The attractions industry was once healthy and thriving, and estimated revenue topped $180 billion. However, in just a few short months, the COVID-19 pandemic not only brought the entire industry to a screeching halt, but it also left many wondering just how the attractions sector of the travel industry will recover.
Now, as travelers are beginning to venture out both locally and for longer-distance trips, attractions must take action to capture consumer attention and confidence.
One of the fastest ways to spur optimum recovery is to prepare and execute digital marketing strategies. While it’s easy to let digital marketing fall by the wayside when last-minute bookers come to call, online marketing is the best way to score direct, advance, online bookings. With the right digital strategies and tactics, the attractions industry can bolster tours, activities and experience bookings to once again hear the roar of the crowd.
Here are three ways to get started.
Deliver when it counts
The key to direct, advance, online bookings is to meet prospective customers early in their research journey. Securing bookings earlier not only bolsters net profits, but it also helps attractions win relationships, offer upsell opportunities, build more brand awareness and continue engaging after the attraction ends.
Securing bookings earlier not only bolsters net profits, but it also helps attractions win relationships, offer upsell opportunities, build more brand awareness and continue engaging.
Noreen Henry
However, due to COVID-19, the booking window is shrinking. Prior to COVID-19, Sojern’s travel data insights revealed that 85% of seekers search for the nearest attraction an average of 78 days before their trip. Now, Sojern data shows that the majority of potential travelers are booking attractions day-of or one day in advance, compared to a pre-COVID combination of last-minute and advanced bookings. This means attractions must deliver the right offer at the right time to net conversions in this ever-shrinking period.
So how do attractions capture consumer attention and get them to book? Given the shift away from walk-up bookings, attractions must focus on delivering a consistent online experience across all channels. Whether it’s Google, a company website or social media, customers want easy access to information about offerings, safety measures and the booking process. In fact, 55% of high-value travelers consider a user-friendly website when booking.
Before COVID-19, the majority of travelers already agreed that researching and booking travel activities on their smartphones is easy, with upwards of 65% of travelers researching tours, activities and attractions online while they’re at their destinations.
In today’s market, attractions must not only offer a great mobile experience for booking on the fly, but companies also must address specific challenges, such as crowd flow. It’s important to invest in certain enhancements, such as a reservation system, to bolster consumer confidence.
When this is done in conjunction with a clear call to action and an uncomplicated booking process, attractions can win more direct, advance, online bookings.
Be an “always on” brand
Thanks to a plethora of devices, consumers are “always on.” If attractions want to win their business, they must be always on as well. This means deploying campaigns 24-hours a day across a variety of channels. Using a mix of social, programmatic, display, SEM, video and website optimization might sound overwhelming, but there are a number of partners who can help maximize reach, budget and conversions.
In addition, it’s important to personalize the experience across each channel. For example, Instagram video ads receive 49% more engagement than static photo ads, so travel brands should focus on producing video content.
With the right always-on approach, attractions can reach the right audience at the right time with a message that drives future bookings.
Use travel insights to inform future campaigns
Brands can’t afford to be flying blind in a lean market, so it’s important to leverage a marketer’s most valuable tool: data. With data, attractions can see what’s working and what’s not to make future campaign adjustments.
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Data should be a mix of first- and third-party and brands must learn where visitors are coming from as well as audience demographics to create tailored experiences.
Once campaigns are deployed, it’s important to test content to measure effectiveness. First, define goals for each campaign and each channel. Whether it’s ticket sales or upsell packages, it’s important to have a baseline starting point. From there, pick one variable to test. For example, even a small change to a call to action (CTA) can net big results.
Or, choose a different time of day to post or change up the caption length. Then take those insights and use them to adjust campaigns to increase conversions. When attractions understand customer behavior, wants and needs, brands can use those insights to inform campaigns, optimize performance and drive return on investment.
As travelers become more comfortable venturing out for tours, activities and experiences, the attractions industry has the chance to capitalize on the opportunity. By focusing on the booking experience, deploying always-on strategies and leveraging first- and third-party data, attractions can drive direct, advance bookings to stay at the forefront of recovery.