Alexandra Iordachi: September 2021

- Travel related websites research –

Content marketing is considered to be one of the most effective methods of growing audience engagement. Using a high quality, consistent content, a brand can built trust with their audience, connect with customers and generate leads. ( Rebecca Riserbato, n.d.).

To find the best practice examples of content marketing, I conducted an online research and analysed 5 travel related websites. These are:

eSky.co.uk;

rome2rio.com;

responsibletravel.com;

travelrepublic.co.uk;

lastminute.com.

The first example of quality content I found is blogging. In my research I learnt that almost all the websites had a blog, but eSky’s blog was a great example to look at. First, it is helpful due to its tips offered to travellers. Titles such as How to find a hotel or Brexit: How to Travel to Great Britain? can be quite useful for users. Compared to other blogs, it has consistency, a well determined area and uses many key words.

Another good example I found in this website is content repurposing. eSky understands the importance of getting maximum benefit from the content they produce. They constantly change their written content into video.

Video is also a great practice example of content. Today video is becoming increasingly important as all the statistics proves. In my research I found excellent video examples. eSky’s videos are educative helping travellers with many tips; Responsible Travel instead has only one video on their website and it is a great brand video. Some of the other websites do not use video content at all and they could lose a lot because of it.

Pictures are important when it comes to creating good content. Choosing the right pictures can help organisations to connect and engage with their audience and prospects.

All the analysed websites are using this format, but the difference between them is mostly related to their quality. For example, eSky and Last Minute websites present some of their offers through quality pictures integrated in galleries, while Rome2Rio website has some low quality unattractive pictures. Poor quality pictures might reduce a brand’s image and users could assume that the brand is untrustworthy.

Podcasts are another great type of content which can bring many advantages if added to a content strategy. None of the websites I mentioned before created or used this type of content, but they should seriously consider it because it can bring many benefits. First, this type of content is now growing in popularity, it is a mobile friendly option and could be convenient to listeners.

All the above types of content can bring an organisation to the next level and help them bring more customers, but they definitely should be designed, combined and communicated into a well determined content strategy.