Does Your Tourism Business Need a Digital Health Check?

By CHRISTIE HAMPTON Marketing and Communications Manager, Tourism Snowy Mountains

AS part of its Tourism Business Development Program, Tourism Snowy Mountains recently held a master class for local businesses to assist with building their digital presence and improving their ability to connect with customers online. The master class was led by Todd Wright, Director of Three Sides Marketing, a Canberra based marketing, digital, PR and training business that has been in operation since 2007. During his presentation, Todd asked the group to share their websites with him. He then proceeded to go through each website page by page and o er a real time analysis of what it would be like to use the website as a potential customer.

To say the least, for most of the business owners, Todd’s attempts to book their products was an eyeopening experience. For others, it was downright confronting as Todd muddled his way through their website, trying to decipher how he could contact the business or, once he’d made a booking, how to get physically get there. So, inspired by Todd’s struggles, I think it’s an important exercise for any tourism businesses to sit down, look at their website and ask themselves; ‘is this a good experience for my customers?’

Here’s a fantastic checklist (kindly provided by Todd and reprinted with his permission) that might help you answer that question:

CUSTOMER FEATURES:

1. Can I work out who you are and what you do?

2. Does it look good and look ‘worth it’?

3. Can I book or buy right now?

4. Can I book easily?

TECH FEATURES:

1. Is it made for mobile?

2. Does it load easily?

3. Is it search engine friendly?

4. Do you have a security certificate?

YOU FEATURES:

1. Can you update it easily?

2. Do you have analytics installed (and can access it?)

3. Do you update it when your business changes?

Remember, audiences today have very short attention spans and desire immediate satisfaction. This means, at any time, they need to be only 2-3 clicks away from booking their product or experience on your website. Otherwise, they’ll click o and find what they need somewhere else.

Another aspect of the digital world that sparked a lot of interest was, of course, social media. One excellent piece of advice Todd had regarding social media presence was to work out which platform works best for your business. Once you understand this, make this platform your focus, rather than spreading yourself thinly from Facebook to TikTok and everywhere in between. Then it’s time to start investing in quality content and / or working with other people who are willing to share their quality content with you.

A great way to build your social media audience is to work closely with organisations like Tourism Snowy Mountains, who love sharing beautiful images and video on their own channels. At TSM, we see social media as an invaluable tool for communicating our brand’s tone, values and the region’s unique qualities. Via Facebook and Instagram, we aim to spark a sense of adventure and a need to explore in our audience. By sharing authentic experiences, local knowledge and carefully curated content, we hope to cultivate a deeper connection with both locals and visitors. If you are interested in being featured on our Instagram and / or Facebook pages, please feel free to get in touch so we can provide you with our content guidelines.

◼ Tourism Snowy Mountains most liked, shared and engaged with image for 2022 was this wildflower shot taken at Guthries, Charlotte Pass by Matt de Waard and shared on his Instagram page @mjdphotosdotcom.

PHOTO: www.mjdphotos.com

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