 Every few years or so the phrase “Content is King” enjoys new popularity. What most surprises me is that content has ever lost its royal positioning in marketing. Why does it come as a surprise when we re-discover the importance of well-written, engaging content? That aside, what role does content play in your own efforts to market your travel practice?
Certainly the publishing world, both online and in print, has long depended on topical content as a vehicle for attracting the attention of consumers. The difference now, of course, is that more of us are publishers to some degree. Every travel consultant with a Facebook profile or page, a Twitter account, a website, or a blog now finds herself in a position of having to compose and curate articles, videos, photos, and other content for marketing.
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 On occasion, a neighbor or an acquaintance, knowing I am somehow connected to the travel industry, will ask me about a vacation they would like to take. I use those opportunities to refer the person to a rotating selection of travel professionals I know. I tend to use different travel advisors depending on the person’s request. Recently, a neighbor asked me about a trip to Thailand she and her family wanted to take next year. I checked with a travel agent friend to see if he wanted the referral and I then put the two of them together.
Yesterday, months after our original conversation, I ran into my neighbor and asked how the travel planning had progressed. Looking at me a bit sheepishly she said “Well, your travel agent friend couldn’t find us anything cheaper than we could get online by ourselves.” I explained to my neighbor the travel professional is not about the “best price” but was instead looking for the “best value.” I explained the travel professional was looking after my neighbor’s interests by choosing reliable suppliers, coordinating their travels and acting as their advocates. My neighbor listened, but the lesson was, I fear, arriving too late. Yikes.  I want to show everyone some great Voyager sites that have been customized by the agents that own them. Most have been customized by the agent, others customized by design people hired by the agent. When we build out a site for you, we build it out using our templates. However, the customization you see on the following sites is completely within your power to do! The brilliance of your site is it can be as individual as your travel practice.  How many times have you promised to better organize your digital marketing efforts? You have a website, a Facebook page, maybe a Twitter account and you started an Instagram page, but they now languish at the back of your marketing plans going nowhere. Are your efforts disjointed, inconsistent and infrequent? If so, you already understand the symptoms of this malaise.
Now, let’s explore a cure. Here is the truth of the matter: you will get out of your efforts what you put into them. The better the plan with which you begin, the better the results. Getting customers to your website, creating engagement and initiating a conversation with existing and new clients takes focus and effort. Great websites require a plan and resources.  I often hear travel professionals complain they are making no sales from their websites. To my ear, the complaint, however, sounds a bit strange. If you are making “sales” from your website, I suspect you are using a booking engine or a search engine geared to supplier specials, much like Travelocity or Expedia. However, for personal travel consultants, a website is far more of a marketing tool than a sales tool. The difference is an important one to consider.
Firstly, every website should be designed with the business model of the company behind it in mind. There is no “one site fits all” website. If your business model resembles that of Expedia, then you are gearing for great volumes with little personal client interaction. In this scenario, a booking engine or supplier search engine makes sense and your website is indeed a sales tool.  Every travel agent spending the least bit of time thinking about their travel agency website has heard the truism “Content is King.” I’m here to suggest, however, content is so much more than King, if by “King” you mean it is content bringing visitors to your website through basic search engine marketing. Indeed, it is relevant, original content responsible for most of the organic, (i.e. “free”), traffic visiting your site. However, merely getting visitors to your site is only a first step. In addition, to be successful you need to also entertain (the Jester) and please (the Queen) your visitors, or they will soon be off to find better content and digital turf on which to spend their time. The Knight – he’s the enforcer, the one who makes you write often and well and with great design on a consistent basis.
Let’s spend a bit of time at court.
What, you ask, does this have to do with your website? In every instance below you should ensure your audience knows your website address and you leave them with materials to do so.
 My early recollections of the world of brands and business have to do with the companies with which a five year old first has contact. I can remember that Esso put a tiger in our tank and that my Keds tennis shoes would make me run a little faster and jump a little higher. The personality of many companies had to do with their cartoon mascots whether that was Mr. Clean , Green Giant or a leprechaun whose marshmallows were lucky charms.
Those were the days recalled by “Mad Men.” Brand identity and communications then were pretty much a one-way communication from the company to the public. The brand delivered information to the public through television or through the newspapers and we accepted pretty much what ever we were told. Those might have been simpler times, but I think perhaps a bit naïve and not as interesting as today.  I often encounter a mindset that sees marketing as an expense. I suppose from the perspective of an accountant, that is absolutely accurate. However, in reality marketing should be viewed as an investment. Think of it this way: marketing is only expensive if it’s not working. If you made 5 dollars every time you spent two marketing dollars you would be spending money all day and be happy about it. Ideally, marketing is an investment.
We all live within the constraints of a budget. There are many good things to be said about marketing on a shoestring, on choosing strategies that are smart and that work. Today, however, we are going to talk about avoiding turning our shoestrings into nooses – making mistakes with our marketing dollars that, like bad investments, are nothing but expensive errors.  I admit to being one of the few people who liked The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty. The movie is a reminder of the importance of travel to the human psyche. Travel is not just a mechanical act of movement from one point to another. On occasion, it helps to be reminded of this small and obvious truth: travel is often an outward expression of something happening internally.
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
February 2019
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