But meanwhile, something else has become increasingly important. In this аrticle, we will go beyond the successful strategy to explore its starting point – the brand building.

Destination branding is not only part of the marketing strategy. It’s actually the foundation that creates a positive image and unique identity of every place. It also defines what will remain in the visitors’ minds and memories. In other words, the complete performance of your destination. The journey, the experience, the long-lasting memories.

Destination branding could be complex so a good understanding of the basics is essential. This article will go through its core components, as well as the marketing tactics you definitely need to consider when working on your brand.

Below, we share our 8 keys for successful destination branding.

Set Clear Goals

Or in other words, your ways to:

• Improve your brand’s weaknesses
• Give your customers what they need
• Outperform your competitors

Establishing a successful brand goes far beyond the fancy logo. Take your time to understand what constitutes a brand and explore each element in detail. Carefully analyze your brand to compare and set a desired vision and concept. From fonts, palette, and design to voice, letterheads, and prints – define the areas that require improvement. And make sure everything consistently reflects your values and vision.

Let’s face some facts about destination branding. The rapid growth of travel and tourism has shifted the focus from the actual place towards the customers. To transform your brand into something that makes a difference you need to get to know your audience.

Understanding the customer journey and where is your place in it is essential. Find out what attracts them and use it to define how you can capture their attention and interest – visually and conceptually. Be there when your customers need you!

Tip: In addition to actual and potential visitors, modern cities are attempting to create attractive propositions for stakeholders, residents, and business owners. Don’t limit yourself to the traditional audience you’ve been targeting for years.

Last but not least – let’s think about distinction. Research your competitors and what they do. What are their strengths and weaknesses? Knowing that will help you distinguish your brand. Even if you offer similar experiences, it is important to present yourself in a unique way.

Plan Ahead

Once you find the above answers, your goals will start building up in your mind to outline your main objectives. However, a goal without a plan is just a wish.

So take a deep breath and create a timescale to follow and make the most of it.

Set the key areas you want to improve and write down your ways to achieve that. Remember that destination branding requires time, effort, and attention to detail. Some things will take a while to reach the desired audience and gain popularity.

So relax and patiently follow your plan for action. And remember – there isn’t a successful strategy without a good plan so it’s always the right time to start building one!

Optimize Your Website

Brand building is all about consistency. And your website plays a significant role in brand formation.

Studies show that first impressions of a website are formed within 0.05 seconds. Make sure that yours represents your destination’s identity and key advantages.

Create a compelling design that catches attention. Build meaningful content that answers customers’ questions and engages with local aesthetics and character.

Tip: You can make tours and activities bookable on your website with Regiondo’s booking software. This way, website visitors can book offers from local suppliers directly on your website, earning you commission and enhancing your profile as your destination’s central management body. Start your free trial today.  

Don’t Underestimate the Power of Print

Print media has undergone some major challenges that led to new forms and types of advertising materials coming into existence.

Brochures, flyers, banners, catalogs, billboards – they all come in your advantage when spreading the brand’s message. With the numerous services offered by mail delivery companies, you can easily reach thousands of potential tourists in your desired area – both locally and abroad.

Enhance Authenticity with Instagram

Instagram is changing travel irreversibly and could play a significant role in the success of your destination branding. Here’s why:

Travelers are getting tired of the staged marketing images we are all familiar with. They portray destinations in a very favorable, but also unrealistic way that often doesn’t meet our expectations. Instagram is the place that transforms the high-gloss image into something much more realistic and accessible.

To make the most of this platform, create hashtags and connect with influencers that can promote your destination and increase your reach within hours.

Recommended reading: How to Use Social Media for Destination Marketing

Bring Your Brand to Life with Video Marketing

Tourism is no longer solely dependent upon the existence of resources and cultural heritage to attract visitors. Nowadays, visuals are the actual cornerstone of the travel industry, as selling intangible experiences requires strong and attractive visual arguments.

Moreover, they are critical in the inspiration and decision-making stage of contemporary travelers. Understand how your destination is perceived and outline the unique expectations you want to set.

Do you want to amplify the positive image or completely challenge it and set a different one? Either way, a visually engaging video campaign will beautifully strengthen your brand identity while capturing the unique essence of your destination.

Stage Memorable Events and Festivals

Once everything is in place, you can start proactively utilizing the uniqueness of your destination and complete the brand vision. Stage events of international significance or small local ones. Explore the latest trends to gain some inspiration for exciting themes and concepts. This is a cost-effective method to promote your destination which will lead to tons of user-generated content across various media platforms.

Recommended reading: 4 Destination Marketing Campaigns to Inspire You In 2020 and Beyond

Promote All Year Round

The journey of modern travelers begins long before they reach a destination. In fact, their experience is fractured into a number of stages that makes them mentally travel the world while still exploring the web.

They dream and research, like and share, consider, and plan. Thinking about this, even the most perfectly built destination brand would not bring an ROI if it doesn’t appear or match the customers’ search. Capturing them at this very early stage of the travel experience is the best opportunity to shape their further decisions.

Google Ads can help in that direction. The various possibilities with Search, Display, and Video campaigns will give you the chance to become among the best options showing up on the search feed of potential customers.

Google has solutions that can accomplish key actions like driving incremental traffic to your site, providing relevant information when potential customers are searching in the research stage, as well as re-engaging with past visitors.

Conclusion

Achieving the best version of your destination brand will determine the success of almost every marketing strategy.

Don’t treat your destination as a product you are selling, but rather as a heritage you are building.

And remember – popular destinations live beyond the hype. Invest in increasing the brand value because it will remain in people’s long-lasting memories to establish relationships, popularity, and growth in tourism.

The post 8 Tips for Successful Destination Branding appeared first on Regiondo.

Having a plan will help you attract more visitors and achieve sustainable growth over time. It is also a great way to discover those areas of your organization that need improving.

But coming up with marketing tactics isn’t the hardest part.

The actual challenge comes up when you need to make things happen. And by this I mean putting your plan into action, on a regular basis.

The good news is that there are some amazing tools out there that can reduce the manual work. From promotion platforms to social media schedulers, they will surely help you make the most of your time and effort.

We decided to put together a list of selected marketing tools, especially useful for DMOs.

And considering the current situation, you’re likely on a tight budget so we focus on affordable solutions that maximize impact.

So let’s explore the most useful destination marketing tools and start saving time and money now!

Data Reporting

Reporting data is among the best ways to understand user behavior before building a marketing strategy. Remember that you need to know the interests of your audience to be able to target it effectively.

Web analytic tools can give you great insight into customer habits and demographics. They will help you easily obtain all the information you need and keep an eye on your progress.

Some great tools for analyzing and visualizing web data are:

Google Analytics

One of the most popular digital analytics systems nowadays. Google Analytics allows you to analyze customer behavior on your website through a number of useful metrics. Comprehensive demographics reports are available to reveal information about the user’s age, gender, and interests.

You can also access custom reports to track the metrics that are most relevant to your organization. Analytics is free of charge and can be installed on any website.

Adobe Analytics

This great tool has started to gain increasing popularity recently. You might be wondering what is extraordinary about it. Well, it lets you mix, compare and analyze data from all kinds of online marketing platforms.

Adobe Analytics gives you access to real-time reports from multiple channels and platforms. This tool also offers the so-called predictive analytics which can reveal hidden opportunities.

Adobe Analytics is especially useful for larger organizations and requires a monthly subscription. You still have the chance to request a free demo and give it a try before you buy.

Hotjar

A powerful tool that is distinctive with its visually engaging report and dashboard.

Hotjar visualizes customer behavior through heat maps and is great for tracking the customer journey and see your website through the eyes of users.

The best part? You can enjoy its features at no cost if you go for the free plan.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing can be a very powerful tool for DMOs. A post shared by the right Instagram influencer has the capacity to reach millions of people worldwide.

There is no actual cost involved in influencer marketing apart from the arranged budget between the owner and the influencer.

The challenge some marketers might be experiencing, though, is getting in touch with the right influencer.

To facilitate the communication and arrangements between the two parties, you can use an influencer marketing tool. Our research found some of the most reliable and useful options out there:

Tribe Group

This tool is one of the game-changers in the influencer marketing industry. You will be surprised by the smooth and transparent process of working with influencers worldwide.

Wonder how it works? The owner submits a brief featuring the product or service they offer. Then interested influencers must purchase and try the product themselves. Once this is done, they share the experience in an Instagram post/story.

If you are happy with the content created on the influencer’s account, you can contact them and agree on a price. You are then free to share and repost.

If, on the other hand, you are not impressed by the content, you don’t have to pay the influencers. At the end of the day, It is all up to you.

We highly recommend Tribe Group to DMOs looking to promote their brand and attract more followers worldwide.

Upfluence

Upfluence is an influencer platform with a number of useful features. Advanced options let you perform custom searches and target influencers more accurately.

They store a massive database of over 3 million Instagram influencers that you can easily contact.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a great way to keep visitors updated and build long-lasting relationships with them.

If you want to level up your online marketing, we recommend using an email automation system.

Some of the most popular and effective systems out there are:

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is a marketing automation platform, mainly famous for its comprehensive email service. The pricing options are quite flexible to suit the needs of every organization, large or small.

Based on the plan you go for, there are a number of useful features to enjoy. You can custom code emails, use pre-built templates and schedule campaigns in advance. What’s more, based on the performance of previous emails, Mailchimp can recommend the best time to send your next one.

For best results, the system lets you segment the audience and reach out to the most relevant people on your list. With Mailchimp, you can also design landing pages, postcards, surveys, and signup forms. This helps achieve consistent branding across all your online channels with minimal effort.

Hubspot

Hubspot is another great marketing automation system. While the costs can be higher if you buy multiple products, there are some free tools to get you started.

You can engage people with ad targeting and email marketing. The more advanced plans include SEO, analytics, A/B Testing, team management, revenue analysis, and much more.

HubSpot host an extensive hub of free business and marketing resources. They also have an extensive library of courses, ideal for all destination marketers looking to freshen up their knowledge.

Social Media

Social media can be an exhausting activity.

It might seem pretty straightforward, however, those managing SM channels know what I mean.

Although putting together a post might sometimes be a challenge, there are some useful tools to help you with the overall process.

You probably think you don’t need to use one since you are creating the content yourself anyway. However, social media planners have many more advantages other than scheduling and sharing.

They will advise you on the perfect times of the day and week to do a post, and also measure the effectiveness of your existing publications.

Using them gives you more flexibility and guarantees you won’t forget to share on time. Some of our top suggestions are:

Buffer

Buffer is a popular social media planner that will help you build a systematic approach to sharing content. Various plans are available to suit your budget and needs.

With Buffer, you can plan and publish posts on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. You will receive weekly performance reports to track engagement across all platforms.

More advanced plans will let you reply to comments and access custom strategy recommendations. Buffer will surely make your work way more organized and change your experience with social media for the better.

Canva

While Buffer helps with scheduling and analyzing, Canva is a life savior when it comes to design. Not all marketers are graphic designers so we guess quite a few need some creative ideas.

With Canva, you can access thousands of beautiful free templates. You can design a range of artworks for social media and print. The drag and drop feature makes it super easy to achieve outstanding results in seconds.

You can customize most templates to make them match with your brand guidelines.

Canva uses a freemium business model. In other words, you can use it for free, but you need to upgrade to the premium version to unlock more features.

Content Creation

Just like social media, content creation usually takes a while. However, you can make the process much more pleasant by using a tool for work planning, design, and optimization.

So when you lack inspiration, just explore the exciting free tools featured below. They will help you create engaging web content and visuals for half the time it usually takes!

Grammarly

Grammarly is a digital writing tool using artificial intelligence to eliminate grammar errors and improve text quality. You can download the Grammarly extension and enjoy some of its exciting features for free. If you are particularly occupied with copywriting and content management, the premium version is absolutely worth the money.

Nowadays Grammarly is a must for every destination marketer. Having a second set of eyes look over your writing is always a good idea.

Asana

With Asana you go beyond the standard to-do lists and give your team clarity to help them meet deadlines. The tool lets you plan projects and assign tasks while keeping work on track.

Most people using Asana share very positive feedback. They believe that its powerful features help them execute work successfully and on time.

Asana can be connected with other tools you regularly use like Slack and Outlook. This way you can add relevant information to projects and keep all the work in one place.

Yoast

The all in one SEO Plugin, Yoast will help you optimize content, target keywords and analyze the readability of the copy you wrote. It gives you full control over your on-page SEO and helps you avoid duplicate content.

Although you need to pay for most of Yoast premium features, it’s definitely worth the money – keeping in mind that it will increase your readers’ engagement and improve copy quality.

Wrapping up

Strategy means nothing if it is not executed accordingly.

Using marketing tools helps you stick to your plan. They will keep you on the right track and make it easier to scale many of your efforts.

I’m sure you’ll be happy with the amount of time and effort you’re able to save with some of the tools mentioned.

So what’s next? This might be the perfect time to re-evaluate your marketing tool stack and explore what’s working and what can be improved. We hope this list is a good starting point and there was at least one new thing you learned to improve your DMO’s performance.

This blog post is part of our series on destination marketing. You can find the rest of the articles below: 

• 10 Destination Marketing Strategies to Help You Grow Quickly
• 8 Tips for Successful Destination Branding
• How to Use Social Media for Destination Marketing
• The Top Destination Marketing Trends in 2020 and Beyond
• How to Get Destination Marketing Right in a Digital World
• 4 Destination Marketing Campaigns to Inspire You In 2020 and Beyond
• 5 Reasons Why DMOs Should Work with Bloggers
• How Destinations Should Position Themselves in the Tours & Activities Market
• Storytelling for DMOs: Make Your Destination Come Alive

The post The Most Useful Destination Marketing Tools for Any Budget appeared first on Regiondo.

Holiday photos are splashed all over Facebook and Instagram after exciting getaways. And other internet users follow closely to get inspiration for where to travel to next.

The influence of social media on travel and tourism is undeniable.

But how can Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) use this powerful tool to their advantage? How can marketers better understand the social channels and properly strategize for successful brand promotion?

In this post, we’ll tackle all these issues concerning social media and DMOs. Keep reading to learn the importance of social media in destination marketing, the evolution of social media, useful tips, and finally, the future of social media for destination marketing.

The importance of social media in destination marketing

Social media has transformed how businesses market themselves to their customers. And DMOs have experienced this change as well.

According to Google, close to 50% of smartphone users in the U.S., France, and the U.K. comfortably plan their travels entirely on their mobile devices. Since social channels have made it convenient to make travel decisions, destination marketers are now benefiting from the marketing opportunities created.

Here are four main areas in which social media has significantly affected destination marketing.

1. Destination discovery

Some would-be travelers don’t know where they want to go yet or what they’ll want to do there. All they know is that they need or want a getaway.

These are some of the groups of people who go on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to find inspiration and ideas from other travelers for the ideal holiday.

As a DMO, this is a prime opportunity to influence decision making. Your positive social media presence can help searchers discover your destination and choose you. By having current customers post about their fun and exciting experiences in your location, you can inspire the next traveler to book.

2. Travel research

Holiday photos and videos are some of the most popular content on social channels. Coupled with customer reviews, they are what guide many consumers to book a particular destination. Statistics show that a whopping 70% of travelers research their travels on smartphones.

Since most customers trust other consumers’ feedback more than brand adverts, the research done on social media is sufficient to come up with a decision.

Destination marketers are tapping into this by encouraging user-generated content and partnering with influencers to build that trust with new visitors.

3. Customer service

Social media interaction is a two-way traffic. Marketers can listen to their customers’ complaints or compliments and respond by comment or via messenger. This basically serves as a customer service channel.

By responding to customers online, your brand is seen to care for its clients and this paints you in a positive light. It also humanizes your brand making you appear more authentic.

4. Loyalty programs

Social sharing plans are great for loyalty programs among many travel companies. Brands can encourage customers to post and share their experience with the brand’s product in exchange for cool perks or even discounts. This helps to kill two birds with one stone – it provides feedback and creates opportunities for rewarding fans.

The evolution of Social media in destination marketing

Seeing how important social media is in destination marketing, it’s necessary to know and understand its transformation over time.

As social media evolves, destination marketers need to keep up with the latest trends and reassess their marketing strategies regularly in order to fully benefit from this channel of marketing.

Let’s look at some of the areas where social media has evolved:

The social channels: In the early 2000s, MySpace was the first social media platform to get a million monthly users. Now we barely talk about it. Other platforms came and went, like Periscope, Vine, or Blab.

Today Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are among the big players. Facebook is leading the pack with more than 2.4 billion users.

The evolution of social media has therefore resulted in different channels coming into this space and only the tough players survive.

Features: Apart from experiencing different social media players, the evolution of features and algorithms on various sites is something to keep an eye on. These changes directly affect user behavior and so need to guide marketing strategies for DMOs.

New features have come up on different platforms while others are becoming outdated. For example, Instagram came up with Stories in 2016 and introduced IGTV in 2018. The Stories feature caught on quickly and in about three years there were more than 500 million daily users of the feature.

Other social channels are also transforming with time. Facebook introduced live-stream videos which is a popular feature for marketers to showcase a more authentic side of their brands.

Content: Another change experienced in the world of social media is the kind of content being generated. Evolution in this area is due to the increasing number of content from the many businesses that are online. It’s become harder to stand out and drive engagement like before.

Marketers are opting for user-generated content (UGC) and influencers’ content. This is now a more effective way of boosting engagement with targeted audiences.

Functions: Social media usage has spread far and wide among DMOs to a point that it’s become more than just a marketing tool. Businesses have come up with new ways of using social media to their advantage.

For starters, travel companies are using social media to provide customer service for their clients. Hotels, on the other hand, are offering concierge services using Whatsapp and other messaging platforms.

So that is the evolution of social media and we are most likely going to experience more transformations over the years to come.

What does it mean for destination marketers in the face of all these changes? Is your DMO fully leveraging social media?

The following are a few pointers to help you take full advantage of social media marketing as we know it today.

Social media tips for DMOs

We’ve already looked at the evolution of social media and seen how important it is in destination marketing, so the next thing is to have a strategic plan for your SMM.

However, missing this formal winning strategy is a challenge that nearly 24% of social media marketers are facing. And that’s why we have the following tips. Hopefully, these will propel you to overcome this challenge and put you on a path to success.

1. Offer free information

Social media requires that you socialize. One of the best ways to do this is by sharing free information on different topics about travel and leisure. This can present you as an expert and you’ll soon become the go-to brand for potential customers when they want to travel.

But don’t just share any kind of information, aim to offer valuable information that your target audience actually needs. For example, you can share tips on how to plan a family vacation, provide lists of the best places to stay in a given location, or even guides for popular attractions.

2. Include user-generated content

In as much as DMOs should be active on social media platforms, you should also have the right type of content. User-generated content is essential. It shows potential customers that other people love your product so much that they posted about their experience with you.

Research shows that 88% of consumers trust online reviews just as much as recommendations from their personal contacts.

This means user-generated content can work as effectively as word-of-mouth. So including content from your present customers is likely to boost trust with your audience and increase bookings.

3. Partner with influencers

This is another strategy that uses the idea of word-of-mouth marketing. Influencers can drive traffic and increase engagement through comments, shares, and mentions. DMOs can partner with influencers that match the target customers’ demographics so that they can resonate with the potential customers.

4. Leverage different social media channels

There are several platforms for social media marketing. You don’t have to be in all of them but maximizing on the most popular ones can increase your brand reach and boost awareness.

• Facebook is currently the largest social channel and almost every company has its brand page here. Creating a Facebook page for your DMO enables you to post updates about your destination and engage Facebook users. Remember to include live videos every once in a while.
• Instagram is also a highly effective platform for travel and leisure businesses. By posting unique, high-quality photos and videos of your destination, you entice potential customers and can produce high engagement.

In fact, this will prove to travelers just how ‘instagrammable’ your location is. This is advantageous since studies have shown that about 40% of millennials choose their travel destinations based on how Instagram-worthy the photos are.

• Having a Twitter handle is another great option for your SMM. Your account needs to be active and regularly updated. Remember the travel and tourism industry is very visual so endeavor to create engaging tweets with images or videos.
• Other social media channels DMOs can leverage are Snapchat (if you’re targeting younger travelers) and LinkedIn (great for reaching business travelers).

The future of social media for destination marketing

Social media usage is growing. It is estimated that there could be over four billion users by 2021, up from about 3.4 billion in 2019.

For as long as social media continues to grow, then it’s future with regards to destination marketing is bright. The travel and leisure industry is social at its core, no wonder it’s been inseparable from social media.

Also, more and more people are using social media to plan their holidays and when traveling. The percentage of U.S. travelers, for example, who use their smartphones when traveling rose from 41% in 2015 to about 70% in 2017.

This goes to show that DMOs should continue harnessing the power of social media to their advantage since there are many benefits to reap from this marketing channel.

Conclusion

In conclusion, destination marketing and social media go hand in hand. We’ve looked at the importance of social media in this tourism industry, the evolution of social media, tips for SMM, and the future of social media for destination marketing.

With that, I hope you’re now better equipped to take on social media marketing for your DMO’s benefit.

This blog post is part of our series on destination marketing. You can find the rest of the articles below: 

• 10 Destination Marketing Strategies to Help You Grow Quickly
• 8 Tips for Successful Destination Branding
• The Top Destination Marketing Trends in 2020 and Beyond
• How to Get Destination Marketing Right in a Digital World
• 4 Destination Marketing Campaigns to Inspire You In 2020 and Beyond
• The Most Useful Destination Marketing Tools for Any Budget
• 5 Reasons Why DMOs Should Work with Bloggers
• How Destinations Should Position Themselves in the Tours & Activities Market
• Storytelling for DMOs: Make Your Destination Come Alive

The post How to Use Social Media for Destination Marketing appeared first on Regiondo.

The world of travel has experienced several developments in recent years. So, marketers need to constantly adjust their marketing approach. It’s not always business as usual.

No matter the destination, strategic marketing can go a long way to win over customers. And to stay on top of your game, you need to keep up with trends in the sector.

That’s what this post is about.

We are going to look at different trends in the destination marketing industry. Beginning with the growing focus on sustainability, the use of emerging technology like virtual reality, influencer marketing, industry and cross-industry partnerships among others.

Without wasting time, let’s dive right in.

1. Focus on sustainability

Industrialization across the world has brought about development. Unfortunately, it has also resulted in the deterioration of the environment.

Because of this, many travelers take into account what’s right for the planet in order to preserve the environment for future generations. This move to sustainability has quickly found its way into the travel industry.

This sustainable travel report points out that over 70% of travelers are of the opinion that travel companies should offer more sustainable travel choices.

This emphasis on sustainability means a number of travelers are making decisions based on how eco-friendly a place is. DMOs can, therefore, elevate their success by being more green-minded.

Have strategies that will ensure sustainable destination management. Mention what you are doing as an organization to preserve the environment. Let your potential visitors see the actions you are taking to protect nature and secure the future of your region.

2. Increased use of virtual reality technology

Technology is constantly evolving and it’s no surprise that its application in the travel industry is also growing and evolving as well.

Innovative technology like virtual reality (VR) is making it possible for businesses to provide services that could only be imagined a few years back.

Some organizations in the travel industry have already adopted VR in their marketing. Hamilton Island is one good example of a tourism company making use of this technology.

Its effectiveness proves that VR will only become more common over the next years.

To benefit from this trend, DMOs can entice travelers to their destinations by giving them a taste of what they will experience using VR technology. And by having a virtual experience, the consumers are more likely to make a booking in order to experience the place in person.

Another advantage of using this technology is that it removes the guesswork when travelers want to pick a destination. They can be sure of what they’ll get on the ground. As a result, more people may be willing to travel to your destination so long as your offering matches their desires.

3. Enhanced mobile experience

Do you know that the percentage of U.S. travelers who use their smartphones when traveling rose from 41% in 2015 to more than 70% in 2017? That’s according to this Google report. And the number keeps increasing every year.

The same research revealed that almost half of smartphone users in the U.S., U.K., France, and Australia are comfortable researching, booking, and planning their entire trip using only a mobile device.

Source: Google

Therefore, it’s crucial for destination marketers to optimize mobile experiences for their customers. It can build a strong competitive advantage.

Have a smooth mobile app or interface that allows potential customers to do what they can do on your website. And to make it even better, go a step further and offer some mobile-only features that make carrying out travel logistics easier for travelers.

4. More micro-influencer marketing

Another trend DMOs should keep up with involves how or rather who to advertise through.

Traditional cookie-cutter ads are being replaced by more customized ways of advertising. This has resulted in partnering with influencers to create brand awareness.

Influencer marketing has proven to be quite effective. In fact, data from MuseFind reveals that 92% of consumers trust an influencer more than a traditional advertisement or a celebrity endorsement.

Micro-influencer marketing is deemed to be more authentic than using big-time influencers. These “smaller” influencers tend to have more engagement with their audience and are also more relatable.

More to that, DMOs can no longer only depend on display ads for example when it comes to online advertising. A number of internet users nowadays don’t even get to see those ads because they use Ad-block technology to hide them. And those who don’t block the ads may still not see them due to a phenomenon known as banner blindness.

Based on all these developments, destination marketers need to strategize and partner with influencers whom their audience can relate to. That way you can build credibility and trust with your potential customers.

5. Consolidation of DMOs and cross-industry partnerships

When it comes to funding, DMOs can no longer solely rely on governments to keep afloat because of declining financial support. This has resulted in destination marketers looking for other ways to fill that gap, hence an increase in consolidations and partnerships.

For example, different DMOs can work together to offer a “two-in-one” experience opportunity. By creating a unique and customized travel offer they can attract more customers, boost sales and increase revenues.

Tourism organizations can also partner with companies in other industries that benefit from having more visitors coming to a particular location. A good example is London & Partners.

It’s often said that there is strength in unity. So this is the principle that more destination marketers are turning to in order to experience increased success.

6. Preference for live stream videos

What type of content do you use to market your destination? If your answer includes videos, then you’re on the right track.

According to HubSpot, about 54% of consumers want to see videos more than other types of content from brands in general.

Source: HubSpot

Videos are a great way destination marketers can showcase what they have to offer. Research shows that more than 60% of people thinking about going on tour watch travel-related videos. So you can benefit by having videos of your destination available online.

Videos are engaging and can result in higher conversions and more bookings.

The trend in the travel industry is now even more inclined towards live stream videos. It’s no longer enough to only have pre-recorded videos (though that’s better than no video at all).

The good thing about live streaming is that it’s actually more economical. DMOs can reduce their production costs while portraying an authentic brand to their audience.

7. Growth of the experience economy

The focus of many consumers has shifted from the typical travels that once dominated the tourism industry. More people desire to create lasting memories of unique experiences wherever they go.

That’s why experience tourism is a growing trend in the industry that DMOs can take advantage of.

This trend can benefit destinations that were not very popular.  The emphasis is now less on the location and more on the kind of experience travelers will get there.

And as for the “cliche” destinations, they can now rekindle excitement among travelers. Try to offer novel or even unconventional experiences in the same locations.

Destination marketers can also increase the promotion of a given place by customizing a variety of activities that will attract diverse customers.

Conclusion

As the travel and tourism industry grows, DMOs can boost their own success by adopting strategies and tactics that factor in new trends.

So, just to recap, here are the trends we’ve covered. Keep them in mind as you step into 2020 with your destination marketing organization:

• Focus on sustainability
• Adoption of innovative technology, especially virtual reality
• Elevating customers’ mobile experience
• Use of micro-influencers for marketing
• Partnerships and consolidation of DMOs and other related industries
• More live stream videos
• Emphasis on experiential tourism

The post The Top Destination Marketing Trends in 2020 appeared first on Regiondo.

This blog post is part of our series on destination marketing. You can find the rest of the articles below: 

• 10 Destination Marketing Strategies to Help You Grow Quickly
• 8 Tips for Successful Destination Branding
• How to Use Social Media for Destination Marketing
• The Top Destination Marketing Trends in 2020 and Beyond
• How to Get Destination Marketing Right in a Digital World
• 4 Destination Marketing Campaigns to Inspire You In 2020 and Beyond
• The Most Useful Destination Marketing Tools for Any Budget
• 5 Reasons Why DMOs Should Work with Bloggers
• How Destinations Should Position Themselves in the Tours & Activities Market

The often-untapped potential of destinations

Tourism lives from stories, experiences, and unique memories. Whether it’s a first holiday with friends, an annual family vacation, or a day trip – the memories from these experiences will last a lifetime! And not only since Jochen Schweizer & Co., “hang.” Some destinations have already implemented or planned content marketing, branding, and identity processes, but many are still shying away from the effort. Or, perhaps they’re just not aware of the potential.

A good approach, for example, is the “ring model,” developed by Tourismuszukunft. Here, a consistent overall strategy can be built from the core—or the identity—of a destination or region, and the wishes of the guests.

The service providers on-site are particularly important in this process. Often times, it’s not only the big hotels and accommodations but also the small and personal providers who offer the greatest potential for communication and differentiation of a destination.

Why can’t service providers do it alone?

Since such a large segment of service providers are individuals and small businesses, they often lack the know-how and resources to establish professional structures and implement sales processes. From our point of view, this gap provides an opportunity that too few DMOs are using for themselves, especially through the use of unique, smaller partners as an approach to storytelling. Thus, differing from the one-dimensional measurement of overnight stays, core competencies can be built with the combination of several providers.

Consequently, a gap can be closed between what the individual service provider can do locally, and what the big sales portals need. The networking of local providers creates a true core competence of the DMOs, which can only be provided through the expertise of locals. Not a single global player can be better positioned in this area—provided that the destinations have done their homework.

Why should destinations seek to sell local activities?

• They belong to the core competence profile of a region.
• They create a decisive competitive advantage over large providers.
• The distribution of local activities ensures the economic survival of the region.
• Only existing businesses need to be merged.

What do destinations need to do?

In our experience, the most important steps in the implementation are:

• Actual analysis: Analysis of the local stories, but also the providers and their product portfolios. Too often, contact with local activity providers is inadequate or non-existent.
• Concept development: The second step must be a coherent concept. Both in regard to the technical solution (i.e., Regiondo), and the products and training of the service providers.
• Implementation: The implementation should take place in phases. With Regiondo, we support this process. First through a technical solution that saves providers valuable time, and also through the experience of past projects and the network of consultants and partners. One thing is important here: it is a process of change, whereby the individual providers have to be picked up and taken along on the journey.
• Achievements: Measurability is always important to us. Together we have to ensure the conversion is worthwhile for each individual partner. More visitors, more bookings and clearly measurable sales decide on the joint success. Regiondo helps you with that – check out our sales reports and statistics!

And one more recommendation: Establish a recreational coach (or whatever you wish to call the job). A central contact person for the service providers who accompanies the training and change process—also the ideal contact person for Regiondo.

Please contact us directly for an initial conversation. We are sure that your region has untapped potential that we, as partners, can successfully fulfill.

The post Storytelling for DMOs: Make Your Destination Come Alive appeared first on Regiondo.

We also suggested concrete strategies to help you grow in a digital environment.

In this post, we’re going to tie everything together with examples. Below, we’ll look at the best digital campaigns by destination marketing organizations (DMOs) to serve as inspiration for your own initiatives in 2019.

Ready? Let’s go.

Foodtopia – packaging the local food scene as a marketable asset

Asheville is a small town in North Carolina, US. However, it offers some pretty big cuisine.

This is why the local DMO – Explore Asheville – came up with a campaign to package and promote their food scene.

Foodtopia is a culinary community that unites local food and drink establishments, as well as local farmers.

The great thing about this concept is how much easier it gets to promote a destination’s food scene.

Instead of relying just on the individual efforts of bars and restaurants, Asheville has taken things a step further by using one of their strong points – cuisine – to influence their destination’s branding and develop their image as a place that offers great food.

Apart from the website, Foodtopia also has its own Facebook fan page with more than 25,000 followers at the time of writing.

Combined with word of mouth and Asheville’s substantial reputation as a top tourist destination, this concept can lead to serious results.

Take, for example, the Asheville Food Tours which now boast more than 1,000 TripAdvisor reviews and a 5-star rating:

Or the Eating Asheville tours which also help people discover the city’s cuisine:

While it’s difficult to know how much of their success can be attributed to Foodtopia, one thing is sure:

There are creative ways to package certain aspects of your location and promote them effectively using digital channels – just like Asheville did. This can help you drive more visitors and increase success for your local suppliers and business partners.

Colors of Carlsbad – using data to inform campaign decisions

Carlsbad is a city near San Diego, California.

The local tourism board, Visit Carlsbad, devised their campaign “Colors of Carlsbad” in a pretty interesting way.

Working alongside specialist firm Pantone, they analyzed around 80 Instagram images from 23 travel influencers who had a combined following of more than 17 million people.

The analysis yielded four specific colors that seemed to make images more attractive. These colors were used in the campaign, hence the name “Colors of Carlsbad”. You can see the end result in the video below:

This campaign is a good example of using both data analysis and influencers to drive destination marketing decisions. As a consequence, Carlsbad is in a much better position for utilizing social media as a way to popularize their destination. As Visit Carlsbad’s executive director Sam Ross put it:

“Beyond our natural features, Carlsbad is home to a bustling local art scene, ground-breaking restaurants and breweries, a heritage of adventure and action sports, and a Southern Californian approach to wellness. Now more than ever, our visitors are interested in not only partaking in these unique experiences but sharing them with their followers near and far.”

The Faroe Islands – Turning “Street View” into “Sheep View”

The Faroe Islands are a gorgeous archipelago located in-between two always-popular tourist destinations – Iceland and Scotland.

They have tons of exciting sights there for travelers, but getting there can prove challenging. The Faroe Islanders were waiting a long time for Google’s mapping cars so they took it upon themselves to give the world a “bird’s-eye-view” of their beautiful landscapes.

Well, actually, it was a “sheep’s-eye-view”. Sheep are the most populous inhabitants of the Faroe Islands. In fact, there 83,000 of them according to campaign manager Durita Dahl Andreassen.

So what was the campaign like? The Faroe Islanders strapped 360° cameras to some of the many sheep that wander freely all over the country. Andreassen then uploaded the footage to the Google Street View, or as she calls it: “Sheep View”.

This resulted in a unique look at these amazing islands which 49,000 people (give or take a few) call home. Their creative solution represents an authentic way-of-life as well as the unique benefits for travelers. And that was achieved using an unlikely marketing tool – Google Maps.

Hong Kong – using virtual reality in travel the right way

As we already know, virtual reality in the travel industry could be a very effective method for creating engaging experiences for travelers.

This is why Discover Hong Kong launched a destination marketing campaign in partnership with VR company TimeLooper and observation deck sky100.

This partnership allowed sky100 visitors to experience what the city was like back in the sixties and eighties, showcasing Hong Kong in an exciting and unforgettable way.

While we should expect nothing less than a tech metropolis like Hong Kong, a campaign like this is achievable for most destinations nowadays.

Apart from word of mouth referrals from visitors, it can also lead to considerable press coverage, as was the case with Hong Kong’s “VR Time Travel” campaign.

Conclusion

There are many ways to utilize technology when promoting a destination.

Some of them are now considered “best practices” while others require a little creativity and a willingness to take a risk.

In this post, we focused on the latter so you have a source of inspiration for your next destination marketing campaign.

Whether it’s by using unconventional marketing tools like the Faroe Islands or revising the way you package attractions like Asheville, we hope this article has given you ideas to reach your destination marketing goals faster than you ever imagined.

This blog post is part of our series on destination marketing. You can find the rest of the articles below: 

• 10 Destination Marketing Strategies to Help You Grow Quickly
• 8 Tips for Successful Destination Branding
• How to Use Social Media for Destination Marketing
• The Top Destination Marketing Trends in 2020 and Beyond
• How to Get Destination Marketing Right in a Digital World
• The Most Useful Destination Marketing Tools for Any Budget
• 5 Reasons Why DMOs Should Work with Bloggers
• How Destinations Should Position Themselves in the Tours & Activities Market
• Storytelling for DMOs: Make Your Destination Come Alive

The post 4 Destination Marketing Campaigns to Inspire You In 2023 and Beyond appeared first on Regiondo.

We also suggested three strategies there to deal with the changing landscape.

In this post, we’ll go deeper into the world of destination marketing strategies.

We’ll explore the difference between a strategy and a tactic. We’ll also look at the key things to consider ahead of creating your destination marketing strategy.

The main part of the post are 10 destination marketing strategies to help you win in the long run.

Ready? Let’s go.

Strategy vs Tactics

So the first thing we need to highlight is the difference between a strategy and a tactic.

A destination marketing strategy is a plan to accomplish a key objective, usually attracting more visitors to a city, region, or country.

Strategies are based on principles and can be viewed as the overall “game plan”.

On the other hand, tactics are the specific means by which a strategy is executed.

For example, you can devise a strategy to attract more tourists. One of the tactics involved could be to create a social media campaign in a specific target country.

This illustrates the main difference in that strategies are high-level plans for accomplishing a goal, while tactics are the specific ways you can employ to reach that goal.

Now that we have this out of the way, let’s move on to the strategic considerations you should make in order to get more success as a DMO.

What to consider before developing your strategy

Before choosing a specific strategy, it’s important to do the groundwork first.

First, every DMO needs a booking system to allow your guests and visitors book your experiences and tours online. We recommend Regiondo, Europe’s best booking system that can help you get more reservations online and save your valuable time. Book a demo with us to learn how DMOs can use Regiondo to increase their profits.

The second step is researching your customers and market environment.

The idea is to end up with a simple one-page document outlining your goals, target market, and competitors.

For example, you can include customer details such as age, job, location, interests, and challenges.

You can also include details about your goals, e.g. increase the average spend per visitor from X to Y.

This is where things like KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) come into play.

Your document should include key figures you want to achieve such as number of visitors, total revenue, and annual room bookings.

To help you get started, we’ve outlined the key steps you can take below:

1. Define your target market
2. Identify customer needs and wants
3. Match your products and marketing efforts to your target market
4. Study what other DMOs are doing to attract the same customers
5. Devise a set of KPIs for monitoring your progress

Now, keep in mind these are not set in stone. Depending on your situation, you can include other information in your outline.

The important thing is to know where you are now and where you want to go. Only then can you choose the best strategy to match your goals.

Our pick of the best destination marketing strategies for DMOs

So now that we know the difference between a strategy and a tactic, and we have the key considerations in place, it’s time to look at our pick of the best destination marketing strategies. Here we go.

1. Go all-in with online ads

Digital advertising is replacing offline and mass media advertising. Why is that?

Well, digital ads are cheaper, more targeted, and it’s easier to track their ROI (Return on Investment).

They can also be helpful for other things, including:

• Brand building
• Testing and refining your messaging
• Reaching more people with an offer
• Retargeting – getting users who visited your site to come back

So that’s why we’d encourage you to consider paid ads as the center of your strategy.

2. Embrace the mobile experience

It’s no secret that mobile bookings and usage have skyrocketed in recent years.

So adopting a mobile-first mindset can set you apart from other DMOs.

Consider optimizing your website for smartphones (if you haven’t already) and introducing your own mobile app. To check if your website is optimized for mobile devices, use this free SEO grader tool.

You can also invest in creating a city guide app that highlights the best attractions and other things to do.

With easy to use app-builders, you can go fully mobile quickly and cheaply.

3. Become data-driven

Another approach is to go all-in with analytics.

By knowing more about your visitors (both online and offline), you can make better decisions and tailor your offerings to their needs.

From a digital standpoint, you should track key information such as the number of website visitors and how many leave their details or buy an offer.

Getting this information is easy with tools like Google Analytics.

In the offline world, there are a few other things you can track to inform your decisions:

• What’s the average age of your visitors?
• Why do they visit your country or city?
• How much do they spend on average?
• How did they arrive (e.g. sea vs air vs ground transportation)

Some of this information might be harder to get but not impossible.

For example, you can survey visitors or stay on top of official government statistics (if available for your location).

The key point for this strategy is to base all of your decisions on hard data instead of assumptions.

4. Seek out win-win partnerships

Another approach you can take is that of a networker/DMO.

This strategy is all about seeking out win-win partnerships with organizations who have similar interests to yours.

This is important if you want to reduce your dependence on government support while gaining access to new resources.

Where do you get started?

There are organizations that help DMOs grow and increase the size of your network such as:

• European Cities Marketing
• Destinations International

Plus, make sure to check out DestinationThink! to keep up with industry developments.

5. Focus on branding

It’s increasingly important to operate as a business that is self-sustainable so make sure your brand is top-notch.

This includes your messaging, logo, design and overall image.

To make your national or regional brand stand out, here are some important details to get right:

• The photos and videos you use in your marketing material
• The colors you choose to represent your destination
• Your tagline and overall messaging

The crucial thing here is to highlight what’s unique about your location.

Developing the right materials that resonate with your target market can be done with a bit of research.

For example, Visit Carlsbad (a California-based DMO) analyzed 80 Instagram images posted by popular travel influencers.

Based on the top 3 most liked images, they developed imagery and brand colors for their campaign “Colors of Carlsbad” (available in the video below).

6. Work with influencers

Another approach is focusing on promotion using influencers.

Think bloggers, vloggers, social media superstars – people with a following.

The idea here is that influencers have an engaged audience that trusts them. This is why they make good partners as you can leverage their reach in a similar way to advertising.

But choosing the right influencers to partner with is no easy task.

And keep in mind the follower count is not that important. In many cases, you will get better results when you partner with niche influencers who unite people around the reasons they travel.

Not only is it hard to find good influencers, but it can come at a significant cost. Luckily, there are ways to go around this, especially if you collaborate with smaller influencers.

For example, you can offer them free trips and accommodation in exchange for a video or article promoting your location.

Read more about why DMOs should work with bloggers.

7. Personalize the experience for your target visitors

We already hinted at the importance of niching down. That is, going where your specific target audience is and the reasons why people come to your country, region or city.

Whether it’s photography, historic landmarks or health and fitness.

Now, the 2nd crucial thing here is personalization.

Once you find where your best market is, you can tailor your propositions for them. Otherwise, you risk being ignored in a world full of online clutter.

But that doesn’t mean you should ignore everyone else.

Nowadays, you can use detailed segmentation to tailor your offers to several markets. But for practical reasons, you should try and focus on 2-3 at maximum.

Remember, the personalization strategy is about tailoring your approach to a specific market. Once you do this, decisions about your offers, messaging and branding become easier to take.

8. Start a marketplace

As a way to generate extra income, you can sell certain offers directly on your website instead of redirecting to a specific supplier.

But this approach doesn’t have to be limited to the sidelines.

Creating a marketplace amplifies your ability to unite and lead collaboration between local businesses and the public sector. In effect, you also get a bigger influence over the end customer experience.

What are the offers they see? What’s their buying experience? What’s their feedback and reflections about your location?

All this gets much easier when you start seeing yourself as a marketplace that connects stakeholders.

But how do you get local businesses online? Most tour and activity operators are still offline and it can be hard to persuade them about the benefits of going digital.

Here are 2 tips to do that:

• Create briefs on why they should go digital.
• Create a Facebook group or forum where people can connect and exchange info.

You can create your marketplace with Regiondo today. Just click on the image below to get started.

9. Focus on growing repeat visits

Repeat visits can be the bread and butter of your destination marketing strategy.

There are many places where people keep coming back again and again.

One such case is that of Aruba, with more than half of its arrivals being repeat visitors.

How did they achieve this?

First, they have a clear concept about using their local culture and citizens as their main value proposition.

Second, they focus marketing efforts on their biggest market – New Yorkers. Recently, Aruba plastered more than 150 posters around New York on which Arubians share why travelers should visit.

Using this strategy, you can achieve a critical mass for referrals and become extremely popular in one or more markets.

10. Expand from domestic to international and vice versa

Depending on your location, the majority of tourists are likely to be from the same country as yours (i.e. domestic) or from another country (i.e. international).

For example, big tourists centers like Paris attract predominantly international tourists. In contrast, if you travel to a remote village in the German Alps, you are likely to see mostly domestic visitors.

Now, this doesn’t have to be the case.

Take, for example, Saint Tropez which used to attract mostly domestic tourists up until the 1960s when it caught the attention of wealthy travelers from Europe and the US.

The idea here is to achieve a better balance in terms of where your visitors are coming from.

This way, you will be less dependent on local purchasing power in case most of your tourists are domestic.

On the other hand, growing the number of visitors from the same country as yours can provide a consistent and predictable income source for your location.

Final thoughts

These strategies are not meant to be used in isolation. You can mix and match, implementing the things that resonate with you and your market.

But even if you adopt multiple approaches, it’s a good practice to single out one main focus.

Whether it’s going fully mobile or turning into a networking machine, you should have a clear concept in mind for how you’re going to achieve your goals as a DMO.

As a starting point, this concept should be based on hard data and facts about your customers and market environment.

So what’s next?

Grab a pen and paper and create the strategy one-pager from section 2.

Or if you’d like to learn more about destination marketing, head over to our main article about the trends and challenges shaping the future of DMOs.

The post 10 Destination Marketing Strategies to Help You Grow Quickly appeared first on Regiondo.

It’s in a constant state of flux.

And why is that? Well, because end customers are changing their preferences.

In fact, the whole notion of travel has changed in recent years. There are many more reasons to travel than going on vacation.

Nowadays, people travel for work, for studies or just a short weekend trip.

So travel is wider spread, more affordable, and frankly, people are a little bored of the traditional stuff.

They are now looking for transformational experiences. They want to grow and enlighten themselves. And many, still, want to just tick countries off their list.

And these changes bring new challenges for destination marketing organizations (DMOs).

• How do you justify the ROI on your activities before funding bodies?
• What to do you do about issues like overtourism in big cities?
• How do you stand out among increased competition (due to digitization) and shrinking ad budgets?
• How do you get local businesses online so they are better equipped to attract new customers?

So it’s hard to create a balance between your ongoing operations and keep up with new developments.

We created this post to make it easier to navigate the changing world of destination marketing and plan your next steps as a DMO. The article is divided into 4 parts:

1. We’ll go back to the basics and explore what destination marketing is and why it’s important for the economy.
2. Next, we’ll look at some of the major trends that will shape the future of destination marketing.
3. We’ll uncover the strategies that can get you ahead in light of this evolving landscape.
4. We’ll look at an example destination marketing campaign that utilizes both trends and strategies to achieve success.

So if you’re running a DMO, we hope this post will help you stay on top of new developments and how to use them to your advantage.

If you’re a new professional in destination marketing, this can be a resource to further your understanding of the field.

Or if you’re just curious, this article can serve as an introduction to the world of destination marketing.

Ready? Let’s go.

What is destination marketing?

Destination marketing is a branch of marketing focused on promoting a specific city, region, or country. The main goal of destination marketers is to increase the number of visitors in a given location.

And it’s not just about tourists.

Destination marketing could also attract students, skilled workers, or investors.

It works primarily at the top of the funnel, aiming to educate people about a location before they take next steps such as booking a flight or accommodation.

Ultimately, DMOs work to improve the well-being of locals and tourists alike by growing the economic value of domestic and international arrivals.

Okay, enough with the textbook definitions and on to more practical stuff.

There’s evidence that growing the number of visitors to a location leads to an increase in employment rates, among other benefits.

This puts DMOs in a unique position compared to other marketing organizations.

Due to an overlap in interests, DMOs have traditionally been affiliated with governments, benefiting from public financing and other perks.

However, this is changing.

Following the financial crisis from the late 2000s, many countries implemented austerity measures which directly influenced funding options for DMOs.

So nowadays, it’s important to find opportunities to become (and stay) self-sustainable.

As budgets shrink, it’s time to revisit and even reinvent the DMO model.

But even if your country is doing well and you have adequate access to financing, there’s a bigger underlying movement pushing DMOs to evolve.

Marketing vs Management

You may often see the term “destination management organization” rather than “destination marketing organization”. So what’s the proper use?

The answer is both.

Due to digitization, DMOs now have less influence over a destination’s marketing mix (also known as the 4 Ps – Product, Place, Price, Promotion).

Source: RadioCampus

Specifically, word of mouth has largely moved online and people trust reviews on third-party sites like TripAdvisor more than anything you could say about your country and attractions.

In addition, DMOs have little or no control over Price and Place which are factors outside their scope.

This leaves the last of the 4 Ps – Product.

In order to maintain healthy and sustainable tourism, benefiting society as a whole, DMOs are starting to focus on product and brand management. Meaning they define and regulate tourism products and create a compelling image of their country, city or region.

Not only that, but DMOs now have an expanding role that requires them to take leadership in connecting all stakeholders: the public and private sectors, the local community, and the end customers.

So it’s not just marketing anymore.

This is why it’s crucial for DMOs to redefine themselves and make a big effort towards utilizing the resources at their disposal in new ways.

How exactly?

This depends on multiple factors, including your unique operational environment and the trends shaping destination marketing.

Key destination marketing trends

Now that we looked at what destination marketing entails, let’s explore some of the key trends in the field. This way, you’ll have a solid basis for planning your approach.

Public-Private shift and discovering new business models

In reality, it’s still difficult to prove the ROI and the need to fund DMOs. They typically operate at the top of the funnel and customers are likely to go through several other stages before spending a dime.

This makes it hard to attribute a particular section of new tourism revenue coming as a direct result of DMO efforts.

In addition, we have the issue with shrinking budgets mentioned above, which is especially noticeable when it comes to advertising spend.

So many DMOs are expanding their activities and decreasing their reliance on government support.

And that means operating more like a business than a public sector organization.

So DMOs increasingly look for new ways to generate revenue and become self-sustaining.

For example, some DMOs sell tours, activities, and accommodation straight on their website and generate a commission this way (learn how to do this yourself by clicking the image below).

In the end, becoming self-sustainable and shifting your approach can be both good and bad.

True – it’s less money to spend but it also gives DMOs more freedom and ability to move quickly, regardless of when budgets are released and their allocation requirements.

And as government plans and promises often don’t go into action, generating revenue and building your own future is all the more important.

Consolidation of DMOs and cross-industry partnerships

So how can DMOs survive and thrive without as much government support?

Many organizations see consolidation as the answer to this question.

As government funding options decline, some DMOs merge or partner with other organizations to gain access to new resources and capabilities.

That’s the case with London & Partners (London’s DMO) which is a successor company to 3 organizations: a private company that aims to attract foreign investment; a government tourism agency; and an international student attraction office.

The idea here is to benefit from potential synergies and complementary resources.

So one of the key trends we see and anticipate is that of growing consolidation between organizations that serve the community through tourism, such as DMOs and EDOs (Economic Development Organizations).

Digitization

I’ll admit that digitization can’t be classified as a new thing anymore.

However, the transition to digital in DMOs is slower compared to other tourism organizations.

So one of the key trends right now is switching to digital modes of promotion and operations, adopting an online-first mindset to keep up with changing customer demands.

This brings both challenges and opportunities for DMOs.

On one hand, it’s necessary to remain competitive and requires a new set of skills and a shift in perspective.

On the other, digitization brings the ability to reach more people with a personalized experience while reducing operational costs when used internally.

So many DMOs have adopted a digital mindset when it comes to promoting their destination and achieving higher operational effectiveness.

In fact, new developments in data analytics and the way people consume content (especially video) have had a big impact on some organizations and others are taking notice.

Specifically, we can highlight the move from mass media advertising like TV and radio ads to digital such as search ads and social media.

Ideas and strategies to grow your DMO

Now that we looked at some of the major trends, it’s time to see how to address them in the best possible way. Below we’ll outline some of the best destination marketing strategies and approaches you can implement to grow your DMO today.

The lean mindset

In light of shrinking budgets, it’s important to use all resources to their maximum capacity and minimize your costs.

The lean methodology says you should strive for continuous improvement and avoid waste along the way.

Source: LeanKit

This concept was first introduced by Toyota to improve their manufacturing processes.

However, you can employ part of the principles or at least develop and implement the lean mindset in your DMO.

How can you do that?

First, analyze your existing processes and try to spot things that don’t work well. Your goal here is to eliminate process hurdles that may be slowing you down or costing you unnecessary time and money.

Second, try to focus on low-cost, low effort projects that bring you a high return (on time and other resources). The key here is making small, incremental improvements that add up to big changes over time.

For example, one of the ways to cheaply and quickly improve your performance is by updating your website to maximize conversions. With just a few tweaks to your text and graphics, you can increase the portion of people who take a specific action on your website (such as downloading a marketing asset or booking a tour).

Another example is optimizing your website for mobile screens. As more and more people consume content on their smartphones, it’s a relatively easy fix that brings a lot of benefits in a short period of time.

As you make these small tweaks, you will have the ability to see them in action and collect feedback before making any major changes in one go.

These are just some examples of the “lean mindset” in action – that is a specific worldview in management that strives to eliminate waste, improve processes on an ongoing basis, and prioritizes speed of operation.

Travel is social

One of the key developments for DMOs in recent years has been social media.

So this strategy is based on a sharp focus on promotion through Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

The main idea is to utilize the reach of these services as they fit perfectly with the DMOs’ focus on top of the funnel activities.

This strategy is all about turning your DMO into a social media rockstar with many engaged followers that actively promote your brand.

The important thing for this strategy is to stay consistent and always provide value to your followers. It may take years before you develop a substantial following but given the reach of some social networks, it can give you great benefits.

One thing to note here is this strategy is rather risky. If a social network changes it’s algorithms (and they often do) or worse, shuts down (which many have), your hard work may go to waste.

This is why we’d recommend this strategy only in combination with a stellar content production setup.

Special mention: Instagram

In recent years, Instagram has turned into the big name of social networks in travel. With its stories, IGTV, and hashtags, Instagram has changed the way people consume content, and they even did it within their own social network (shifting from square images to full-screen vertical videos). So if you go for this strategy, consider Instagram is the cornerstone of your efforts.

The content machine

Source: ReputationDefender

This is not really an optional strategy.

Producing content about your destinations should be, and probably is, your main focus already.

That said, there are many things that can go wrong with your content production. And there are many decisions to be made.

How much content do you produce? What’s the topic? How do you improve its quality? What sort of format should it be in?

The Content Machine strategy leans on a few basic principles:

• Quality over quantity – substandard information will get you substandard results, wasting your time and efforts.
• Video as the pillar – video has proven to be the best way of promoting destinations and brings a number of other benefits too (more below).
• Experiences over “things” – people look for crazy and interesting experiences that they’ll remember for a lifetime, not the biggest shopping mall.
• Stellar data-driven process – deciding what works and what doesn’t should happen based on facts, not assumptions.

So once you put the above into practice, you’ll have the basis for all of your promotional efforts. In fact, through your website, you’ll be able to grow your own platform for producing and promoting content instead of relying on third parties like social networks.

The key thing to mention here is video marketing.

As the king of travel promotion, you should consider video as the main part of your content plan. Not only is it more effective (in most situations), but it also gives you the basis to create other types of content. Take this, for example:

You start by shooting a video of a traveler who recently visited your destination. They talk about their experience and what they did.

Next, you transcribe the video, edit and publish it as a blog post.

Third, you can extract the audio and use parts of that as a radio or podcast advertisement.

Finally, you can take a certain sentence and use it as a testimonial or add it to a supplier/business page that you promote on your website.

This is just one example of how you can create maximum impact and reach more people with minimal effort.

There are also other interesting things you can do such as:

• Creating a local guide.
• Take and share good, expressive photos.
• Add a News section to your website.
• Or turn to the movie industry – check out the impact of “Crazy Rich Asians” on Singapore’s popularity.

That said, the strategies above are not meant to be used in isolation. The best way to utilize them is by choosing one specific focus and combining different elements (or tactics) together based on your unique market position and operational environment.

Destination marketing campaigns in action: VisitDenmark and Icelandair

To illustrate the effective use of recent trends and strategies, let’s look at the collaboration between VisitDenmark and Icelandair.

To start with, VisitDenmark knew that their biggest visitor market is the United States with more than 709,000 room nights booked in 2017. Making use of developments in data analytics, they also found out that nearly 9% of U.S. travelers in Iceland also visited Copenhagen.

As both countries offer stunning natural and urban experiences, VisitDenmark and Icelandair collaborated on a video (below) highlighting their respective strengths. What’s interesting is that they created and promoted the video campaign as a single, multi-city trip to both destinations.

This illustrates how DMOs partner with other organizations with similar interests, in addition to the effective use of content marketing.

Lastly, as they were conscious of their costs, VisitDenmark and Icelandair compromised by removing non-critical elements of the video such as voice narration – a good example of the lean mindset in action.

As a way to make use of social media promotion, they also rolled out a 30-second version of the video meant for advertising on platforms like YouTube.

And this is just one example of employing the various strategies and tactics above to demonstrate the principles in action.

Conclusion

In this article, we looked at what destination marketing is and where it’s going in the future.

We highlighted the shift from marketing to management, reiterating the role and importance of destination marketing for the economy.

Some of the developments we see and expect are growing consolidation efforts; a switch from public funding to self-sustainable business models; and increasing use of digital technologies, especially in the fields of data analytics and advertising.

To face new challenges, we also looked at several common strategies. These include developing a lean mindset, a stellar content production process and an eye towards social media domination.

Lastly, we looked at a sample campaign from VisitDenmark and Icelandair which demonstrates some of the principles we talked about in action.

This blog post is part of our series on destination marketing. You can find the rest of the articles below: 

• 10 Destination Marketing Strategies to Help You Grow Quickly
• 8 Tips for Successful Destination Branding
• How to Use Social Media for Destination Marketing
• The Top Destination Marketing Trends in 2020 and Beyond
• 4 Destination Marketing Campaigns to Inspire You In 2020 and Beyond
• The Most Useful Destination Marketing Tools for Any Budget
• 5 Reasons Why DMOs Should Work with Bloggers
• How Destinations Should Position Themselves in the Tours & Activities Market
• Storytelling for DMOs: Make Your Destination Come Alive

The post How to get Destination Marketing Right in a Digital World appeared first on Regiondo.

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Björn Reckewell, head of the tourism and retail development department in Wolfenbüttel in Lower Saxony. The city has around 53,000 inhabitants, 160,000 overnight stays, and 1.2 million day visitors.

Local tourism players attach particular importance to marketing in digital media. This blog post will inform you why Wolfenbüttel is very active in working with bloggers. So, without further ado, here are 5 reasons why Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) should consider guest blogging.

1. The travel press is dead, long live the travel blog.

2. Content is king – but which guest believes the local leaders?

3. Bloggers take the view of the guest if you let them.

4. What about Mystery Checks?

5. Meet great people and learn.

Looking for an easy way to sell your destination products online? Try Regiondo for free and create your online ticket shop in less than 5 minutes.

1. The travel press is dead, long live the travel blog

The first thesis sounds like thunder and calls for contradiction. No, dear journalists, of course, the headline is not about black or white, nor is it 100% correct. A headline should lure you into the text. You know what I mean. But are we honest?

How many “real” travel journalists still exist in Germany? How many publishers and newspapers/magazines still “afford” a professionally qualified department with “professional vacationers” who write about it for their readers? And do it regardless of the respective destination or the hotel visited, with outstanding photos and close to what their own readership also appreciates?

I dare to shoot into the blue and say: very few. And how many of them are interested in a destination like Wolfenbüttel, for example?

Exactly!

If we wanted to wait for it, we’d grow old and gray without kissing. So in recent years, we have worked together with corresponding press services such as the German Journalist Services (djd) and will continue to do so in the future.

The djd does an excellent job and helps hidden champions like our city to get coverage in the press. And this is especially the case where there is no longer a travel department with its own staff. The responsible editorial offices are grateful for good photos and journalistically well-written texts.

But we DMOs have become more and more professional in the last years. It is not just a matter of doing public relations work and then being happy when we achieve a good quota as a circulation. We have worked through brand processes, analyzed target groups, described personas and located ourselves on the Limbic Map.

Explanatory video on the „Lessingstadt Wolfenbüttel brand 

All this and much more leads to the fact that we (think) know our guest quite well and know what he or she likes and expects from us. And this is where the diverse and numerous travel blogs enter the scene and offer themselves as cooperation partners. Because as different as the travel areas and the guest interests are, so are the bloggers who tell about it on their blogs.

2. Content is King – but which guest believes the local leaders?

Since the first SEO workshop a few years ago, all of us who run a website has been carrying the sentence “content is king” as a mantra in front of us. Especially clever marketing people among us supplement this with the sequel “… but context is god”.

If you now combine these formulations with the daily demand for the topicality of the website, you will have a lot of work to do. Because, if we are honest, the DMO with all its offers and providers usually does not change so rapidly that new content is constantly being added, let alone well-written. And every now and then, there is also the problem of credibility. We, local tourism managers, are in love with our offers and always talk about them in the most flowery ways. So the guest always deducts a few percents from what he reads about us.

So how do we solve the dilemma of constantly new (or differently narrated) content? Very simple: We like to work with bloggers who do this job for us. We can also take into account and influence which target group(s) serve the respective blogs during the selection process. In most cases, this results in exactly what we want to produce.

Outstanding travel bloggers tell their faithful readers a beautiful story about our city and the feedback brings our public work a good step forward. And because the blog posts become more and more valuable over time on the web thanks to Google & Co., as they rise in the ranking, there is also a good long-term effect.

Link to a blog parade about Wolfenbüttel 

3. Bloggers take the view of the guest if you let them

When we are honest with ourselves, we often lack sight through the eyes of our guests. Who of us has ever stayed in a local hotel or in a holiday flat? Who can go out to dinner as anonymously as a guest and visit the cultural and leisure facilities to experience a real guest experience? In a medium-sized city like Wolfenbüttel, we are only able to do this to a very limited extent, as we have known all our partners for a very long time and are familiar with each other.

Here the cooperations with the bloggers help us again. However, it is important to choose the right blogs for your target group so that everything is right in the end. If the bloggers reflect the target group well, they experience the city and all offer exactly the same and write and/or photograph exactly as our guests like to read and see it themselves. It sounds simple because it is.

However, it is important to give bloggers the necessary freedom. We must not take them by the hand and look after them every second with a tightly timed program. Because then they experience everything the way we would like it to be. So my plea is: Dear DMOs, give them time and space and trust your service providers to do a good job.

In the end, you will be rewarded with great insights about your destinations, which you yourself might never have seen. And what happens if a planned experience doesn’t pick impress the bloggers times or knocks them over? Or if the performance of the service provider was not really good? Then the next point comes into play.

Link to the guest blog 

4. No need for Mystery Checks

From the very beginning, we openly ask bloggers for feedback about what they have experienced, how they have experienced it and all that goes with it. And of course, we leave it up to the blogger not to write enthusiastically about anything that didn’t inspire them. There are also sentences like “… Castle Museum at first glance does not really open up to me. Maybe I should have taken a tour after all…”

We find this honest and appreciative, leaving room for people to form their own opinion. The blogger, in this case, did not have to bend and praise a museum which did not inspire him. But it helps us to know each time what was good and where there’s room for improvement. And sometimes, the direction signs may not be good enough to find the right place, a meeting point may not be located correctly, and so on.

These are all things that help us to keep an eye on the entire guest experience within the scope of the service design methodology and – where possible – to adjust the quality.

Excerpt from the Blog post

5. You meet great people and learn from them

Of course, you can find blogs on the web, email the bloggers and make the first contact. We want to establish long-term relationships and have been following various blogs and their creators on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for some time. The intention to cooperate is not always the same, but it often comes about through regular contact.

Sometimes something is liked here, then commented on there and very slowly a contact is established that is honest and at eye level. So it’s all the nicer when you finally meet up in person. This is possible at trade fairs like the ITB but I personally like BarCamps above all.

Link to the video “Barcamp”

These refreshing non-conferences without a big program and fixed topics simply leave much more room for the thematic exchange and also for personal encounters. The Niedersachsencamp der Städtekooperationen is a very good example and of course Tourismuscamp von Tourismuszukunft.

Don’t have a BarCamp nearby? Then simply organize one yourself or make or invite a blogger community. This way you can directly contact bloggers. Most of them are very well connected and help you to organize and connect with other blogs. For us in Wolfenbüttel, there are always great contacts with interesting people, which we would not want to miss.

This blog post is part of our series on destination marketing. You can find the rest of the articles below: 

• 10 Destination Marketing Strategies to Help You Grow Quickly
• 8 Tips for Successful Destination Branding
• How to Use Social Media for Destination Marketing
• The Top Destination Marketing Trends in 2020 and Beyond
• How to Get Destination Marketing Right in a Digital World
• 4 Destination Marketing Campaigns to Inspire You In 2020 and Beyond
• The Most Useful Destination Marketing Tools for Any Budget
• How Destinations Should Position Themselves in the Tours & Activities Market
• Storytelling for DMOs: Make Your Destination Come Alive

The post 5 Good Reasons Why DMOs Should Work With Bloggers appeared first on Regiondo.

But the market is changing radically: large tour operators and start-ups are focusing on “local activities”. There are clear parallels to the hotel industry ten years ago. Booking.com purchased the American booking solution Fareharbor, while TripAdvisor bought the Icelandic startup Bokun – both software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies that – similar to Regiondo – support tourism service providers in digitizing their offers. The focus here is on technology.

Specialized online startups such as GetYourGuide or Klook have successfully established themselves in this market. New providers such as Airbnb are also successfully developing the segment with Airbnb Experiences and individual offers that match the brand and target group.

More traditional players such as TUI are also investing in this market: TUI has bought back the activities of Hotelbeds and intends to invest more. This includes sales as well as the production of offers on-site.

Only the DMOs (Destination Management Organizations), which traditionally have the pole position in local activities, find it difficult to digitize their existing know-how and their strong contacts with suppliers. There is a risk of losing the digital connection and thus the customer at elementary points.

What does this mean for the market?

We will not be able to measure the effects of these disruptive dynamics in the activity market for another 1-2 years. But it is already certain that:

•     Activities on site are “the next big thing”.
•     Existing and new players are investing massively in the market.
•     Technology will be the decisive success factor.
•     Access to offers and directly bookable inventory is the key.

Thanks to our customers throughout Europe, we at Regiondo have a good overview of the status of digitization in the various markets. And unfortunately, we see that the German-speaking countries still have a lot of catching up to do in terms of digitization.

What is the “activity market”?

The market for activities is difficult to grasp and there are no reliable figures. Estimates assume up to 1 million providers worldwide and a market volume of €140 – €200 billion. This includes the Merlins and Europaparks as well as the numerous small and medium-sized companies that offer city tours, hiking or quad tours, and cooking courses. Depending on the market research institute, we talk about the touring and activities market, day tourism or leisure market in general. The content of all boundaries is similar. The only difference is often the extent to which local demand from local residents and guests from the immediate vicinity is taken into account or not.

The main characteristics of this market are:

• Strong fragmentation: simply because of the enormous variety of offers and the different categories and target groups.
• Local: similar to the hotel market, over 90% of demand is national and international tourism plays a lesser role.
• SMEs: most providers make less than €1 million annual turnover and are usually owner-managed. Companies like Merlin or Disney are the exception.
• “Under-engineered“: due to the high fragmentation and the many small companies, there tends to be too little investment in technology and process automation.
• Offline and short-term: the customer still buys (more than 2/3) offline and at short notice on site.

DMOs must act now

While some customers book a trip and the associated travel and accommodation months in advance, activities are short-term decisions that are made on site. Often even on the same day, after looking out the window and depending on the weather conditions.

This is still the core business of the local organizers! Because destinations are in pole position, nobody has a better overview of the portfolio in their own tourist destination. You have the network and the contact to the providers. In addition, the guest and his short-term booking play into the hands of the destinations: Over 70% of the activities are booked locally.

But this pole position is in danger. The greater the digital coverage of Groupon, Booking.com, Airbnb & Co. in the activities market, the less relevant the destinations become as intermediaries for the customer.

What are the concrete next steps?

Destination and tourism organizations must act to avoid being left behind digitally and to defend their market share in the future. In my experience, the following procedure has proved its worth:

• Analysis and recording of the current situation and the existing portfolio.
• Workshop and development of a project outline with all relevant stakeholders (service providers, hosts, etc.).
• Selection of the right technology or technology partner to implement the project on-site.
• Setting up a project with service providers, all local sales partners, and the technology partner.
• Establishing a long-term initiative: Digital change is a change process of time.

Destinations can, for example, enter the market themselves and bundle activities on-site, or only act as intermediaries to digitize the service providers on site.

At Regiondo, we have implemented numerous successful projects with destinations. From 10 to 400 top performers and for destinations characterized by urban or leisure tourism. There are various models of concrete implementation on site. Please, do not hesitate to contact us.

This blog post is part of our series on destination marketing. You can find the rest of the articles below: 

• 10 Destination Marketing Strategies to Help You Grow Quickly
• 8 Tips for Successful Destination Branding
• How to Use Social Media for Destination Marketing
• The Top Destination Marketing Trends in 2020 and Beyond
• How to Get Destination Marketing Right in a Digital World
• 4 Destination Marketing Campaigns to Inspire You In 2020 and Beyond
• The Most Useful Destination Marketing Tools for Any Budget
• 5 Reasons Why DMOs Should Work with Bloggers
• Storytelling for DMOs: Make Your Destination Come Alive

The post How Destinations Should Position Themselves in the Tours & Activities Market appeared first on Regiondo.