As travel publishing continues to evolve in the 21st Century, digital marketing will only become a more crucial tool for writers to master. Photo by: Martin Burns
Once upon a time, travel writers could rely on print media to make a solid living. Content creators experienced and aspiring could follow a tried and true path to success.
Every day, they’d follow the best practices of the freelance media business, drumming up work. They’d pitch story ideas to magazine editors, write articles to send to regional newspapers on spec, and hound their agents about those book gigs.
Days would go by without feedback, in the pre-digital world.
Until one day, the Internet arrived. With it came quickened communications – email trumps snail mail – and an entirely new way to for publishers to distribute content – often, for free.
Because of that, new markets for online content sprang up, creating additional outlets for travel writers to get their content to audiences quickly. As web browser technology advanced and internet load times shortened, more and more people started getting their information online.
Because of that, traditional print media struggled to maintain their paid content business models. With huge fixed costs and declining subscription bases, print media became bogged down financially, and the industry consolidated. As online markets continued to open, many traditional print ones wound operations down.
Because of that, travel writers found themselves facing a conundrum: overall, they had more market opportunities than ever before. But the pay for online media work was minimal compared to what they were used to earning in the print media heyday.
Content creators had to figure out a way to recalibrate their paychecks to improve their shrinking per-word rates. Because of that, many decided to learn about web development, but the web publishing tools in place required a level of technical ability that had a bit of steep learning curve. A big demand arose for easier-to-use web publishing tools.
Until finally, blogging platforms arrived. Blogging changed the game for travel writers and other content creators. By removing the technical hurdles and creating easy-to-use web publishing interfaces, blogging allowed travel writers to quickly create their own content websites, grow their audiences, monetize their efforts and take control of their content creation businesses.
As blogging evolved, so too did digital marketing. Using tools like social media, SEO, and A/B testing for email marketing, writers and web publishers were able to get a much more accurate picture of who was engaging with their content, and double down on what was most popular. Digital marketing allowed them to promote their work directly to their audiences, learn what worked, and replicate that success – all while earning revenue directly from their efforts.
Fast forward to today’s travel media world, on the cusp of the 2020s, and digital marketing has evolved from a journalist’s “nice to have” skill, to a “need to have” one. Because by mastering digital marketing, today’s travel writers have all they need to launch, grow and scale their own web publishing empires.