| Priscilla Ramirez 
For many of us, the new year means a reset of vacation time. With a brand new slate of time off, it's only fitting to start planning trips for the year. However, taking off of work is not usually the most important factor to consider when making travel plans. That's right, it's money. What could be more helpful than a handy guide of the best places to travel on a budget? Booking.com has done just that with The Deal Hunter’s Guide to a Year of Thrifty Travel in 2016. Booking.com tapped its data specialists to research cities' popularity, upcoming events and temperatures, as well as the average price per night of local four star accommodations. They then took this research and created a month-by-month itinerary of the best places to visit for a range of budgets. “Our travelers are looking for a variety of places to stay, whether that be a traditional hotel or a luxury yacht,” says Todd Dunlap, Director of the Americas, Booking.com. “The one thing that remains consistent when it comes to making the final decision, is whether it falls within budget. The pricing plan will help travelers make smart financial decisions when booking their next trip.” As we see in this and many other Content We Love installments, analytics can lead PR and marketing teams to interesting brand stories. Data alone isn't enough, though. While data is at the heart of this content, Booking.com is ultimately successful because of the content's execution. 
Focused on a specific customer persona: In 10 Habits Every Content Marketer Needs to Break in 2016, Amanda Hicken reminds us that considering your audience's actual needs over those of your brand can make the difference between acceptable and outstanding results. By focusing on a specific customer type (travelers on a budget), Booking.com's release was able to offer concrete advice that’s more relevant and valuable than generic travel tips. Unique and newsworthy: Focused, specific content is appealing not just to customers, but also to journalists and other influencers who are on the lookout for a unique story. Booking.com's press release stood out and led to earned media like this TravelPulse article by offering two timely and newsworthy angles. It embraced people’s desire to resolve to travel more and offered expertise on making that dream a reality. Easy to repackage and repurpose: Booking.com boosted visibility by repackaging their press release text in an infographic. The information in the graphic is concise, beautifully designed and extremely shareable – a great way to spread Booking.com’s message and drive more traffic back to their home page. Additionally, the graphic’s breakdown of locations by month creates the potential for follow-up pieces throughout the year that explore each month's hotspot in greater detail. No matter your industry or target audience, taking advantage of the unique resources and data available to you in your field is a crucial step toward developing high-quality content. However, the way that information is analyzed, packaged and shared is even more important. When executed right, it can prove very effective in demonstrating the value you provide and ultimate drive revenue. For additional tips on perfecting your data-driven content, download Balancing Content & Big Data to Power PR Results for the various types of data you're able to collect and how to leverage that data in order to maximize ROI. Author Priscilla Ramirez is a customer success representative for channel and advocacy marketing at PR Newswire. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment