Assignment 5
Unit 2: Inbound and Social Media Marketing
Assignment 5
Task 2
Script
Introduction
Example One
Example Two
Example Three
Example Four
Conclusion
From my presentation, I have selected four of the best examples of content marketing that could be used for a travel related website. Recognising examples of best practice is important in order to understand how best to capture the consumer’s attention and drive more sales of your service or product. Comparing these to the other examples that I gathered and analysing their strengths against their weaknesses, is reflective of an important process you can use to develop a successful content marketing strategy.
The first example of best practice that I have chosen are the YouTube videos by the Luxury Travel Expert. They use stunning visuals, in both the thumbnail stills and video cinematography to grab the audience’s attention. Not only are these videos professionally shot and well-executed but they have a dreamlike, otherworldly quality which captures the audience’s imagination and inspires their dreams of travel and exploration. Their videos tell a story, rather than being overly sales focused, which can turn an audience off and lead to disengagement.
Compared to the Flight of Fancy podcast, YouTube videos have a far greater reach potential than podcasts, with 1.9 billion active, monthly users currently on YouTube (Chi, 2019). YouTube’s algorithms and suggested videos tab also allow videos to be easily searched and found compared to podcasts. So it could be argued that, as a format, videos have better potential, especially in terms of reach and distribution.
Travel Weekly’s webinars are clearly published as gated offers, which means more information about the audience can be gathered. Because of their interactive element and the fact that many webinars are expert-led, consumers are more willing to provide more personal information, as they feel they are getting more value in return from a webinar. Travel Weekly can also use the webinar format to convey the brand’s personality, by using presenters who have a style and expression which best reflects their brand.
In comparison to BCD Travel’s white papers, Travel Weekly’s webinars can offer a more diverse experience in how information is presented. As white papers tend to be in-depth, formal and academic, they can be unsuitable for consumers looking for quick and easily-digestible information. Furthermore, not all content is appropriate for white papers, such as product launches or demonstrations, whereas webinars can be used for an array of different content and ideas. Compared to a white paper, webinars are better for strengthening business-to-consumer relationships, because of the way that the audience can participate in the live event.
By comparing the strengths and weaknesses of two travel blogs, Nomadic Matt and Kuoni, I found that Nomadic Matt’s blog presented the greatest number of best practice tactics. Both blogs used high quality images, in-text links and included a CTA. However, Nomadic Matt’s blog was optimised to have the best engagement with readers by enabling comments and having social media sharing buttons clearly visible. Kuoni did not use these engagement tools, which means readers cannot react to the blog and provide feedback. As well, Nomadic Matt’s blog is written in an informal tone and from the perspective of his personal, lived experience. This makes his blog seem more appealing and authentic to readers as he can relate to them as an individual and not just a brand or business. Although, Kuoni’s formal tone throughout their blog fits their upmarket travel agency brand, it may feel impersonal to a reader.
Example Four
Lastly, Thomas Cook 托迈酷客 is a clear example of best practice when it comes to localisation. Thomas Cook has effectively localised its content for the Chinese market by asking consumers to follow them on WeChat, a popular, Chinese multi-purpose messaging app. In return, they can receive the latest tips, promotions and offers. By doing this, Thomas Cook recognises that localisation is more than just language translation but about understanding market activities and trends specific to a nation. It is also a smart gated offer and allows them to spread brand awareness and influence across an app which they know their target market uses. By comparison, Thomas Cook UK has a very stereotypical blog homepage, with a wide range of content that does not appear to be specifically localised.
Conclusion
Overall, the examples used in my presentation are all examples of best practice for content marketing. However, some showcased greater strengths. Some content formats could be argued as having more potential than others, such as videos over podcasts, or webinars over white papers, yet this is heavily dependent on the content marketing strategy of the company and what they aim to achieve. There are clearly best practice tactics when it comes to writing a successful blog, as well as, interesting and innovative ways to localise your content for a specific market.
Link to presentation on SlideShare:
Link to video pitch on Vimeo:
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