A travel agency partnered with Brafon for blogs, and a diverse content strategy and 123% more web conversions, including 107% more direct leads.

Industry: Travel
Content: Blog posts
Highlights: Generated 107% more leads with new content approach

If you want to make the case for an inbound marketing strategy, you need web traffic that converts. Brafton introduced a new content strategy for a travel agency that had ambitious conversion goals – and here’s a look at how we increased the lead generation rate 107 percent year over year.

The concept was relatively simple: Create highly immersive travel content that engages the reader with a combination of text, images and video:

Examples of travel blog with diverse content

Aggressive conversion goals deserve a diverse content strategy

The company wasn’t just looking for ‘conversions;’ the marketing team needed to know exactly how many people took different actions, such as:

  • Brochure downloads

  • “Contact us” form completions

  • Price quote requests for offered trips

Step one of the Brafton strategy involved setting up Analytics to track each of these distinct conversion goals. We could then measure the percent of traffic – and percent  of visitors who touched various content – that takes actions which equal or contribute to sales opportunities.

Early on, data showed traffic is more likely to convert when more engaged in the content (reflected in longer time on site). The content strategist and team decided to add high-value formats that would encourage higher dwell time, such as:

  • Pull-quotes to highlight captivating descriptions of destinations

  • Inline images of eye-catching vistas and monuments

  • Story sourcing with travel experts’ Tweets, giving first-hand experiences of destinations

  • Videos that bring the story to life

How content that targets engagement can win conversions

Highly engaging content is one of the best ways to hook people on learning more about your business. By immersing readers in a magazine-like experience, the company killed two birds with one piece of marketing collateral:

  • Educating prospects about the packages for sale
  • Entertaining them with stories that create excitement about travel opportunities

When people arrive at the site, they get more than a few dry paragraphs about a tourist destination. They’re part of an interactive experience that shares a story about what it’s like to a go to a certain destination and have a specific experience. And once their interest is piqued, the site’s layout directs them to places where they can find travel packages to live the story themselves.

Tours CTAS

Results: More leads, higher conversion rate

An annual comparison of quarterly site metrics showed the site’s conversion rate increased 123 percent overall, and the Analytics setup allowed us to track more discrete value from the content. The updated strategy generated movement across the highest value goals:

The number of sales leads increased quarter over quarter, while the cost per lead decreased.

  • 107 percent higher lead generation through contact us submission

  • 75 percent more quote requests

The proof of bottom-line value made our client credible within his business, and make his in-house marketing team’s job easier. The number of sales leads had risen quarter over quarter, and the cost per lead continues to decrease the longer the brand runs the content strategy.

Fortunately, the web has evolved in a way that allows brands to provide interactive on-site experiences that educate prospects and communicate unique value propositions. Make sure your company is working with writers, consultants or a content marketing agency to create the right strategy – and measure results.

Lauren Kaye is a Marketing Editor at Brafton Inc. She studied creative and technical writing at Virginia Tech before pursuing the digital frontier and finding content marketing was the best place to put her passions to work. Lauren also writes creative short fiction, hikes in New England and appreciates a good book recommendation.