jennifer McMahon, Author

Takeaway: Be authentic. The stories will come.

Shhh! ↓↓↓ Storytelling Secret Below ↓↓↓

You’ve made it all the way here, which means you’re genuinely interested in storytelling for travel. Well, then here’s a sneak peak – a just-here-and-nowhere-else invite to a joint upcoming free webinar, Travel Brand Storytelling. Reserve your spot today!

The post 16 Quotes (+ Takeaways) to Inspire Travel Brand Storytelling appeared first on The Travel Copywriter.

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 istanbul escort successes.

Because this group is for you.

The post Just Launched: Facebook Group for Travel Copywriting & Content Marketing appeared first on The Travel Copywriter.

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 beylikdüzü escort pause.

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

So, what’s a hotel, or a vacation rental, or a B&B, or a travel agency to do? This infographic (courtesy of Ard na Sidhe Country House) pulls together some great info, including this quote:

“We often hear from travelers that how a property responds to criticism has more influence on their booking decision than the criticism itself.” ~April Robb, Former Communications Specialist @TripAdvisor.

I am so on board with that. Be professional. Be courteous. Respond to every, single review. And above all, keep future guests in mind: What do your reviews AND your responses to those reviews, say about your guest experience?

The post The Importance of Travel Reviews (and How to Respond to Negative Reviews) appeared first on The Travel Copywriter.

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 mecidiyeköy escort 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.

Want to get started?

Book a Free Consult

Oh hey… what’s that?

Why Do Travel Calls-to-Action Matter?

Pulling numbers out of the air here – your analytics will reveal your true stats – but I’d hazard a guess that 95% (or more) of visitors to your blog and/or website aren’t yet ready to book.

They came for the info you offer. They searched Google for the best restaurants in Orlando, or the most romantic wedding spots in the Turks and Caicos, or the best hiking trails in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The truth: They’re not here for you.

And that means, once they’ve absorbed the information you offer, they’re gone. They’ve clicked over to a new browser tab, or hit the back button, or returned to Google.

And they’ll probably never think of you again.

Whoosh! <– That the sound of a booking, disappearing into the Land of Lost Opportunity.

That is, unless you have effective calls-to-action in place. If you don’t, well, you’ve already missed your chance. You’ve failed to direct interest to other parts of your site, or to get a new Facebook Like, or to earn your way into a traveler’s email inbox.

Worse, you’ve lost your opportunity to convert this I-might-someday-be-interested-but-right-now-I’m-still-in-the-planning-phase traveler into an eventual okay-I’ve-made-my-decision-and-I’m-ready-to-book traveler.

All because you failed to implement strong, well thought-out travel calls-to-action. It could have been simple, if you had just asked:

Sign up for our newsletter for more Orlando travel tips.

Or:

Download our free guide to weddings in the Turks and Caicos.

Or:

Follow us on Facebook for more outdoor inspiration from the gaziantep escort bayan Blue Ridge Mountains.

Whatever feels right. Whatever your site visitors are most likely looking for, after they’ve finished reading your page or blog post.

Go on, get inside their heads. Know your personas.

You’ll quickly realize travelers aren’t after your Big Ask (aka the hard sell –the ultimate conversion-to-booking). They aren’t ready to book with you. And that means, your CTA should not be the “Book” button: At best, it’s simply not an effective travel call-to action; at worst, it feels snake-oily – a total turnoff.

So, instead of ending your blog post about Blue Ridge Mountains hiking trails with, “Start your all your hikes at my Blue Ridge View Vacation Rental – book today!”, try something along the lines of, “Planning a Blue Ridge getaway? Sign up for our free newsletter for more great tips, deals, and insider information on the Blue Ridge Mountains.”

And don’t stop with just the one CTA. In addition to your primary call-to-action, secondary travel CTAs should be peppered throughout your site: in your top menu, your sidebar, and your site footer.

This is about engagement and trust-building, not the ultimate conversion. That will happen naturally, once you’ve engaged those travelers and built that trust.

☞ Want More Bookings? ☜

Want to better engage the travelers on your website? Want more bookings? Want to differentiate yourself from the competition?

Sign up to receive free, actionable copywriting and marketing advice, tutorials and tips to boost your travel bookings:

( Subtle, Erin, subtle. )

Best Practices for Travel Calls-to-Action (Travel CTAs)

I know this looks like a long list – nine (NINE?!) best practices for something as small as a single button?

Yep, nine. And I’ll tell you why: Your travel call-to-action is the most important element on any given webpage. Yes, stellar copy and amazing photos do all the heavy lifting, but your CTA is what seals the deal. Without strong calls-to-action, it’s difficult (if not impossible) to convert interest into bookings. 

Now that you’re convinced, take a deep breath. This isn’t hard. We may be talking nine best practices, but they’re all simple and easy to implement. So let’s dive in:

1. Use Action Language
2. Think Benefits
3. Reduce Risk
4. Be Helpful (+ Persuasive)
5. Keep Them Short & Sweet
6. Go Bold
7. Make Them Clickable
8. Location, Location, Location
9. Test Regularly

1. Use Action Language (aka Tell Them What to Do Next)

Think about it – we’re talking calls-to-action, so it stands to reason that your travel CTAs should encourage action, right? Right.

Action language can mark the difference between a visitor clicking a CTA, and navigating away from your site. So, begin your travel call-to-action with action-oriented language: “Book Your Trip”, “Discover Costa Rica”, “Start Planning Your Vacation.”

2. Keep Them Short & Sweet

CTAs are most effective when they’re brief. Make your full offer as concise as possible. For your CTA buttons, shoot for no more than five words. Three and under is better.

3. Reduce Risk

No-obligation or low-obligation calls-to-action reduce risk. In other words, even if a traveler isn’t yet ready to “Book,” he is on your site so he’s probably interested in reading more about your area (CTA button: “Read More about Destination“) or poke around your hotel rooms (CTA button: “See the Suites”). These are both no-obligation calls-to-action.

Oh, and here’s another no-risk CTA!

Request a Free Consult

Once you’ve built a bit of rapport, this same traveler could be willing to exchange his email address for a free travel guide, or for your awesome newsletter, or for a free itinerary. These are low-obligation calls-to-action requiring only an email address (with option to unsubscribe anytime, of course), in exchange for your goods.

Bottom Line: Create low barrier-to-entry CTAs and offer high-quality offers in exchange, and you’ll build trust and ultimately give travelers the confidence they need to book with you.

4. Think Benefits

Copywriters and marketers are constantly harping on you to know the difference between features and benefits.

We have good reason, folks.

Travelers do not care about your features. No, they really don’t. They care about how your features benefit them. So, instead of highlighting the features of your offer (“free guide”), leverage your travel call-to-action – and by this, I mean the entire offer, and not just the button text – to highlight the full benefit of what you’re offering (“everything you need to plan your trip”).

One-word CTAs often fall into the feature pitfall: Book, Submit, Request, etc. Sure, those are all action verbs. And sure, they’re all short. But they don’t build any benefit into your offer. Instead, try Download Your Free Guide, Reserve Your Getaway, or Plan a Trip.

5. Be Helpful (Yet Also Persuasive)

Your website (blog, email newsletter, etc.) should appeal to every step in the booking journey.

By this, I mean that your website (for example) should have information for: 1) Travelers just starting to research a destination and its offerings; 2) Mid-stage planners who have decided on a destination, but haven’t yet settled on accommodations or activities; 3) Travelers who are ready to book; and 4) Guests who have already booked with you.

As such, your travel CTAs should provide direction for each phase of travel planning. Remember – you’re not trying to shoehorn travelers into doing something they don’t want to do; you’re trying to guide them in doing what they already intend. So, guide! Ask yourself: What’s the next logical step in their vacation planning? Then, lead them there. (Note: The next step is not always making a reservation.)

Once you’ve shown them where to go next, be persuasive! Make them an offer they can’t refuse. (Free is pretty hard to refuse, by the way, which is why the “free travel guide” is such a strong offer. Just be sure your free guide is AWESOME. It should be packed chock full of great information, use lots of sharp photography, and be designed well. Travelers should feel like they’ve received something of real value.) The offer of a discount, or of special offers, or of other value-adds can also be a strong pull.

Use a travel call-to-action to provide direction. Help. Engage. Lead travelers on a journey through your booking funnel. And use the right persuasive language along the way. (Ex. Don’t invite a first-stage planner to “Book Now!” if they haven’t even decided on a destination. Instead, invite them to “Download a Free Destination Guide.”)

6. Go Bold

Effective calls-to-action are visually striking. This means:

• They Use Contrast: Your CTA button or link text should contrast with the rest of your page. The most common way to do this is with a contrasting color that still fits within your site’s overall color palette.
• They’re Big Enough: A travel call-to-action should be large enough to stand out, but not so large that it looks like a circa 2001 banner advertisement. Your CTA should call attention but never distract.
• They’re Clear: Now’s not the time to be wishy-washy. Back up your high-contrast, big-enough CTA with clear wording.

7. Make Them Clickable

No explanation necessary: Your CTA should be clickable, and it should click-through (link) to a highly relevant, laser-focused offer. (Ex. “Download Your Free Guide” should link to a free guide.)

8. Location, Location, Location

We all know how important location is to the travel industry. Your website (blog, newsletter, etc.) real estate is no different: Location is key.

Travel calls-to-action can live anywhere on your site – in the middle of your homepage, at the bottom of a blog post, in your sidebar, as a scroll-triggered pop-up or slide-in, etc. – but do choose CTA location wisely. Place them organically and logically. Always ask yourself two questions:

1. When would a traveler be interested in this offer? In other words, don’t serve your offer too soon. A vacation rental website guest probably isn’t ready to “Book Now” from your homepage, but she might be ready to “Explore the Villa.” (Note: A “Book Now” or similar hotel call-to-action button should be available on every page of a hotel, B&B, inn, vacation rental, etc. website. [ex. In the header.] It just might not be your primary CTA for any given page.)
2. What path would lead a traveler to this offer? For lower-level pages – for example, a blog post about area hiking trails – think about how travelers arrive at your page. (Psst, check your analytics!) Then, serve up a fitting travel call-to-action. (Ex. On that hiking page, offer “Interested in more hiking trails, outdoor activities, and Area advice? Download our FREE Area travel guide!” [CTA Button: Start Planning].)

9. Test Regularly

CTAs are not a fix-it-and-forget-it kind of deal, unfortunately. Test them!

For example, if you’re wondering whether “Download the FREE Guide” or “Get Planning!” is the better travel call-to-action, then set up a simple A/B test. Send the exact same content to your entire email list – but with one difference: Half your list gets a “Download the FREE Guide” button, while the other half gets your “Get Planning!” button. See which gets the most clicks.

6 Examples of Effective CTAs for the Travel Industry

There are lots of great travel call-to-action examples out there. Here are a few.

Note: I’ve circled primary CTAs in green; secondary CTAs are in blue.

1. Costa Rican Vacations

(Full disclosure: A client of mine.)

I love Costa Rican Vacations’ approach to their homepage: They don’t go straight for the jugular. They don’t hit you with buttons to BOOK BOOK BOOK!

Instead, their primary CTA doesn’t ask you to buy anything. It doesn’t even try to snag your contact information. CRV knows that they have to build value before travelers will trust them. They also know that most visitors to their homepage don’t have enough information to make a buying decision. Yet. And so, their primary homepage call-to-action gets you dreaming: What kind of traveler are you? They reel you in first, and then they go for the ask. And it works.

Bottom Line: Your CTAs should always align your goals with a traveler’s goals. And sometimes, that’s just to dig deeper into the information you offer.

2. Hotel Boutique at Grand Central

Let’s get this out of the way first: For most hotels, a Book (or similar) button is going to exist on every page. And that’s because hotels are in a slightly different category than many other travel businesses: Their presence is scattered across the web and guidebooks, so it’s conceivable that website visitors come to their site simply to book.

That said, “Book” should not be the only call-to-action on a hotel website. In fact, I’d argue it shouldn’t be the primary CTA on many sections of the site. And that’s why I like the Hotel Boutique at Grand Central: Their above-the-fold homepage real estate (and CTA) highlights their best deals, accompanied by illustrative photos.

Bottom Line: You may have planned to stay 5 or 6 nights, but this CTA makes you consider staying 7+. And that’s an effective call-to-action.

3. Luxury Villas Orlando

(Full disclosure: A client of mine.)

Luxury Villas Orlando is another site that does homepage CTAs right: They don’t ask you to book right away, because they know you’re not ready. You need more information first.

Instead, LVO invites you explore their vacation rentals. They match photography with copy, and then top it off with a logical, unintimidating travel call-to-action. Notice I said unintimidating: Again, there’s no barrier to entry here. They’re not asking for your email address. They’re not asking you to do anything but look a little deeper. And so, you’re likely to do just that. They’ll make the ask (“Check Availability”) later, after you’ve already fallen in love with their villas.

Bottom Line: Your CTAs are somewhat location dependent. By this, I mean that someone who’s five levels-deep in your site, and has just finished reading your blog post on the 10 Best Hiking Trails in Your Area, may be willing to exchange her email address for a travel guide, but someone who has come across your homepage and knows nothing about you isn’t ready yet.

4. Sun Cliff Casita

(Full disclosure: A client of mine.)

Hello, simplicity, oh how I love you. Above-the-fold, homepage real estate for Sun Cliff Casita has but one call-to-action: Discover.

“Discover” is a great word for a travel call-to-action, because it makes us all feel a little bit like explorers. And who doesn’t want to discover something on our travels, be it a new food or a new place to do absolutely nothing? That’s why this works so well: Sun Cliff Casita has stunning photography that really does make you want to discover. If the view’s that good, what else does this vacation home have in store for me?

Bottom Line: Simple can be more than good; it can be great. Don’t be afraid to test out clean, uncluttered homepage calls-to-action, to see if they work for you. Remember, your CTAs will get more targeted as a visitor digs deeper into your site.

5. The Outer Banks

The Outer Banks Official Tourism Authority website starts off with some great CTAs: buttons to Dream, Plan, or Discover. But we’re going to focus on what happens when you click one of those initial calls-to-action.

When you choose Dream, for example, you’re taken to a page that encourages you to dream about your upcoming trip. Scroll down, and the OBX will fuel that dream with videos, articles, and other information. And then, when you’ve scrolled all the way down and are now emotionally invested in your Outer Banks travel planning, only then do they hit you with the Big Ask: What’s your contact information?

Bottom Line: If the OBX had asked for your address as soon as you had hit the homepage, you probably would have said no. Instead, they placed their offer at the bottom of a secondary page, effectively waiting until you have shown sufficient interest (via clicking + scrolling) and are more likely to take the requested action.

(Note: “Next” as call-to-action is not the strongest choice. Better options: “Get My Guide” or “Start Planning”)

6. Visit Idaho

Like the Outer Banks, Visit Idaho has an inviting homepage CTA that doesn’t ask for anything more than a click: Plan Your Adventure.

Click through, and the excellent messaging – and Visit Idaho has truly excellent messaging – continues, with great photographs, lots of good planning info, and copy that really tugs at the heartstrings. Even better, every page of their site ends with a primary call-to-action: Order their free travel guide. (Or swap your email address for adventures in your inbox.)

Bottom Line: I keep saying it because it’s true: Don’t place high barrier-to-entry calls-to-action (e.g. give us your money!) too early in your site journey; instead, wait until you’ve earned some trust and emotional investment.

(Note: “Order” is a psychological stop-word, since it implies purchase. If you offer a free guide, choose action words like “Download Your Guide,” “Get It FREE,” or “Grab Your Guide.”)

5 Ways to Use This Information Right Now

1. Do a website audit: Head over to your website (your email newsletter, your drip campaign, your everything) and identify your various calls-to-action. Compare them to the above list of best practices. If your travel CTAs don’t meet all nine points, tweak them.
2. Ask around: Talk with your peers. Form a mini-mastermind group, and talk about your various calls-to-action (and their associated offers). What works best?
3. Test your calls-to-action: One of the best and easiest ways to test new CTAs is to run an A/B test. This can be as simple as changing the action verb on a button, and tracking whether it yields better results.
4. Ask questions (or comment) below: Comment below (or email me) with your questions. Share your findings. Let’s start a conversation about better, more powerful travel calls-to-action.
5. Take the next step: Ready to take your copy and CTAs to the next level? Request a free consult and let’s chat.

By now, you can definitely see what I did there…

The post Travel Calls-to-Action (CTAs): 9 Best Practices and 6 Examples appeared first on The Travel Copywriter.

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:

1. Get More Social Shares

If you’re in travel, you use images. Lots of them. But, did you know a few small tweaks to your images could snag more clicks and more shares? Travel Research Online brings us some great, simple and, most importantly, actionable research into the psychology of images and social sharing – specifically, how to get more shares for your travel images.

2. Are You Marketing to Bleisure Travelers?

Nope – not a typo. Tnooz is talking about a new travel movement dubbed “bleisure,” which is exactly what it sounds like: the intersection of business and leisure travel. The essential question is, are you marketing to this growing segment of moneyed travelers – a huge jump from 3% in 2015 to 17% in 2016 – who book leisure travel with antalya escort a business component?

(Note from Erin: If not, get your foot in the door NOW. Be one of the first hotels / B&Bs / inns / other business travel accommodations to market bleisure travel for your destination and/or market.)

3. Jumping Ship: Brands Flee Snapchat for Instagram

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When you’re a small- or medium-sized travel business, you prioritize. You simply don’t have the time or the budget to be everywhere online at once. And that’s why you’ll want to know what HubSpot already does: brands are leaving Snapchat in favor of Instagram stories. Why? There are many reasons, among them better audience targeting (= reach the right traveler), more discoverability (= let travelers can find you), and greater scale (= potential audience, as Instagram has 700 million users).

4. You Can Add Links to Your Instagram Stories

And speaking of, did you know you can now add swipeable links to your Instagram stories? Social Media Examiner reminds us to use trackable links (like those tied to your bit.ly account), so you know how many swipes you’re getting, and to use your Instagram link opportunities effectively: not every story needs a link, and those that do, don’t need to link directly to book, book, BOOK! pages; instead, link to new blog posts, updated room descriptions, or other information pages that complement your story.

5. Instagram Inspiration

While we’re [still] on the topic of Instagram, WordStream just reviewed 13 of the best Instagram ads ever. And, while you may not have the equipment for professional-quality photos, or the budget for huge Instagram ad campaigns, chances are these examples will inspire your own Instagram efforts. Remember – it’s not always about having mersin escort the sharpest photo or clearest view; it’s about telling a great travel story through photos.

6. Updating or Building a Vacation Rental Website? Know This.

Cottage Blogger recently published a short-but-helpful podcast episode on what your vacation rental website needs – and what it doesn’t. Heather’s conclusion, in particular, really resonates with me: “You can provide a huge amount of content on your website. You just have to make it accessible for the people who want it, but not too cluttered for the people who don’t.”

7. Two-Minute Website Review: Don’t Leave Travelers Guessing

Who doesn’t love a tip you can execute (or start to execute, at least) in two minutes? Hotel-Online offers just that with a quick “two-minute tuneup” for your hotel (or vacation rental, or travel agency, or …) website: don’t leave travelers guessing what to do next.

(Note from Erin: The easy answer is to be sure that every piece of copy you write, every blog post you publish, every email newsletter you send ends with a call-to-action. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that CTAs are pushy or annoying; they’re not. Just the opposite, in fact: Your calls-to-action help interested travelers do what they already want to do, with minimal effort: book, make an inquiry, contact you, or even navigate to other sections of your website.)

8. Quit Targeting “Millennials”

If you think your target audience is “Millennials,” now would be a good time to rethink your personas. Search Engine Watch offers up this brilliant analogy: thinking that “Millennials” – by the way, a generational designation that encompasses an estimated 75.4 million in the U.S. alone – share a universal set of attributes (travel wants, needs, pain points, etc.) is like thinking that you can use astrological signs to market directly to Geminis.

(Note from Erin: Instead of focusing on a generational audience, hone your marketing the right way with clear and detailed personas.)

9. Social Media for Traveler Loyalty

The trap we often fall into, is in thinking that social media’s primary purpose is to get bookings: If people aren’t clicking your Facebook ads and immediately booking, then your social strategy isn’t working. Right? Wrong, at least in part.

Social media is key in building customer loyalty, allowing you to regularly interact with travelers (and see what images and experiences most pique their interest) and re-share your best content (which should be optimized with CTAs to direct bookings, contact, and other goals), among other benefits.

10. Local SEO is Important for Travel

SEO rockstar Yoast interviewed other SEO rockstar David Mihm about local search, and the insights are very relevant to the travel industry. I appreciate that they call out three things you can do to improve local SEO with a limited budget: focus on your website, build offline relationships (whoa), and work on getting great reviews. C

(Note from Erin: “Local SEO,” in case you’re gaziantep escort unaware of the exact term, refers to Google search results for a given location. Ex. Google “hotels in New York City,” and you’ll see a map with location pins; that’s local search.)

The post Travel Copywriting & Marketing Roundup (June 20) appeared first on The Travel Copywriter.

Can you believe it’s already May? Here in Costa Rica, for more than 100 years the country has celebrated the coming of May – my favorite month! – with an official holiday: Labor Day (el Día del Trabajador). For most, it’s simply a day off of work – a thank you for a year’s worth of jobs well done.

So in the spirit of Labor Day, no matter where you live or when you celebrate the day officially, I congratulate you on your hard work and perseverance. Building a better website, writing enticing blog posts, and creating a stronger, more effective travel marketing strategy ümraniye escort isn’t easy. My hat is off to those who dedicate their days to these pursuits!

Happy Labor Day!

How Google Knows What Sites You Control – And Why it Matters

Cyrus Shepard has a great contribution to Moz’s Whiteboard Friday, detailing Google’s take on related websites and in this case, websites that share administrators in common. Cyrus doles out the good, the bad and a bit of the ugly – and tells you why you should care.

But Google, over the past decade or so, has spent an incredible amount of energy trying to figure out administrative relationships between websites, both to help you and sometimes to discount links between those sites or potentially some negative consequences. The reason that this is so important to Google is because, if you think about the link graph and relationships between sites, links between sites that are controlled by the same person probably shouldn’t count as much as links that are editorial and controlled by other people…

9 Plugins for Growing Your Email List

It’s no secret that I’m a big, big fan of email marketing. It’s a great way to build a list of warm leads, keep your brand in front of people, share content, become a trusted resource, and… well, email marketing is great for a lot of things. But if you’re stuck on how to actually grow your list, Adam Connell of Boost Blog Traffic recommends 9 WordPress plugins to help.

Do you want to know the secret to turning a casual reader into a blog subscriber? Show them an opt-in form and get them to complete it… The good news — dozens of WordPress plugins are available for you to choose from for creating high-quality opt-in forms (in fact the Boost Blog Traffic team have developed their own — Unpop). The bad news — dozens of WordPress plugins are available for you to choose from! So how do you choose the right one?

12 Critical Metrics to Help You Build a Data-Informed Content Strategy

Remember when we talked about your traveler personas? Understanding your demographic is one of the most important elements of building your travel content strategy. But how can you actually get to know these personas? Simon Penson of Search kurtköy escort Engine Watch details 12 critical metrics, like social engagement and inbound links, to help you discover what kind of content your audience likes best.

We now share more data than we ever have in history. To put that into perspective, consider that in the past two years alone we have “created” 90 percent of all of the data in the world. And for marketers that’s gold dust. The ability to accurately map the other interests, loves, and hates of your audience, how old they are, and what they are doing is rocket fuel for your content strategy (and wider marketing plans).

Inbound Marketing Trends for 2014

Inbound marketing is, essentially, the measures your travel brand takes to attract new visitors to your website and convert them into paying guests. Popular methods of inbound marketing include blogging, social media, and your website. Kurtis Bohrnstedt of the Moz Blog dishes up 2014’s inbound marketing trends – the things you should care about today, so you don’t fall behind tomorrow.

Marketers reported that demand for content creation increased by 70.94% in 2013, falling in line with most projections from early 2013. This trend is also expected to continue throughout 2014. Analytics was the second highest in demand, with an increase of 64.46%.

The 7 Worst Types of Headlines (And How to Fix Them)

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A blog post headline is, without a doubt, the most important part of a blog post. Why? Because in 70 characters or less, you must convince Internet strangers that what you’ve written is worthy of a click. And that’s a lot harder than it seems. Luckily, Hubspot’s Ginny Soskey has the details on seven of the worst headline mistakes – and how to remedy each.

When people first start trying to create content that’s supposed to be easy to find with search engines, they’ll often keyword-stuff headlines. A simple guide to Facebook for marketers becomes something like “How to Generate Leads With Facebook, Run Facebook Ad Campaigns, gaziantep rus escort and Get More Likes on Facebook.” Holy keyword stuffing, Batman!

Do You Understand These Digital Marketing Acronyms?

This statistic hurts: According to Hospitality Times, the average hotel website converts only 2-3% of visitors and approximately 95% of would-be guests abandon the booking process before completing their reservations. Yikes. So how can you boost your conversion rate? Aileen Hoang of E-Marketing Associates has five answers. pendik escort

Instead of leading your potential customers through a lengthy and complicated booking process, it is highly recommended to shorten the amount of time and steps required to successfully make a reservation. By decreasing the number of obstacles between a customer and a sale, you greatly increase the likelihood of acquiring more reservations.

Additional Reading

Wait, there’s more! Don’t miss these excellent and informative posts from around the web. bakırköy escort

• Vacation Rental Marketing Makeover Session 1.6: Creating A Website
• 5 Responsive Design Trends That Will Revolutionize Your Business
• Monitoring your travel company’s online reputation
• Is Your Hotel Website Responsive to Meet Google Requirements and Boost SEO?
• 10 Keys To Dominating Your Local Market
• 8 Stops on the Path to a Better Blog
• 6 Emerging European Mobile Trends To Boost Sales Of Your Travel Product
• 5 Must-Have Social Media Tools to Help You Meet Your Goals
• 10 Mistakes VRBO’s Often Make – #5 Will Kill Your Business Before It Gets Started
• 5 Ways to Give Your Blog Content More Visibility
• How Smart Marketers Are Sabotaging Their Calls-to-Action
• How To Write A Mission Statement For Your Blog

SaveSave

The post Travel Copywriting & Tourism Marketing Roundup: May 2, 2014 appeared first on The Travel Copywriter.

They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery. And while I wouldn’t recommend copying or duplicating your favorite travel content marketing, you can certainly take inspiration from others. After all, travelers like what they like: they click and share and follow for epic photos and awesome checklists and free content so good, they probably would have paid for it. (Stuck for inspiration? Here are 26 travel content ideas to get your creative juices flowing.)

Because here’s the secret: content marketing isn’t magic. It isn’t taksim escort as hard to understand as SEO. And it certainly isn’t new: companies have been using content to market themselves for more than a century. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel; you just have to decorate the wheel with your own brand of creativity.

One of the best parts of my job is digging up sparkling gems of content marketing from around the globe. In Part 3 we discussed travel content channels, so I thought I’d showcase some of my personal favorites in travel blogging, free guides, and downloadable ebooks. These companies are kicking butt and taking names. Call them my content marketing crushes.

And did I mention I saved the best part part for last: scale. The following aren’t examples of pricey, over-complicated campaigns that require a team of marketers, writers, designers and publishers. No; this is simple, effective travel content marketing mecidiyeköy escort that you can replicate – in your own way, of course – for under $1,000 a month. So get started on getting inspired – and please share your favorites in the comments!

Travel Blogging

Oyster Hotels

Oyster Hotels [disclosure: a client of mine] publishes one of the most enjoyable travel blogs out there. Equal doses inspiration and fantasy – think Caribbean locales without Caribbean crowds and cozy mountain lodges halkalı escort for your last winter hurrah  – infuse fun into reading about beautiful places and incredible things. And if you’ve always wondered how to weave your product into your blog without being too self-serving, have a look: Oyster always manages to link at least one of their hotel or destination offerings. But it’s helpful, not pushy – just as it should be.

The Standard

The Standard, a group of boutique hotels, has really taken content marketing to the next level: community. Their Standard Culture blog is a place for Standard guests and area locals – there are hotels in New York, L.A. and Miami – to voice their love of the city, celebrate modern tastes, and buzz about culture. The blog features vibrant photography, traveler contributions, and original features, plus hotel-centered kartal escort content like upcoming events and a look behind the Standard curtain.

Guomon Hotels Blog

Maybe it’s because I love London – fine, I’m obsessed – but the Guoman Hotels blog really draws me in. Their posts are a lovely blend of London-themed posts, like Secrets From London’s Foodies, and English culture (how cute is their post on Dickens at Christmas: A Walking Map of London?). What I particularly love is that the blog is completely approachable – you can do this, no joke. Just post, one week at a time. bahçeşehir escort

Free Travel Guides

Tennessee Vacation

I simply cannot get enough of Tennessee Vacation, the state’s official trip-planning website. If you’ve never visited, prepare yourself: the site features beautiful design, interactive features, and a boatload of content. And by boatload, I mean an entire pirate ship full of treasure. Go ahead and mouse over their Things to Do tab and choose your favorite; it’s like disappearing down a rabbit hole of content so good, you can’t help but explore, plan and daydream until you drop.

Costa Rican Vacations

Costa Rican Vacations [disclosure: a client of mine] is one of my absolute favorite examples of content marketing done right. Though small (less than 50 employees), CRV sees the value in content and dedicates time and resources to creating truly awesome and fact-filled info for Costa Rican vacationers. Take their newly refreshed Costa Rica travel guide, which covers topics from destinations to packing tips, written by people who know and love Costa Rica.

Airbnb

Airbnb’s Neighborhood guides are a pretty spectacular blend of local knowledge, sparkling photography, and real-life quotes from past visitors – not to mention, helpful links to rooms and homes for rent in each neighborhood. Oh yeah, and a call-to-action encouraging neighborhood gurus to contribute their own knowledge to the guide. It’s an informative, interactive and well-integrated approach to free travel guides.

Travel eBooks

Hong Kong Tourism Board

Tourism Boards are really good at free eBooks, and Hong Kong does a great job of it. They offer all their downloads in easy pdf format, and the guides cover a wide range of topics, like the Best of Culinary Rewards and a Guide to Family Fun. They also have more general guides to Hong Kong, but those targeted niche guides are where the money’s at.

Visit Florida

Say what? Visit Florida has it going on – big time! I absolutely love their free Florida travel guides that cover a range of traveler interests – think hiking, biking and LGBT travel – all in downloadable eBook format. And while yes, they’re a big state tourism board, no, this is not something that you can’t do, too. All it takes is some creativity, writing chops, and maybe a few hours of quality design (or familiarity with your favorite publishing software). My suggestion: offer your eBooks in exchange for an email address.

Visit Iceland

Did you know that brochures, done right, can be repackaged as downloadable guides/eBooks? Take Visit Iceland’s beautiful brochure, which has an eye-catching mix of spectacular photography and introductory information – real, helpful and non-promotional content – to Iceland. I love the Top 5’s peppered throughout, and I’ll bet Iceland tourists do, too. (Bonus points to Visit Iceland for providing downloads for different dialects, like British vs. U.S. English!)

So there are a few of my favorites. What are the best examples of travel content marketing you’ve ever come across? 

Other installments in The Zen of Travel Content Marketing series:

Part 1: Get to Know Your Target Audience
Part 2: Define Your Travel or Hotel Content Strategy
Part 3: Choosing Your Content Channels
Part 4: Run a Content Audit

The post The Zen of Travel Content Marketing, Part 5: 9 Examples of Exceptional (but Doable) Travel & Hotel Content Marketing appeared first on The Travel Copywriter.

Today’s roundup is incredibly inspiring – info-rich, actionable posts you can really sink your teeth into.

But that’s my opinion. I’d love to hear from you. What kind of inspiration is most helpful for you? What kind of content do you want to read in these roundups? What are you favorite blogs for travel & hotel marketing, copywriting, and social media? Let me know, fatih escort and I’ll scour the the nets every other week in search of what you want to read most.

So seriously, please hop on down to the comments and fill me in: What do you most want to read in these weekly roundups?

Do You Understand These Digital Marketing Acronyms?

Do you know the difference between a CMS and your CTR? Or how CPC is related to PPC? You may not be familiar with the acronyms, but you’re hopefully familiar with the terms: content management systems, pay-per-click, retweets, and more. Hop on over the Blue Magnet for Michelle Laing’s post on the acronyms and terminology every travel marketer should know and understand.

How to Spend the Big Bucks – or Just $100 – on Facebook Ads

Are you advertising on Facebook? If it’s something you’re considering, Noah Kagan has some great insight on where and how to spend your first $100. Considering he’s spent $2+ million buying Facebook ads – and riding their success – this is some solid advice for anyone looking to get their fındıkzade escort toes wet advertising on the web’s largest social network.

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16 Content Marketing Campaigns That Are Getting it Right

A little inspiration can go a long way. You know you need travel content marketing, but if you’ve ever struggled with ideation, creation or implementation, Econsultancy’s Chris Lake has a whole list of companies that are doing it not only right, but well.

How to Beat the Odds of 81% Booking Abandonment

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What do the right email subject line, the right content and the right time have in common? They can help you beat the industry standard of 81% guest abandonment rate at the time of booking (holy say whaaaat?!). Email marketing is one of the most effective sales methods, but it’s important to do it right – starting with that subject line, content and the time you click send.

4 Important Takeaways from Google’s “The 2013 Traveler” Study

Did you know that 42% of leisure travelers and 55% of business travelers read reviews before booking? Or that 25% of travelers book hotel rooms on their smartphones? No? Then you should check out Google’s “The 2013 Traveler” study or, in the absence of time, at least give a thorough read through Hospitalitynet’s insightful takeaways. gaziantep escort

How to Contract Out Dynamite Content Creation

Call me biased, but as a travel content marketer I believe that a professional writer can add a lot to your company’s content campaign. Moz’s Mackenzie Fogelson offers up an excellent guide to hiring an expert blogger, creating efficient and scalable content, and working together to create strong deliverables that propel your business, boost conversions, and drive bookings.

The post Travel Copywriting & Tourism Marketing Roundup (March 6) appeared first on The Travel Copywriter.

Well, you’ve done it! You’ve developed your travel content strategy. You’ve dug deep to develop your guest personas. And you’ve discovered where travelers congregate online. Believe beylikdüzü escort it or not, it’s time to actually talk content.

Exciting, I know! But just a hot second. Close that blog prompt. Step way from Twitter. We’re not to content creation quite yet. Before you write one new word, you must first review everything you’ve already written – your existing content. Because unless your company is brand new, chances are you have some good content already floating around – brochures, newsletters, attraction information, and other text just begging for some attention.

This is the week of the content audit: the week you sort through all your raw materials and evaluate each on its performance and effectiveness. This is the week of repackaging, reworking and rewriting the best of the best. This is the week your content ataşehir escort marketing team puts their heads together. And this is the week you ask yourselves:

• Does our content speak to travelers’ pain and passion points?
• How engaging is our content?
• Is our content sharable?

What is a Content Audit?

So what, exactly, is a content audit? In a nutshell, a content audit consists of: eskişehir escort

1. Inventorying your current content, or content “assets”;
2. Analyzing content performance; and
3. Evaluating content potential

The goal: Understand what kinds of content you’ve already created, determine whether this content is effective at driving sales and engagement, and figure out what content gaps must be filled.

Inventory Your Existing Content

The first step of a content audit is to take an inventory of your existing content. mecidiyeköy escort And I mean that literally – an actual accounting of all your content.

Gather up ever scrap of content – digital and paper – your company has ever created:brochures, travel guides, packing lists, destination & attraction descriptions, blog posts, welcome emails, videos, photos, etc. (Do remember that content is not just text; it includes photos and video, too.) Everything. Then call a content team meeting and spread your content assets out in front of you. Now begins the inventory.

If you have a great database system already in place, go ahead and use that. If not, any spreadsheet program (MS Excel, Google Drive, Libreoffice, etc.) will do the trick. Create columns to account for:

• Unique ID: You can give each content asset its own ID, or categorize by type. For example, blog posts could be 1.x; videos 2.x; brochures 3.x, etc.
• Item Type: Blog post, pdf doc, Word doc, image, video, etc.
• Item Title: The title of your document, image or video
• Location: Web address, central database file, or physical location
• Age: When the content asset was first created
• Update Status: Last update. At the very least, you should update travel content at least once a year.
• ROT Status: A content ROT status determines whether content is Redundant, Outdated, or Trivial.
• Page Views [all time]: From Google Analytics
• Page Views [last month]: From Google Analytics
• Total Unique Visitors: From Google Analytics
• Goals: Every piece of content should have a goal or purpose, whether it’s to drive newsletter signups or direct sales via the Book button.
• Notes: A field for any notes/thoughts your team may have

There are many other fields – reach, social shares, conversion rate, etc. – you could include on your spreadsheet. Here’s a good overview, complete with a downloadable spreadsheet already pre-loaded with some great fields.

Analyze Your Content Performance

When it comes to content, there’s a big difference between quality and quantity. Simply having content does not mean that you have effective content: in order to be effective, your content should always work for you.

A major goal of your content audit is to gather the information you need to make good content decisions – in other words, to determine what types of content work best for your business. Several metrics can help you determine content performance, among them:

• Engagement: Does your content touch on travelers’ passion and pain points, to the point that they comment, ask questions, and otherwise interact with your brand?
• Searchability: Does your content rank well in Google, Bing and other search engines?
• Sharability: Do travelers share your content on social networks or via email?
• Branding Consistency: Does your content adhere to your brand goals and message?
• Accuracy: Is your information accurate and up-to-date?
• Awesomeness: Yes, this is a stick you must use to measure your content: how awesome is it? Does it kick your competitors’ content butts? Because if you’re not dedicated to creating absolutely incredible content, then you should spend your time and resources elsewhere.

Evaluate Your Content’s Performance & Potential

The next step in your travel content audit is to evaluate current performance:

• Internal Links: An internal link strategy is integral to link-building: where does your content currently link, and where else could it link?
• Broken Links: Run a URL validator to find broken links – then correct them.
• Meta Information: Make sure to optimize your on-page SEO, including meta description, title tags, and meta keywords.
• Keep Current: You should update travel guides, destination & attraction info, and other content at least once a year. Do the required legwork – call attractions, double-check phone numbers & emails, etc.
• Calls to Action: Be sure that all your content has strong calls-to-action that target your current goals.

Once you’ve checked and corrected any problems with your content performance, it’s time to talk potential. Brainstorm with your team the who, what, where and when of your content:

• Which personas will each content item best engage?
• How should you repackage each item into content that touches on traveler pain and passion points?
• Which content channels are most appropriate for distribution?
• When should you roll out your revitalized content?

Now ask yourself, what content performs best? What has the best conversions or sign-ups or social shares? And what content needs more development? What are your content weaknesses – do you blog too sporadically or do your travel guides need a complete overhaul?

Because these questions – your best performances and greatest weaknesses – are the foundation of new content creation. But that’s a story for another week…

Homework

This week’s homework is pretty straightforward: do a content audit. Organize a meeting with your content marketing team, and go through the above bullet points one-by-one. Let me know how it goes!

Other installments in The Zen of Travel Content Marketing series:

Part 1: Get to Know Your Target Audience
Part 2: Define Your Travel or Hotel Content Strategy
Part 3: Choosing Your Content Channels
Part 5: Exceptional (but Doable) Travel Content Marketing

The post The Zen of Travel Content Marketing, Part 4: Run a Content Audit appeared first on The Travel Copywriter.