A guest blog by Nina Petrov

Video is no longer an upcoming content marketing trend; it is already an integral part of many marketing strategies. But how does social media influence tourism and what does this mean for your business?

A video is an excellent instrument for reaching and engaging a target audience. Understanding video marketing and implementing the best video marketing tips will help you reach out to more people and keep their focus and attention.

Around 85% of people watch promotional videos, and over 50% say they want to see more material from the companies they follow and trust.

In this article, we’ve listed 11 effective video marketing tips that will help you boost your business’ exposure.

Understanding video marketing

Video is now the primary medium for sharing content. The main reason for this is the explosion of mobile device use. 

The human brain can process video 60,000 times faster than written text. Therefore, leveraging text to video techniques will help people make decisions more quickly.

A major video marketing tip to remember is that video marketing is not about sales; directly, it is all about the story. Of course, providing relevant and valuable information will eventually lead to a sale, but your primary purpose should be to tell a story and to:

  • Inspire your followers to experience something new
  • Help them in selecting a destination
  • Inform them about future tours and activities

11 video marketing tips

1. Tell stories through video content

Have you watched any webinars on the best webinar platforms related to your travel niche? Then you must have heard how important storytelling is for every business but yours especially.

In the travel context, it is easy to imagine the positive impact of great storytelling. Above all, memorable traveling experiences are about stories. While fantastic drone shots and beautiful scenery are inspiring, breathtaking visuals and traditional ads are no longer enough.

Think of local communities and their traditions, what expert local guides and travelers themselves have to say. 

Share experiences through characters by using and showcasing people and their perspectives. 

2. Keep it short

The average viewer’s attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2021. That means you don’t have a lot of time to make an impact, but if done right, it may be enough.

If your audience isn’t fully engaged after 30 seconds, you will most likely lose 33% of your viewers and 45% of viewers after one minute.

By keeping videos under 30 seconds, viewers will feel like they want to see more. You can try apps to edit your video into quick shots too. Additionally, you could leverage the use of the best AI video editing app to create that desirable shot.

3. Take advantage of Instagram reels

video marketing tips using instagram reels

Ad spending during pandemics has drastically increased, but Instagram Reels became tremendously popular and a great way to improve your reach organically.

These short videos allow you not only to use music and stickers but to be genuinely creative. They are highly engaging and shareable, and therefore you should use them for your business. 

Here are a few suggestions on how to do it:

  • Combine popular audio with engaging video clips and provide value
  • Film a live demonstration of your tours to attract potential visitors, especially during a pandemic when people are looking for travel inspiration
  • Use the perfect combination of calm music and short video clips that together create magic

Want to up your video editing game? Check out Canva’s all-in-one video editor page which includes Instagram video-making and slideshow-maker tools. You can also learn from their articles about video editing.

4. Add the text

With the growing popularity of video marketing, many devices and browsers enabled the option to “mute” audio. If your video is based on sound and visuals, how does it look without any sound? It is a bit confusing and awkward.

YouTube and Facebook both allow you to add captions. Adding the captions will capture the thousands of viewers with their sound off and add a nice “live” feature to the content.

5. An important video marketing tip: Include a call to action

You need to include a call to action in your videos. Let your viewers know if you want them to follow you on social media or visit your website.

Even better, if someone speaks in the video, they can quickly instruct viewers to take the desired action. You can include text in your videos that links to your website and encourage the audience to check it out for more information.

call to actions are important video marketing tips

Clients will probably enjoy your video, but if they have no idea what to do after watching it, you might lose them. Adding a CTA is simple and effective and can start conversions that may never have otherwise happened.

Action language can make the difference between a viewer clicking a Call to action and leaving your Youtube channel or social media account. You can start your travel CTA with “Book Your Trip,” “Start Planning Your Vacation,” “Discover Africa.”

Use no-obligation calls-to-action to reduce risk. Maybe your travelers aren’t ready to “Book” their trip, but they might be interested in finding out more. This is why you should try the CTA button: “Find out more about the destination.

6. Create explainer videos

Any travel company owner will tell you their biggest problems come from lacking communication with their clients. 

It turns out that the brochures, emails, or direct phone calls are not efficient enough to communicate the most critical points regarding booking, arrival, stay, and departure. 

This is where explainer videos solve the problem as they easily communicate the dos and don’ts. Explainer videos are also an important part of lead generation strategies to open up new markets and attract customers to upcoming plans. 

7. Create testimonial videos

When it comes to checking out on a business, we all want social proof, and this is what testimonial videos make so powerful. In this type of video, you get satisfied customers talking about their experience and what it means to them. 

To make your video compelling, try to capture the genuine reactions and emotions of your previous clients. 

Why should you use video testimonials?

Short testimonials work well. They are great for landing and sales pages and are proven to increase conversions. 

Testimonials work because they are one of the old-school advertising methods, word of mouth. In today’s digital age, word of mouth has got a bit of a makeover. 

A video testimonial is not easy to fake as you take a real person willing to associate their name with your service. It creates trust and a real connection between the viewer, people in the video, and your company. 

8. Optimize videos with SEO content

Google indexes videos from YouTube, so when someone searches for your service and a particular phrase, you have the opportunity to show up in the exact search several times.

An effective video marketing tip is to optimize your videos. In order to do so, you need to include keywords in your video descriptions. Do the research and put inside descriptions some of these: “travel agency”, “online travel agent”, “tour agency”, “vacation planner”, etc.

video marketing tips using SEO

You can also take advantage of tagging features on Youtube, which will determine the relevance of your videos and similar videos together. Tagging will make your video appear as a “related video” when viewers watch identical content. 

9. Increase TripAdvisor reviews with thank you video

You have probably been thinking of how important TripAdvisor can be for your tour operator business. Getting authentic and valuable positive reviews written by your clients is a cornerstone of all your marketing efforts. How to motivate guests to leave a review?  

Include the thank you video using these two options:

  • Record a personalized thank you video for each tour and bring it to your guests
  • Create a generic video you will include with every album

The first option is more impactful and the strongest call to action you can provide. When the guests see you talking directly to them they will be more willing to take action and write a positive review.

10. Use different distribution channels

Once you have a series of excellent videos ready to go, what will you do with them? 

YouTube is not as exciting as it used to be, but it still works. It gets around a billion unique visitors every month and three in five travelers who watch videos to narrow down brand, activity, and destination choices.

Another potential opportunity you should consider is Pinterest: publishing a video story with adequate hashtags on Pinterest can attract a lot of viewers.

Instagram is growing more popular, especially for video marketing. Only, you have a limited amount of time with Instagram to capture viewers’ attention, so you need to provide something intriguing.

If you send out catchy email newsletters, don’t forget to include your video content as well. Use your videos as a part of your blogs and landing pages.

11. Advertise on Facebook

We can talk about the pros and cons of social media advertising nowadays, but Facebook is still the right place to do it. When people scroll down their Facebook feed, it takes a lot to distract them from engagement posts and hilarious memes.

But there is a catch with video ads that Facebook automatically starts playing without audio.

This means that a video ad breaks the pattern and is more likely to get the user’s attention. Another great thing: the average cost per click on video is as low as $.01 to $.06 across several different markets. 

Conclusion

Video marketing for activity providers in the travel industry may provide a better return on investment (ROI) than other kinds of marketing. 

That is why the number of tourism companies investing in video is growing. Video has a greater emotional impact; it provides a better experience and makes your viewers want to take the next step. 

Written By – Nina Petrov

Nina Petrov is a content marketing specialist, passionate about graphic design, content marketing, and the new generation of green and social businesses. She starts the day scrolling her digest on new digital trends while sipping a cup of coffee with milk and sugar. Her white little bunny tends to reply to your emails when she is on vacation.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-petrov/

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