Digital Marketing against tourism crisis
- May 11, 2021
Everything was going well, until suddenly … COVID-19! Nobody was prepared for this new reality, and now, especially now, you have to show how much you value in order to safeguard your business.
This article is focused on tourism, but if we change a few words it can be adapted for another industry. Being such a sensitive subject, we will use more technical terms. If any doubts, you can always send an email to info@logrise.com and we will be happy to answer. That said, let’s get down to business!
See how some marketing implementations can help fight the crisis.
PPC Advertising
Do not hand over your recovery to OTAs
The natural reaction during a crisis like this is to back down on all marketing investments while waiting to see how and when the situation is going to get better. While this may produce small savings in the short term, it will have negative impacts in the long run and may delay the return to success when businesses recover again. Remember that PPC (Pay-Per-Click) ads are only shown when there are relevant searches, so it makes perfect sense to -at least- protect your brand.
People still hope to travel within a few months, so direct booking must continue to be the main focus to attract customers. OTAs continue to make bids on hotel brands, and if you are the marketing manager of a hotel and stop your online advertising you will be losing your direct bookings which, consequently, have a lower cost than through an OTA. Do not let this happen!
Another advantage of continuous PPC ads is that their text can be updated instantly, allowing you to easily change your message to customers when they search for your brand. You can highlight your action plan during Covid-19, an advance purchase offer, cancellation policies, etc… thus, making it clear for the guests that they can confidently book for the future.
Under these circumstances, this is our advice:
- Reduce spending on prospecting campaigns.
- Continue with branding and Remarketing campaigns.
Learn more about how to increase your conversion rate on this quick guide on Google Ads
SEO
With or without PPC campaigns, investing time in an SEO strategy will have benefits in the short and long term. We will put ourselves as an example: we took this opportunity to improve the site and “polish” all the new pages to be sure that they were ready for SEO!
Simple implementations, such as updating or improving the metatags and titles of your home page, allow you to create a specific message for users who are looking for your brand or your services.
Even though these optimizations are not as quickly seen as PPC advertisements, they will run reasonably quickly and will allow you to keep your customers up to date.
Data Marketing
What is it?
Data Marketing is the strategy of using customer information to create perfect, segmented audiences with the nuance of directing your messages in a creative and direct way to the right person. How cool is that?
The increasing quantity and quality of data collected through marketing has been followed by an explosive growth in technologies for production and automation.
The final decision is based on data and gives answers to the questions such as who, when, where, and what is the message, making these responses actionable.
The use of this data, usually in an automatic or semi-automatic way, allows a more optimized strategy. This marketing strategy is more personalized and it’s also responsible for having a positive impact on ROI.
There are some low-cost solutions that will help with this. This is where Amplifier comes in. Based on what has been said here, it is a powerful automation tool that uses Data Marketing, assisting you in your daily strategic decisions and retaining your customers by monetizing your digital data.
CRM
Create an email list for leisure travelers, business travelers and group travelers who have canceled reservations. When the situation for COVID-19 begins to improve, send an email asking those guests to reschedule, then pulling out perks or a welcome courtesy.
It is also important to stay connected with your regular customers during this time. Consider partnering with a relevant cause or charity institution and email some customers suggesting to donate something in exchange for benefits and rewards at your hotel that can be used for a future stay. Now more than ever, supporting charities is critical worldwide.
Social Networks
Social Networks
Stay connected to your followers with the most varied content that is related to your business.
The time spent on social media has increased significantly since people around the world were asked to stay at home, and those same people are eager for content that offers a little escape from the current situation.
Here are some content ideas for social media:
- Share a photo of your hotel and ask your followers to share photos of them while they were staying there.
- Share recipes from the restaurant’s Chef and challenge people to recreate the dish at home.
- Share spa treatments at home helping people escape and relax.
- Share cardio classes or activities at home with your animation team through short videos.
Final considerations
Instead of looking for new customers, we should focus on how we can repeat the customer experience.
