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Should You Use A Blog Or Email Marketing For Your Travel Brand?

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Should You Use A Blog Or Email Marketing For Your Travel Brand?

Less than five years ago, starting a blog was a huge marketing focus in the travel community.

Not only did the SEO bonuses have a lot of appeal, but travel blogging was also an incredibly popular format that promised a large target audience if you found the right niche.

While the majority of travel blogs are still going strong, email marketing has been having a moment in the last few years as well.

With its low cost, high ROI, and simple method of keeping customers engaged, questions have recently surfaced about whether sharing content via email is better than posting it to a blog.

First things first: This isn’t a post comparing the two approaches to crown an overall winner.

Blog content creation and email marketing are two pretty different types of content, and both have their benefits.

However, if you’re a new travel brand wondering which format to focus on, or want to change your marketing strategy by pouring more resources into an approach, it’s definitely worth examining each with several different factors in mind.

This post will help you do just that.

The Benefits Of Blog Content

Blogging is a format that has been around for decades now.

Whether you’re a large travel brand with a blog on your website or a dedicated travel enthusiast running a blog to share your stories, there are plenty of benefits to this kind of content.

The first benefit is more applicable to brands with websites offering a product or service. Having a blog is a brilliant way of driving more traffic to your site and reaching potential customers that may not have been affected by traditional advertising material.

On average, companies with a blog see 55% more website visitors than those who don’t, so there’s massive potential for growing your customer base.

From an SEO perspective, having a blog that you regularly update with new content can do wonders for how well your website ranks on search engines.

Not only can you increase traffic by producing content that targets longtail keywords, but having a blog also helps indexation supports rankings of your commercial pages.

A blog can also be a really useful tool in link building, which again helps to boost your website’s ranking.

Blog content can help establish your brand as a source of authority in your industry. By consistently sharing valuable and engaging insight, you’ll gain a reputation for being a reliable source of information.

This will lead to greater brand awareness and help to grow your customer base.

Finally, when it comes to brand image, blog content is one of the best ways to establish a “voice” and a tone that your audience will recognize.

Regularly sharing new posts on your travel blog that all embody your brand values will help improve recognition and strengthen your image, particularly if this tone is reflected across all your other marketing channels.

The Benefits Of Email Marketing

Email marketing has as many benefits as writing blog content, whether sending regular newsletters, moving potential customers down the buyer funnel, keeping in touch with existing customers, or increasing engagement among your target audience.

More commercial brands tend to use email marketing to promote products and offers, but email marketing is often another channel for sharing content and communicating with customers in the travel industry.

One of the biggest benefits of email marketing is that it’s a pretty low-cost strategy, which is ideal if you’re a relatively small business or a travel blogger working on your own.

You can also run campaigns without too much effort if you’re willing to put in the work at the beginning, making this approach quite simple to carry out even without much experience.

A key benefit often mentioned with email marketing is its impressive return on investment (ROI).

Exact figures will differ depending on your industry and the type of campaign but, on average, brands can make around $36 for every $1 spent on email marketing, which is an impressive statistic.

The nature of email marketing means that recipients of your content have to provide their contact details to join your mailing list, which means that everyone reading your content is already interested in what you share.

This means your audience is much more engaged with your content than any other channel, leading to greater levels of interaction and more successful conversion.

Another benefit is that uninterested recipients can opt out, so you won’t waste time or resources pitching your content to people who won’t engage with it.

Engagement is a general benefit of email marketing, both with existing and potential customers.

When you send out email content, you’re delivering (sometimes personalized) messages right into your audience’s inboxes, which means they’re much more likely to interact with this content than any of your other marketing efforts and will feel closer to your brand because of it.

Sending out regular email content can be very useful for travel brands that want to keep their offering in front of their audience’s minds.

When potential customers decide they want to book a holiday, for example, that brand’s website is where they go first.

Email marketing ensures that you maintain regular contact with your audience and builds up a relationship with this communication that will hopefully lead to customers thinking of your brand independently and increasing conversion rates.

Finally, another of the key benefits of email marketing is that it’s a brilliant channel for distributing personalized content.

80% of consumers have said that they are more likely to make purchases from brands that offer personalized experiences, so tailoring your emails and providing your mailing list with relevant content means that you’re much more likely to grow your audience.

Audience Engagement

Trying to pit email marketing and blog content against one another is unproductive. The two approaches have very different intentions and are often used together as part of a wider marketing strategy.

However, one area of overlap between the two is audience engagement, which provides some interesting points of comparison to investigate.

Engagement is an essential part of customer experience, and good customer experience is the key to a positive brand image, repeat customers, and business growth.

Today’s consumers have more choices than ever regarding their content and the brands they support.

The travel industry is a sector where competition is particularly fierce, so engagement is something that almost every brand strives to improve.

Travel blog content can improve audience engagement if you take the time to craft interesting, emotive, and valuable content that your audience is genuinely excited to read.

Once a reader is on your site, use banners and calls to action to get them to engage with other blog posts and landing pages, establishing your brand more firmly in their mind, and hopefully starting to move down the buyer funnel toward booking.

However, you need to get interested readers arriving on your blog in the first place.

And if they don’t make a purchase or inquiry on their first visit, you need to make a strong enough impression that they’re going to come back to your blog of their own accord and read more of the content on there.

That’s one hell of a challenge.

The state of the world we live in today means that brands aren’t only competing with one another for the attention of potential customers. They’re also competing to fill the limited amount of time that modern consumers have each day to read and engage with new content.

Most people don’t have the time to seek out new things to consume; they want the content to arrive at their fingertips to instantly engage without too much effort.

This is where email marketing comes into its own.

Blogging certainly had its heyday and remains a very valuable channel that isn’t going anywhere soon.

But to catch your customer’s attention while they’re commuting, boiling the kettle, or scrolling before bed, reading an email that is already in their inbox containing a curated selection of stories, ideas, and further reading will be a clear first choice over seeking out a blog post to engage with instead.

Is there still a place for blogs that regularly post long-form content for their audience?

Of course!

But with attention spans dwindling, device separation anxiety growing, and the desire for instant gratification higher than ever, email marketing has plenty going for it that makes it the perfect format for reaching and engaging today’s consumer.

When Should You Create Blog Content?

As outlined at the start of this article, there’s no “winner” when comparing blogging with email marketing.

There are plenty of instances where creating blog content is the best choice in a travel marketing strategy, which we have listed below.

  • You can produce large amounts of content.
  • Your target audience enjoys engaging with long-form, informational content.
  • You are skilled at writing content that keeps the reader engaged, emotionally resonates with them, and helps transport them from the present moment.
  • You already have an established blog with some repeat readers.
  • You are a travel brand that values sharing unique advice and insight as much as you value bookings.
  • You are targeting longtail keyword phrases as part of an SEO strategy.
  • You are looking to increase the amount of traffic coming to your website.
  • You want to establish your brand as a thought leader or reliable source of advice in your sector.

When Should You Create Email Content?

Some factors indicate that creating email content like a newsletter or regular “round up” would be the best approach.

  • You have limited content writing resources which means producing short email newsletters is more manageable.
  • You have a limited budget for building out your marketing strategy.
  • You have a knack for writing shorter, instantly engaging pieces of content.
  • You want to develop a sense of “community” between your customers and build closer relationships with them.
  • You already have a good amount of content on your website that you can share.
  • You are looking for ways to move more potential customers down the buyer funnel.

The Best Way Forward

If possible, the best way forward is to dedicate time to developing both blog content and email content as part of your wider marketing strategy.

Email marketing can take various forms, from automated messages reminding customers what they viewed on a website to more personal messages from brands sharing stories, insight, and advice.

Many brand newsletters include links to the content on their blog, which is a fantastic way to link these two approaches together and encourage more website traffic while also appealing to the customer’s need for instant, easily consumable content.

The best way forward is to combine your approaches and use both blogging and email marketing in an integrated way.

Begin by focusing on creating engaging, evergreen blog content. Once you’ve reached a good stock of content, shift your focus more to email, where you can use that content to build community and engagement more actively.

If you’re an established travel brand it’s likely you already have both of these techniques in your marketing strategy.

In this case, it’s worth considering the impact your email content can have on customer engagement and whether you could adapt the content you send out to improve this while also keeping your blog updated and linking back to these new posts in your emails.

If you’re a new brand developing a marketing strategy, consider the conditions above and decide where you want to focus your efforts depending on your goals and capacity.

As this post has highlighted, both email marketing and blog content creation have their merits. Both are incredibly useful methods that travel businesses can use to establish a recognizable brand image and engage their audience.

Instead of crowning a victor between the two, consider the value that each of these formats has to today’s consumers and adapt your offering accordingly to get the best possible results.

More resources:


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Google Updating Cryptocurrency Advertising Policy For 2024

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Google Updating Cryptocurrency Advertising Policy For 2024

Google published an announcement of upcoming changes to their cryptocurrency advertising policies and advises advertisers to make themselves aware of the changes and prepare to be in compliance with the new requirements.

The upcoming updates are to Google’s Cryptocurrencies and related products policy for the advertisement of Cryptocurrency Coin Trusts. The changes are set to take effect on January 29th, 2024.

Cryptocurrency Coin Trusts are financial products that enable investors to trade shares in trusts holding substantial amounts of digital currency. These trusts provide investors with equity in cryptocurrencies without having direct ownership. They are also an option for creating a more diversified portfolio.

The policy updates by Google that are coming in 2024 aim to describe the scope and requirements for the advertisement of Cryptocurrency Coin Trusts. Advertisers targeting the United States will be able to promote these products and services as long as they abide by specific policies outlined in the updated requirements and that they also obtain certification from Google.

The updated policy changes are not limited to the United States. They will apply globally to all accounts advertising Cryptocurrency Coin Trusts.

Google’s announcement also reminded advertisers of their obligation for compliance to local laws in the areas where the ads are targeted.

Google’s approach for violations of the new policy will be to first give a warning before imposing an account suspension.

Advertisers that fail to comply with the updated policy will receive a warning at least seven days before a potential account suspension. This time period provides advertisers with an opportunity to fix non-compliance issues and to get back into compliance with the revised guidelines.

Advertisers are encouraged to refer to Google’s documentation on “About restricted financial products certification.”

The deadline for the change in policy is January 29th, 2024. Cryptocurrency Coin Trusts advertisers will need to pay close attention to the updated policies in order to ensure compliance.

Read Google’s announcement:

Updates to Cryptocurrencies and related products policy (December 2023)

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SEO Trends You Can’t Ignore In 2024

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SEO Trends You Can’t Ignore In 2024

Most SEO trends fade quickly. But some of them stick and deserve your attention.

Let’s explore what those are and how to take advantage of them.

If you give ChatGPT a title and ask it to write a blog post, it will—in seconds.

This is super impressive, but there are a couple of issues:

  • Everyone else using ChatGPT is creating the same content. It’s the same for users of other GPT-powered AI writing tools, too—which is basically all of them.
  • The content is extremely dull. Sure, you can ask ChatGPT to “make it more entertaining,” but it usually overcompensates and hands back a cringe version of the same boring content.

In the words of Gael Breton:

How to take advantage of this SEO trend

Don’t use AI to write entire articles. They’ll be boring as heck. Instead, use it as a creative sparring partner to help you write better content and automate monotonous tasks.

For example, you can ask ChatGPT To write an outline from a working title and a list of keywords (which you can pull from Ahrefs)—and it does a pretty decent job.

Prompt:

Create an outline for a post entitled “[working title]” based on these keywords: [list]

Result:

ChatGPT's outline for a blog post. Pretty good!ChatGPT's outline for a blog post. Pretty good!

When you’ve written your draft, you can ask to polish it in seconds by asking ChatGPT to proofread it.

ChatGPT proofreading my content and making it betterChatGPT proofreading my content and making it better

Then you can automate the boring stuff, like creating more enticing title tags…

ChatGPT writing enticing title tagsChatGPT writing enticing title tags

… and writing a meta description:

ChatGPT writing a meta descriptionChatGPT writing a meta description

If you notice a few months down the line that your content ranks well but hasn’t won the featured snippet, ChatGPT can help with that, too.

For example, Ahrefs tells us we rank in position 3 for “affiliate marketing” but don’t own the snippet.

Ahrefs showing featured snippets that we don't own, despite ranking in the top 3Ahrefs showing featured snippets that we don't own, despite ranking in the top 3

If we check Google, the snippet is a definition. Asking ChatGPT to simplify our definition may solve this problem.

ChatGPT rewriting a definition and making it betterChatGPT rewriting a definition and making it better

In short, there are a near-infinite number of ways to use ChatGPT (and other AI writing tools) to create better content. And all of them buck the trend of asking it to write boring, boilerplate articles from scratch.

Programmatic SEO refers to the creation of keyword-targeted pages in an automatic (or near automatic) way.

Nomadlist’s location pages are a perfect example:

Example of a page from NomadListExample of a page from NomadList

Each page focuses on a specific city and shares the same core information—internet speeds, cost, temperature, etc. All of this information is pulled programmatically from a database and the site gets an estimated 46k monthly search visits in total.

Estimated monthly search traffic to NomadListEstimated monthly search traffic to NomadList

Programmatic SEO is nothing new. It’s been around forever. It’s just the hot thing right now because AI tools like ChatGPT make it easier and more accessible than ever before.

The problem? As John Mueller pointed out on Twitter X, much of it is spam:

How to take advantage of this SEO trend

Don’t use programmatic SEO to publish insane amounts of spam that’ll probably get hit in the next Google update. Use it to scale valuable content that will stand the test of time.

For example, Wise’s currency conversion pages currently get an estimated 31.7M monthly search visits:

Estimated monthly search traffic to Wise's currently conversion pages (insane!)Estimated monthly search traffic to Wise's currently conversion pages (insane!)

This is because the content is actually useful. Each page features an interactive tool showing the live exchange rate for any amount…

The interactive currently conversion tool on Wise's pagesThe interactive currently conversion tool on Wise's pages

… the exchange rate over time…

The exchange rate over time graph on Wise's pagesThe exchange rate over time graph on Wise's pages

… a handy email notification option when the exchange rates exceed a certain amount…

The email notification option on Wise's pagesThe email notification option on Wise's pages

… handy conversion charts for popular amounts…

The handy conversion charts on Wise's pagesThe handy conversion charts on Wise's pages

… and a comparison of the cheapest ways to send money abroad in your chosen currency:

The useful comparison table on Wise's pagesThe useful comparison table on Wise's pages

It doesn’t matter that all of these pages use the same template. The data is exactly what you want to see when you search [currency 1] to [currency 2].

That’s probably why Wise ranks in the top 10 for over 66,000 of these keywords:

Wise's keyword rankings for currency conversion pagesWise's keyword rankings for currency conversion pages

Looking to take advantage of programmatic content in 2024 like Wise? Check out the guide below.

People love ChatGPT because it answers questions fast and succinctly, so it’s no surprise that generative AI is already making its way into search.

For example, if you ask Bing for a definition or how to do something basic, AI will generate an answer on the fly right there in the search results.

Bing's search results for "definition of mental health"Bing's search results for "definition of mental health"
Bing's search results for "how to add drop down list in google sheets"Bing's search results for "how to add drop down list in google sheets"

In other words, thanks to AI, users no longer have to click on a search result for answers to simple questions. It’s like featured snippets on steroids.

This might not be a huge deal right now, but when Google’s version of this (Search Generative Experience) comes out of beta, many websites will see clicks fall off a cliff.

How to take advantage of this SEO trend

Don’t invest too much in topics that generative AI can easily answer. You’ll only lose clicks like crazy to AI in the long run. Instead, start prioritizing topics that AI will struggle to answer.

How do you know which topics it will struggle to answer? Try asking ChatGPT. If it gives a good and concise answer, it’s clearly an easy question.

For example, there are hundreds of searches for how to calculate a percentage in Google Sheets every month in the US:

Estimated monthly search volume for "google sheets percentage formula" via Ahrefs' Keywords ExplorerEstimated monthly search volume for "google sheets percentage formula" via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

If you ask ChatGPT for the solution, it gives you a perfect answer in about fifty words.

ChatGPT's answer to the Google Sheets percentage calculation formulaChatGPT's answer to the Google Sheets percentage calculation formula

This is the perfect example of a topic where generative AI will remove the need to click on a search result for many.

That’s probably not going to be the case for a topic like this:

Example of a topic that AI shouldn't impact too muchExample of a topic that AI shouldn't impact too much

Sure. Generative AI might be able to tell you how to create a template—but it can’t make one for you. And even if it can in the future, it will never be a personal finance expert with experience. You’ll always have to click on a search result for a template created by that person.

These are the kinds of topics to prioritize in 2024 and beyond.

Sidenote.

None of this means you should stop targeting “simple” topics altogether. You’ll always be able to get some traffic from them. My point is not to be obsessed with ranking for keywords whose days are numbered. Prioritize topics with long-term value instead.

Bonus: 3 SEO trends to ignore in 2024

Not all SEO trends move the needle. Here are just a few of those trends and why you should ignore them.

People are using voice search more than ever

In 2014, Google revealed that 41% of Americans use voice search daily. According to research by UpCity, that number was up to 50% as of 2022. I haven’t seen any data for 2023 yet, but I’d imagine it’s above 50%.

Why you should ignore this SEO trend

75% of voice search results come from a page ranking in the top 3, and 40.7% come from a featured snippet. If you’re already optimizing for those things, there’s not much more you can do.

People are using visual search for shopping more than ever

In 2022, Insider Intelligence reported that 22% of US adults have shopped with visual search (Google Lens, Bing Visual Search, etc.). That number is up from just 15% in 2021.

Why you should ignore this SEO trend

Much like voice search, there’s no real way to optimize for visual search. Sure, it helps to have good quality product images, optimized filenames and alt text, and product schema markup on your pages—but you should be doing this stuff anyway as it’s been a best practice since forever.

People are using Bing more than ever before

Bing’s Yusuf Mehdi announced in March 2023 that the search engine had surpassed 100M daily active users for the first time ever. This came just one month after the launch of AI-powered Bing.

Why you should ignore this SEO trend

Bing might be more popular than ever, but its market share still only stands at around ~3% according to estimates by Statcounter. Google’s market share stands at roughly 92%, so that’s the one you should be optimizing for.

Plus, it’s often the case that if you rank in Google, you also rank in Bing—so it really doesn’t deserve any focus.

Final thoughts

Keeping your finger on the pulse and taking advantage of trends makes sense, but don’t let them distract you from the boring stuff that’s always worked: find what people are searching for > create content about it > build backlinks > repeat.

Got questions? Ping me on Twitter X.



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Mozilla VPN Security Risks Discovered

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Mozilla VPN Security Risks Discovered

Mozilla published the results of a recent third-party security audit of its VPN services as part of it’s commitment to user privacy and security. The survey revealed security issues which were presented to Mozilla to be addressed with fixes to ensure user privacy and security.

Many search marketers use VPNs during the course of their business especially when using a Wi-Fi connection in order to protect sensitive data, so the  trustworthiness of a VNP is essential.

Mozilla VPN

A Virtual Private Network (VPN), is a service that hides (encrypts) a user’s Internet traffic so that no third party (like an ISP) can snoop and see what sites a user is visiting.

VPNs also add a layer of security from malicious activities such as session hijacking which can give an attacker full access to the websites a user is visiting.

There is a high expectation from users that the VPN will protect their privacy when they are browsing on the Internet.

Mozilla thus employs the services of a third party to conduct a security audit to make sure their VPN is thoroughly locked down.

Security Risks Discovered

The audit revealed vulnerabilities of medium or higher severity, ranging from Denial of Service (DoS). risks to keychain access leaks (related to encryption) and the lack of access controls.

Cure53, the third party security firm, discovered and addressed several risks. Among the issues were potential VPN leaks to the vulnerability of a rogue extension that disabled the VPN.

The scope of the audit encompassed the following products:

  • Mozilla VPN Qt6 App for macOS
  • Mozilla VPN Qt6 App for Linux
  • Mozilla VPN Qt6 App for Windows
  • Mozilla VPN Qt6 App for iOS
  • Mozilla VPN Qt6 App for Androi

These are the risks identified by the security audit:

  • FVP-03-003: DoS via serialized intent
  • FVP-03-008: Keychain access level leaks WG private key to iCloud
  • VP-03-010: VPN leak via captive portal detection
  • FVP-03-011: Lack of local TCP server access controls
  • FVP-03-012: Rogue extension can disable VPN using mozillavpnnp (High)

The rogue extension issue was rated as high severity. Each risk was subsequently addressed by Mozilla.

Mozilla presented the results of the security audit as part of their commitment to transparency and to maintain the trust and security of their users. Conducting a third party security audit is a best practice for a VPN provider that helps assure that the VPN is trustworthy and reliable.

Read Mozilla’s announcement:
Mozilla VPN Security Audit 2023

Featured Image by Shutterstock/Meilun

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