Based on a telling report published by Hubspot’s “21, 2016 statistics revealed quite a bit of valuable information in regards to Content Marketing in Asia Pacific. This study states that 58% of all marketers in Asia are having problems with defining the best content and influencers.

In particular, those that are meant to help with building, reaching and supporting conversion.

Due to the problems that these travel agencies are experiencing, they are always looking for winning strategies that can help them to be successful with their marketing campaigns.

That being said, here are a few effective ways to deploy a successful digital marketing strategy.

Digital Marketing Strategies for Travel Agencies in Singapore

• Use Creative Viral Online Ads Campaigns by Customizing it to Singaporeans

Customizing a digital marketing campaign to Singaporeans does not have to be a difficult task. Particularly, because this group of people usually love a good deal. Therefore, you may want to launch freebies on the site that will draw lots of visitors for longer periods of time.

Also, because Singaporeans love lucky draws and other contests, even more, it is easy for an ad campaign to go viral. For instance, a campaign that sponsors videos that require viewers to respond to several questions before they can win a daily challenge is often a big splash.

Especially, when the winners are participating in these contests to win travel tickets to a luxurious hotel in a popular destination.

• Hype your brand from the start of the Site’s Launching via Social Media

Whenever a new site is published to the public, there is no need to wait to deploy a marketing campaign.

In fact, it is best to actively generate brand awareness. This can be done in a number of different ways including encouraging the public in Singapore to give their own comments and contributions too.

By keeping visitors in the travel community engaged, there is also an increase in activity on the site.

• Good Humor is Legal and Great Content Marketing Techniques

Even though some travelers may not get the joke that the site owner tells, they are still relevant to keeping large groups engaged.

In fact, people who run the company’s travel site should not be afraid to have a good sense of humor. Typically, good humor is also a key to running a successful social media travel agency’s campaign.

Particularly, when the dialogue used is positive, relaxed in tone, and conversational. In these situations, a humorous tone is often playful when travel agents are recommending the best places to visit in Singapore on their next vacation.

• Blogging is a Critical Part to any Internet Marketing Travel Agency Strategy

Blogging is a critical part of any travel agencies online marketing campaign.

According to information posted by Hubspot’s Asia Pacific Content Marketing Report in 2016, approximately 45% of all marketers surveyed agreed that blogging is still very effective in delivering a successful content strategy.

For instance, to keep travelers coming to the site for information that they need and want, you can provide the pros and cons to various hotels in an area, hot spots to visit when traveling to a specific location to eat and popular culture locations that’s a must-see for the family.

All of these topics and more will make the travel agency’s site a valuable resource to both infrequent travelers and those savvy travelers that stay on the road in Singapore.

• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Search engine optimization is one of the keys to ranking at the top of the major Search engines like Google. Therefore, when a travel agency is designing their local SEO campaign, it is essential that they understand what works and what does not.

For instance, the site must have engaging content posted that keeps people visiting the site and the right associated keywords and keyword phrases that make it easy for the site to rank number one to Singaporeans that want to buy a local retail product or a service.

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10 Game-Changing Digital Marketing Tips for Travel Agencies and Hotels in 2022

The above four digital marketing strategies will help you get started, but you need to apply better strategies to get more results. Here are 10 game-changing digital marketing tips to place your travel agency ahead of the curve.

• Invest in a Responsive Website

You cannot win over clients if you don’t have a responsive website that details your services. Unlike before, there are hundreds of pre-made responsive templates that you can use to create the website on the fly.

You can start your journey to success in digital marketing with a website developed using such templates, but it’s recommendable to invest in a custom one designed from scratch. Otherwise, you will struggle to stand out from the crowd since your competitors may be using the same template.

In the context of responsiveness, most internet users use mobile devices to look up information online. Making sure that your website is responsive and mobile-friendly will help you take full advantage of the ever-increasing traffic from mobile devices.

Test how the different pages appear on different screens to know the specific sections that should be improved before the site goes live. Monitor the amount of traffic that each page receives – promote pages that get most of the traffic and converts. The low-performing or less popular pages should be improved to contribute positively to the growth of your business.

• Leverage Inbound Marketing

The most successful travel agencies have invested in robust inbound marketing strategies. Also referred to as attraction marketing, this strategy attracts qualified leads from different online platforms such as Facebook and converts them into customers.

One of the main differences between traditional and inbound marketing is that the letter does not only focus on the target audience.

Instead, it relies on Google and other search engines ranking the website to connect agencies with potential customers.

Content marketing is one of the primary pillars of inbound marketing. Hire a professional graphics designer to create custom visuals for publishing on your website and use them on social media and email marketing campaigns.

Note that customers in this niche heavily rely on images to decide whether to use the services offered by a particular travel agency. Remember to optimise the images for viewing on mobile devices to get the most results.

• Create a Functional Online Store

The internet is the primary platform for promoting and conducting travel and tourism business in the modern world.

All travel expeditions start in an online environment, either by a potential customer researching a destination or booking the services offered by a travel agency.

Get ahead of the competition by investing in a functional online store. Visitors should learn about the travel services that you offer and be able to book travel or lodging packages using a computer or mobile device.

For the online store to be effective in helping your travel agency get more clients, it needs to be professionally designed and accessible on multiple devices.

More importantly, it needs to have accurate information about the different destinations and services you offer. There is also a need to include features for generating quotes and processing payments securely and in real-time.

• Master Branding Strategies

Branding is key to creating awareness online about your travel agency despite the cut-throat competition in this industry. Ideally, branding strategies create a positive perception of brands to encourage clients to convert.

Hence, in your quest to use digital marketing to generate more revenue, master the different branding strategies. Focus on eliciting positive emotions through your interactions with the target customers.

Both unconscious and conscious connections with the target customers will significantly impact your travel agency’s bottom line.

Use platforms such as social media, email marketing, and directories to enhance your branding efforts.

Monitor the results you get from every platform in terms of organic traffic to your website and the conversion rate achieved to know which ones you should focus on more and which ones should be ditched or enhanced.

• Use Google AdWords

Google AdWords is one of the advertising platforms used across the globe by travel agencies to launch Pay-Per-Click campaigns. Despite the huge success associated with this form of marketing, it’s surprising to see most agencies and even hotels don’t have an active PPC campaign.

Concisely, Google AdWords allows marketers to insert ads in the form of links in Google search engine results pages.

The links are displayed above the other results, and the display is based on the keywords targeted.

Carry out keyword research to know which phrases or queries you should bid on when creating the AdWords campaign. Most people use voice search to look up information online. You should also bid on question-based and conversation keywords.

Thanks to advancements in technology and new processes such as smart bidding powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, you can segment the target audience to take full advantage of your marketing budget.

That is, you can decide which groups of customers see your ads.

Even if some prospects don’t click on the ads, you will benefit from free exposure as Google bills travel agencies based on the total number of clicks on the ads displayed in SERPs. Those who don’t click may decide to visit your website later and book one or more travel packages.

It’s also important to note that the Google AdWords campaign allows advertisers to set how much they want to spend.

Therefore, the chances of spending more than you can afford on this form of digital marketing are low. Regularly check the analytics page to know if the campaign is working as expected.

• Embrace Social Media Marketing

There are 4.62 billion active social media users globally, and the most active users spend 2 hours and 27 minutes on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Based on the above statistics, it’s no brainer why social media platforms are considered digital marketing powerhouses.

Create robust social media marketing campaigns on platforms where a majority of your target audience hangs out to increase sales and boost your branding efforts. However, it’s impossible to run campaigns on all social media platforms.

Do extensive research to know which platforms they are fond of, then create campaigns for them.

Monitor the results from each platform to know the type of content that best resonates with them. For example, check the engagement levels achieved after posting videos or photos of the different destinations. If the followers engage more with videos than photos, post more videos of the hotels you work with more often.

Reviews of destinations that you take tourists to will also come in handy when doing social media marketing.

Go the extra mile and post user-generated content such as reviews from satisfied travellers who previously used your services to lure customers on the fence to use your services.

Make time to respond to comments and messages from followers to spur engagement. Out of sight, out of mind – don’t leave the two unanswered for more than 24 hours. 

Use the Facebook Messenger chatbot to send automated replies to messages when you are offline. For instance, you can use the chatbot to respond to frequently asked questions and share links to pages with additional information.

• Focus on Getting Many Positive Customer Reviews

Travellers rely heavily on customer reviews when vetting travel agencies. They trust reviews as personal recommendations. Travel agencies with thousands of positive reviews from genuine customers enjoy a constant stream of customers compared to agencies with few reviews.

Based on this fact, it’s important to put measures of getting reviews from customers who use your services.

Don’t shy away from flaunting the positive reviews on your website, social media platforms, and email to prove to clients that you deliver on your promise of exceptional vacations.

You will get negative reviews from unsatisfied clients as you continue using digital marketing to promote your travel agency. The worst mistake you can make is ignoring or deleting such reviews.

Promptly respond to them to show other clients that you are not only keen on generating sales. Yearn to understand the root cause of the problem and then offer solutions.

For example, if a client feels that the service rendered didn’t match their expectations, you can decide to offer a discount next time they book a trip. Desist the urge to go on the offense to avoid unnecessary arguments even if you feel the complaint is unjustified.

The best way to demonstrate your agency’s commitment and determination to offer top-notch travel services are to do everything possible to solve your client’s problems and diffuse doubts.

One of the surest ways of getting many reviews is by creating a Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business). Optimise it by writing a compelling description of your agency and including essential information such as phone number, email address, physical location, destinations, and operating hours.

Use feedback forms to capture reviews from customers.

Make it easy for them to write and submit feedback by sharing links to your Google Business Profile via email and social media. Here is an article we recently wrote on how to optimise your Google My Business.

• Attract Clients by Running Promotions

Tourists always look for agencies offering discounts and other great deals on different destination travel packages. A majority of agencies run promotions around the festive season and off-peak season.

Engage your sales, marketing, and finance team to create promotions to attract more customers. Popularise the promotion by posting banners about it on the social media pages to market your agency. You can also send out emails about the promotion and create a dedicated page on your website with details of the promotion.

Ensure that details of how clients qualify for the discounts are clear to avert disagreements.

Be careful when setting deals to avoid hurting your profit margin. In addition, create a sense of urgency to encourage many clients to participate in the promotion.

If well-executed, promotions will increase your revenue and boost your branding efforts.

Of course, there is a learning curve, so monitor the results you get after the first couple of promotions to know which kind of offers resonates with your target audience.

• Leverage Influencer Marketing

In 2020, 7% of companies spent more than one million dollars in influencer marketing.

The return on investment (ROI) from digital marketing is $5.20 for every dollar. This year, 66% of companies are expected to increase their spending on influencer marketing.

Your travel agency will tremendously benefit from a robust influencer marketing campaign based on the above statistics. Research to find the micro-influencers in the travel industry that you can collaborate with to increase your reach on social media.

Check whether their followers have the characteristics of your target audience to get value for money from the collaborations.

You are better off having a network of micro-influencers than hiring a macro influencer with millions of followers who are less likely to use your travel agency services.

Like other digital marketing campaigns such as social media marketing and email marketing, monitor the results garnered by each influencer to know if you should continue collaborating with them.

• Create an Email Marketing Campaign

The average ROI from email marketing is $36 for every dollar. Email marketing creates a cordial relationship between travel agencies and clients. Send promotion details and other valuable information about your services to potential clients via email.

Instead of buying one, create your own email list, lest you spend thousands of dollars on the campaign and get few results.

Give the customers a chance to subscribe to your mailing list and unsubscribe if they no longer require your services. 

In addition, let them choose how often they would like to receive emails. Otherwise, bombarding them with emails will ruin your credibility and compel them to seek the services from your competitors.