Benefits of Digital Marketing For Mountain Guiding Companies
Simply put, digital marketing is selling your guiding services online to the right client at the right time. You can do this through social media advertising, email marketing, content marketing (like blogs), and paid search, among other strategies.
Since most of us spend a lot of time online, if your business and marketing aren’t online, then you’re losing out on potential clients.
Digital marketing differs from traditional marketing in that traditional is offline. Think billboards, television, radio, and the advertisements you get in the mail. There is a place for traditional marketing, even in this digital age. And it’s up to each business to decide to incorporate digital, traditional, or both.
In this blog, we’re going to cover some benefits of digital marketing and the different types of digital marketing so you understand better the opportunities to grow your guiding business.
Benefits of Digital Marketing For Mountain Guiding Companies
Digital marketing campaigns provide data
Running any kind of ad online will produce hard numbers. You can see the number of clicks on a link or to your website. You can view how many people saw your ad and didn’t click on it. Digital marketing gives you data points and this data can help you figure out what’s working and what’s not in your online advertising.
Reach a new audience
Relying on word-of-mouth will only get your business so far. Advertising online can introduce your guiding business to a whole new audience looking to climb mountains in your area. By having an online presence, when out-of-state travelers are googling outdoor adventures, you want to show up in the search results.
Rebound faster
Travelers are ready to explore again, and a lot are doing it already. In fact, travelers between 18-35 years old will fuel the travel rebound. This is a sector that prefers digital technology over pen and paper. They’re searching online for their next adventure, and they’re booking adventures online. By marketing to this group online and having a streamlined online booking process, you’ll rebound faster than your competitors.
Saves money
You can do plenty of digital marketing for free. For example, social media is a great way to grow your business by using hashtags, posting consistently, and building a community online. Another free strategy is blogging. If you know SEO, you can organically show up in search results. Finally, there’s email marketing. If you have an email list of past clients, you can draft an email with new offers to get them to return.
Types Of Digital Marketing
Here is a list of the most common types of digital marketing channels businesses use. There isn’t one type of digital marketing channel that’s better than the others. Some will work for your guiding business and others won’t.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization is when you consider what and how people are searching on Google and strategically writing copy on your website that will tell Google crawlers what your site is about and that it’s the best answer to a search query.
Paid Search
Paid search is like organic search but by paying to show up in Google search results, you’re automatically placed at the top of the results. This helps guiding businesses who don’t have the time to develop an SEO strategy but have the funds to pay for it.
Display Advertising
Display ads are banners or boxes made of photos, videos, audio, and overlays placed on websites. They’re different from paid search because they don’t use keywords. Instead, display ads are placed on websites your ideal guest is visiting.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is creating blogs, videos, social media, podcasts, ebooks, etc. that your prospective guests want to see and using this to guide them through the buyer’s journey.
Social Media Marketing
While you can post on social media for free to grow your business, you can also pay to target your ideal guest on social media platforms.
Email Marketing
There are 3.9 billion email users in the world and it’s going to hit 4.3 billion by 2023. Email is a direct line to your past, present, and future guests.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is commission-based marketing in that an affiliate advertises your guiding services on their platform and you pay for them qualified bookings.
Hopefully, this helps shed some light on digital marketing and the different types of digital marketing channels you can use to help grow your business. If there’s a type you want to explore further, start there. Learn more about that channel. Then set a goal and track your progress.
About the Author:
Jessica is the Digital Marketing Specialist for Origin. Origin is innovative online booking software designed specifically to help tour guides and outfitters keep trip reservations and staff availability up-to-date, prevent overbookings, and even help you assign guides to newly booked trips with automated text messages to confirm availability. Interested in learning more? Schedule a call with us or visit our website: www.exploreorigin.com
