Your downtime to-do list: Practical steps to maximize bookings today and attract new customers when travel returns. With Covid-19 halting travel, this is a great time to re-look at your online strategy and find some easy/cheap ways you can improve your marketing strategy. WeTravel has teamed up with TourismSolved to share some tips you can do in your downtime to help maximize bookings and attract new customers when travel returns.

1. Your downtime to-do list:
Practical steps to maximize bookings
today, and attract new customers when
travel returns.

2. Who are your host & speakers?
Lucas Ennis
Head of US/Int Growth
WeTravel.com
Robin Harnish
Co-Founder
TourismSolved
Michael Lattig
Head of Brand Marketing
TourismSolved

3. Why are we doing this webinar?
● Feedback from previous webinars.
○ How to maintain and grow brand.
● Travel will return.
○ When as it does, behaviors will be different.
○ Travel expectations will be different.
● Most travel companies have time now.
○ Now is the opportunity to improve your channel mix

4. Agenda
1. Best Practices for search engine optimization.
2. What makes great content.
3. Top do’s and don’ts for email marketing.
4. Tips for finding your ideal customer.
○ Q&A & free offer from TourismSolved!

5. Search Engine Optimization

6. Why should this be on your do-to list now?
❏ SEO improvements are long-term.
❏ Capture new regional travelers
who start with Google.
❏ Consideration for pent up demand
for 2021 future booking

7. Google has moved to mobile
Your mobile site now determines your site
placement.
60% of searches
for destination
information come
from mobile
devices
Always look at your mobile site:
● Test mobile friendliness
search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly
● Test mobile speed
developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/

8. Links from other sites matter
Links = Quality
Write an article that features a partner,
vendor, association, etc. and ask them to link
from their site to the article:
● Consider featuring someone with a high
traffic website.
● The more popular and important that site
is, the more weight the links carry.
● Make sure the pages are complimentary.
Never pay for
an article from
someone you
don’t know.

9. Updating your products? Pause….
60% of the page
rankings in the
top 10 on google
are 3+ years old.
If you discontinue a product:
● Update the page to explain that this
product is no longer available.
● Provide a suitable alternative.
● Link to that new product.

10. What makes good content?

11. Why should this be on your to-do list now?
❏ Make sure you’re sharing
your brand & what makes
you unique.
❏ Use the time now to refresh
your content for existing
customers.
❏ Consider the new travelers
and how they differ.

12. It’s not just about word count
● Quality is more important than
quantity.
● Let your brand and personality shine
through.
● Capture customers earlier in the
decision-making process.
○ Create content that
increases want to travel.

13. Get your keywords right
Do some research:
● Look at your competitors
● Pick obvious and less obvious words.
Think about the question vs the keyword:
● Google now answers a whole sentence.
Don’t keyword stuff (Google knows)
Consider new
traveler types &
Covid-related
info they might be
searching for
Free tool!

14. Make it easy to digest
Add a table of contents:
● A bulleted list
It’s your company’s book:
● Use headers
Increase engagement with listicles:
● Use numbered and bulleted lists

15. Don’t forget about photo and video
37% increase in
engagement if the article
is optimized by adding
compelling visual
elements
Consider these:
● Conveys your message.
● Does it fit your brand?
● Is it compelling, bright and colorful?
Don’t be afraid of video:
● Have a plan or a script.
● Short, digestible clips are fine.
● Call to action.

16. Internal cross linking puts it all together
What is cross linking?
● Placing a link between products and
other articles on your site.
It’s like connecting the dots on your own
site:
● Helps the search engines understand
the structure of your site.
● Increases authority of the page.
● Make sure it’s natural.

17. Email marketing do’s and
don’ts.

18. Why should this be on your todo list now?
❏ Keep your existing customers
informed and excited to
return.
❏ Share timely, Covid-related
information for current
travelers.
❏ Consider the new traveler
types and align interests to
offering.

19. Encourage signs ups and set clear expectations
Make it easy to sign up:
● Embed the signup
Offer clear value:
● What will they get when they sign up?
● How often will they hear from you?
● Will they get deals and offers?
● Will they get inspiration for their next
trip?

20. Customize your message
Don’t send everyone the same email:
● Consider a different message for
existing customers vs new local
travelers.
Test subject lines:
● See which subject gets the highest
open rate
Send at the right day and time:
● Tuesdays at 10am.
Services like
Mailchimp take the
guesswork out with
automation

21. Keep the content scannable
Use short subject lines:
● Get right to the point.
Keep the email content concise:
● Use preview text wisley.
Go light on images:
● Most email applications don’t download
images.
Place your call to action upfront:
● Don’t require the reader to scroll too far
down.
More than 50% of
Americans are
reading their email
on their phones

22. Finding your ideal customer

23. Why should this be on your to-do list now?
❏ Travel behaviors are
changing.
❏ More local and booking
closer to departure.
❏ Family/Friend travel will see
increase.

24. Start with what you’re looking to achieve
Attract new customers to book and travel now?
Create intent with existing customer base?
Find more customers to build your database?
Starting here narrows
the focus on the
strategies you will
use to achieveyour
goals

25. Facebook
Hyper-target to save on spend
Use your customer list to build a lookalike
audience
Remarketing brings customers back to
your site during the booking process
Don’t forget about measuring success
With over 2.7 billion
monthly active users,
Facebook is the
biggest social
network worldwide

26. Social Media
52% of travelers say
they visited a specific
destination based on
an image or video
they saw on
social media
Instagram and YouTube have become
go-to research resources for travelers
Community created content can
significantly extend brand messaging
72% of travelers will post photos on a
social network while still on vacation
What’s your #?

27. To do list summary
❏ Develop unique content, keywords, and a link-building strategy to
capture organic traffic on Google
❏ Ensure your site is optimized for mobile
❏ Don’t underestimate the power of photos and video
❏ Drive engagement and future bookings with email and social
media
❏ Determine your traveler acquisition goals and build a testing
strategy to find efficient ways to achieve them

28. Free offer from TourismSolved
Want specific, actionable steps for your site?
Book a free digital fitness assessment:
calendly.com/tourismsolved/wetravel
or
growdirect@tourismsolved.com

29. Q&A time
Lucas Ennis
Head of US/Int Growth
WeTravel.com
Robin Harnish
Co-Founder
TourismSolved
Michael Lattig
Head of Brand Marketing
TourismSolved
https://bit.ly/feedback-aug18