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Client retention is a big part of marketing, certainly as important as client acquisition. By retaining your existing clients, you stabilize your travel practice and provide a base onto which you can layer client acquisition and growth. WOW customer service is the way to retain clients, and a big part of great client service is accomplished by educating your clients. Read the rest of this entry »
Clients want to feel important. By being prompt in all of your dealings with clients, by always entertaining them in your presence with a warm and welcome manner, you make them feel special and you stake your claim to their attention. Far too often, though, we allow our perspective to wander off course and clients become intrusions on our day. If you catch yourself thinking of clients as annoyances rather than the primary reason you are in business, it’s time for an attitude adjustment. Read the rest of this entry »
Clients enter into a professional relationship with you not fully understanding what you do. It is your job, as the professional, to teach them, to train them in their responsibilities and in your own role in the travel planning exercise. Assume responsibility for the course of the relationship. Take charge. But respect your clients. Your attitude is written all over your face. Clients will inevitably sense the way you approach them, the way you feel about your responsibilities. Read the rest of this entry »
Customer service. Everybody talks about it, but the fact of the matter is, good customer service can be pretty difficult to find. Think about your day-to-day transactions and how often the companies and businesses with which you deal let you down by failing to deliver even a base-line degree of good customer consideration. Watch this TRO 2 Minute Marketing Video for your daily dose of customer service advice!
You probably know far less than 10% of your followers on Facebook are going to see any of your business page posts. The organic reach on Facebook continues to decline. The Facebook algorithms have become more restrictive, yet many business page owners are surprised by their low engagement rates. The surprise partly stems from their experience with their personal Facebook profile which always generates commentary and “Likes.” However, the algorithms controlling the visibility of personal posts are completely different from those controlling business pages. Read the rest of this entry »
It is important to your digital marketing plan to consider incorporating a blog into your travel agency’s website. However, with so many blogs vying for attention, you need to take steps to ensure your blog will stand out and speak with an authority that captures the attention of your readership. Read the rest of this entry »
I often encounter a mindset that sees marketing as an expense. I suppose from the perspective of an accountant, that is absolutely accurate. However, in reality, marketing should be viewed as an investment. Think of it this way: marketing is only expensive if it’s not working. If you made 5 dollars every time you spent two marketing dollars you would be spending money all day and be happy about it. Ideally, marketing is an investment.
I know I have chosen a risky metaphor here, stick with me a bit.
Personally, I am a fan of interesting tattoos. I know that is not necessarily a shared preference. Body art is not for everyone and please do note my preference: interesting tattoos. I have certainly been exposed, to use a phrase, to some very bad tattoos.
Read the rest of this entry »
Those were the days recalled by “Mad Men.” Brand identity and communications then were pretty much a one-way communication from the company to the public. The brand delivered information to the public through television or through the newspapers and we accepted pretty much what ever we were told. Those might have been simpler times, but I think perhaps a bit naïve and not as interesting as today.
I often hear travel professionals complain they are making no sales from their websites. To my ear, the complaint, however, sounds a bit strange. If you are making “sales” from your website, I suspect you are using a booking engine or a search engine geared to supplier specials, much like Travelocity or Expedia. I also suspect the resulting sales are sporadic. However, for personal travel consultants, a website is far more of a marketing tool than a sales tool. The difference in an important one to consider.
Marketing has two goals: the retention of existing clients and the acquisition of new clients. From existing clients you achieve stability, and it is from new clients you achieve growth. When you design your marketing properly, both your new clients and existing clients first notice or are reminded of your presence, investigate your offerings, and finally enter into conversation with you about the services or products you offer. At this stage you have an actionable lead and enter into the sales cycle. The process of drawing the potential client closer and closer to you, finally resulting in an actionable lead, is sometimes referred to as the “Marketing Funnel.”
Meet the Marketing Funnel
Indeed, all good marketing strategies are funnel-like in their conception, design and implementation: Read the rest of this entry »
Backlinks are simply links from a third party site to your own. The more authoritative the site linking to you, the higher ranking the search engines give your article. In fact, my Ireland article mentioned in Part 1 was linked to by USA Today, which helped its search results enormously.
Ok, we all mess up once in awhile, right!
- We miss a deadline.
- We forget to call a client back.
- We overlook an important email.
Each of those things can be corrected pretty quickly with an apology and some hard work.
However, messing up in social marketing can quickly go from bad to worse—to expensive. During the pandemic, many marketers let their advertising take a back seat to simply staying afloat. That’s reality!
Now that travel is ramping up again, here’s 3 social marketing blunders that can be easily avoided. Read the rest of this entry »
Shakedown!
Breakdown!
Takedown!
Remember that old song by Bob Seger from 1987?
When Facebook broke down recently, that’s the song that came into my head. It started playing louder when Frances Haugen testified before Congress!
Facebook has become a huge part of our work and personal lives. Yet, I wonder how many of us thought about the old adage about not putting all our eggs into one basket when this breakdown happened? Or the adage that one shouldn’t build their house on rented land?
Really? What are we as travel industry pros supposed to do… market by carrier pigeon? Pony Express? How about using a town crier?
These days, none of those are viable options; however, we may want pay attention to those old adages as breakdowns and takedowns may become more frequent in the future. Read the rest of this entry »
Listen up! We’ve all heard the phrase “What’s old is new again.”
- Bell bottom = flares
- Midriff tops = crop tops
- Telephone party line = live audio rooms
Live audio is all the rage now. It’s the mash-up of old school and new school. First off the block was Clubhouse, now comes Live Audio Rooms from Facebook.
Tune in for a quick low-down on these 2 popular platforms. Read the rest of this entry »
Remember back in the good old days when banks and savings and loan companies gave away a free toaster for a minimum deposit? Then, if you added a bit more to your deposit, you became the proud owner of a free bakeware set too! I furnished my first apartment kitchen this way!
All the bank had to do to acquire a new customer was give away a freebie: a $20 toaster. Pretty easy.
Fast forward to the age of social marketing, and savvy travel marketers are providing freebies as a way to acquire new prospective clients. I’m not talking about toasters, nor free travel; I’m talking about a lead magnet that’s so valuable people will provide their contact information.
The result of gathering contact information from as many people as possible is that you’ll have a way to grow your email list, target your social ads more effectively, and potentially book tours for these people. Read the rest of this entry »
During the history of the human race, we have been pilgrims, wayfarers, explorers and pioneers. Our feet and minds have carried us far. We migrated out of Africa and spread across the planet in search of food, fortune and, sometimes, just the horizon. As we traveled, stories were created, told and shared. Our minds seem wired for both travel and narrative.
That’s why few industries are as perfectly situated for social media marketing as travel. Read the rest of this entry »
Do you find that as the recovery of travel ramps up, that some social marketing tactics seem old and out of touch with the times?
Over the last year, so much has changed in the ways that people consume marketing that savvy travel pros are turning to new ways to stand out in the noisy social marketing space.
Let’s explore 3 creative ways to get noticed, so that fans and clients are excited in this new era. We’ll dive into the 3-A’s to amplify your brand: Ads, Audiences, and Audio.
“Facebook, which has said it wants to make audio a “first-class medium” on its platforms, joins Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) and messaging platform Discord which have already launched their own live audio offerings. Spotify debuted its own version, “Greenroom,” last Wednesday. Slack, Microsoft Corp-owned (MSFT.O) LinkedIn and Reddit are also working on similar products.” Source
Remember the last time you went to the movie theater and saw teaser trailers of all the upcoming movies? Such a great way to have a sneak peek and then make a date to see the movie.
The beauty of the movie makers’ marketing magic is that you get to see the most intriguing part—the hook. And then, you’re hooked! The movie theater is nearly guaranteed to sell more tickets. What if you could use this same genius marketing theory to attract more video views on your own Facebook business page? You know, create your own intriguing, gripping trailer. News flash: You can do this now! Read the rest of this entry »
Woohoo! Your first post-COVID tour is planned (or nearly planned). Now comes the fun of marketing it.
As things open up again and tours start rolling, getting butts into seats is goal #1. However, if you’re looking to effectively market in this new era, some things have changed since pre-pandemic. What worked in 2019, might not work as well to attract consumers now.
Whether you’re marketing your newest tour, looking to attract potential clients to a consumer night, or hosting a virtual information session; here’s the social marketing essentials you’ll need to be successful. Read the rest of this entry »
