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Copywriting

Genevieve White writing some ideas for her blog about travel and tourism copywriting.
Copywriting, Visibility

Why blog for your tourism business?

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Is blogging for you? (Spoiler alert – it probably is!) Imagine you’re researching a family holiday in Budapest, Hungary and you want to take a tour of the city. You narrow your search down to two tour companies. Both are similar in terms of the experiences they offer, their pricing, and the quality of their websites. But there is one significant difference. The first tour company you come across has a static website with tour descriptions, itineraries and reviews. The second has these things too, but in addition publishes regular blog posts sharing hidden parts of Budapest, the best places to find Hungarian gulyás, top souvenir suggestions etc. Reading these blog posts, you get a strong sense of the tour company’s personality, values and the kind of experience you can expect. Now, which of the two tour operators are you going to choose? Assuming the blog content is of high quality, I’d bet good money on you opting for the second tour company. You see, blogging really can make the difference between winning, or losing, a sale. If you’re not already blogging for your tourism business, then I’d strongly suggest you start! If you’re not convinced, these statistics might change your mind. Still on the fence? Well, here’s something else to add to the mix. If you want your tourism business to be more visible (and who doesn’t want to be seen?) blogging is great for SEO. We all know that Google loves fresh content. And each time you publish a blog post there are lots of little tweaks you can make to push your content higher up these rankings (I’ll go into this in a later post so stay tuned.) And, last but not least, blogging can be a lot of fun! Blog posts can be a great place to share stories from your tours, show your personality and hone your writing skills. Getting started on your blog Okay, let’s say I’ve convinced about the value of blogging. But where to start? It’s probably a good idea to start thinking about your goals. Next week, I’ll post about where to find blogging inspiration and I’ll discuss the importance of planning ahead. In the meantime, think about the questions above. Once you’ve worked through them, you’ll be one step nearer to smashing your blogging goals. If you need additional help in getting started, you might benefit from a 1-1 coaching session with me. Find out more about how I can help you.

Copywriting

Tour descriptions that SELL

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You know your tours are awesome. So why aren’t they fully booked? There could be a few reasons why your services aren’t getting snapped up. But the tour descriptions on your website might be a good place to start. Your tour descriptions should: Let’s look at each of these points in more detail. Speak to your target customer This doesn’t simply mean knowing who your target customer is (age, gender, socio-economic group, interests etc.). While that’s all important stuff to know, it’s the what. You need to think about the why and the how: Keep these questions firmly in mind as you write your tour descriptions and the answers will shine through your copy. Make it easy to read Confront your readers with long paragraphs at your peril! Whether we like it or not, attention spans are shrinking and no one is going to wade through huge chunks of text on your website. Use short paragraphs, bullet-pointed lists and white space where you can. Also, put yourself in your reader’s shoes and don’t assume they know things. Instead of writing: Climb the Scott Monument. (what’s that?) write Get a bird’s eye view of the city from the Scott Monument, Edinburgh’s 61-metre-high literary landmark. (Sounds cool! I want to do that!) Be specific There are a million tour descriptions out there, describing scenery as breathtaking, spectacular and stunning and monuments as architectural gems, iconic and world-famous. It’s all too easy to reach for the nearest cliche, but this is not going to help your tours stand out from the competition! Use specific details to grab your reader’s attention. Instead of writing: Stop for a drink in Ernest Hemingway’s favourite bar. write Make like Hemingway and drink a daiquiri in Bar El Floridita. See the difference? Less can be more You don’t need to provide every single tour highlight. Long lists don’t look good, and a highlights section should be as its name suggests – a list of two or three of the very best bits from your tour. Keep your best highlights for your first and last bullet points, as these are the points that are most likely to grab your reader’s attention. Write with SEO in mind There’s not much point in writing amazing tour descriptions if no one reads them, is there? Now you’ve spent time crafting your copy, you need to get as many eyes on it as possible. There is lots to say about SEO (and I’ll leave it for another blog post) but a good starting point is to choose a keyword that defines your tour and include it in your title. Then make sure you include the keyword once or twice in the body of your tour description (don’t overdo this or you will be penalised for ‘keyword stuffing’). I’m busy helping a tour operator craft the tour descriptions for their website right now – but will have availability for more of this kind of work from the end of March onwards. Do you need someone to cast an eye over the tours on your website? If so, get in touch.

Copywriting

Why content pillars matter

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Ah, the blank screen of doom. I think we’ve all been there – especially when it comes to posting about our businesses on social media. After all, we’re repeatedly told that: But, what exactly do we post? Is it possible to have a real life as well as an online one? And how do we avoid sounding boring/repetitive/like a bit of a dick? The truth is that managing your own social media can be hard. Especially when you have tours to run and itineraries to plan. Often, it seems like there just isn’t time to run a tourism business AND dream up fun, creative social media posts with enticing visuals to match. So, you sit slumped in front of your laptop, waiting for inspiration to strike. And sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. Then the next day you’re back to square one again and that darn black screen! Wouldn’t it be nice to have a strategy? Of course it would! But how do you even start with that? I’m not going to lie – developing your social media can take time. But in the long run, it’ll be a lifesaver. In this post, I’m going to run you through the basic building blocks for setting up a social media strategy for your tourism business. Does this mean your social media posting will be effortless from hereon in? Um, nope – sorry. But it does mean that it will get easier. And that you’ll be less likely to find yourself confronted by that blank screen… Step 1: What are your content pillars? What exactly do you want to communicate about your tourism business to your ideal customers? Choose 3-4 key themes. These are your content pillars, and they should be the basis of everything you post on social media. Building your posts around these pillars will not only build your brand (over time your audience will know what to expect of you) but it will help your posting consistency and make it much easier for you to find posting inspiration. Wondering what your pillars are? Let’s move on to the next step. Step 2: Defining your content pillars Choosing your pillars shouldn’t be a random exercise. And the pillars you pick shouldn’t be based on your particular interests, but on what your customers need. The most important thing to do when deciding on your content pillars is to spend time in market research, finding out what matters to your customers. You can do this by finding out what keywords your customers are searching for online, highlighting recurring words in customer reviews or by conducting some market research with customers  (1-1 conversations are great for this). Then have an intensive brainstorming session. Write down as many words as you can associated with what customers want and what you provide. Then narrow this down to a maximum of 4 content pillars. For example, a tour guide in Shetland might choose the following as their content pillars: Step 3: Choosing topics Next, you need to think of content topics to go with each pillar. Imagine you are a Shetland tour guide and have decided on the content pillars above. Here are just a few content ideas to go with each post. Try this exercise with your own location. I’m sure loads of opportunities will spring to mind! Step 4: Create a campagin Thinking of one post at a time can get exhausting and this is often where inspiration starts to flag. Instead of thinking in terms of individual posts, think in terms of campaigns. That means thinking of what you want to focus on in your tourism business, and then really doubling down on it – think of something that can be linked to all of your content pillars. So, to continue with the example above, let’s say I want to promote my walking tour of Shetland. That means that for one month, all of my posts are written with this goal in mind. That doesn’t mean writing ‘Hey, come on my walking tour!’ in every post. Because, let’s face it, that’d get pretty annoying. But it could mean: Post 1: a photo of a local beach I’d take in on my walking tour (Content pillar: a place to reset) Post 2: an archive photo of a historical figure I talk about on my tour and a teasing hook so people are desperate to find out more! (Content pillar: storytelling) Post 3: A photo of my scuffed hiking boots along with a little story about them, and why I love them (I always wear them on my walking tours!) (Content pillar: building trust) Post 4: Video footage me walking along the historic street that features on my walking tour, as I point out a couple of historic landmarks (Content pillars: building trust and culture) Step 5: Plan your calendar You can use your content pillar to plan loads of social media posts. I like to plan a month in advance, but you could do much more than this – and wouldn’t that be nice during the busy tourist season? These are the foundations of your social media strategy – if you want some icing and cherries to go on top, stick around for my next post. And – if you need a quick fix of inspiration check out my 30 days of social media planner.

Two notebooks stacked together illustrating the getting started moment for tourism email writing
Copywriting

You’re NOT rubbish at writing

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Do you know something I hear A LOT when introducing myself to new people and telling them what I do for a living? ‘I’m rubbish at writing’. Usually, this is said with a sad shake of the head. The same admission is often followed with the tale of the traumatic English class experience that crushed the speaker’s writing confidence. In all honesty, you are probably not a rubbish writer. But you might well be experiencing blocks, something that even perfectly good writers grapple with from time to time.   Writing blocks can be caused by all kinds of things, but here are three serious blockers I’ve come across. Read on – do any of these ring a bell? Common Blocks Lack of confidence: this can be caused by all kinds of things. I’ve already mentioned bad experiences at school. But we can also be crippled by the comparisons we make between ourselves and other writers. It’s all too easy to go on to read someone else’s website or blog post and think: ‘Why can’t I write like they do?’ Well, the answer is simple. You can’t write like they do because you’re NOT them. You can, however, write like the best version of YOU. That’s achievable and that’s what you should be aiming for. A lost writing mojo: the single greatest cause of a lost writing mojo is not feeling genuinely interested in what you’re writing about. When you care about something, the words just flow. You don’t need to check your word count every few minutes – instead, you feel pumped and in the zone. So, if you’re struggling to write about your business, maybe it’s a sign. Are there any tweaks you need to make to your offer? Or do you need to find another angle to write about? Not being copy savvy: copywriting is a specific kind of writing with a specific purpose – namely wooing customers and getting sales! It’s therefore very different from writing a report or a business email. What works for those types of writing just won’t cut it when it comes to copy. You need to know your stuff – headline writing, formatting, branding and tone of voice all have an important part to play here. Overcoming writing blocks You don’t have to resign yourself to being rubbish at writing – and neither should you. If you want your business to succeed, choosing the right words to market yourself is absolutely crucial. Working on your writing skills will ultimately save you time and make you money. If you need help overcoming your writing blocks, check out the offers on my services page. From an hour-long Copy Boost session to an intensive 1-1 copywriting programme, I can help you identify your writing blocks and guide you in taking the action you need to overcome them.

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