Generating Travel Content Marketing Ideas: What Appeals to Russian Tourists
Content is key to establishing a connection with travelers, building trust, and adding value to the trip planning process. Effective travel industry content marketing goes beyond showcasing picturesque landscapes and travel tales. With intense competition in the market, advertising alone is insufficient, and businesses need to leverage marketing promotion tools to the fullest. Content is one of the most potent tools in the travel industry and can facilitate robust business development.
Who is more adept at doing it?
The quality of content is significantly influenced by the category of website it is being published on. Generally speaking, there are several main categories of travel websites, which include:
- Websites operated by tour operators
- Websites of major travel agencies
- Websites of medium and small-sized travel agencies
- Aggregator websites for tours, hotels, and air tickets
- Websites belonging to hotels
- Websites dedicated to travel destinations
- Websites for specific travel services, such as excursions, transfers, and concierge services
- Informational resources containing information about a country, reviews, and forums
- Travel blogs.
In the realm of tourism, the adage “less is more” holds true. Sometimes, a single website dedicated to a particular country can provide more comprehensive information than a large tour portal covering the entire world. These websites are often authored by Russian-speaking individuals living in the country, ensuring that the content is firsthand, current, and engaging. Conversely, larger tour portals that must describe 200 countries by a deadline cannot afford this luxury.
Among the top three platforms for quality travel content are websites operated by tour operators. These operators strive to develop unique products, such as custom routes, and generate content of high semantic value, including texts, videos, and pictures.
Of course, travel enthusiasts’ blogs are also worth exploring for in-depth reading and inspiration. These articles often possess the highest semantic value, exclusive pictures, factual information beyond typical descriptions of cities and towns, and, most importantly, are infused with the writers’ passion.
Moreover, there exist dozens, if not hundreds, of Russian travel bloggers who maintain dedicated blogs in addition to their social media pages. If you require high-quality content, or even a series of articles, about your country, city, hotel, or restaurant, do not hesitate to reach out to these bloggers. In the near future, we will compile a list of the best Russian travel bloggers. For now, we will provide three examples of captivating travel blogs for content marketing purposes.
Three Travel Blogs Authored by Passionate Russian Explorers
Stas and Anya, two young locals hailing from Omsk, don’t just recount their various short and extended travels, they inspire others to embark on their own journeys. Their destinations span across Asia, the Caucasus, Russia, and former Soviet republics, with an emphasis on Asian countries. Rather than individual articles, the bloggers frequently post entire series of pieces. For instance, they wrote 12 articles detailing their recent trip to Phú Quốc Island in Vietnam, and more than 20 articles on their last visit to Vietnam. What’s more, they focus on topics that particularly interest Russian tourists: affordable travel options, reviews of tour packages, culinary experiences, and the best beaches to visit. Additionally, they address other topics that Russian travelers commonly search the internet for.
Arborio.ru
If your business involves culinary tourism, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Alexey Onegin, a blogger based in Saint Petersburg. Unlike the aforementioned Asian-centric blog, Alexey’s blog primarily focuses on European cities. As an amateur cook and avid traveler, he writes engagingly not just about the cities he visits, but also about traditional recipes from different nations. Additionally, he provides in-depth reviews of restaurants in various European cities, accompanied by excellent photography. His readers not only rely on his restaurant recommendations, but also frequently recommend their own favorite dining spots in the cities he covers, and request his opinion.
Furthermore, Alexey is highly active on social media, with over 30,000 followers on his accounts at the time of writing this article.
Sestrik.com
Yulia is the third travel blogger on our list, and she traverses the world with her trusty backpack and furry companion. In her blog, she candidly shares her impressions and emotions, striving to capture every detail. Given her fondness for travelling with her dog, Yulia also provides valuable advice on topics like selecting the best travel carrier for pets, identifying dog-friendly beaches in Spain, booking pet-friendly accommodation, and much more. Her extensive travels span almost every continent, from Europe and Asia to America and the Caribbean. In addition to her blog, Yulia produces captivating videos that she shares not only on her website but also on her YouTube channel.
Leverage cutting-edge technologies
In any industry, technology always captures attention. Visual content plays a crucial role in the travel industry’s content marketing, and visual content technologies are constantly evolving. For instance, there are 3D tours, 360-degree pictures, and virtual reality (VR) that has gained popularity in 2019.
Incorporating VR technology in travel businesses can revolutionize their marketing efforts. Virtual reality provides a unique experience that goes beyond simply watching pictures or videos. It allows travelers to immerse themselves in a new atmosphere, creating a desire to learn more about a country, region, hotel, or landmarks and experience them in reality. However, it is crucial not to reveal everything through VR. It is better to give travelers the opportunity to discover new things during their actual travels.
Content formats
The term “content” doesn’t just refer to written text – it encompasses a much broader range of communication:
- Textual content: This includes articles, posts, reviews, comments, and discussions.
- Audio content: Music, podcasts, and recordings of interviews or performances, such as those found on a forum.
- Video content: Clips, webinars, live broadcasts, and video infographics.
- Graphic content: Photos, drawings, infographics, memes, and comics (which often contain text).
When creating content, it’s important to use a variety of formats to keep things interesting. For example, if you post a video, be sure to include a title and description to encourage viewers to watch it.
A Guide to Different Types of Content
Let’s dive deeper into the various types of content, as the success or failure of your content plan will largely depend on your choices.
News (information) content
– News
This type of content can be published both on a relevant section of your website and shared on your social media pages. It includes news about the travel industry and your company, as well as reports on events.
– Interview
Conducting interviews with industry experts, business owners or employees can be a valuable content type for your blog. You may choose to create a series of interviews and turn them into a recurring column on your website.
– Expert’s commentary
Are you up-to-date with the latest industry news and can provide expert commentary? Share your insights on professional social media communities (this type of post is more suited for B2B). It doesn’t have to be just a brief comment; you can create a comprehensive long-read article with references to the relevant news or events that inspired you to share your thoughts. These expert posts, especially those that address hot topics in your field, can be a valuable tool for PR promotion and boost your company’s reputation. Journalists often source expert commentary from social media when writing articles, so it’s important to ensure your commentary is timely and insightful!
Content that affects your reputation
– Mentions in mass media
In the travel industry, the saying “all publicity is good publicity” does not hold true. It is important to carefully monitor how your country or brand is mentioned in the media and in what context.
– Users’ reviews
Effective review management, particularly the handling of negative feedback, is critical to achieving success and building a favorable reputation for you and your travel business among your audience. Therefore, it is important to monitor not just the quantity of reviews but also the quality of them.
Useful content
– Tips for travelers
This is a great topic that can be explored on any travel business blog. A tourism ministry could offer advice on how Russian travelers can visit a specific country. Airlines could provide tips on how to travel faster and safer. Tour operators could suggest ways to reach a destination with greater comfort and at a lower cost. Hotels could offer advice on choosing the best hotel for the ultimate vacation experience, and so on.
– A country/city guide
Inform tourists about the top destinations and attractions to visit in your country. Share information about newly opened places and establishments in your city that may attract travelers.
– Traveler’s check-list
Another type of content that can be applied to almost any business is a guide to achieving the best experience during a vacation in a particular country, city, restaurant, or hotel, broken down into ten actionable steps.
Selling content
– Advertising materials and posts
In addition to posting information about your offers on your company’s and partners’ websites, don’t forget to promote them on social media. This includes discounts, specials, and last-minute tours.
– Video reports
Visual content holds a significant importance in the travel industry. Whether it be a video showcasing a country’s landmarks or a restaurant’s mouth-watering dishes combined with its unique interior, it can serve as a great representation of the brand. Thus, it is highly recommended for ministries of tourism, city and country officials, and hospitality business owners to capture as much video content as possible.
– Viral content
Creating this type of content can be challenging, as it is difficult to predict how the audience will respond and whether they will share it. However, we recommend trying it out as an experiment. For instance, in 2015, SCAT Airlines produced a video that went viral, garnering six-figure views, reports, and mentions in the national media (the video was intended for a Kazakhstani audience).
Involving content
– Polls
There are various ways to carry out a poll such as through the company website, social media, email, or printed questionnaires for visitors to complete. Third-party services like testograf.ru can also be utilized. Polls are typically utilized for marketing purposes to gather feedback from travelers and determine their satisfaction levels, as well as their likelihood of revisiting a particular destination. However, polls can also be employed on social media platforms to boost user engagement rates and improve page reach.
– Q&A
Encourage travelers to ask questions about your country or hotel that are of interest to them. The crucial aspect is to respond promptly and not to leave any questions unanswered, even if you have already answered a similar question. Avoid reacting negatively and aim to provide constructive responses to every question. You can compile the most frequently asked questions with helpful answers into a FAQ section on your website in the future.
– Contests and quests
Typically, this type of content is used to engage users and increase brand awareness by reaching a larger audience. To increase its effectiveness, it’s possible to run joint contests with other companies, such as a hotel owner and a room booking service, which would leverage the resources of both businesses and result in a wider reach.
To sum up
To conclude, we would like to emphasize that travel content marketing is an essential component and a crucial tool that must be incorporated into any travel business marketing strategy. To enhance your marketing strategy in reaching out to Russian travelers, please refer to our article titled “6 Steps to Improve Your Destination Marketing Strategy in Russia.”
Explore different ways of presenting your content, employ diverse formats, and ensure dissemination across all available channels, including your company’s website, partners’ websites, social media pages, and email marketing.
If you are planning to expand into the Russian market, look no further than Quarter Billion Agency Travel. Our experts are here to assist you in developing an effective travel industry content marketing plan that will capture the hearts of Russian travelers.