7 top tips for luxury travel marketing
Madeleine BarberExpert digital marketing agency Jadewolf shares advice for attracting affluent travellers
When it comes to catching and retaining the attention of a customer, there are ways to do it, and ways to do it effectively. Identifying your target market is essential, as different types of customer will respond differently to different types of marketing communication.
Jadewolf Marketing helps luxury travel agencies, cruise companies, hotels and resorts in particular turn affluent travellers into loyal customers, specialising in advice on digital strategy, digital advertising, conversion-focused design and marketing analytics.
In a recent webinar with TTG, Jadewolf shared insight into how the pandemic has changed buying behaviour, as well as what methods, media and platforms are the most effective for appealing to this target market. Here are some top takeaways and actions that if done consistently will promise tangible results and bolster luxury bookings.
1. Spend 5-20% of annual revenue on marketing
No matter whether it’s been a good year or a bad one, always spend 5-20% of revenue on marketing to ensure you’re remaining front-of-mind for your customers. If times are tough, like they have been during the pandemic, use just 5% because it will pay off in the long run.
2. Create luxury personas and use them
Use knowledge and data to create personas for your luxury clientele and then use them to effectively target your marketing. You might want to create an email database, for example, for customers who enjoy safaris or cruise, and then tailor communications to their interests. Consider, age and typical budget when creating personas, and don’t ever try to market everything to everyone.
3. Ensure your website serves a purpose
A good-looking website is essential in order to build or maintain a respected brand but make sure it’s functional too. Ensure your website serves a purpose and analyse what it’s telling you. Where is your website traffic coming from? How long are visitors staying? What are they clicking on? This will build a picture of how your website is performing and allow you to start experimenting. Look at conversions such as subscribing to a newsletter, submitting an enquiry or making a booking, then play around with colours, button positions and images to see what improves your results.
4. Build an engaged email list of high-net worth individuals
High-net worth individuals are likely in a job where they’re in their inbox all day, every day, so if you’re using email well it will reap rewards. To build an engaged database you want to be emailing once a week for lists of 10,000, twice weekly for 25,000 and then daily for 50,000 and above, ensuring these are custom and utilising personas. But what does an engaged database look like? Aim for a 20% open rate and a 5% click-through rate, and anything above that is brilliant.
5. Don't over rely on “free or cheap tactics”
These tactics include organic social media, word of mouth, PR, SEO, affiliates or meta-search if you’re a five-star hotel or resort. Don’t over rely on these marketing methods because they quite often aren’t free – they cost your time – and can be detrimental to your brand value or business if they have a lot of time invested in them and don’t deliver results.
6. Be strategic about content production
Quality, not quantity, is crucial. Ensure you’re marketing using good-quality articles and videos, and stick to a schedule that keeps your output consistent.
7. Advertise in the right places
Start with social media such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, plus Google Search, to build awareness but also go beyond that. Think about expansion into high-tech options and remember there are lots of opportunities out there. Partnering with influencers can be a great way to move your business forwards, but be careful; make sure they’re right for your brand. As with everything else in travel marketing, the key to advertising is consistency.
To learn more about the best ways to market to luxury travellers, subscribe to Jadewolf Marketing’s weekly newsletter at jadewolfmarketing.com.
There are also free podcasts, videos, articles, case studies and even a self-assessment quiz available on the website to help you create an effective marketing strategy and ultimately drive luxury travel sales.
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Madeleine Barber
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Company number 08723341.
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