Here's How to Optimise Your Marketing Budget and Increase ROI in Tourism

Pool your resources and content for maximum return on investment

No matter the industry, the aim of marketing remains the same: ensuring your investment pays off. In tourism marketing, that investment likely includes costs like content creation, social media paid ads, Google ads, SEO through blogs, and OTA management like Booking.com and The Hotels Network.

Since many tourism operators oversee more than one product–whether that be different lodges in various locations or tour itineraries to diverse destinations–one of the best ways to increase ROI is to pool your resources through a collective marketing strategy.

Image: Thonga Beach Lodge, an Isibindi Africa Lodge

What is a collective marketing strategy?

This is an inclusive marketing strategy that combines content and ads for both your umbrella brand and your individual offerings. Start by knowing what your overall brand stands for, as well as what makes each offering unique. Once you know that, you can break up your content and paid ads strategy accordingly.

Here’s how our digital marketing agency for tourism optimises our client’s budgets (and how you can, too!):

• Select 1-2 brand pillars that speak to your complete tourism offering
• Add 1 dedicated brand pillar for each of your individual accommodation or tour offers
• Create at least 1 social media post and 1 paid ad on each of these brand pillars monthly
• Add regular blogs that speak to these content pillars to improve SEO over the long run

Be adaptable with your marketing budget

The tourism industry moves in seasons, and your budget should, too. You likely know exactly when your high and low seasons are–that expertise is essential to your marketing budget as well. 

A combined strategy means keeping an eye on which lodge may need a little love, or which tour isn’t getting the awareness it deserves. Shift your social media and Google ad costs over to the content and paid ads that speak to that offering, and away from products that are already booming, to ensure your investment is spent wisely. 

The advantages of a combined strategy are immense:

• A collective social media budget can optimise your daily spending for better results
• Combined content costs can be reused across individual campaigns and increase brand awareness
• Blogs published on individual sites can be reused or linked to your main site–great for Google rankings and SEO!
• Umbrella tracking across all your linked sites and content means that you get to know your users’ behaviour faster and can adapt your strategy in real-time

Marketing for tourism is a niche skill, but one that can be simplified with the right strategy while increasing your brand’s ROI. See how we implement this strategy with significant results in the upcoming Part 2 of this series: Here’s How to Increase Your ROI in Tourism with Smart Marketing - CASE STUDY.

Eager to trial our collective marketing strategy for your tourism business? Reach out to us for a consultation or browse our services.