With 2019 nearing its end, we’ve reflected on how dynamic a year it has been in the digital marketing and tourism industry. With a variety of product updates and evolving strategies, it’s difficult to decipher what exactly to take with us from 2019 to 2020. Lucky for you, we’ve taken the time to break down our best 7 tourism marketing practices of 2019.

First and foremost, the importance of repurposing your content must be mentioned. One of the best possible ways to get the most out of your marketing efforts is to create ‘Evergreen Content’ – this basically means that the content will never go ‘out of style.’ Avoiding dates and other information that can become outdated allows you to post it again and again. This saves time, creates efficiency, and helps get the most important content into the hands of the right people.

In our experience, websites with the following elements typically perform the best overall.

• Social Media profiles and content
• Well-detailed and organized partner listings
  • Example: Visit Hendricks County
• Trip Itineraries and Niche Landing Pages
  • Example: Traverse City Tourism
• Well-distributed CTAs, with some above the fold
  • Example: Visit Hamilton County
• Easy-to-navigate for optimal search
  • Example: Visit South Walton
• Mobile Friendliness
  • Example: Visit Ogden
• Brand Integration
  • Example: Visit Oakland
• Speed!
  • Speed matters because 53% of visits are likely to be abandoned if a page takes longer than 3 seconds to load!

Remember that digital campaigns are the very definition of a long game – they require patience and won’t produce results overnight. Before you implement and monitor the campaign it’s important to make sure to:

• Define your goals
• Do your research
• Plan your program

Then, once your campaign is through, you’ll be better able to determine the level of success. Remember: it’s about patience and perseverance!

Your photos and videos have the ability to play a big role in the overall success of your campaigns. Because of their influence, you should take the time to see what works best. Follow these tactics to make sure that your creative imagery is performing best :

• Always use attention-grabbing
• Aligned imgaes with Call-to-Action
• Include minimal text overlays
• And, if you utilize video, maximize its effectiveness through engagement retargeting 

Since so many people use social media to document their trips, user-generated content (UGC) is an awesome and authentic tool for destination marketers. Sometimes finding photos or videos available for use can be difficult if you don’t know where to look, but consider checking out these places in your next search:

• Tagged Images
• Your Hashtag
• Location tags

Once you’ve found images that you want to use, save the image and then be sure receive permission before posting them on your channels. After you have user approval and apply the imagery to your channels, don’t forget to give the creator credit!

Events are key destination drivers and, consequently, a definite strategy is needed to ensure you’re posting about the right events to draw in travelers. Before you promote an event on social, be sure to ask yourself these questions:

• Is the event likely to convert overnight stays?
• Is the event relevant to the current traveler?
• Does the event support a major partner or larger DMO initiative?

If the answer to any of these questions was yes, then build a landing page for the event and get it promoted!

Click below for a detailed overview of how to decide what events to post about on social.

 A newsletter specifically aimed at communicating with your destination partners is a vital tool for a tourism marketer. When putting together your strategy for your partner newsletter, be sure to include these following essential elements:

• Make sure there’s a consistent distribution schedule
• Include the appropriate contacts
• A well laid out template that includes: an event rundown, an educational news article, a recent blog of yours (if it applies) and any community opportunities for your partners.

Along with these fundamentals, it’s important to remember to follow these email marketing best practices:

• Use intriguing, relevant, and different subject line and preview text in each email (use emojis!)
• Change your header image periodically (seasonal works well)
• Include social media links at the top and bottom of your messages
• Keep things clean and concise for your readers

What has been your biggest breakthrough in the industry in 2019? Let us know what you think by reaching out to us on social media! To do stay up-to-date on the everchanging industry of destination marketing, be sure to subscribe to our e-newsletter.