Transforming Hiking Enthusiast Interest into Bookings with Multi-Step Lead Forms

How to Turn Hiking Enthusiasts into Bookings with Multi-Step Lead Forms

Hiking in Europe has seen massive growth in recent times, driven by factors such as rising tourism spending, health tourism, and responsible tourism. From the mountain trails of the Alps to the coastal trails of the Mediterranean, there are millions of keen participants every year.

At the same time, capturing the attention of the potential audience of the offer, namely those who love hiking, and turning it into demand for relevant services can be a challenge for various travel companies, operators, and organizers of such events. Multi-stage lead forms are one of the most effective ways to ensure continuity between lead generation and lead nurturing

Source

Remote multi-stage lead forms are known for their effectiveness in online advertising. Such forms are divided into multiple sections, allowing you to share additional information with potential customers without getting lost or leaving the site. By receiving information in small portions, they gradually lead the client to the booking option. 

In Europe, there are perfect hiking trails which can be described as one of the most stunning ones in the world. The European trail system includes such famous tracks as the Tour du Mont Blanc through France, Switzerland, and Italy; the Spanish Camino de Santiago; and the Scottish West Highland Way. Picos de Europa hiking is also a great experience. Thus, the need for hiking adventures has only grown after the pandemic, and tourists are focused on choosing nature-oriented, healthy, and environmentally friendly vacations.

However, transforming that enthusiasm into a confirmed booking is not always an easy task. Some travelers have an interest in hiking tours, but for certain reasons, they do not book. There could be insufficient information, a level of difficulty, or a lack of information as to how to go about the whole process. That is why multiple-step lead forms can come in handy here.

In particular, for hiking tour operators it will be beneficial because in hiking tours customers usually provide more data than just the name and the email. Standalone elements in a multistep form enable the gradual capture of pertinent information that contributes to a better booking process.

Other Benefits of Multi-Step Lead Forms

1. Improved User Experience

73% of travelers say a good experience influences their brand loyalty. A detailed questionnaire about a person, their travel preferences, and the payment method they use can be quite intimidating. Thanks to step-by-step questionnaires that consist of several steps, they are not as tedious. A tourist who is interested in a specific route, such as the Eagle Trail in Austria, can skip the first questions and get to the question about the desired date and fitness level. In this way, the first time a customer spends with marketers feels more like a consultation rather than a sales proposal, allowing them to relax into the process.

2. Increased Number of Completions

Every action customers take makes them feel like they are making progress. Thus, they are completing the form. If a potential customer has completed three of the five steps, they are more likely to complete the remaining two steps than not, given the speed at which they are completed. This is particularly useful when trek operators want information about gear preferences group sizes, or other detailed information about food intolerances on multi-day treks.

Source

3. Segmented Customer Referrals and Targeted Follow-Ups

Leads collected through multi-step lead forms can be very useful when it comes to segmenting your target audience. If a tour operator realizes that some people are interested in mountain hiking in the Dolomite Alps and others are interested in coastal hiking in Cornwall, they can send follow-up emails or special offers to these two groups. This detailed targeting allows us to book for them, catering to their interests and requirements.

4. Lead Generation

Ads and redemption forms integrated into paid search are useful even if the user doesn't go all the way through a multi-step form. For example, in just a few steps, you can find out about a preferred location or time for a hike. With this information, you can use an effective and personalized email marketing campaign or retargeting paid ads to convince them to return to the site and complete the booking process and thus turn a person who is only initially interested in your offer into a buyer.

Best Practices for Hiking Operators

Supposing your audience is hikers across Europe, make sure the lead forms are localized. Ensure that the form is provided to consumers in different languages, especially the dominating languages of Germany, France, and Spain and any other dominant language in any other overseas market. This not only helps in building trust but also makes things more easily accessible.

Many hikers rely on their phones to look up trip information while they are out on a hike. Make sure even your multi-step lead forms are mobile-friendly to capture interest at any time and any place.

Use pictures of some of the most famous hiking trails as the background of your lead forms. According to the studies, 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual, and the brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text. Posts of the colorful view of the Amalfi Coast, Iceland’s Laugavegur Trail, or the majestic Lofoten Islands of Norway can encourage visitors to fill out the form and plan the next journey.

Source

Conclusion

To Sum Up, given the richness and variation of the hiking opportunities in Europe, travel operators have the ideal environment to target and convert the hiking niche into paying customers. Indeed, multi-step lead forms can perform a crucial job in this conversion process by providing a convenient, targeted, and assembling approach to lead capture and nurturing. Combined with data collection, interest can be not only captured but actual interest in hiking operators all across Europe can be translated into confirmed bookings