From Faux Pas to Fabulous

By Vickie Sam Paget, Sky Blue Content

You want to connect with them on an emotional level; that much is clear. You want to get your clients genuinely excited about your brilliant product and your gorgeous branding. Heck, you even want to make friends with them! But are you putting them off without even knowing it? Are you guilty of committing these embarrassing travel copywriting faux pas?

1. Are you Being Honest? REALLY Honest?

Come on now, you can tell me! No need to blush. The fact is that every hotel thinks it’s luxurious, every restaurant thinks its cuisine is mouth-watering and every destination thinks its beaches are stunning. But your clients aren’t that naive… They’re savvy consumers – and quite frankly, they shouldn’t have to settle for that sort of bland information. Instead, give them a REAL feel for your product offering. Take your content to the next level with some authentic reflections of what it REALLY is that makes what you are offering them SO SPECIAL. If you’re aiming your content at the right market, they’ll get much more excited.

2. Are you Writing for a Search Engine?

Yes, Search Engine Optimization is important, there’s no denying that, but it’s important to write for PEOPLE – not search engines. A good SE0-savvy headline and a few strong keywords beautifully weaved into your blog content are all worth their weight in gold, but never forget that your major aim is to connect with a HUMAN TRAVELLER… not a search engine. After all, it’s the human traveller who’s going to make the booking – not Google. I don’t think Google gets vacation time anyway.

3. Are you Giving Them the Hard Sell? Or Even the Medium Sell?

It’s tempting, I know, because that’s the point of all this right? To increase booking and put more bums on seats or bodies in beds? Well, the modern consumer is a little more sophisticated than that. They can spot the ‘sell’ a mile-off. So what can you do instead? Provide them with authentic, credible content that really resonates with them. Give them the information and entertainment they’re looking for in your blog and they’ll love you forever. So, just like with first dates, don’t talk about yourself too much (yep, we’ve all been there). You won’t get a second date if you over-sell yourself. Get friendly first. It is all about THEM anyway, not you, so put on the charm and consider what THEY are looking for.

4. Are you Sexy Enough?

You have to be SEXY with your content. Travel is a sensual experience: it’s all about the sights, sounds, tastes, smells and FEEL of a place.  It’s all about how it makes a person feel – and at the end of the day, that’s what’s truly inspirational about travel. So if you’re not tapping into your sensual side with your travel content… you’re definitely not getting that second date.

5. Are you Being Cheap?

Quality comes at a price, so hiring a bargain-basement writer on a site like Fiverr just isn’t going to work for you. A PayPal account with $5 in it just won’t cut it, I’m afraid. For $5 you’re going to get – wait for it – $5 worth of work. That writer won’t be invested in your brand – and who can blame them? Yes, they’ll fill empty spaces with $5 worth of words, but they won’t get passionate about your branding, they won’t step into the minds of your clients and they won’t have a deep understanding of the travel and tourism industry. So hire a professional. You know it makes sense. After all, your business deserves nothing less.