‘Good travel writing shares a humanity and a storytelling style you can’t get from an algorithm’
Aussies have a voracious appetite for seeing the world and they are willing to prioritise their spending on a good holiday.
As a result, Australian travellers have become more sophisticated in their choices. They are still interested in that bucket-list holiday, but they won’t put a dream trip off just because they can also afford a weekend break.
Savvy travel brands have realised the need to take a much more holistic approach to their marketing in a world where consumers are bombarded with more information, affecting the awareness stage of the marketing funnel. They have responded by being smarter with their customer research and marketing campaigns and therefore widening the consideration stage.
“Don’t focus on the bottom of the pyramid, or at the end of the customer journey,” argues marketing professor, award-winning columnist and marketing consultant Mark Ritson, speaking at News Corp’s Come Together showcase. “You’ll realise you’re losing most of your customers in the middle or at the top of the funnel where you should be focussing your attention.”
It’s why consumers are returning to professionally generated content to cut through all the noise.
“There are two words we use when we’re briefing our travel writers: context and detail,” says Jana Frawley, News Corp’s national travel editor. “The reader needs to know the writer has a depth of experience which helps them expertly evaluate the trip they’re currently on. Then, they need to supply a depth of information that helps the reader decide if this is the holiday for them.”
Online consumer reviews, Frawley continues, don’t necessarily include the correct reference points, nor have these people travelled enough to understand the bigger picture. News Corp’s Escape reporters, though, can capture a level of detail and convey it in a unique, engaging and entertaining voice.
“Sometimes it’s hard to accomplish if you’re not a professional. Not everyone can be a travel writer, even though everybody can travel.
“We tell a story through a human lens with first-person experiences. Good travel writing shares a humanity and a storytelling style people can relate to. You can’t get from an online algorithm.”
At Come Together 2019 in March, News Corp Australia announced a series of initiatives to combine the timeless trade of good travel writing with modern-day data techniques to ensure the right consumers see marketers’ campaigns. Today, brands that develop a strategy with the media company can harness data from Skyscanner’s 80 million customers as well as information from Near, a geo-targeting platform which provides anonymous mobile location data.
“From June, we are taking consumers through the whole marketing funnel with the launch of Escape Marketplace,” explains Helen Demetriou, News Corp’s general manager of travel. “From dreaming to inspiring, planning and now booking and purchasing a holiday.
“When people think about planning their holiday, they are more often than not, very overwhelmed and even more confused. People need one place they can go to where they trust the research, the information, the story about the destination, as well as the providers.
“Escape’s marketplace will soon give all of that and more, with advice on where to go, what to do and how to make it happen. We’re effectively closing the loop for suppliers and consumers, making the purchase funnel more effective and more efficient.
“There’s a shift now whereby big travel brands realise they have to focus more on brand awareness, as increasingly savvy consumers know they need to go somewhere they can trust.”
To celebrate the launch of Escape Marketplace, News Corp is holding the most heavily promoted online travel sale – Escape-a-thon – a three-day flash sale of exclusive travel deals marketed across the entire News Corp network. Demetriou says the best part is that clients advertising with Escape-a-thon will only pay for what is converted.
News Corp reaches 13 million travel intenders every month, with the travel sections of news.com.au, delicious., The Australian, GQ, Vogue and Stellar inspiring and informing travellers.
News’ biggest travel brand Escape is published as a lift-out in the Sunday metro newspapers, as well as online at escape.com.au, and now available in print on a Tuesday, boasts a readership of 5.3M. In May the audience reach will boost to more than 6.5M when Escape expands into News Corp’s regional and community newspapers.
Demetriou is excited about the June launch of The Escape Marketplace Escape-a-thon, a three-day flash sale of exclusive travel deals in June marketed across the entire News Corp network, as well as the creation of new customer segments derived from 2m Australian Skyscanner users.
But for Frawley, who oversees all of News’ travel output, the importance of ensuring the content is of a high-quality and trusted is never forgotten. “You’re selling happiness,” she says, “but also helping readers make a very big and important decision. There needs to be emotion and empathy in the writing.
“The internet is a great tool for research, but what travel journalism can bring to the table is what happens in real life. When I was in Paris, for instance, I wanted to know if I should catch the train from the airport to my hotel. Of course, a map could tell me which line to catch or how many streets it was away. But it wasn’t until I picked up the phone and spoke to the concierge who explained it wasn’t too easy to drag a heavy suitcase down the cobblestones. They’re the details journalism brings to life.
“It’s an important part of the mix of people’s research. We know the stories that will fascinate people.”