Before you put pen to paper, it’s worth thinking about what kind of content is going to work best for your business.

Which type of blog post works best for your experience business?

If you run an experience business, a blog can be a great asset to promote your activities and generate bookings. But before you put pen to paper, it’s worth thinking about what kind of content is going to work best for your business.

Generally speaking, online articles will fit into five broad categories. Knowing in advance which category you’re writing for will help keep your writing on track and focused.

Not sure whether a blog is for you? Find out how a blog can be a powerful marketing tool for your business.

List-based blog posts are really easy to navigate, as they present their information via a series of headlines. Readers can simply scroll through the article and see if a headline catches their eye. This simplicity makes list-based articles extremely useful when marketing your business. In fact, they’re so useful that most of the articles in this guide are lists - including this one!

Example
A Cardiff-based SUP business wants to market stand-up paddleboarding to complete beginners as well as more experienced enthusiasts. To target beginners, write an article called 5 reasons to try stand-up paddleboarding in Cardiff, to catch the attention of tourists and locals who’ve not tried the activity much before, if at all.

Meanwhile, an article entitled 7 of the best places to SUP around Cardiff helps target a more experienced demographic keen to rent boards and explore independently.

If you’ve got some expertise on a topic, you might want to write some explainer articles. These dive a bit deeper into their subject than list-based articles, which means they might take a bit longer to write. But the pay-off is that you can more powerfully demonstrate your passion for your business and market to a more experienced customer.

Example
An artificial ski slope is getting plenty of bookings, but wants to generate more revenue via the centre’s in-house workshop. Sensing that people might not be aware of the importance of getting their equipment serviced, the workshop manager writes up a series of short articles for the centre’s blog explaining why it’s important to look after your ski gear, and how often to get it serviced. This article not only helps generate bookings for the workshop, but promotes the centre as a source of expertise.

If you have lots of outdoor equipment (or even just a little), reviewing it is a great way to cut through the noise and attract enthusiasts seeking information about a specific product. As your blog is for marketing your business, you probably want to avoid rating any equipment you actually use too negatively. Instead, you can dive into who that piece of equipment is ideal for, demonstrating your deep understanding of your field and giving customers some insight into what to expect.

Example
A diving centre offering lessons for beginner, intermediate, and expert divers wants to call more attention to the quality of their equipment, which is a major selling point for their business. So they decide to write up a series of quick, 200-word reviews for every significant item used by customers, from goggles to flippers.

Across all their reviews, they make sure to point out which items are perfect for first-timers, which are ideal for those looking to advance, and which are best-suited to more experienced divers. This helps attract a wide range of customers, from beginners seeking reassurance to keen divers looking for high-quality equipment.

Your instructors are the face of your business, and for your customers, their main point of contact. Writing up interviews and profiles of your staff is a great way for your readers to feel like they’ve gotten to know the people behind the business, forming an emotional connection. It’s also very easy to do. Send a basic list of questions to all your staff - including some funny ones like their favourite karaoke song or go-to party trick - and you’ve got a bunch of great content ready to go.

Example
A fitness company wants to promote their business online. Knowing that customers would want to feel reassured that their children were in good hands, they posts a series of instructor profiles on their blog showing the personality, expertise, and credentials of each instructor. They make sure to include a call-to-action encouraging viewers to book onto a taster session.

Last but not least, you can use a blog to keep people up to date with the general goings-on in your business via news articles and opinion pieces. If you’re a bit of a wordsmith and enjoy writing for its own sake, posting short, insightful essays about areas of interest or news and updates will help readers invest in you as a business. Just don’t feel too pressured to write the next bestseller!

Example
A guided mountain expedition company has noticed a distinct lull every January, when the colder weather and post-festive blues puts people off going outside. They decide to write an article, Why January is my favourite month for mountaineering, to help spread the word about the mountaineering opportunities to be had in the depth of winter. Whilst they don’t anticipate this article generating a huge amount of bookings, it helps communicate expertise, drives up SEO, and could attract more experienced readers looking to have some guided New Year adventures.

For more marketing tips and ideas, visit the eola Academy, and give us a follow on Instagram for all the latest updates.

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Choosing the right type of blog post to promote your activity business

Memberships can diversify your revenue stream and help build a more stable base for your business.

Over the last decade, subscription-based memberships have become more and more popular with experience businesses and activity centres. When working seamlessly with rental- and activity-based services - as they do in eola’s booking and business management system - memberships can diversify your revenue stream and help build a more stable base for your business.

Here are five key ways memberships can help grow your experience business.

Businesses built on a bookings-based revenue model are inherently flexible, but the flip side of that flexibility is exposure to seasonal shifts in demand. Particularly for outdoors activities and businesses in tourist hotspots, memberships can provide a source of stable revenue in less busy months, and encourage bookings in otherwise quieter periods.

Experience businesses have the potential to be so much more than a series of transactions. Memberships can encourage customers to enter into a richer, more long-term relationship with your business, and help build a community around it. The organic word-of-mouth marketing generated by such a community can be invaluable.

Why do people commit to a gym membership, rather than just paying for the gym whenever they feel like going? Because in exchange for an upfront commitment, they can get stronger and fitter over a period of months or years. In the same way, customers who purchase a membership for your business can build upon their skill set over a long period of time. What’s more, they can do so at a potentially cheaper overall cost, in exchange for the upfront commitment.

Whilst taster sessions are fantastic entry points, offering memberships allows you to develop a series of experiences that go beyond merely the introductory. Tapping into a more stable revenue stream enables you to plan a more intensive series of courses or activity streams, adjusted for ability and experience. This opens up your business to more in-depth, enjoyable experiences for you and/or your instructors.

Once a customer has bought into your business via a membership, they are likely to be much more open to upgrading their experience via add-ons and other members-only perks. Not every business is the same - with eola’s memberships product, these perks can take whatever form you prefer. Whether that’s discounted activities or equipment rentals, or even free access to certain experiences, you can set up your memberships and accompanying perks however you see fit.

When working seamlessly with rental- and activity-based services - as they do in eola’s booking and business management system - memberships can diversify your revenue stream and help build a more stable base for your business.

5 ways memberships can amplify your experience businesses

Generate stable revenue year-round

Build long-term customer relationships

Upskill your client base

Broaden and deepen your offering

Upsell, your way

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