Many might consider email marketing to be a thing of the past, but it is still going strong. Using email marketing has shown to be a highly effective marketing tool that many marketers still stand by. There are many benefits to using email marketing and it will require little risk on the part of your business.
It’s Cost-Effective
As a business, you know that marketing can be expensive and you want to have a positive return on investment (ROI). This means finding strategies that will cost little but provide large rewards. Email marketing is an excellent example of this. There are very few costs you will need to consider. Your main focus will be on creating the content for your email campaigns. You will see a very high ROI as email campaigns encourage people to click through to your website and learn more. Overall, email marketing is cost-effective and will help you find more business.
With many marketing strategies, you are never truly sure if your content reaches your target audience. With email marketing, you almost guarantee that your content will be received. In most cases, people opt to subscribe to an email list. This means that they are open to receive your content. Nearly 9 out of 10 emails sent by travel businesses successfully make it into the inbox of their intended recipients. So, you know that a majority of your content is getting through and that your target audience is viewing it.
Consumers are more likely to engage with a business when content is directed at them specifically rather than a large general audience. You can use email marketing to create more personalized content that will engage your audience. There are many levels of personalization you can use. A simple way to start is to include the individual’s name in the email. Personalization can also be used to address specific groups. For example, you might market differently to returning customers and first-time customers.
Using email marketing as a strategy is a great way to reach people, grow your business, and see a positive return on investment. Some perceive it to be outdated, but it is still growing. A majority of people check their emails daily and email marketing is an easy way to reach them. By partnering with a digital marketing agency for email marketing, your tourism business can grow its engaged audience, increase ROI, and get more bookings. If you have any questions, comments, or want to schedule a call with the Adventure & Activity Marketing Pros, send us an email at hey@aamp.agency
Did you know that mobile devices make up two-thirds of all web usage? With the rapid advancement of smartphone technology, surfing the web on your cell is becoming more and more commonplace than doing so on a desktop. But what does that mean for you and your tourism business? It means that in order to amplify your visibility and to start reaching your clients on the devices they use, it’s imperative your company start shifting more focus onto the quality of your customers’ mobile experience.
For business owners, the goal is to always create an excellent user experience. A first-rate online user experience often leads to lower bounce rates and stronger customer loyalty, while a negative experience can easily turn off otherwise interested customers. Components such as slow loading speed, difficulty navigating or finding information, and unresponsiveness are all factors that are oftentimes neglected when thinking about a site’s mobile experience. Could you unknowingly be turning away potential clients simply because of how your mobile site is built?
Here are 8 reasons why you should invest in making your tourism website more mobile friendly:
1) Google likes mobile friendly content.
As the most popular search engine in the world, Google knows that most people use their smartphones and other mobile devices to look up their day-to-day information, and will prioritize its search results to match the needs of the user. Optimizing your tourism website and formatting your content to be more mobile friendly will improve your SEO, and in turn, may cause your website to rank higher – expanding your visibility and widening your potential audience.
2) A well-built mobile website helps to build trust.
Approximately 57% of online users won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile website. Making your tourism website more mobile friendly will help to increase your brand’s credibility with new customers and to further legitimize your brand.
3) It makes it easier than ever for potential customers to contact you.
There are many studies that prove convenience impacts consumer behavior. Today, consumers’ lives are busier than ever. Due to this, 83% of participants in a recent study decided convenience was more important now than it was five years ago when considering which companies to give their business to.
People tend to pursue the option that will save them time and effort, meaning the more convenient it is for customers to contact you, the more likely they are to do it. Why miss out on this simple way to improve your lead generation?
4) It will give you a competitive edge.
It’s easy to put off making your website more mobile friendly, but consider this – chances are your top competitors have already made their website mobile friendly. And as we just discussed, new customers have a tendency to choose the more convenient option. If it’s easier to book a rental, contact a representative, or find more information on your competitor’s mobile site than it is on your own, you may lose out on that client even if you provide the better service. Don’t give your competitors the advantage – make the wise choice and give your business an equal chance.
5) It may help increase your sales.
With each passing year, more and more consumers are relying on their smartphones to perform everyday tasks, such as communicating, socializing, and, of course, shopping. Did you know about 79% of smartphone users have made a purchase online using their mobile device in the last 6 months? You may be missing out on dozens of potential clients everyday solely because it’s difficult to operate your site on the device they’re using.
6) Mobile friendly websites tend to garner more page views per visit and lower bounce rates.
Like with anything else related to your business, an easy and responsive user experience is the ultimate key to a higher conversion rate. If most users are looking you up on their smartphones, it’s a no-brainer to optimize your site to be as accessible as possible for them. Mobile websites that load fast, are easy to navigate, and are legible without needing to zoom in are huge deciding factors in getting a visitor to stay longer on your site and to explore more of its pages.
7) A better mobile experience contributes to customer retention.
It goes without saying that if a customer is satisfied, the higher the chances are they may return or recommend you to others. However, this works both ways – if a customer is unhappy with their experience, it becomes equally likely they’ll never work with you again and may even warn others from working with you too.
Studies show that about 62% of online consumers are unlikely to work with a company again in the future if they had a negative mobile experience. Don’t lose the chance to gain a repeat client, as it’s well known that loyal customers tend to bring in more revenue over the long run than new customers.
8) Mobile devices are typically used to research a service before purchasing.
Did you know that before purchasing from a company, approximately 69% of users (ages 18-39) will research a product or service from their mobile device? This is usually done to compare prices, to contact the company for more information, or to learn more information about a service.
While studies show that most people will complete their purchase on their desktop, they will usually do a mobile search first to help make up their mind – but if your website isn’t mobile friendly, you may lose the opportunity to win them over. How many times have you exited out of a website because it was unresponsive or difficult to use? Don’t miss out on the hundreds of potential customers who visit your website on their mobile device simply because you didn’t invest in a better mobile experience.
What We Can Do to Help
Our professional team of web developers know exactly what your tourism business needs so your customers have a successful mobile experience every time. Here at AAMP Agency, we offer two incredible web building options – both including an optimized, mobile friendly version of your site.
Our AAMPsite Template Website is available for only $750 down, with a $199/mo managed service subscription. Or for more complex sites, our AAMPsite+ Custom Website is available for $2500 down, with a $299/mo managed service subscription – an incredible deal with a great value. We provide everything your tourism business needs to create a strong online presence – from conversion focused designs to on-page search engine optimization. Whether you need 5 pages or 500, we have the skill and experience to create a site you can be proud of that will work great on both desktop and mobile. Start reaching thousands of potential customers on the devices they’re already using – schedule a call with us, and start optimizing your tourism website for mobile today!
Why You Should Make Your Tourism Website More Accessible
Did you know that approximately 15% of the world’s population lives with either a visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, or neurological disability? Many websites, possibly even your own, aren’t built with people with disabilities in mind and are oftentimes difficult for these groups to navigate. "When a website is designed and developed with accessibility in mind, it allows all individuals the power to access the site," says Mark Shapiro, President of the Bureau of Internet Accessibility.
So what does this mean for you as a business owner? It means there’s an estimated 1 billion people in the world that your tourism business is potentially missing out on simply because of how your site is built.
What You Can Do to Improve Your Tourism Website’s Accessibility
There are many ways to improve the accessibility of your site, including alt text, heading tags, consistent information structuring, captions, and more, but are you missing anything? Here are a few simple, yet oftentimes overlooked ways to make your website more inclusive:
Utilize keyboard shortcuts as much as possible for motor-impaired users.
Avoid Flash, and adopt HTTPS.
Test your design with screen readers to ensure that your content is easy to navigate when read aloud.
Select text colors that are more legible for colorbind or visually impaired users.
Avoid strobing/flashing images, as these can trigger seizures in some people.
These are quick fixes you can start implementing into your site any time, but if web building is new to you, reach out to a trusted tourism website development team for help. Our skilled and knowledgeable team here at AAMP Agency can build you a website that’s not only compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but can also passively perform a variety of tasks for your tourism business – including capturing leads, communicating your company’s values, relaying important updates and announcements, and ultimately widening your exposure.
Accessibility and Tax Credits
Better yet, ADA compliant websites are eligible to receive an added perk not many businesses know about. The Bureau of Internet Accessibility states that small businesses may be eligible for up to $5,000 in tax credits simply by increasing the accessibility of their websites as well as making other minor accommodations to persons with disabilities.
According to the IRS, this credit can be subtracted from a business' tax liability. Guidelines for the tax credit assert that all efforts to improve website accessibility are eligible for a 50 percent credit for any expenditures over $250, not to exceed $10,250, for a maximum benefit of $5,000.
Reach out to us to learn more about your options, and let us help you build a more accessible website today. Here at AAMP Agency, we offer two incredible website building options. Our AAMPsite Template Website is available for only $750 down, with a $199/mo managed service subscription. Or for more complex sites, our AAMPsite+ Custom Website is available for $2500 down, with a $299/mo managed service subscription – an incredible deal with a great value. We provide everything you’ll need online for your tourism business – from high speed hosting and daily backups to plugin/database updates and malware threat detection. If there’s a vision you have in mind, we can bring it to life.
Don’t miss out on creating a new and improved website that not only works for your current audience, but for everyone – and receive a tax credit for your purchase at the same time. Schedule a call with us, and learn more about improving your site’s accessibility and reaching thousands of new clients today!
How Do I Pick The Right Marketing Agency For My Tour Business?
I wanted to write a blog post (something I never do) because I hear this question daily. "How do I pick the right marketing agency for my tour business?". We get it! There are a lot of agencies available, and there are some good ones in this tourism industry. So, if you are picking an agency, why should you choose AAMP Agency?
To me, the reason is simple. I am not only running an ad agency, but I am running a million dollar a year tour operation as well. When we started serving tourism clients, a lot of the problems they were dealing with were specific to tour operators. These problems were not something that the local burger place or the dentist up the road we’re dealing with. For us to be successful in the tourism space, I was also going to need to speak the language. This led to the purchase of a 2018 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and the creation of Vegas Jeep Tours.
We started up like many of you. With a simple website and $1,000 a month in ad spend. It was not long until tour bookings were coming in and I had soon learned of all the challenges and headaches that many of you face daily. Because we got the first-hand experience, we were able to take everything we were learning from running a tour business and put it into our tourism marketing agency. We discovered answers to problems we had no idea were going to become issues, and we learned that normal marketing strategies that work for the burger shop would not work in getting more tourists through the door.
This was 3-4 years ago and 6 Jeeps, 10 Jet Skis, 2 Boats, 10 Scooters, and 10 Polaris Slingshots ago. We have grown. We figured out very quickly how to get more customers, and how to get them to convert into reservations. We learned how to take one tour business and spin it into 2 good-sized rental/tour operations, as well as a guided tour of the Hoover Dam. All of the knowledge that we have gained has been brought back into AAMP Agency. We are not just talking about good-looking websites or fun videos on your Facebook page. We are talking about taking every single dollar of ad spend and tracking how well that converts into more bookings, and how to scale our marketing and ad spend into something that is much bigger. We are monitoring every phone call, every ad click, every cart abandonment, and optimizing our marketing strategies to make sure that businesses just like yours can continue to grow.
We started with this one simple mission…..to be the best and biggest marketing agency serving the tourism industry in the United States. We are not there yet, but I hope to come back to this blog post in the next coming years and be able to say without a doubt, we are the best in the business. I want to help your tour business get more customers, and my team and I know how to make that happen. If you would like to hear just how we do that, schedule a discovery call with us. I hop on almost every single one as I am just as excited about growing your business as I am mine. Let’s Go!
– Stephen Edwards, Owner Of AAMP Agency & Vegas Jeep Tours
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.
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.
