The tourism business has been through a lot of challenges in the last year and half. U.S. travel spending saw a 42% decline in 2020, which equates to a loss of nearly $500 billion in tourism revenue – from big cities to small towns, affecting local economies everywhere. Now, life is beginning to go back to normal, but that doesn’t mean the tourism industry is going back to the same normal. The truth is that many mid-market DMOs are struggling to figure out how to increase tourism again, and are falling back on pre-Covid strategies. In our changed world, traditional marketing methods won’t cut it.
As marketing methods continue to evolve and become more competitive, how does a mid-market DMO initiate growth in this changed environment? In this article, we’re breaking down exactly what you should prioritize to achieve this goal.
Stay in Your Lane
Different sized DMOs have different strengths, and as a mid-market sized organization, playing the same game and using the same strategies as your larger competitors won’t work. Have a budget a fraction of your nearest big city? Then you probably shouldn’t try to compete on ads. Ads are expensive and their impact dies as soon as your budget does. Centering your destination marketing strategy around ads, especially for mid-market DMOs, doesn’t set utilize your budget in a sustainable way.
Smaller organizations have to think leaner and work with what they have. It’s important to know what strengths you have as a smaller organization and to lean into them.
For example, Visit Oak Park, the DMO representing the area to the west of the Chicago city limits, has a large number of cemeteries. This may present a challenge, but VOP used it as an opportunity with several cemetery tours that tell the fascinating stories of those who now reside there. Embracing those strengths and leveraging them in innovative ways is where our expertise as marketing and SEO experts comes in handy.
Take Ownership of your Content Development
Mid-size organizations have a finite amount of resources. When your budget is limited, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and start pitching in.
You’re the expert for all things in your area, right? So why aren’t you showing up as #1 on Google for when someone searches for something in your area? If you are being outranked by Tripadvisor or other local influencers and bloggers, you have some work to do. Take back that authoritative position and own it.
Don’t think it matter’s that much? Think again. It’s estimated that Google gets 5.6 billion searches per day worldwide. If you’re not taking advantage of the number of people using Google as a resource, it’s a huge missed opportunity.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is dependent on content. The more content (blogs, pages, stories, and videos) your DMO has, the more they will show up in Google. SEO-driven content marketing strategies take into consideration how search engine algorithms prioritize content. We use those leading indicators to our advantage by understanding what makes a post worthy of being on the first page of a Google search result. In fact, we have it down to a nearly exact science.
As a result, our clients can expect to double or triple their organic traffic in less than a year, meaning more sustainable growth for their organizations.
Don’t Overinvest in Social Media
In life (and in tourism marketing) it’s important not to put all your eggs in one basket. That may seem obvious, but today’s tourism industry tends to push hard in favor of social media marketing.
Like the tourism sector, social media platforms are constantly changing. Trends change and so do algorithms. Don’t assume any platform will always operate the same way or have the same impact that it has now. All of this, combined with the 24-hour content life cycle, reinforces how short-term social media’s reach can be.
At the end of the day, you don’t own the content you post on any one social media platform and it’s ultimately serving to enrich and attract more users to their platform – not yours.
So use social media as a channel partner as a road of entry to your content, but keep all roads open. Cultivating tools other than social media that drive users to your site and content helps you develop a more well-rounded marketing plan with fewer holes and more meaningful results.
Use Public Relations as a Secret Weapon
There’s something to be said for letting somebody else sing the praises of your tourist destinations rather than singing them about yourself. That’s why cultivating a relationship with the media is a valuable strategy. Not only will it help reach your target audiences in new ways with earned media, but it also demonstrates you’re an authority on the topic.
Earned media returns a value that can be equated to ad impressions, except it’s still a more efficient investment than ads. Marketers know you can only run ads for as long as your budget allows, but once a piece of professional media is published about your organization, you can benefit from it over and over again.
For example, one perk to leveraging public relations is that you can share (and reshare) published articles or news appearances on social media, showcasing more third-party validation for your tourism attractions. In addition, let’s not forget about the audience that is also being reached by local media – your local community members.
Embrace the Local Angle
Remember when we mentioned that mid-size DMOs have their own set of strengths and advantages, and it’s important to embrace them? The local angle is one of them. The popularity of Airbnb has put the local experience on center stage. This trend has been magnified in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic with an emerging demographic of travelers who favor more low-key trips in smaller cities instead of visiting bigger cities and mainstream tourist attractions.
Potential tourists value experiential insights and nobody champions local businesses and attractions more enthusiastically than hometown folks. Especially if your area doesn’t have many attractions to draw in travelers, a large portion of new visitors may be the family and friends of your community members who come to visit them.
Odds are that in your area, potential visitors are still relying on the expertise of Yelp, Google, and Trip Advisor to determine the quality of your local restaurants and attractions before visiting any of them. How local community members feel about each place matters, which is why you should be leveraging those local insights on your website. Embracing the angle of the quirky and one-of-a-kind local attractions in your community can help improve your tourism more than you’d expect.
Ensure your Marketing Strategy is Sustainable
What would happen if your budget got cut today? Would everything you invested in continue to return tourists to your area? If the answer is no, that means your strategy is not sustainable. In business, sustainability is defined by longevity, which means that you’re investing in long-term strategies that result in enough ROI to keep the organization running.
What about after the first time someone visits your area? Do they come back? Do you remarket to them with an understanding of their interests? If not, you’re not taking advantage of data that could make your marketing efforts more efficient. It’s significantly easier and less expensive to retain an existing customer than it is to sell a new one.
Efficiency and sustainability will ensure that your marketing strategy is nimble enough to stay the course or rebound despite unexpected events and economic downturns like Covid-19.
Don’t expect to see change if you won’t make one
Everything we’ve covered throughout this article might seem like a wildly different approach to the marketing strategies and tools you’re used to. It is different, and that’s the point. You can’t do the same things for years and expect different results.
We take a different approach to destination marketing and get extraordinary results for our clients by approaching local tourism with a business mindset. If you’re ready to explore how to increase tourism with a strategic, data-driven approach, we’re ready to show you how much further you could take your destination. Book a call with us to see where you can do things a little differently to get on the road to a quantum leap forward.
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