Top 3 Internet Tourism Marketing Mistakes MP4 Video Training with Tourism Tim Warren

TimSells4U March 9, 2013 5 Comments

Are you spending lots of money on your Internet tourism marketing to get your website ranked and increase traffic… with little results?

Got traffic to your website, but not capturing leads or converting sales?

Do you have little repeat business or referrals?

 If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are not alone. You may be suffering from one, if not all three, of the top internet tourism marketing mistakes made worldwide that hurt sales and increase your marketing costs – especially online.

Check out the short tip filled video today that will reveal these sales-stealing mistakes plus give you solutions to solve them.

The Top Three Internet Tourism Marketing Mistakes (Or Illusions…)

We spend a lot of money and time to attract prospects to our website, through advertising, social media, trade show exhibiting and more. But does this guarantee converting a stranger into a customer? No.

But when you follow these tips below, you will radically increase your sales, referrals and repeat business, while substantially lowering your marketing costs and time.

 I have summarized the top three tourism Internet marketing mistakes based on e-mails or conversations I’ve had with tourism professionals worldwide.

#1 “If I only had more traffic to my website, my sales would increase…”

This is an illusion! Yes traffic as in important. But if it does not generate a lead and ultimately a sale, it’s a big waste of your money and time. 

Traffic is the easy part of tourism Internet marketing. The art form, and were the profit is, is in the percentage of new prospects and sales that convert from website visitors and referrals.

The important Internet tourism marketing questions are:

1. What percentage of your total website traffic is being captured as a prospect?
2. What percentage of your prospects ultimately converts into a sale?

So if you’ve been putting all your energy into search engine optimization and pay per click advertising and not looking closely at the performance of your website to generate leads and sales conversions, you’re wasting your money.

Invest in creating a “travel website that sells”, that converts visitors into leads and ultimately sales. You will be smiling all the way to the bank.

#2 ” I’m not doing any ongoing follow-up with prospects I get….”

Converting a prospect into a new booking requires nurturing over time.  For most travelers, where they go and where they stay… is not spontaneous. Today’s travelers do 95% of their travel and vacation research online. This happens over time.

So you need to develop a relationship so your prospects turn start to get to know you. Someone who knows and trusts you is far more likely to buy from you. So when you get a lead, follow-up immediately. And if they don’t book right away, add them to your database with information about them and continue to develop that relationship over time.

This can include occasional e-mails, newsletters, direct mail, informational webinar, social media connection and of course phone and Skype. You don’t want to annoy them. You just want to stay in touch so that when they do make the purchase decision they think about your first.

How to Get More Leads with “Freemiums”

Take a look at your website and create better incentives for a visitor to share their e-mail. Yes you should have a contact form, but you need additional reasons why they should give you their e-mail. I suggest something called a “freemium”. 

This is you sharing your advice and resources on the very topic that you have expertise in. If you run the sea kayaking tours in Canada and Baja Mexico, you are an expert at sea kayaking in those regions. Don’t your prospects and guests always have questions about the trip or the regions that you’re going to visit?

So be a resource for them. Put your best advice and answers to frequently asked questions into a mini report, or a series of e-mails that provide useful information. You will then be seen as a resource and someone who is helping your prospect better pursue their interests. So when they do finally get around to booking their trip or visiting your destination, they are 100 times more likely to think about you.

 Think about this…

 If every e-mail or video I ever sent you talked about my Tourism Marketing Success Online program, trainings or my consulting 95% of the time, and only provided useful advice 5% of the time, would you read them? I don’t think so…

 Freely share your expertise and I guarantee you strangers will become friends and customers in time.

#3:  I’m not staying connected with alumni or asking for referrals…”.

I was interviewing my friend and award-winning tour operator Dan Austin with Austin Lehman Adventures this morning for an upcoming video you’re going to love. Dan said that a one couple has returned 52 times for their many tours! WOW.

The only reason that happened is that he stays connected with his alumni on an ongoing basis.

What’s even more exciting about staying connected to happy guests, is the repeat bookings and referrals you can get too. This will only happen if you make an effort to stay connected. This one strategy alone accounts for a huge percentage of business for Dan and many savvy tourism professionals I know.

This Is Where Tourism Social Media Really Shines

When you have happy guests that are friends with you on Facebook, liking your postings and pictures, posting pictures of their own, giving positive reviews on Tripadvisor, sharing on Google + and so much more, then the quality and the quantity of leads and sales conversions skyrocket

If you want to really take your internet tourism marketing to a new level, take a serious look at these proven strategies that will increase prospects, sales conversions and referrals. And the best part is, you will actually end up spending less money on marketing and less time selling.

We all have opportunities to improve the quality of our business and marketing. Work on these three and I promise you, you will transform your business and enhance the quality of your life.

What’s working well for you to increase prospects or sales conversion online?

We want to know. Please take a moment and share in the “Leave a comment” box below so we can all learn and be inspired. 

Thanks again for watching, reading, “Liking” and sharing this video and blog posts with friends and associates. I really appreciate it and so will your friends too. Everybody wins. 😎