Thinking about using videos for your tourism business? Good! The popularity and effectiveness of video marketing is at an all time high(opens in a new tab).
But, how can you fully leverage the power of video to drive your tour sales? Check out our top three tips for ideas:
#1: Make videos immediately apparent on your tour or activity website.
People spend an average of 15 seconds on any given website(opens in a new tab).
I know, I know — this statistic has been thrown around quite a lot. Heck, I’ve used it on other posts. But there is a reason for that: it is SO powerful and should really shape your website design and build(opens in a new tab).
So this statistic, combined with the incredible persuasiveness of videos, means that you really should make your video immediately apparent on your website. And by immediately apparent, you need to put it ‘above the fold’ on your website’s homepage. (‘Above the fold’ just means what the viewer sees prior to having to scroll down on the page.)
Remember: this is the chance to really convince your visitors to check out your tours, so you need to ‘wow’ them with the video(opens in a new tab). That means you need to put out a pretty quality video.
Good news, though — due to the extreme popularity of videos nowadays, there are a lot of options that will help you make great videos without breaking the bank.
There are many tools that will help you make pretty swanky videos on your smartphone. Alternatively, go to your local college or put up an ad on Craigslist. There are a lot of up-and-coming videographers out there who are willing to give deep discounts for a chance to build up their portfolio.
#2: Make use of video testimonials.
Long gone are the days of those cookie-cutter testimonials. You know the ones I’m talking about. Those testimonials with a generic one-liner, supposedly written by someone who may or may not really exist.
Instead, the savvy tour operator is turning to platforms such as TripAdvisor to up the ante of social proof and credibility on their website. (In case you weren’t aware, TripAdvisor offers a free widget that you can put on your website, allowing you to show off all of of your hard-earned reviews.)
So get that, and better yet, start collecting some video testimonials(opens in a new tab). And in this case, the more ‘real’ the video looks, the better. Bust out your smart phone in the middle of a tour, and start getting some off-the-cuff testimonials. Capture the smiles, the laughs — the realness of your tours.
Once you’ve captured them, put them on your ‘About’ page and any relevant tour pages. Then let them do their magic.
#3: Use videos to advertise your tours on Facebook.
When people are aimlessly scrolling through their Facebook feed, it’s going to take a lot to distract them from engagement announcements, baby photos, and hilarious memes.
But guess what? Facebook video ads automatically start playing (without audio) when the user scrolls upon the video ad in their stream. That means, by nature, a video ad is a pattern breaker and will more than likely get the user’s attention.
Oh, and what’s even better: the average cost per video view has been said to be as low as $.01 to $.06 across several markets.
In fact, Jitendra Patel from Haka Tours New Zealand(opens in a new tab) and a member of our Tour Operators United Facebook community has stated that he’s actually put most of his advertising budget into Facebook video advertising — and he has been reaping in the results.
His advice? Don’t make your videos too salesy. Instead, produce some cool video content — show people having a fun time. That’s what they did. The result? A great boost in brand awareness and in recognition.
At the time of writing this article, one of their videos has racked up over 13K likes, 4.5K shares, and 762K views.
Wow.
Check it out:
The Takeaway: Incorporate videos into your marketing efforts.
There are SO many resources out there showing the extreme benefits of using video. This could not be more true for tour and activity operators.
I’m willing to bet that you can get some great content using few resources that will result in a high ROI.
Give it a try, and let us know how it goes!
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