Part of being a travel advisor is learning to embrace the inherent role of ‘business professional’ that comes with the job. From staying on top of social media trends and managing an external budget to brainstorming new creative marketing tactics, each component is intentional, striving to help advisors grow their businesses. With the (official) start of summer quickly approaching, there’s no time like the present to try something outside the box and launch a seasonal campaign. Not sure where to start? Read on for advertising inspiration and implementation tips.
Evaluating Your Business Needs
While the peak travel season in some areas is associated with the summer months, seasonal marketing campaigns can also be utilized around the holidays or during off-season lulls. When deciding the time of year to implement a campaign, advisors should consider their business goals and what they ultimately want to achieve.
For instance, as advisors experience an influx of clients looking to book trips during peak season, it’s the perfect time to offer competitive rates and discounts. The travel industry only continues to grow, so finding ways to stay relevant and cut through the clutter to appeal to new clientele is important for an advisor’s business. However, other travel pros are looking to do the same by also offering special promotions, and it’s a factor worth considering before moving forward with a marketing campaign.
If the busy summer season proves to not be the right fit, off-season periods may be closer to your speed. Granted, it might not seem like much of a money-maker, but an increasing number of travelers are looking to visit destinations on a budget, seeking out off-the-beaten-path itineraries and good deals. If other advisors have their sights set on bigger opportunities (like summer and the holidays), travelers won’t have to do as much digging to access your deals and promotions. Don’t lose sight of the fact that sometimes, quality generates far more loyal clients than quantity ever could.
On paper, evaluating your business needs is one way to identify when to run a seasonal campaign, but the other is you. Do you specialize in a particular region, destination or type of travel? Does your area of expertise not align with the traditional travel seasons? Recognizing the knowledge that you bring to the travel space can help to identify when a marketing campaign may be the most effective. Perhaps you run a promotion for shoulder season in the Bahamas, or maybe you get clients set up for an epic ski trip abroad after the new year. Whatever your specialty is, finding an appropriate time to leverage it can help streamline your marketing tactics, helping to more easily identify relevant clients and fill up your calendar.
Format Options and Where To Advertise
The options are truly unlimited for how travel pros can market their campaign. Advisors could turn to social media and have their followers enter the giveaway or receive a discount code based on liking the post, tagging friends in the comments, following the account or resharing the content. This method encourages active engagement, ultimately helping to boost brand awareness and online traffic.
Another option is posting a quiz or poll, with respondents receiving access to an advisor’s special promotions, deals or giveaways. An email blast or a link on an advisor’s website are other spaces to consider, these ones specifically targeting repeat customers.
Deciding where and how to run these seasonal campaigns is ultimately up to the advisor and what kinds of responses they’re looking to get. A strong social media presence might signal that a campaign on one of those platforms would be most effective, while email marketing wizards might find that their promotion does better with existing clients. The only way you can know what works best is to try it!
Before finalizing a seasonal campaign, remember to be clear about the terms and conditions and any corresponding deadlines. If you're running a campaign with prizes, don’t forget to mention how the winner will be contacted. To avoid participants finding any loopholes that hurt you or the business, think about if you were the winner of your campaign and what kinds of logistical questions you would have — use this to help articulate the terms and conditions more clearly.
What You Can Offer
Similar to how the location of a campaign is open to an advisor’s discretion, the same can be said of what is offered. However advisors want to do it is fair game, but in case inspiration is running a little dry, here are a few ideas for giveaways or promotions.
- Discount codes or vouchers: Forever a classic, travel pros can offer incentives like an agency credit, airline gift cards, a partnered hotel stay or experiences such as a wine tasting, spa day, tour and tickets to an event. The options are limitless.
- Free add-ons: Excursions, experiences, exclusive travel resources or guides — anything that can help sweeten the deal just a little will help travel pros stand out to their clients and keep them coming back.
- Gift box: This is a great option for an advisor running a campaign that aligns with their specialty. A gift box can include all sorts of fun, travel-related items, and it’s a great opportunity to throw in destination-themed items as well. If the advisor has a client headed on a beach vacation, some sunscreen, a beach towel and a tote bag would be excellent additions to the gift box.
- Brand partnerships for a prize bundle: This one can either stand alone or be a component of a prize box. Perhaps if an advisor partnered with a tour operator or a local boutique hotel to offer clients special perks, these kinds of prizes would be an enticing option to travelers. Admittedly, they may be harder to secure than some of the alternatives, but a bigger prize is far more likely to translate to a significant increase in brand awareness.
From offering a gift box to 10 clients who book a specific vacation to discount codes for the first 100 people to tag friends in your comments section, seasonal campaigns are a fun way to get an advisor’s name out in the public eye. They’re interactive, cost-effective (if advisors choose to run them that way) and open to interpretation, so that travel pros can get as creative as they want. No matter how elaborate or simple the campaign is, it’s still important to plan ahead for seasonal offerings, giving both clients and advisors time to think over the trip before booking and organize the marketing details.
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