Whilst digital marketing is hugely beneficial to businesses across a huge range of industries, the travel sector has been one of the biggest benefactors.

Traditionally, people booking a holiday would go to their local travel agent who would be responsible for finding them the best deals based on their travel requirements. Today, however, most people research and book their holidays online.

Whether it’s a short weekend break to cities like Sydney or Melbourne, or a longer trip to popular holiday destinations like the Gold Coast or Great Barrier Reef, there is so much information available online today, that people are able to carry out a lot of in-depth research before they make their final bookings.

Sometimes they will still choose to book through a travel agency, in the hope of securing the best possible price and relying on a travel agent’s expertise in that space, however, it is likely they will have carried out research themselves first, and also after booking, to find out more about the destination including things to do, where to eat, and getting around.

That’s why it is crucial that businesses within the travel industry invest in their online marketing channels including their websites, social media platforms, email marketing, and video content.

The travel sector is extremely competitive. Not only are you competing with other businesses in the same destination, but you are also competing against other destinations. To some extent, it is within every business’s interest to market the destination they are located in and to pull together to try and attract more people to a destination. Destination marketing is huge and all the businesses located in that destination benefit from people booking to stay there - hotels, restaurants, rental cars, cars, attractions, local shops and more.

Digital marketing is essential to businesses within the travel industry and these are just a few of the channels that you should be investing in in order to drive more customers and improve your brand awareness. Here are some of the key channels to focus on.

Website

A great performing website should be the minimum requirement for businesses in order to improve their brand awareness and allow people to find out more about their business.

A good website should be mobile-friendly, fast, and contain information that is relevant to your audience. This content should be easy to find and should provide prospective visitors with the information they need about your business and about the destination.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is also an important aspect of building a successful website and this includes carrying out keyword research to understand the terms people might be searching to discover businesses like yours.

Your website is also a great place to add value for prospective customers and is not always about selling your business. Leading brands like Betway Sports have really focused on providing customers with market-leading information with tips and interviews with leading sportspeople which keep customers coming back.

If you are in the travel industry, it is great to add value to your customers by not only telling them about your business but also providing tips on things to do in the area so they can get all their information in one place.

Local focus

Alongside a high-quality website, businesses should also focus on local SEO. This starts with creating a Google My Business (GMB) listing that will help people to discover your business through Google search and maps.

Your GMB listing should contain all the key information about your business - address, phone number, website, opening hours etc so that people can quickly access this information from Google search or maps.

From here, people can also leave reviews about your business and these are a crucial element of local SEO. When researching places to stay, where to eat, and things to do, people will often turn to friends and family for advice, but they will also look at review sites such as Google or TripAdvisor for reviews from other people that have visited the business.

It’s important to monitor these reviews and reply to them all - the good and the bad - so people can see you are an engaged business and that you respond to feedback.

Video content

Video content is an essential part of the digital marketing mix for businesses in the travel industry.

Travel is an extremely visual sector - people love to see images of the places they are going to be visiting and in recent years, video content has become a great way to showcase a destination.

Short videos are ideal for social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter and you can support this with longer-form video content on your website.

Video is a great way to tell your story - whether it’s showcasing the staff that work for you, the food you sell in your restaurant, the rooms in your hotel, or even just showcasing more of the destination itself, video content is undoubtedly one of the best platforms for travel businesses to invest in.