As travel bloggers, our goal is to inspire our readers and share our expertise so they can have the best experiences. Creating the right content during a pandemic can be very challenging.
It’s important to have insights about your audience and create up-to-date, inspirational content.
Below, I’ll guide you through four steps on how to tune in with your audience and provide the right content.
1. Listen to your audience.
Firstly, listen to your audience. Find out what is on their minds right now. Create a poll on your social media, blog, or mailing list to find out how you can support them. Who is already traveling? Who isn’t? What would they like to see or read from you? What can you help them with right now? Don’t be afraid to reach out.
People who are planning a trip want to make the most out of it, especially with an unpredictable future. Preparation is key for a meaningful, unforgettable trip. Inform your audience that a well-prepared trip helps ease any stress, sets the tone for the trip and helps them in getting what they truly desire from it.
Provide them with tools on how to set an intention for their trip or look for their perfect getaway destination. Give them updates about safety measures, the safest airlines, etc.
2. Lean into your niche.
You’re probably specialized in a certain niche. You can use the specifics of this niche to inspire posts so that you’re never stuck for something to write about.
For example, if you focus on solo travel, you can provide your audience with small steps to get into solo travel (again) and how to prepare at home, so they are more comfortable heading out on a trip by themselves when the time comes.
Perhaps your niche is in food travel. You can focus on the food side while travel is limited. Sharing recipes or cooking meals that are iconic of a place your readers might long to travel to.
3. Go domestic.
There are lots of people who simply cannot travel right now. Depending on their country or state, lockdown rules could be seriously limiting where they can go. For people in this situation, you can help by writing about local/domestic travel.
Whether your audience are expats or locals: discovering more of the country/region/city they’re living in has become a popular way to escape daily life for a while. Plus, it has many benefits:
- Solo travelers: It’s a nice first trip, not too far from home.
- Budget travelers: It’s low-cost.
- Conscious travelers: It’s good for the environment & local businesses.
Some of your readers might be on a strict lockdown or in quarantine, so ask what they would like to read from you. Again, it’s all about listening to the needs of your audience.
4. Connect with your audience.
Connecting with your readers is a good way to keep content coming in. You might ask them to share a picture or a story with you about a trip they enjoyed. You can then share that with your readers as a “reader spotlight” post. That way, you increase the community feeling and get close to your audience.
You can start a digital detox challenge that people can try on their trip, or a no social media day. Or a mindful moment, where they share a picture or a story with you while they were present in the moment and taking it all in.
We all have our own reason for travel, and we all want to uplift and inspire one another with posts, blogs, and reviews. That’s probably why you became a travel writer or blogger. But what travelers need right now is you, their favorite travel writers and bloggers, supporting them in making their next trip really count. It’s up to you to keep the flame of wanderlust burning brightly!