Integrated, 360° Marketing for Destinations: Meeting Travelers Where They Are
Explores how DMOs can use integrated, 360° marketing strategies to connect offline inspiration with online action and drive measurable visitation.
Imagine this scenario: Jane drives past a billboard for Acme Mountain Resort, sparking her interest in a winter getaway. Later, she sees a YouTube video ad showcasing the slopes and cozy cabins, reinforcing the destination. A few days later, she clicks a paid search ad to explore lodging options on the Acme website. After signing up for the newsletter, she receives a personalized email offer, which ultimately convinces her to book a weekend stay — a journey that seamlessly connects offline inspiration to online action.
In today’s digital world, DMOs face a growing challenge: how to be everywhere your travelers are while driving measurable visitation and economic impact. The modern traveler’s journey is fragmented across devices, platforms, and moments — from scrolling social feeds to glancing at a billboard on the highway. Bridging these touchpoints to create one cohesive story has never been more critical… or more complex.
The Challenge: Fragmented Journeys, Rising Costs, and Offline-to-Online Disconnects
Travelers no longer follow a linear path from inspiration to booking. They move fluidly across devices and channels — social feeds, connected TV (CTV), search engines, or even billboards on the highway. While this creates more touchpoints to influence, it also introduces a major challenge: tracking and connecting offline impressions to online behavior.
For example, a family might see a striking winter getaway billboard while driving through their city, but there’s no direct “click” to measure engagement. Similarly, print ads, radio spots, or out-of-home placements generate awareness, but without sophisticated tracking, it’s difficult to quantify their contribution to website visits, guide downloads, or bookings. This disconnect can make it feel like offline campaigns operate in a vacuum, even though they may be critical in sparking traveler interest.
Compounding this challenge, costs are rising across both digital and traditional channels. Per Wordstream, average cost per clicks increased by 86% YoY in 2024, and 25% in the travel sector. Without a clear way to connect offline efforts to online conversions, DMOs risk inefficient spend and limited insight into what truly drives visitation. In today’s zero-click environment, the ability to bridge offline and online touchpoints is no longer optional. It’s essential to understand the full traveler journey and ensure every dollar contributes to measurable outcomes.
The Tech: Tying Audiences and Journeys Together
The good news? New tools are redefining what “integration” means.
- Geofencing and mobile ID targeting lets you retarget users online who passed by your billboard ad or saw your OOH placement.
- Household IP and device matching connect those impressions to connected TV (CTV), search, and display campaigns.
- Customer match data helps extend CRM and email audiences across Google, Meta, and programmatic platforms.
Together, these technologies enable you to follow the traveler’s path and drive them back to your owned channels to take action.
The Plan: Research and Multi-Channel Integration
A true 360° marketing approach starts with research about who your travelers are, as well as how and when they make decisions. Understanding audience behavior across both offline and online channels allows destination marketers to build campaigns that connect inspiration, intent, and conversion.
Start with foundational insights:
- Visitor origin and market data tell you where your travelers come from, which is key for prioritizing media markets.
- Audience segmentation and traveler personas help define motivations: families seeking relaxation, adventure seekers chasing experiences, or couples craving a romantic escape.
- Seasonality and trip-planning timelines reveal when each audience is most receptive to messaging.
Then layer on digital intelligence (search trends, social listening, website analytics, and content engagement) to understand where and how travelers interact with your brand online. For instance, are they discovering your destination through Pinterest boards, travel blogs, or CTV ads during streaming shows?
Once you have this full picture, you can start to connect the dots across channels:
- Use programmatic display and social media to drive early inspiration in key origin markets.
- Pair OOH (billboards, print, radio) with geofencing and mobile retargeting to bring offline audiences into your digital ecosystem.
- Combine CTV and YouTube to extend storytelling reach, while search and meta retargeting capture intent and drive traffic to your website or visitor guide.
Don’t overlook email marketing and owned channels to nurture engagement and convert high-intent audiences.
The Creative: Matching Message to Moment
An integrated campaign doesn’t mean one-size-fits-all creative. Align your messaging with the platform and the planning mindset. Inspire on social with storytelling; reassure with logistics in search; immerse through video on CTV. Consistent branding with contextual nuance keeps your destination top-of-mind, while keeping your spend efficient.
For example, imagine a DMO promoting winter travel to a mountain destination:
- On billboards along major feeder highways, bold, emotional visuals — a family laughing on the slopes under the tagline “Your Winter Starts Here” — plant the seed of inspiration for weekend travelers.
- On social media, short-form video and influencer content showcase cozy cabins, ski slopes, and après-ski moments, designed to inspire during the “dreaming” phase.
- On connected TV (CTV), 15-second cinematic spots tell the emotional story of reconnecting with family in a snow-covered setting — perfect for building awareness.
- Through search and display, practical messaging like “Plan your winter getaway” or “Explore ski packages near Denver” targets users in the “planning and booking” phase.
- In email and retargeting, dynamic creative highlights trip deals or itinerary ideas personalized to the user’s browsing history.
Each touchpoint reflects the same brand promise, but it’s adapted to meet travelers exactly where they are in their journey. That’s the key to turning inspiration into visitation.
Ready to Build Your 360° Marketing Strategy?
If you’re ready to craft a truly integrated, results-driven marketing plan for your destination, connect with Tempest’s Growth Marketing team. Our experts can help you build a data-informed, multi-channel strategy designed to meet your audience where they are — ultimately bring them right to you. Need creative support? The same team behind our signature, dynamic website designs is also available to assist in the development of print or digital campaign assets.
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