Travel Digital Marketing

Name: This team of marketing professionals are definitely A+++
Item: OnQ Marketing
Rating: 5
Author: Chaz Chambers

Digital marketing strategy for travel agencies and tour companies

Do you live and breathe your travel business but struggle to market it?

Online travel marketing is tough. Competition is high, ROI can be low, and visibility is key.

Google’s study into the ‘Travel Customer Journey’ highlights a few important findings. Firstly, would-be travellers bounce back and forth between many websites, reviews and other digital touchpoints during the research phase. That’s before they even consider choosing who to book with.

Secondly, over 40% of travellers are conducting their research from a mobile device. Those interactions can be short but critical in the decision making process. Is your business showing up where it needs to online, to even compete?

It is imperative that you understand your audience, your customer journey and identify at each step how you can be present and valuable. You need to engage your potential customers from the earliest stage of their travel journey (research), right through to the booking phase to the follow up stages.

We’re here to help you develop a strategy to engage, nurture and convert travellers in a way that will then turn them into a customer who advocate for your business.

We have had the pleasure of working with a variety of travel companies, including those above.

Digital Marketing for the Travel Industry

It takes a holistic approach to drive more visitors to your website and generate more bookings for your travel company. Here’s some priorities to consider…

SEO

Holiday-makers can spend months and interact with hundreds of digital touchpoints before they made a booking. Many of these touchpoints will be via a search engine.

We can help you to increase your online visibility via SEO, ensuring that your company is present when it is important. That way the customer will contact you rather that your competitors.

Online Advertising

If you want to advertise travel deals or offers, there’s plenty of options to do so. We can help you with internet advertising (AdWords), Facebook advertising to a specific audience, automation via your website, promotion via publications or re-targeting people who have already visited your site. These strategies enable you to attribute leads and measure ROI.

Content Marketing

The research process for holiday-makers begins with the ‘dreaming’ moments when researching destinations. This is a key time in which your business can provide valuable content and lead to an opportunity to build your email database and build a rapport with subscribers. Content can also help your SEO and social media efforts.

Online PR/ Reputation Management

Reputation is everything. One report cites that 81% of travellers find travel reviews important and 49% won’t book a property without reading reviews. We can help you to implement a formal review process and to manage your online PR so that you can drive more publicity for your travel business.

How We Work

Far from sounding like a corporate mission statement, there are a few simple values we hold near and dear to our hearts; values we believe in above all else. We don’t take a ‘one size fits all’ approach to working with our clients, and we certainly don’t sugar-coat things.

Stage 1: Information Gathering

If you’re interested in working with us, let’s schedule a phone call or a face to face. That way we can we get to know eachother and your needs.

Stage 2: Audience & Opportunities

Then, we identify your ideal customer and identify opportunities for you to succeed online. Let’s talk about their travel style, where they spend their time and much more.

Stage 3: Activity Plan & Proposal

Here is where we develop a digital marketing plan and cost proposal. Generally we start with a 3 month plan, then reassess needs from there. We pride ourselves on being transparent, no hidden costs and no BS.

Stage 4: We Get Started

From here we will get started on rolling out the approved plan. We’ll keep you informed via email, phone or skype along the way.

The Fine Print

1. Our travel agency support retainers start at $1100+gst for 10 hours per month. This represents a $20-$40 per hour discount when compared to ad-hoc project work.

2. We don’t ask you to commit to long-term contracts.
But we do ask that you seriously consider committing to a minimum 3 month period. This allows us the time we need to demonstrate results.

“I use OnQ for most of my marketing needs. As someone who has experience with SEO, SEM and digital marketing, this team of marketing professionals are definitely A+++. Each month they go above and beyond my expectations. They are not a typical or “cookie cutter” marketing agency, they are very hands-on with your ideas and help to mould your brand into something that actually sells.

After about 3 months of SEO efforts, I am now receiving 1-2 high priced bookings per month. (previously 0, as my company is only about 8 months old) These bookings are from organic traffic to our website and a direct result of OnQ’s marketing efforts. So, I owe OnQ a big THANK YOU and I look forward to our continued teamwork!”

CHAZ CHAMBERS / OWNER OF HAVANA MUSIC TOURS

FAQs

Will you be working with my competitors?

No. We love working with travel companies but we won’t enter into a partnership where our clients are in direct competition with one another. That’s not fair on anyone.

How much does a new website cost?

Our web design rates start at $4,500+GST. The cost will depend on the type of functionality you need – booking engines and custom search functionality/API integration will drive that price up. Typically, a travel and tour website will come in at our entry-level cost.

How soon can we expect to see more leads from online?

This is not an easy answer unfortunately. It will depend on the state of your online presence before we begin, the level of commitment, and of course your competitive landscape.

Can you help us with mobile marketing?

We know that the travel industry is one influenced very heavily by the role of the smartphone, so yes we will absolutely help you to engage your audience no matter which device they are using.

Can you help us with reporting?

Yes. We will provide insightful monthly analytics report tailored to your business and your objectives. Just ask us.

What other services do you offer?

If you join us as a retainer clients, you will have access to every service that we provide. We can help you with website management, email newsletters, marketing automation, graphic design, copywriting and more.

Do you work with travel companies abroad?

Yes we do! We’ve had the pleasure of working with travel and tourism businesses in Australia, the USA, Asia and Europe.

What digital marketing trends should I be aware of?

We must always keep the trends in perspective as the travel industry is huge and digital competency is varied. But right now there’s a focus on (in no particular order) – Progressive Web Apps, Accelerated Mobile Pages, Google Actions and Alexa Skills, the huge potential for Virtual and Augmented Reality, the role that Artificial Intelligence can play as well as how the industry will adopt blockchain technology. You may not be looking to implement any of those in the coming twelve months, but it’s a good idea to start to understand how they work and how they might influence how you operate and market your business.

Ready To Chat?

Please fill in the form below and we’ll be in touch to discuss how we can support your travel company