Create Your First Digital Strategy For Your Travel Business
Innovation needs to be part of your culture
Innovation needs to be part of your culture. Consumers are transforming faster than we are, and if we don't catch up, we're in trouble." – Ian Schafer
The travel and tourism industry is continually changing, and the number of people traveling and the competition are undoubtedly increasing. Every year more Travelers are looking for a new destination, whether for personal leisure or professional endeavor. Around the Globe, TTBs are strategically positioning themselves to meet customers' needs and assist with their hotel, flight, events, tour reservations, and more. Business growth generally depends on excellent products or services and, most importantly, the business team's ability to provide excellent customer service and experience through well-planned customer acquisition and retention.
Technology makes it easier to build and manage communities. It also empowers businesses to reach out to potential customers quickly, sell products and services efficiently and ultimately build long-lasting customer relations. It also allows business leaders to learn about customers' behavior towards specific services and products, purchasing frequency, and more. However, as Team Hallam once said, "For any business to grow and succeed online, there has to be a healthy balance between knowing your customer, knowing your own business, and your actual capabilities." Knowing your customers and your business is your first step in developing a well-structured and successful Digital Strategy. That's why it is crucial to start with an honest SWOT Analysis.
Understand your strengths and your weakness
A SWOT analysis asks; What are our strengths and weaknesses? What are our opportunities? What are the threats? — Amanda Lang.
A company's digital strategy is put in place generally for the following results; acquisition, conversion, retention, and growth. But it can be challenging to achieve these goals if we can't identify the company's strengths and weaknesses and understand opportunities and threats.
Understand your customer's Needs
I met several entrepreneurs who want to build a business simply because they think there's an opportunity to make money. While sometimes they have a pretty good idea of the products or services they want to develop; it's difficult for them to explain their target audience. Often, they believe their friends and family members will blindly support them without taking into account if the products or service they are trying to sell is not what their friends and family members need. A friend or family member can certainly be a customer. Still, it does not take away the fact that entrepreneurs need to do their homework to understand better the target audience they way to serve.
Building a customer database is nothing new, but it's essential to know how to leverage your Customer Relation Management (CRM) system to get the data and structure them in a way that can help you curate your marketing and sales efforts.
The following Table can help you have a better idea.
New Paragraph"We want to know what consumers are looking for, their values, and how we can meet their needs. It's not just about Big Data; it's about translating that into the truth."
Focus on Developing a Clear Value proposition
Since you now know your strengths and weaknesses and have a better idea of your customer's needs, it's time to be clear on your company value proposition. This will include four important points
- Who we are as a company
- What we offer in terms of product or service
- A good understanding of the market we are serving
- What Differentiates us from the competitors
Lay out Your Goals and Understand your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else" Yogi Berra
It is not rocket science; leading a successful digital strategy requires you to be clear on what you want to accomplish. We call it "setting realistic goals" Be direct, details, and specific.
Here are three examples Of goal setting for your Digital Strategy
It's time to outline your plan
The final step is to outline a plan to define how you will deliver, and you want to ensure that you are targeting the right audience at every stage of your sales and Purchasing funnel. A successful online strategy will focus on these four marketing activities to engage customers and make them part of the company's long-term growth strategy.
Whether you are managing a small or big business, there's only one way to stay in business: keep growing, keep innovating and keep your customers happy. Tech integration in business growth should not be a way to cut costs, but to create more value for the business and its customers. I hope this will help you take your first step in developing a Digital strategy for your business.
