Revenge travel is all the rage, and customers are ready to hop on a plane and enjoy their long-awaited holidays. But the travel surge isn’t simply a matter of returning to pre-pandemic engagement levels. Customers’ return to travel has come with new expectations.
Currently, travelers are prioritizing conscientious choices; 82% of customers want to engage with brands that align with their personal values, to the point where they’re even willing to pay more to do so.
For 90% of customers, sustainability is the major value they’re prioritizing. And to be a truly sustainable company, every employee plays a crucial role—marketers included. Discover how your brand can contribute to sustainability through personalized communications that are full of clarity, authenticity, and value.
Sustainability Areas That Matter to Customers
When it comes to sustainability, it’s key for marketers to nail down what specific issues matter most to customers and what tradeoffs they’re willing to make to be more environmentally conscious:
Environmental Impacts
In a recent study by the Boston Consulting group, 70% of participants expressed a heightened awareness surrounding environmental issues post-pandemic. As a requisite result, over 60% of customers are now opting for greener options in transportation and lodging. This is a clear shift from previous studies that showed while customers supported environmentally-friendly initiatives, this was not reflected in travel purchases. Today’s customers are investing in environment-first travel.
Local Economies, Cultures, and Communities
#Shoplocal isn’t just for retail. Over 65% of customers are seeking to support local economies, cultures, and communities with their travel spend. That often involves trading in traditional tourist spots for lesser-known destination gems, a key sustainability strategy for over half of customers. It’s a double win for sustainability and customer experience; not only do travelers support a cause they value, they enjoy a unique experience they wouldn’t have otherwise. What's more, by choosing to travel to destinations during a quieter off-peak season, travelers can often save money and reduce overcrowding.
Sustainable alternatives may sit in the customers’ hands, but it’s the job of marketers to use personalized messaging to make the travel options straightforward, clearly show how the brand is doing their part, and communicate the value of sustainable choices.
Communicate with Clarity
The high volume of information surrounding sustainability can be overwhelming. In return, marketers need to act as a filter for customers by showing them what they need to know in a visual, quick-to-comprehend way.
If a customer is searching for flights, display the lower-emission flights they can take. If a customer is browsing for a locale that sparks their interest, serve up less-frequented or similar destinations that inspire.
Marketing communications don’t stop at suggestions. It’s important to let customers know how far they’ve come and realize how their impact tangibly contributes to the broader picture of brand sustainability initiatives.
Here, Inkredible Travel shows Alex his measurable impact in a visually engaging way. Alex’s sustainable year of travel is beautifully summarized with gallons of fuel saved from greener flights, uncommon travel spots visited, and miles traveled using greener transportation. To finish off the email, Alex sees how his choices have financially contributed to Inkredible Travel’s sustainability efforts.
Authenticity That Walks the Talk
Brands must walk hand-in-hand with customers to make sustainable choices together. Customers are rightly growing wiser to green-washing and lip-service, so it’s crucial for brands to serve up the proof-points behind their sustainability claims. For a customer to deem a brand is aligned with their personal values, they need the data to confirm it.
Brands can take proof-points a step further by not only making key information public, but showing their sustainability steps in context with visual messaging.
Using data visualization, Inkredible Travel shows customers how much fuel their airlines have consciously saved in a year’s worth of flights. While the top of the message displays how many gallons were saved, the infographic succeeds in quickly driving home to customers that when it comes to sustainability, Inkredible Travel passes with flying colors—especially in comparison with its competitors.
Illustrate Value
Customers are willing to make tradeoffs for sustainability. In fact, 3 in 5 travelers opt for more environmentally friendly travel and lodging despite forgoing convenience, whether that’s by taking public transit to save on fuel or opting for a hotel with sustainable values.
Here, Inkredible Travel offers personalized recommendations in response to Antony’s recent browsing. Within Portugal, smaller cities are suggested for a more unique trip. To top off the email, different ride options with their respective prices are included so customers can make a choice based on their priorities.
Customers are willing to make the necessary sacrifices, but engaging marketing communications needn’t be one of them. Communications that leverage data visualization, zero- and first-party data, and personalized recommendations are not only key in guiding sustainable decisions, they’re crucial to showing customers the value of their conscientious choices.
Conclusion
Travel is back, but it doesn’t look the same as pre-pandemic days. Customers want to couple their revenge travel with sustainable options that leave places better than when they arrived. With the right marketing communications to showcase customers’ wins and stay transparent as a brand, marketers are well on their way to making that a reality.