Is Travel Marketing More Frustrating Than Ever? (Travel Tuesday)

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The other day, I got into a conversation with Matthew Barker from I&ITravelMedia about his post over on Tnooz that says “Travel Marketing Is More Frustrating Than Ever” (or, as originally written over on Medium, his post “Travel Marketing is a Bitch”). When I tweeted a link to Matthew’s article, I added, “Yes and no, tbh,” which prompted Matthew to ask: “Curious. Which one of my three observations do you disagree with?”

The short answer to Matthew’s question is “None of those observations.” Every point that Matthew makes is spot-on and worth considering as you market your hotel or travel service. The long answer? Well that took an 8 tweet mini-tweetstorm to explain and you might find it interesting. So, without further ado, here’s my reply to the question, “Is Travel Marketing More Frustrating Than Ever?” Enjoy:

@hitriddle The "frustration" assessment. I agree with your observations. They're spot-on. What's interesting about marketing is that… 1/8

— Tim Peter (@tcpeter) September 23, 2016

@hitriddle Many marketers assume marketing should be easy. Digital has lowered the bar *for everyone*/made it easier to get started 2/8

— Tim Peter (@tcpeter) September 23, 2016

@hitriddle But it's also increased the competition and, as a result, the difficulty of winning in the marketplace. But… 3/8

— Tim Peter (@tcpeter) September 23, 2016

@hitriddle It's still easy to get started/measure success compared with era of TV and print. What's hard is knowing where to start. 4/8

— Tim Peter (@tcpeter) September 23, 2016

@hitriddle Length of customer journey creates many opportunities to get in front of travel customers. SEO changed but still works 5/8

— Tim Peter (@tcpeter) September 23, 2016

@hitriddle Social is cheap and a great source of top-of-funnel acquisition. As you rightly describe, content marketing works very well 6/8

— Tim Peter (@tcpeter) September 23, 2016

@hitriddle Attribution is, well, a bitch. But data's never been more accessible. Marketers need to embrace that reality. 7/8

— Tim Peter (@tcpeter) September 23, 2016

@hitriddle Put that all together and travel marketing is challenging, but not "frustrating". Instead, it's tremendously exciting. 8/8

— Tim Peter (@tcpeter) September 23, 2016

What do you think? Is travel marketing more frustrating than ever? Or is this just good old-fashioned competition? I’d love to hear from you. Drop me an email or add something to the comments and let’s keep the conversation going.

If you’re looking for even more hospitality marketing goodness, you might also want to take a moment to review the slides from my recent seminar, “Digital Marketing Directions 2016: The Key Trends Driving Your Hotel Marketing Next Year” here:

Finally, you will definitely want to check out some of our past coverage of the mobile, local, social web and how to make it work for your hotel, including:

• Is Social a Waste of Time for Hotel Marketers?
• 5 Fantastic Insights Into 2016 Travel Marketing Trends: Hospitality Marketing Link Digest
• 6 Key Hotel E-commerce Tips: A Cheat Sheet to Drive Direct Business
• 5 Hospitality Marketing Trends You’ll Want to Keep in Mind: Hospitality Marketing Link Digest
• Expedia’s Accelerator Program: A Wolf in Wolf’s Clothing
• For Travel Marketers, Content is Still King
• Trends in Hospitality Digital Marketing for 2016
• 8 Great Posts About 2016’s Top Trends: Hospitality Marketing Link Digest
• 5 Key Facts About Mobile, Millennials, and Hotel Marketing
• How Safe Are Independent Hotels from Airbnb?