Andreas Mielenhausen is the creative lead at Creative Works, Middle East and North Africa, in charge of helping Google's top advertisers get the most out of YouTube.
When I read “Paris” I think of baguettes and the Eiffel Tower. When I read “Spain” I think of Flamenco and Picasso. What do you think about when you read “London” or “Dubai”? What about “Saudi Arabia” or “California”?
The truth is, we all have preconceived ideas about destinations. Often — and especially if you haven’t visited the destination yet — those ideas come from ads.
It’s a travel marketer’s job to transform people’s ideas of a place into a real desire to visit it. But same-old ads featuring smiley models wandering through exotic locations just don’t cut it anymore. Especially when you consider that 65% of consumers say they will stay loyal to a brand if it provides a more relevant ad experience.
These three hands-on tourism marketing tips and timeless videos ads can help you shake up your brand campaigns and boost your traveller numbers.
1. Don’t miss the boat on human connection
Imagine you’re on a first date and the person you’re with launches straight into how tall they are, where they went to school, and what job they have. All without asking you a single question about yourself.
You’re probably not going to want to spend time with them, right? The same goes for ads.
Just like on a date, the person on the other side of your ad wants to know that your brand cares about who they are and that you are offering them something they can connect with.
Which is why, instead of just talking at people about what you have, you need to connect with them. That means ensuring your creative has a strong human element.
British Airways got that just right in one of its latest campaigns in which they show relatable reasons for people taking a flight, such as “going home”, to “switch on and off again”, or “to be fun dad again”.
Top takeaway for marketers
Instead of just telling someone about what your product or service does in your next ad, think about how, why, when, or where it is relevant to that person’s life. If you tell your story from that angle, that person will be more likely to remember your brand first when a need or moment related to that story arises in their own lives.
Human connection becomes even more important during challenging economic times. When living costs rise due to inflation, for example, people are more likely to prioritise practical day-to-day purchases over holidays to far-flung destinations.
This gives travel brands even more of a reason to step away from cookie-cutter ads and understand what people value to connect on a more authentic level.
2. Run a tight ship on storyline
Story is 4X more important for ads than cadence or structure, which means it makes a bigger impact than the pace of the ad or how well it’s framed or put together.1
Most destinations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have many incredible stories to tell, covering topics like nature and culture throughout history. But every person will relate to these stories differently. That’s because every traveller is different and looking for something unique from a travel destination.
How you capture each person’s attention — from the solo adventurer seeking off-the-beaten path escapes to the business mogul looking for designer shopping — depends on how you tell your story.
Beverage company, Tropicana, approached the story of sunshine — something we all know and relate to — in a fresh and out-of-the-box way. And even though their campaign is not related to tourism, travel marketers can still learn from their creative storytelling.
In the ad, Tropicana suspends a massive light in the sky to ‘bring the sun to Inuvik’, a town in the Canadian Arctic that experiences about a month without sunlight each year.
Instead of talking about the sun from a stereotypical angle, Tropicana flips the narrative, pushing viewers to consider what life might be like without sunshine.
Travel marketers in the MENA region can adapt a similar creative approach. Instead of just praising the fact that a certain destination has almost year-round sunshine, they can share this sunshine (metaphorically) with other parts of the world, spreading their message around the globe through their YouTube ad.
Top takeaway for marketers
When people search for your product or service, they’re offering you valuable insights. While this allows Search campaigns to show ads to people actively searching online for your products or services, it can also help you shape your creative and messaging.
Think about Tropicana’s video. It might have been shaped by a number of sun-related searches, from “good weather during vacations” to “vitamin D from sunshine” to “better mood”.
Exploring Google Search trends and YouTube searches in Google Trends gives you a deeper understanding of what people search for when it comes to weather, nature, culture, or anything else related to your destination. This allows you to pivot your ad accordingly, and shows your audience that you’re going the extra mile to understand who they are as people.
3. Use data as a compass for ideation and targeting
People travel throughout the year for different reasons. And what’s happening in their lives can affect how open they are to your ads.
For example, a Londoner catching the train to an early Monday morning meeting in the rain might be more receptive to an ad showing a sunny break. Or an older couple whose kids have just left for college might be more open to an ad showing a bucket-list destination.
Knowing what phase of life your consumers are in, and what they’re searching for as a result, can be helpful in influencing the direction of your ad creative — and how you reach them.
Here’s an example: since 2018, U.S. interest for the search term “adults only” in relation to travel has tripled. Virgin Cruises spotted this trend and used it to great effect in their humorous musical video ad:
By approaching the topic of adults-only holidays from a fresh and funny angle aimed at parents, Virgin Cruises immediately captured attention, with their creative and messaging being more relatable as a result.
Top takeaway for marketers
Knowing your audience is key to shaping great storytelling, and great storytelling is key to leaving a lasting impression with people.
After all, if your destination offers adults-only holidays and your ad just shows a young couple sitting at a beautiful hotel pool, all you’re doing is showing a generic ad to the world and hoping the right people will see it.
Google Ads’ detailed demographics can help you reach a specific set of potential customers who are likely to sit within a certain age, parental status, or household income.
So if you’re offering an adults-only holiday, detailed demographics could help you get your ad in front of parents of teens, single people, or homeowners. You’ll then be able to appeal differently to each audience using your creative and messaging.
