September is Tourism Month and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s (UNWTO) theme for 2018 is “Tourism and Digital Transformation’.
So what kind of digital marketing is best for your travel, tourism or hospitality business? Video, video, video… but what kind of video will grow your brand and increase bookings?
If the return on investment is big enough, the cost is worth the time and money. But for video marketing to provide ROI, you first have to turn strangers into customers by capturing their attention and then you can ask for their contact details.
Video can indeed be the corner stone of your marketing and branding, as long as you remember it does not happen overnight, it is a process.
Tourism Video Marketing Gives Long-term Returns
Travel is a very subjective experience. Whether it is unique food, adventure, relaxation, physical activity – everyone values different things to broaden perspectives or confront new cultures and tastes. Video can play an important part in communicating the essence of these experiences.
A common mistake would be to simply relay the basics – the hotel, the beach, the restaurant – facts the tourist can learn with an easy Google search. The tourism video should not waste time on facts and figures, instead it should create and ambience and a desire for the viewer to become part of your experience.
Use Video Messages To Anticipate Your Vacationer’s Needs
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Adventure – people want to be immersed in a cultural experience. Do you have a remote area, cultural experience or physical activity to highlight?
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History – locations associated with disaster and tragedy can peak interest because people want to learn about events that changed or influenced history.
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Ecotourism – this will more often than not be of interest. Any conservation support effort speaks to the heart.
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Medical – international travellers build in lower cost procedures during vacations. Don’t dismiss the mention of medical care in the vicinity.
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Sport, local festivals, nature in Spring – specific events resulting in packages with flights/hotels and more always gets a second view.
Show Trends
Be aware of what is trending in and around your business – travellers’ choices are influenced by where they sleep and eat and how they play.
Unique accommodation – do you have individual rooms with a unique reference to a famous artist/author or have extended services that can sway their choice?
Authentic meals – the chef’s credentials makes a big impression. A day in the life of the chef can be an invitation to meet up close.
Custom excursions – individualised experiences connecting travellers with local experts – things the tourist would not encounter anywhere else.
Not Just One Video
If you really want to succeed with your video marketing, you will need to invest in more than one version. Each story you tell will resonate with a different audience and the more you share the bigger the audience grows.
What Is The Best Format And How Will It Benefit Your Business?
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How to videos will get more views and build your expertise and brand.
Short product or service tours showing the rooms, the cellar interior, the picking of the grapes, the planting of the succulents – all shine on the brand personality. Take your viewer behind the scenes into the kitchen, the wine-making facility, the shed where the zipline gear is made and show them how they will safely mount the ladder.
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A creative lifestyle story including client testimonials builds credibility.
People connect with people, not faceless brands – interview one of the team. Show what it is like to make use of your service, product or space – going on your tours, enjoying your unique local cuisine and sleeping in our very cosy beds.
Where Will You Use Your Video?
You can have the greatest tourism video, but if no-one sees it, it may as well be a book collecting dust on the mantel piece.
Most vacationers say they trust recommendations from friends and family over paid advertisements – so tap into the power of your existing “fans”.
How do you do that? Post your video on your Social Media Channels, but keep it fresh – no-one shares old news. If you stretch the life of your videos with short teaser clips from the same reel it is perceived as new information. Special offers – nothing gets an easier share than that.
Your mobile-friendly website’s home page is a must. Comscore says that adding a video to a website can increase the chances of a front page result by 53 times.
Email Communication – adding videos to an email has also been shown to double click-through rates.
Share it in a blog post.
Start building the excitement and anticipation every would-be vacationer needs to make that booking. Together we can create tourism videos to get you the best results this season.