I recently heard someone refer to Travel Advisors as a thing of the past. Whoa! Instantly I wanted to start listing all the reasons why Travel Agents are fantastic and essential and have the ability to take the stress out of travel…especially in these tricky, tumultuous times.
Let’s examine a few slip-ups to avoid and solutions that will remind your clients how relevant and useful your niche services really are.
Blunder #1 – Clients forget to book with you!
Do you hear your clients saying “I found a great trip and just booked it online. I guess I should have called you first.”
Don’t miss out staying top of mind and tip of tongue with your clients. Building stronger relationships with your clients is easy with social advertising. Wouldn’t you love to reach back out to your social fans that have interacted with your social posts? All those likes, comments and shares are a gold mine when you want to continue strengthening ties with these ‘warm’ prospects.
Solution #1 – Social Ad Audiences
Tap into the power these likes, comments and shares with social advertising and re-targeting. When you build custom ad audiences using the ‘Facebook Page’ option you’ll be able to create an audience of people who have interacted with your page.
Here’s where to find this opportunity: Navigation: Your own Business Manager/Ads Manager account < <All Tools< Assets < Audiences < Custom Audience < Facebook Page
Here’s how to set up this audience of people who have interacted with your Facebook business page.
Figure 1 – Choose “Facebook Page” to create an audience of people who have reacted to your page posts.
Figure 2 – Refine your audience when you include and exclude criteria.
Including and excluding people from your audience is a great way to hyper-target people at different stages of your marketing funnel.
For example:
You may want to include people who visited your page AND clicked your CTA button. These people would be the most interested….bottom of funnel…ready to connect with you.
Ad Audience Best Practices
When creating or updating your ad audience, keep these tips in mind.
Figure 3 – Never advertise to millions of people nor to the same audience too frequently.
Blunder #2 – No New Clients are Calling
Have you looked at your future bookings lately? How many of those clients are new? If your marketing and sales funnel isn’t filled with potential new clients you may be missing out on growing your business in 2020.
Solution #2 – Strategic Social Visibility
Reaching out to potential new clients is easier when they’re able to see you and start to recognize your desire to find the perfect solution for their bucket list trip.
As a destination, resort or cruise line, attracting potential new clients is closely related to frequency and showing that you can solve their biggest pain point.
Being recognizable in the eyes of potential new clients can be accomplished with this trifecta:
- Developing a solid video strategy gives you the opportunity to dip into the personal space of your target clientele. Being seen and heard is a powerful way to start building a stronger relationship. Save time with these tips to re-use your videos in a variety of new ways.
- Create Visibility with your videos. Unforgettable videos start with these tips.
- Get the Tools right! Ace your next video with the tech & tools you need.
- Social Strategy. When potential clients see you consistently on their social feeds, they’re better able to understand how you can solve their travel yearnings. And more likely to reach out to you as they’ll feel they know you!
- E-mail. The winning duo of video and a strong social presence is complimented by a consistent email sequence that nurtures new business. The big question is; how to get your social fans onto your email list. The solution is a compelling lead magnet!
- Need lead magnet content ideas? Get your creative juices flowing with these 26 ideas for travel & tourism pros.
How to Earn more Social Post Views
Forget about clients ‘forgetting’ to book with you!
If you’re fed-up with only a few people seeing and reacting to your posts & videos, tune in for 3 super-simple ways to shatter your past record for highest number of views.
During these tricky times preparation is easier than execution. While our industry (and much of the world) are in the Great Pause, using the time wisely and preparing for the ‘Next Normal’ can be confusing. Check out these tips to better understand what’s working now for social marketing mavens.
Travel Advisors and Tour Operators have the skills and expertise to turn a “pretty good trip” into something special.
Keep these tips and strategies in mind so that you’ll be the first stop the next time your clients want to book travel. They’ll thank you for giving them an amazing experience and you’ll earn their repeat business.
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Social Marketing Strategies for Travel and Tourism
About Catherine Heeg
Catherine Heeg is a recognized social media trail blazer passionate about social media and marketing in the tourism and hospitality industry. She takes the mystery out of marketing!
She creates and delivers meaningful, dynamic workshops that meet your unique needs in the Travel, Tourism & Hospitality Industry.
Catherine and her team help travel, tourism and hospitality pros design and implement social media marketing strategies and tactics that drive traffic to their social and web sites. Learn more…
Do you need a roadmap for your social strategy? Let’s chat and see if there’s a fit to work together to strategize your social marketing.
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Professionals who are serious about taking consistent, winning actions every day to build their business and achieve measurable results love working with Catherine.