Marketing your “Safe” Travel Organization
What does “safe” really mean?
You work hard to ensure that your processes for managing risk are thorough and consistent at your organization. It’s why you read this blog, engage in networking opportunities, and meet with Cornerstone advisors. There’s a very good chance that you have health and safety information about your programs displayed … somewhere. In fact, you probably recognize that highlighting the ways you and your team approach risk management is a crucial selling point of your travel programs.
However, when did you last evaluate how all that hard work is communicated to your target market? Without consistent review, you may be under - or over - delivering information about safety to your participants and their families, impeding your ability to get the message across.
Below, we’ve highlighted some best practices for ensuring that your approach to marketing the health and safety of your travel program is appropriate, legal, and effective.
What to Say … and Avoid Saying
Let’s say that your current health and safety site starts with “safety of our programs is our number one priority.” Perhaps your current marketing says “we are the safest travel provider out there.” Maybe you even point to your policies and “ensure” that your programs are “safe.”
That’s fine, right? After all, that’s what all my competitors’ sites say.
Nope! In fact, they’re not only untrue, but these sorts of statements could create legal challenges for your organization. There is inherent risk in travel - it cannot be eliminated. Insinuating otherwise, that you have “safe” programs, is simply not true. Using words like “safe” and “safest” indicate a certainty that you cannot have as a travel provider.
Furthermore, safety isn’t your number one priority (although we admit that it sometimes does feel like it when you’re spending hours with your crisis response and risk management documentation!). If safety was your top priority, you probably wouldn’t go anywhere at all.
Instead, you’re a travel organization that pushes your participants to experience new environments, positive challenges, and transformation. You certainly do a lot to consider the safety of each vendor, activity, and participant, but your number one priority is probably delivering a powerful travel experience. So, here’s what you should avoid:
Avoid: Definitive statements
Your program should not be described as “safe,” but you can describe your approach to safety and the importance of it to your organization (see our ideas for what to say below).
Avoid: Hidden or confusing safety information
Try to avoid hiding your health and safety information within your marketing materials or on your site. Especially when it comes to including forms, waivers, and policies in your enrollment paperwork, be sure that your safety information isn’t buried between documents, too small to read, or impossible to save. You want your participants and their families to understand the risks and what you’ve done to minimize them.
Of note, ensure that your COVID page and policies are up to date within your site and paperwork. Many providers have “leftover” policies displayed in their public marketing materials that no longer apply or have changed over time. Furthermore, ensure that your COVID page isn’t a replacement for your health and safety information. You don’t want your audience to think that you first started considering the topic in 2020! Make it clear throughout your materials where participants can find information about both COVID and your ongoing health and safety information.
Avoid: Comparing your approach to your competitors
In addition to just being bad karma, we take the approach that human safety is not intellectual property. Instead, it’s something we all work toward as an industry, using our network to help us stay up to speed on the most innovative best practices. With this in mind, focus on your organization’s efforts to design effective programs and policies and don’t compare to other companies or use slanderous language towards other organizations.
So, what should you say? Here are some of our top tips from organizations like yours.
Safety is one of our top priorities.
It’s not the first, but we certainly hope that the safety of your programs does rank highly in your list of organizational priorities. Shifting your language allows you to account for the inherent risk of travel, while acknowledging that your team does work hard to evaluate and minimize the risk involved.
We take the safety of our programs seriously.
Here, you can even go into detail, providing some examples and information about how you vet vendors, choose activities, or analyze the safety of a region. Demonstrate your expertise by explaining how you account for safety (a high level overview, of course), rather than trying to convince your audience with a definitive (but unverifiable) statement.
Where to Highlight Safety in your Marketing Efforts
With the right approach and by arming your team with the appropriate tools, explaining your approach to health and safety can be a competitive advantage, rather than additional material to slog through. So, where should you infuse safety information into your marketing efforts (without detracting from the exciting stuff)? Here are some places to start:
Website
As a visitor to your site, where would I find your health and safety information?
A dedicated health and safety landing page. Is it easy to find from your home page and through search? Is it easy to understand and does it make your policies clear?
Links to important safety information in your featured program pages or throughout the customer journey.
The FAQ or parent/family page.
On your teams page - for members, include Cornerstone as part of your team and demonstrate your commitment to safety through the inclusion of on-call support!
Email Nurture & Onboarding Sequences
Once I’ve subscribed, where am I directed to review this information?
Throughout your lead nurture sequences for different audiences.
Automation and enrollment sequences; where would participants be directed to look at the health and safety page in your participant enrollment journey?
Digital & Traditional Media
As a lead considering travel with you, how would I see that safety is a priority for you?
Highlights of your health and safety information on your social media platforms.
Links or mentions in your digital or traditional advertising.
Information distributed during virtual and in-person events.
Enrolled Traveler Portals
Once I’ve made the decision to enroll, where can I familiarize myself with the policies and protocols?
Online portals, pages, or participant information.
Throughout documentation, handbooks, or forms due.
In orientations, virtual or in-person.
In Summary: Make Safety an Integral Part of your Marketing Efforts
You and your team work hard on your safety policies, so it pays to display them prominently and effectively. Done right, you can ensure that your participants and families have an accurate and promising view of how you approach safety and will be more aware of how you navigate situations when they do occur.
It’s also crucial that your information is available to your internal team and that all stakeholders are given appropriate, consistent language to use when describing your approach to safety. Don’t avoid touting your safety policies - they may be slightly less exciting than the programs themselves, but the peace of mind that they provide to your participants and families could help with conversion. With some collaboration and clear communication, it’s a win-win for both marketing and programming.