Demand Generation: How can brands inspire, convert, and retain the most profitable audiences on your highest-margin channels?

How can travel companies keep customers satisfied and increase their capacity once again?

It’s fair to say the travel industry has had a rough time of it over the last couple of years.

With the global COVID-19 crisis shutting down airports, closing borders, and restricting the ability for citizens to travel more than an hour from their homes for all but the most essential of reasons, holidays have not been part of the agenda for some time.

However, now the worst days of the pandemic seem to be behind us, the time is right for travel companies to begin targeting a new generation of traveler in a transformed landscape. Priorities have changed and the onus now falls on marketers in the travel space to drive awareness and interest for their products once again through a concentrated strategy of demand generation methodologies.

The focus for travel companies needs to be on how to keep the post-pandemic traveler satisfied and comfortable while increasing capacity across all travel methods.

With so many new stakeholders, bureaucratic and strategic applications in travel to be approved, what can you do to maximize its impact for your company?

With people having spent so much time locked down there is a pent-up demand for travel experiences. Travel companies need to make any changes now and prepare themselves for an influx of booking and make sure they are generating demand for their products.

It is still early days when it comes to traveler confidence, so prioritizing health and safety is going to be essential for keeping customers satisfied in this unfamiliar environment. An essential part of demand generation for travel moving forwards is ensuring all marketing channels are being used to reassure potential customers that their health and safety concerns are being taken seriously and all steps are being taken to address them.

For example, if the airline you’re promoting has a suite of technology which allows for contactless check in, or a hotel with keyless room entry, make sure you are getting those messages across in your marketing to give potential customers the peace of mind they need during this time.

The travel industry needs to be aware of how trip priorities have shifted. For example, according to Forbes we are seeing a sharp rise in the numbers of travelers searching for customized, personalized, and small-group trips and a high demand for guides. This has given rise to platforms such as GetYourGuide, IndyGuide, and Kimkim which allow travelers to connect directly with local guides, customize their experience, and manage their trip from start to finish.

Technologies such as these are putting increased pressure on more traditional travel agencies to prove their value and connect with customers. The democratization of travel booking is fantastic for the traveler but leaves agencies with an uphill battle.

This is where demand generation comes in and is likely the reason why, according to the State of Demand Gen 2020 report, more than half of marketers have increased their demand generation activities and 78% expect to increase or maintain their demand generation budgets going forward.

Image Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/03/03/technology-in-the-post-covid-travel-industry/?sh=56ee74ce6a7a

How can you attract international tourism despite the uncertainties that remain in the market?

As with the example of booking guides laid out above, buyers have changed their habits to become more independent and digitally focused than ever before. This creates an environment where demand generation has to evolve or die.

However, while long-term strategies are necessary, many small to medium travel brands which have suffered significant losses over the last couple of years – global tourism revenue fell a massive 42.1% from $685 billion in 2019 to $396 billion in 2020 – need to address the more immediate concerns of empty sales funnels right now.

An easy win for travel brands in this position is to start with your website and work out from there. Ensuring your website is optimized to meet the needs of the post-pandemic traveler and support them in their decision-making is one of the most important steps you can take in this process.

Your website needs to efficiently communicate how your brand is best positioned to meet all customers’ travel needs and pre-empts the need for additional products such as guides which could lead to them looking elsewhere for ancillary services. Make sure customers can easily compare your offering with competitors and put content front and center which makes the case for why your brand is best positioned to meet their travel desires.

“People forget what you said but they won’t forget how you made them feel. Focus on giving your customers the best experience and see them turn into your best advocates” Samiha Alam, Head of Enterprise Account Partnerships, SEA, AppsFlyer.

Crafting a curated content experience is easy to achieve and will generate further demand for your products. The 2021 Content Preferences survey conducted by Demand Gen Report showed that 44% of participants said the trustworthiness of content was important to them and 62% relied on trustworthy content to assist them in purchasing decisions.

Establishing trust with intelligent and professionally written content will help establish your brand as one which knows its own industry intimately and is best positioned to handle travel arrangements. Once trust has been established, your sales team can create a personalized sales funnel content experience which provides all the information customers are searching for such as pain points and solutions, customer testimonials and pricing information.

While your content strategy shares your brand story and establishes your reputation as a knowledgeable and trusted source, your SEO team should be working to arrange that content in such a way as to grow organic search rankings and drive traffic to your website. These factors working together in harmony is why buyers are on average 70% through their decision-making process before they even engage with a sales representative.

Final Thoughts

Demand generation provides travel brands with the best method possible of meeting the needs of the post-pandemic traveler. By deploying various strategies, including website, SEO, content, social media, and more, travel brands can establish themselves as trusting expert voices in the industry and inspire, convert, and retain the most profitable audiences on their highest-margin channels.

With the travel industry on a path to recovery from two unprecedented years of hardship, making the case for your brand’s industry credentials while remaining sensitive to shifting travel priorities will give you the best chance of returning from the COVID-19 crisis to a brighter and more profitable future. 

Demand generation in the post-pandemic world is certain to be part of the conversation at Digital Travel Summit 2022, being held in August at the Equarius Hotel, Sentosa, Singapore. Download the agenda today for more information and insights.