Tour operators and outfitters rarely have more money than they need to invest in marketing. And, according to popular wisdom, your advertising is only 50% effective, and you don’t know which half it is! Here are some thoughts from our perspective.
1. Create campaigns with purpose. According to advertising stats in the US, most dollars spent in the travel and tourism sector are spent on direct response ads. Basically, put out an offer, see what you get. Not too bad, you might think. But there is a whole lot you’re leaving on the table if you fail to plan a full campaign. The key difference to success is to know what “success” is. Are you trying to increase sales by 5%? Are you trying to generate 25 new leads? Once you know what you really want, don’t waste your precious dollars on ads that produce no forward motion to your objective. Decide how much you are willing to spend to get the result you need, then you can decide how you’re going to achieve it.
2. Advertise near point of sale. I went to a seminar offered by Oglivy & Mather very early in my career and what was said back then is still true today: understand your customer’s buying habits and put your dollars as close to the decision point as possible. Look at these stats. When asked how far in advance do you typically plan your summer vacation, these are the breakouts of how people answered.
16% More than 6 months in advance
16% 5-6 months in advance
34% 3-4 months in advance
28% 1-2 months in advance
6% Less than 1 month in advance
So, unless you’ve got loads of dollars, don’t run campaigns that run more than 3 or 4 months before summer, if that’s your main season.
Did you know that studies have shown that people prefer to book their own travel arrangements and enjoy planning online? In a Daily Mail survey in the UK, people believe they get better value when they book online. Here’s a shameless plug: use your Adventure Engine booking system to capture those shoppers as they circle about. Make it easy for them to spend.
3. Go digital. We used to publish print and radio ads to drive people to the web to seek out our services. There is still a place for that, but not on most small business budgets. Integrated media these days is for the big players, and even then digital is out pacing all forms of media buying. The point is, if you’re investing in your website, and in e-commerce, you’ve assumed your buyers are already online. So what is the best way to reach them: offline? Campaign advertising is perfectly suited to the digital world. You can easily pick your audience and find buyers. And don’t forget social media as part of your digital strategy.
4. Remarket. How much is enough? Travel campaigns tend to create conversions significantly later following exposure to ads than you might imagine, and typically require more ads to generate the desired conversion activity. Conversion rates for travel campaigns are typically lower within the first two days of exposure to an ad, and highest after seven or more days. And the conversion rates for frequency improve after at least 6 views and peak at about 34 views. There are also peak days and peak times of day.
5. Leverage. Effective advertising works, but it is expensive. The two the strongest motivators vacationers have when choosing destination, is price (deals and promotions) and attractions and amenities (things they want to do). So, my suggestion is partner up with other players in your region and your DMO and pool your money to drive more people to your destination. Use the power of your local and regional DMO’s to help present your offers on their website. Partner with other players to create attractive package deals. We can help close the sale with online booking.
Our goal is to help you power more sales and make more money using the Adventure Engine. We have digital media partners, dynamic remarketing deals and creative services to help you create and manage campaigns and coop programs. Just contact us by email or phone.