There’s one thing we can all agree on: COVID-19 sucks. We still don’t know the full extent of economic impacts from coronavirus, but the effects have already been devastating for the tourism industry. How can you stay positive and keep moving forward with your tourism-oriented business?
When you need to take a break from the stress and uncertainty, take the opportunity to knock out a few of those marketing projects you haven’t been able to fit into your schedule. Here are a few tricks to try to continue marketing your business through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Clean up your online info
From social media profiles to pages with online travel agents like Tripadvisor and Booking.com, and even your Google business page, make a complete inventory of your online presence. Store logins and business descriptions, hours and offerings are all key to keep track of when you’re making updates.
Be a little like St. Nick, and make a list and check it twice for all of your platforms. Update with current closures and opportunities for customers to continue supporting you, and keep a record of any business hours or services you change so you don’t forget to change them back later. There’s nothing worse than having a popular site say you’re closed, when you’re actually open for business.
Develop a community-focused social media campaign
In order to get through this crisis, we need to come together as a community. And when you rally your community around you, it’s possible to achieve things you never could have imagined. You may even open up new avenues for your business that never would have occurred to you a year ago.
Your posts should help you stay front-of-mind for your audience so that when travel restrictions are just a bad memory in the rearview mirror, they remember you and want to come visit. Craft a creative hashtag where people can post original content from past stays, and let them enjoy this window into the place they’re probably missing right now.
Start a blog for your business
Travel may still be limited for the foreseeable future, but as restrictions continue to lift, you will already have a killer resource out there to help draw in new customers
This can be a great opportunity to check out free education resources from sources like Hubspot to help you up your inbound marketing game. Or contract with a consultant to lay the ground work for you.
Update your website
If you have the means and the need, this could be the time for a total website redesign. If not, you can still look over pages, update content, and polish everything up. You may even want to invest in a professional edit to help you clean up copy and increase your SEO.
Reach out to your email list
Utilizing your email list can be another solid way to inspire your community and foster connection between your following and your business, even when they aren’t all able to visit. Infuse your email newsletters with personality, and give your subscribers real insight into your business, behind the scenes.
Sending out an email promotion can help drive business later, like offering a deal on gift cards to new email subscribers when they sign up. Once they’ve opted in to your email list, you can keep them up to date on new business procedures and how offerings change as the COVID-19 situation evolves in your area.
Transition your services online
Does your hotel have a gift shop that you can put up on Shopify? Does your raft company sell swag that people would want to buy to help support you right now? Do the carriage rides you offer have gift certificates available that people could be purchasing with a few keystrokes?
Now is the time to get creative with your business offerings. Even as communities open up again, the future is uncertain. But with a solid marketing plan in place, you can stay relevant and in the eye of your customer base to weather this wild storm.