Content Marketing in the Travel Industry

 Definition

•The Content Marketing Institute defines Content Marketing as the technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience-with the ultimate aim of driving profitable customer action.

•I’m going to speak a bit about how the travel industry has used content marketing.

Blogs –Kayak & CheapTickets.com

•Blogs are an effective way of driving organic traffic to a website and also getting readers to engage (Wainwright, 2020).

•Kayak & CheapTickets.com have regularly updated Blogs, with articles written as travel guides with information about destinations, hotels and things to do.

Kayak.com Blog

•Both companies have allowed for content to be shared easily with share links to social platforms on each page.

•Kayak has also used a call to action where appropriate to take users directly to the booking page relating to the destination article. 

Magazine – Trivago

Trivago Magazine

•Trivago has produced a travel magazine. They have informative articles written to give the readers options for what to do at different times of year or for different locations.

•Trivago push people to subscribe to these magazines which can build brand loyalty and lead to a deeper connection with their readership (DigitalLoyalty, 2014).

Video- Expedia & Trivago

•Expedia and Trivago both have YouTube channels and are great examples of companies that use videos effectively.

•54% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business (Oberlo, 2022).

•Expedia use short and longer videos as travel guides on destinations. They are videos that will build the brand and engage consumers.

•Trivago also use videos to inform and educate about topics that go beyond simple travel information and discuss how tourism is being used ethically. This again is going to lead to high engagement and also will be of interest to people not even looking to travel immediately which develops a brands ethical stand point.

Podcast –Expedia

•Podcasts are perfect for engagement and building a community (Land, 2019).

Expedia Podcast Menu

•The Out Travel The System Podcast hosted by Expedia allows listeners to engage, and covers a wide variety of travel topics.

•One of the benefits of these is that they can be listened to on demand through the website, Spotify or iTunes.

Reviews –Expedia

•Consumer behavior has changed to the point where shoppers rely on reviews from fellow customers to find the most up to date and accurate information (TrustPilot, 2021).

•Expedia allows customers to write reviews about the level of service received from the company.

•This is so important as good reviews can turn customers into brand advocates and allow for worthwhile content to be made by the customer.

Conclusion

•In Conclusion, Blogs and Magazines have traditionally been the most effective content which can help drive traffic to websites through increased SEO.

•Now with technology and 5G improving streaming services, Videos are playing a role in engaging with customers. They are easy to make and to share on social network sites. 

•Podcasts are useful  although are less effective as they don’t get the level of shares  that Videos enjoy and people haven’t always got the time to listen to a 1 hour Podcast, especially if it is something they are only half interested in.

•Customer reviews do carry an element of risk but if managed properly can be extremely important. Not only is positive feedback about products and services like gold dust due to it being up to date and from a person outside of the company. But it allows companies to respond to negative feedback and get some creative dialogue going with consumers.

•Content needs to be managed across all areas as each area has its place and if the message is consistent then it will help drive interest, increase conversion rate and also create a sense of community amongst the followers.