We’ve previously shared how to maximize ROI for travel video production. But how can brands get the most out of their travel ad campaigns?
Forge Apollo provides digital marketing and video production in Philadelphia and worldwide. Today, we’re sharing our best practices for crafting travel ads. These fall into four core stages of ad campaigns: base, messaging, assets, and analytics.
Stage One: Build Your Base
Like a Meghan Trainor song or a house of cards, an ad campaign is all about that base. Let’s cover some best practices for building yours.
1. Update Your Buyer Personas
Before you can plan how to effectively engage your audience, you need to be crystal clear on who they are. This information will not only help you craft effective messaging, but it will also help you set up accurate targeting on ad platforms.
If you have buyer personas, update them and decide which ones you are specifically targeting.
If you don’t have buyer personas, now is the time to create them. HubSpot has a great buyer persona guide to walk you through the process.
2. Choose a CTA
You know who you’re targeting, but what do you want them to do?
Every campaign idea for tourism ads should start with a base call to action based on the campaign’s goal. For example, if you want to drive bookings to your hotel, this would be “book now.”
Some areas of your campaign, like small display ads, will utilize this CTA. However, for areas where you can expand your messaging, like social media ads and landing pages, craft a more compelling CTA to pair with your base. We’ll talk more about how to do this next.
Stage Two: Create Your Messaging
Now that you know who you’re targeting and what you want them to do, it’s time for your messaging to engage.
3. Choose a Concept for Each Campaign
Effective tourism ads are consistent, engaging, and compelling. The campaign tells a story. In Stage Three, we’ll cover the consistency. But how do you make your campaign engaging and compelling?
Get in the head of your buyer personas and write a story that stars them. It should highlight their needs and desires in the context of your brand.
For example, Forge Apollo recently produced the creative assets for Breathless Resorts’ “Live in Full Color” campaign. The brand’s audience desires vibrancy, spontaneity, and experience. The messaging for this campaign tells a story about how the audience can experience that at Breathless.
Check out some of the best travel ad examples for more inspiration for your next campaign.
4. Make Your CTA More Compelling
Remember that base CTA you chose back in stage one? Now, we’re going to upgrade it.
Take your campaign concept and ask yourself what your audience is really doing when they complete your CTA in the context of your campaign.
For example, when Breathless Resort’s audience books a stay through their “Live in Full Color” campaign, they’re not just reserving a room. They’re opting into an experience of adventure and spontaneity.
So, the brand uses CTAs like “Embrace a Full Spectrum of Experiences,” “Be Your Most Vibrant Self,” and, of course, “Live in Full Color” in addition to its base CTA of “Check Availability.”
Stage Three: Create Consistent Visual Assets
Your visual assets help your ad campaign grab attention (on visual platforms) and aid in the storytelling behind your messaging.
5. Create High-Quality Visual Content
Video quality affects trust for 87% of consumers. Having high-quality visual assets for your campaign can make a difference.
Forge Apollo’s travel video production team makes content production easy by creating multiple assets from a single shoot. For example, a recent shoot we did for ICONA Resorts produced a library of video clips and still images for use across their marketing assets.
6. Consistency Across Other Assets
An ad campaign shouldn’t exist in a vacuum. You might be directing traffic to a landing page or sending a follow-up email. To reduce user friction, all of those assets should have a consistent visual look as your ad campaign.
This is where a custom content shoot is helpful. With a library of assets to pull from, you can find images for all of your assets that have a consistent visual style. For example, the still and video shared above are from the same shoot.
Step Four: Launch & Analyze
7. Don’t Forget Analytics
Without proper analytics, your campaigns are a scream into the void. You’ll get no feedback about what’s working and what’s not, so you’ll struggle to move the needle over time.
Ensure that your ad accounts are properly configured and integrated with any reporting solutions you use. For digital campaigns, use tracking parameters in your URL and double-check that Google Analytics properly categorizes that traffic.
8. Evaluate Your Results & Make Updates
Your ad campaigns are not a slow-cooker meal–you can’t “set it and forget it.” They’re more like a simmering soup that you have to taste now and then and adjust the seasonings.
Cooking metaphors aside, you wouldn’t believe how many brands don’t properly utilize their analytics. Give your campaigns about a month to run initially for your first batch of data. Then, check in every couple of weeks. Evaluate what creative assets are working and make adjustments to refine your strategy.
This is what’s going to lead to the best ROI and ROAS over time.
Get Help With Travel Ad Campaigns
Creating a successful travel ad campaign can require a significant investment. A fumble at any step of the process can result in a hit to ROI. If you need help with your ad campaigns, Philadelphia-based marketing agency Forge Apollo is here to help. As a video production and digital marketing agency, we can assist you with everything from creative ideation to running the ads. Contact us today to discuss your campaign needs.
