Chicago's Black History Walking Tour

I connected with Gillian over social media and offered my services to her as an ad copywriter for a walking tour she did in the Chicago-area.

Prior to working with me, she had put up ads for her tour on Airbnb. She expressed interest in not only boosting her presence on Airbnb, but introducing her tour to other travel websites like Viator.

To best help Gillian, I used Semrush and Google Analytics to source keywords and better understand how Airbnb, Viator, and Google ranked online listings like hers. The goal was to organize and clarify her copy in order to increase her CTR.

Poor engagement was leading to a decrease in bookings. Rebranding and focusing the ad was the only way to increase sales.

Goals/Requirements: • Research and analyze Gillian's target audience • Improve the existing copy without compromising Gillian's voice • Help Gillian's tour stand out from other tour ads

First, I established a deadline for this work with Gillian. Gillian emphasized that there was no strict timeline for me to work within, however, she said she preferred that my work be completed before March so she could use my copy on her profile and restart tours in the warmer weather.

Before writing copy, I prioritized SEO research. I sourced online resources that might explain the ranking algorithm for Airbnb. I also took the time to develop keywords and synonyms of those keywords that could carry over to multiple platforms. This research would also help corner Gillian's market and establish her niche.

On the subject of niche, equal time was spent auditing the existing profile and advertisement. I took some notes of Gillian's profile which was separate from the advertisement itself. Additionally, I looked over the existing summary of the tour to assess its strengths and weaknesses. With this in mind, I analyzed the existing reviews of the tour as well to see what was noteworthy to previous guests, and get a sense of the demographics of her audience.

I rewrote Gillian's Airbnb advertisement and personal bio, some of which was supplemented with research of Chicago's South Side, focusing on strong verb choices and varied structure. While writing, I also referred to walking tour ads with 200+ reviews to compare length and word choice.

Recognizing that Gillian could repurpose some of this material for the Viator account she had not yet made, reference to other ads became an easy way for me to split up the existing copy and reformat it for Viator's platform.

At the end of this project, I chose to include some of my findings about keywords and Airbnb's algorithm in the document I shared with Gillian. These notes included some marketing strategies for promoting a Black history centered tour—specifically suggesting that Gillian try to increase traffic during Juneteenth and/or Black History Month by getting in contact with Airbnb via LinkedIn or their contact page.

Below details some of the important questions asked during this process:

What are the demographics of the people who tour with Gillian?

What factors into Airbnb's ranking algorithm?

What keywords align with the market and SEO research?

How can we clarify and streamline what Gillian has to say?

Are there pertinent pieces of information in Gillian's bio that apply to her advertisement?

What makes Gillian's tour special?

The most important part of this job was maintaining a professional voice without losing Gillian's purpose and personal flair.

In order to increase Gillian's click through rate, and simultaneously her bookings, I needed to assess how the existing ad was being perceived. While Gillian set herself a part from other tour guides by being a 5th generation Chicago South Side native, the structure of the existing copy bounced around and didn't build a specific brand.

I reorganized the ad by beginning with a strong one line introduction. Thereafter, I implemented the strengths of other tour ads by bullet listing her tour's highlights, writing a short breakdown of the tour, and then including some additional notes for her tourists. This varied structured was elevated by strong verbs and nouns, while cutting out filler words.

I focused on the four C's: keep things clear, concise, correct, & compelling.

The last part of this process was to make sure that the written copy could be repurposed for other platforms.

Gillian's interest in Viator as another source of income led me to reorganize and restructure the existing copy for a different website. Ultimately, this helped me test the strength of my rewrite and to see if it read well in a different context.

Similar to before, some of the restructuring I proposed for Viator was verified by looking at other successful advertisements. After gathering information, I shortened the existing copy and chose to use punchier verbs around the highlights to garner the attention of the newer audience.

Viator being a new and different platform, my edits emphasized that Gillian make it clear that she was not a big company peddling the same tour to every customer. In large part, this was because the research I had done on this website demonstrated that the market was much more commercial. And with Viator being a part of Tripadvisor, I felt that it would be truer to their brand to write more about Gillian being a local and not a big name company.

When a client is happy with what you've produced, it feels great, but a successful client is a tangible reflection of your work. Ultimately, Gillian has not yet rolled out this copy. However, I will update this page as we see results in March.

Copy is most powerful when concise and brand-conscious

SEO research requires more than SERP resources

A deadline benefits the writing process because it forces strategic planning