Posted Date: Thursday, September 22, 2011

• Make Yourself Relevant
• Specialize: Sell what you love
• Make it about the experience
• Be found: Take the necessary steps to ensure people looking for you, find you

Make Yourself Relevant

In the early 2000’s Travel Agents were in danger of becoming extinct.  With the increase of popularity of only booking services such as Expedia, Travelocity and , people were incessantly looking for the best way to save a buck.

You’ll be happy to know that when it comes to the travel industry, things are starting to trend the other way.  So what has changed? Well for one, people are tired of booking their vacations sight unseen.  With so much online noise people are no longer interested in saving $30 on a flight if it means 5 connections and a lost day of relaxation.  They are tired of booking thousands of dollars worth of plans and investing their trust with faceless, nameless mega corps just to try to save a couple dollars.  People have started shifting from “consumers” back to “customers” and they are no longer scared to spend a couple extra dollars to benefit from someone else’s expertise.  To have an experienced agent learn about you, your holiday expectations and be able to guarantee a fabulous trip is the very definition of a good investment.

So your number one task is to make yourself relevant. Work on behalf of your client, not your suppliers. Find out what your client expects and use your expertise to help them plan the perfect holiday.  Be able to offer up your experience and experiences of others that you have worked with to ensure your client gets exactly what they want.

Specialize: Sell what you love

With so much competition, a generalist will not be nearly as successful as a specialist and the travel industry is no exception. In order to continue to not only be relevant, but prove your worth, your clients expect a certain level of expertise. 

Have you ever heard the expression “A Jack of All Trades, Master of None?”  Sure you are a Travel Industry expert and you can easily send your clients anywhere they ask to go but what happens when they ask you where YOU would go?  Is there a certain type of holiday you prefer? Do you gravitate to Cruises or Safaris? Maybe you would opt for an educational tour of ancient civilizations? Or perhaps a relaxing beach holiday?  Maybe there is a part of the world that you would return to again and again? Do you know the Caribbean like the back of your hand? Do you have a thing for South East Asia or perhaps Europe?

The goal is for you to establish your agency as an industry leader in a particular type/destination of travel.  Make your name and brand synonymous with that type of travel! Be that person that, whenever I’m out talking about “Europe” for example, I’m compelled to tell my friends … “wow, if you want to check out Europe, you have got to call , they are EXPERTS in European Travel! “

Having said that, there is no reason why you can’t have multiple specialties.  Whatever you decide to specialize in make sure you can speak with confidence and passion about it!  Specializing and having a niche to serve is what will make you memorable and give you a set of attributes that your client can associate you with and use to compare you with the competition.   Specializing will also help you focus your marketing efforts, allowing you to cut through the fierce online competition for the attention of potential travellers.

Make it About the Experience

Here is a little tip marketers have been using for years-in order to close the deal, you need to connect with your customers on an emotional level.  It’s easy to get wrapped up in price points, package details and bottom lines, but at the end of the day, your client is looking to get something out of their vacation and it’s up to you to find out what that is and deliver.

Is your client looking to go somewhere they have never been?  Maybe they are looking to learn something new? Are they looking for a killer tan and some relaxation or are they looking for a great weekend on a budget?  Perhaps they are just looking for reassurance that you will handle every little detail so they don’t have to worry about it! Find out what they hope to get out of their EXPERIENCE, determine the best way to accomplish it, and then MAKE IT HAPPEN! This is the key to social media and word of mouth advertising.

Remember, clients that return from a fantastic holiday are always eager to share their experience.  Photo’s, videos, testimonials are all ideal ways for them to share their excitement and satisfaction.  Use these as tools to help market your agency and services online!

Be Found: Increase your visibility so those looking for your services, find you

Even though we see a resurgence of travel agencies, it doesn’t mean that people aren’t doing their own research.  With each passing year there are new tools, platforms and mechanisms that help arm people with the knowledge to make well informed decisions.

59% of potential travellers plan to spend more time shopping around/researching before booking travel because finding value for my money is important to me

85% of personal travellers cite the internet as the leading source for travel planning information.

60% of personal travellers cite Family, Friends or Colleagues at as a source for travel planning information (Social Media! Woohoo!)

62% of personal travellers have researched an upcoming trip online in the past 6 months

53% of personal travellers plan to spend more time comparison shopping online over the next year than they have in the past. Trip preparation is on the rise!

 

Sources Used to Plan Travel:

64% Search Engines

56% Hotel Websites

51% Online Travel Agency

50% Airline Websites

 

So you’ve decided to specialize and serve a niche that you are particularly passionate about, you’ve figured out what is needed to turn a simple cruise into an adventure but what now? The next step is to make sure the people looking for you can find you.  

This is where your online marketing strategy comes into play.  You’ve undoubtedly been overwhelmed with all kinds of industry buzzwords. Mentions of mechanisms that promise to increase site traffic and conversions and all kinds of other marketing mumbo jumbo.  The purpose of this blog series is to help demystify some of these things. 

Our blog series will show you how you can begin to use Google AdWords and some simple Search Engine Optimization techniques to drive more qualified visitors to your website.  We help you develop an email marketing strategy that will help you nurture past and present clients, strengthening their loyalty and keeping them informed of your offerings.  We will branch into the realm of social media giving you some insights on Facebook and Twitter best practices.

Taking advantage of mobile technology, blogs and blog syndication, as well as introducing some new 3^rd party tools aimed at helping increase your visibility so potential customers looking for your services find you.

We are also offering you a sneak peek into a new platform called the “Travel Spy network” that will help connect you directly to customers actively looking for your product.

If you are interested in learning more of these tips and tricks make sure to subscribe to our list if you haven’t already, and you’ll be notified when this content becomes available!

 

 

Stay Tuned,

 

Kelly Cromwell

New Media Strategist

Parcom Marketing Inc & My Travel Website

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