Content marketing works best when you’re creating the right content for the right stage of the buyer journey — not just producing what seems interesting and hoping it converts. For tour operators, the path from initial travel inspiration to confirmed booking can take months, and the content that’s effective at the awareness stage is very different from what moves someone from consideration to commitment. Here’s how to think about it.
Different stages of the marketing funnel
The marketing funnel maps the journey from first awareness of your brand to booking — or in content marketing terms, from TOFU (top of funnel) to MOFU (middle of funnel) to BOFU (bottom of funnel). Each stage has different audience needs, different search behaviours, and different content types that serve them well. In travel, this funnel is often longer and more research-intensive than in other categories — a customer planning an escorted tour might spend three to six months considering options before committing, moving through multiple content touchpoints along the way.
Creating a buyer-centric content strategy
Top of the Funnel Content
Top-of-funnel content reaches prospective customers who are in the early inspiration stage — they may be considering a type of destination or trip experience without yet knowing which operator they’d choose. This is awareness and discovery content: destination guides, “best places to visit” articles, trip type introductions, and travel inspiration pieces. In our experience, the most effective TOFU content for tour operators is highly specific to the destinations and trip types they offer, rather than broadly aspirational travel content that attracts visitors with no real commercial potential. A destination guide optimised for organic search that attracts the right traveller persona — even at a broad, early stage — is far more valuable than generic travel content that drives traffic but no pipeline.
Middle of the Funnel Content
Middle-of-funnel content serves prospective customers who are now actively evaluating options. They know roughly what they want — they’re researching specific destinations, comparing trip types, and starting to look at operators. For tour operators, this is where comparison content, detailed destination guides, “what to expect on a group tour” articles, and FAQ content does its most important work. What we’ve found is that MOFU content which directly addresses the questions and anxieties that come up in sales conversations — group sizes, guide quality, what’s included, how booking works — converts at significantly higher rates than general destination content.
Content types for middle of the funnel:
Detailed destination and trip type comparison guides; operator comparison content; “why choose a specialist operator” articles; FAQ pages covering common pre-booking questions; customer testimonials and trip reviews; departure availability guides and “when to book” content. For operators with long booking windows, MOFU content that speaks to the specific anxieties of the consideration stage — ATOL protection, guaranteed departures, what happens if the trip changes — can be decisive in the conversion from browser to enquiry.
Bottom of the Funnel Content
Bottom-of-funnel content supports the final decision and booking. At this stage, the prospective customer has a high level of intent and needs reassurance rather than inspiration. This means: detailed trip pages with clear pricing and departure information, booking guarantee and protection information, specific customer testimonials from people like them, and clear, frictionless enquiry or booking mechanisms. Clients often ask us why their content strategy is driving traffic but not enough enquiries — and the most common answer is that BOFU content is under-developed or too similar to their MOFU content. Someone ready to book needs different information than someone still researching destinations.