5 Things Your Tourism Business Should Do During The Covid-19 Pandemic
5 Things Your Tourism Business Should Do During COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the tourism and travel industry greatly and swiftly.
In a matter of months, tourism businesses have seen last-minute cancellations, travel bans, quarantines and more across the globe. While these are trying times, at AAMP Agency we want to help businesses like yours to the best of our abilities. During this lull in the tourism industry, we suggest taking this time to re-evaluate your marketing tactics and digital presence. To help your business succeed, we’ve gathered our top 5 things your tourism business should do during COVID-19.1. Fix Your Website
Does your website not have an online booking feature? Does it rank poorly on search engines? Does it have broken images and links? With the lull in activity that the tourism industry is experiencing, now is the time to fix your website. Having a well-designed and functioning website will help capture viewers’ attention and convert them into bookers. So how do you accomplish this? First, find yourself a top-notch developer with an extensive portfolio. Next, keep the following in mind as you build your new website:• Does it have a personality?
What makes your tour or destination different from all of the others? On your website, give insight into what makes you different! Aim to create excitement about your business, and don’t rely on the name of your tour to entice customers. Include descriptions with intriguing text and information!• Does it have a beautiful design & consistent theme?
While we suggest keeping it simple enough for easy reading, always add videos, graphics, or images to help spice up your website and make your business stand out. Also, ensure that your theme and branding always stay consistent! Consistency is key in all of your marketing efforts, from branding to social media, and yes – to your website.• Is your message about what your business offers clearly stated?
The moment a potential customer visits your website, they should be able to understand what your business is and what it offers right from the start. Web visitors back out of a site very quickly, so if they have to search for information, your chances of losing them as a customer increase exponentially.• Does your site load quickly?
You should be reviewing out how fast your website loads, and on different devices! If it’s taking too long to load, if buttons or images appear out of alignment, etc., it will make it difficult for a visitor to learn more about your business.• Is your website responsive?
A responsive site means that the website can shrink or expand to the size of the screen it is being viewed on. An estimate of 48% of travelers make their bookings online according to Geo Marketing, so your site must be responsive to ensure it is user-friendly.• Does it function the way your business needs it to? (Online booking feature etc.)
While your website may look beautiful, does it function well? Do all buttons, links, and pages work properly? Are there clear calls to action? Do you have an online booking option implemented with software such as PeekPro or Fareharbor? If your website doesn’t function properly because you prioritized design over function, your visitors will notice and take their business elsewhere.2. Implement Tracking
Start Tracking Website Traffic
Use a program to track your website and even your competitors, and see where traffic is coming from. Having this information will ensure that you are creating effective targeted ads and that your message is being sent to the right audience.Track Keywords
By gathering information on ranking keywords, you can utilize that information for your search engine optimization (SEO) tactics.Track Phone Calls
By implementing call tracking, your business can track ROI, understand customer habits, and get a better understanding of your customer demographics. Check out this blog to learn more.3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization (aka SEO) means that a top search engine (Google or Bing) analyzes your website to determine if itʼs authentic, user-friendly, and meets their standards. From there, the search engine gives your website a ranking, which affects where your website shows up when a potential customer searches a relatable term. To help ensure that your website ranks well, you need to do a few things. • Have a functioning & credible website • Include a few high-ranking keywords in your site copy • Ensure that all images have titles & alt-tags • Ensure each page of your website has a unique title & meta-description • Build backlinks for your website by having it linked to other credible sites such as popular blogs, local directories, etc.4. Re-Targeting
Start Tracking Website Traffic Re-targeting is a digital marketing strategy that helps convert online window shoppers into actual buyers. The first time a potential customer visits your website, there is only an 8% chance that they will book or purchase something. By implementing a re-targeting strategy, you can potentially reach the other 92% and convert sales. To start re-targeting ads you must do the following:• Set up a Pixel
A pixel is a snippet of code implemented on your website to gather information on the site visitor. It gathers information such as what product they’re interested in.• Create Awesome Ads
The next step is to create eye-catching ads, and don’t forget the call to action (CTA)!• Launch The Campaigns
Now that you’ve got the ads created and the Pixel implemented, now is when you launch your marketing campaigns. You’ll need to choose the right platform, a budget that suits your business, and ensure that your ads are targeted to the right audience to be effective.• Drive Traffic To Your Site
The last step is to continue driving traffic to your website. You can do this with social media and Google Ad campaigns, organic social media posts, blogs, directories, and more.5. Reach Your Audience
During these challenging times, continue to build your brand awareness with consistent posting across social media platforms. To keep your business at the front of potential customers’ minds, try to create engaging and relevant posts. Also by using social media as a marketing strategy, businesses can identify and reach their ideal audience. Your social media strategy during this time should include: • Consistent & relevant posting • Consistent branding across all social media platforms • Properly targeting your ads by…
Location It allows you to target people based on where they are. Since most are not traveling during this time, try attracting locals to your business.
By interest Interest targeting helps target potential customers based on what they like or what they want.
Connection
When creating target ads on Facebook, you can choose to target audiences based on whether they are or are not following your page. This can help reach new people or building brand awareness with people who are already familiar with your business.
Demographic Demographic targeting lets you select your ad audience based on age, gender, education level and more. You can utilize this tool to be more specific in your targeting efforts.
Behavior Behavioral targeting will allow you to reach people who have taken a specific action in the past such as purchasing certain products or using certain devices.
In Conclusion
COVID-19 is expected to cause the travel industry to lose $10 billion, and cities, states, and countries across the globe are implementing quarantine & lockdowns. There is no doubt that those in the tourism industry will be facing a challenge, but at AAMP Agency it is our mission to help your business navigate through these stressful times. During this lull in the tourism industry, we strongly urge you to take the time to reflect on your businesses marketing tactics and digital presence. Start fixing what is broken now so that when the industry recovers, your business can be successful and grow.For website builds, graphics, ads, and all of your digital marketing needs, AAMP Agency is here to help. Contact us today to get started.