FACT ABOUT TRAVEL CONSUMERS Since over 75% of all travel research and shopping is now done online, it is critical that you have these two online travel marketing components in place if you are to succeed: 1. An online marketing campaign that yields qualified traffic 2. Effective copy (written marketing communications) that converts your leads into sales. One without the other does not work. Unfortunately most businesses invest alot in their website and getting traffic, that does not generate solid prospects and sales. Are you missing out and NOT GETTING SALES on 95% that's reaching your travel web site? Probably. Most travel professionals miss out on the majority of potential revenues because they had a web site designer create their website that overlooked the #1 reason to create a promotional travel website- TO SELL and increase economic development. Good News The copy writing (marketing communications) tips I am going to give you work online and offline too. In my previous article entitled; The 3 Laws of Travel Shopper & How to Convert Them Into Sales, I revealed the first secret of developing relationships with prospects, the importance of quickly stating your credibility and experience as a travel professional. The second secret is to communicate equally fast: What type of trips, travel focus or services you offer. I call this the Defining Headline(DH). If you search online for something, dont you use specific key words that define what you want? And when you arrive at a website, you dont want to hunt to find what you were looking for do you? When prospects arrive at your website or walk by your trade show booth, they want to know fast that you have what they are looking for. If you fail to clearly and quickly define what your core travel product or services are in your headline, your visitors will be gone fast. Do You Have a So What, Who Cares Headline? Do you put your business name and logo as a dominant statement, right on the top of your marketing materials? Big mistake. That is a: So What, Who Cares Headline. Unless you are Coca-Cola, or a MAJOR travel brand that is well known, most people are not going to recognize what you do or what your destination has for them. To capture the attention of more prospects, you must summarize the highlights of what you offer as key word phrases, which is the same way we search online. If you do not know the primary key word phrases that the majority of your customers and prospects use to find your travel destination, tours or service, find out now. Check your website visitors logs, Google AdWords impressions stats or visit the website below for a free online resource from Yahoo. This online tool will show you exactly how many people searched the destination, activity or service you are promoting. This key word information is invaluable for you to know so you can better target and communicate to your best prospects. Defining Headlines Tell Prospects Quick Your Primary Travel Offerings Armed with key word phrases that summarize and define your primary offerings, you can now create your Defining Headline (DH). A good DH tells prospects in seconds, what you are promoting. If you are just starting your business you have a great opportunity to create a business name that is super descriptive and brands your business. For example back in 1998, I provided initial business and marketing strategic planning for a very high-end home-stay tour company located in the mountainous regions of Panama. The descriptive new company name we choose was: Panama Highlands Guest Hacienda . We added further descriptive clarity by including the supporting descriptive sub-headline: Exclusive Soft Adventure Homestays. We achieved descriptive clarity and a headline that was loaded with primary key word phrases to help with search engine ranking. Key Word Rich Headlines Sell More Travel Placing keyword phrases in a headline position is one of the critical components to earn top ranking. In my marketing communication guide, Tourism Marketing Success, I give many examples of Defining Headlines and business names side by side on websites, brochures and more. To summarize, two of the four proven strategies to help you convert more prospects into customers are: Use key word rich Defining Headlines and Credibility Statements as the dominant feature in your promotions with your company name and logo secondary. For the last two critical elements to improve your travel marketing communications, check out my suggestions below and read the next three articles in this five-part series to help you convert more travel prospects into profits. Use these proven secrets and you will increase your arrivals, sales and profits guaranteed! |
