We are in the 21st century, and businesses must also be up-to-date with times. A travel agency business that does not have a website is like a letter that has the postage paid, but it does not have a recipient. So, we are going to give you proven strategies that you can count on. Here are the eight foolproof strategies that will boost your travel agency business:
1. Work On Your Product Offering
The first product you offer is your staff. Invest in your team, motivate them, and keep them enthusiastic. We tend to buy the smile and the courtesy first before we buy the product. Personable engagement on social media also counts.
Secondly, you need a great value proposition. Offer solutions to the problems that your customers go through every day. You can use social media, reviews, and discussion forums to mine the information. Use the data to tighten your business proposition.
2. A Functional Website
A website is your most crucial business resource nowadays. What you want is not just a website; it is a functional website. We can’t stress the importance of load speeds, mobile compatibility, and user-friendliness. They are basics to any website.
A site should have the most important items that form the core of your product offering. You want it to have a service page that defines products, illustrates them, and, if necessary, demonstrates how they are used. You also want the website to have the capacity to rank well in the search engines. A blog is also a perfect addition if you intend to win highly-competitive search keywords.
Your digital marketing strategy revolves around a functional and optimized website. Also, ensure that all those people whom you are targeting can access and enjoy the content on your website. Most websites use automated machine translations. According to espressotranslations.com, machine translations can miss the mark. You can translate your content into several languages professionally, especially if you are offering international packages that are likely to attract a multilingual group.
3. Establish Partnerships
These partnerships are not random networks. These are businesses that you have formed a contractual bond. You also understand how to complement each other. A travel agency does not have its destinations, accommodations, transport means, and such things. The agency can be a company that provides information to travelers.
Strategic partnerships can help you provide travel packages to your audience. Such partners include transportation solutions, restaurants, travel destinations, and such companies. It allows your agency to offer bundled packages that are convenient and cost-effective to your customer. In return, it helps you get more customers and revenues.
4. Offer Seasonal Packages
Travelers often look for enjoyment, thrill, and experience. The hustle that comes with it, not so much! They will appreciate it when there is an offer that does the other bit. A successful package will require complementary and strategic partnerships. If you have weak partners, you will have trouble assembling a competitive package. The advantages of packages are diverse, including upfront payments and bookings. You can target seasonal events and festivities to make it successful.
5. Harvest Reviews
Travelers peruse reviews before they make any decision. Your work is to ensure that all those people who are happy with your services leave a review. If they don’t, you will have to contend with reviews from disgruntled customers.
People who have a positive experience have a low likelihood of leaving a review. The reverse is true. If someone is not happy, he will most certainly lament about it on social media. Take control of the overall review bank.
Provide customers with a platform to share their experiences. Also, deal with every negative review amicably. Managing your reviews can win significant business from people who rely on them to make buying decisions.
6. Be Social
Social media is the bank that now we all draw our inspirations and ideas. It is also a fertile ground for sentiment mining. Before you get there, set up all your social platforms for success. Also, keep them updated. Take professional photography for your social media. Do not rely on smartphone images. They are decent, but not perfect for your nuanced clientele.
The trick to effective use of social media is not just presence and availability; you also need to know your customers and engage them. You cannot engage someone you do not know. Once you have created enough content that attracts people to you, endeavor to learn what they want. Know their desires, pains, needs, and fears. Humanize and personalize communication with your audience.
7. Set Up a Referral Program
An average person on Facebook has about 155 friends. Facebook is just one social media platform that you can use. Travel websites benefit from audiovisual social media such as YouTube. They also benefit greatly from visual banks such as Instagram and Pinterest.
For every person you serve well out there, there are 155 people out there that you have the potential of reaching through Facebook alone. A referral program not only offers viral marketing potential; it is also a good way of promoting loyalty.
Make the referral program worth doing for the ambassadors. Let it be a win-win situation for the referrer and referent.
8. Promote Your Agency
Paid promotions often come to mind every time marketing is mentioned. You can also use content marketing. Using content marketing will help you set up a long term sale funnel. You can include subscriptions, collection of customer details, and conversions of the leads through regular updates and tailored offers.
You can also cross-promote your services through your partners. Email marketing is still one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies. However, it depends on the quality of the emails. Using gated content can help you collect quality emails.
These eight strategies will boost your travel agency. A functional website will bring customers to the company. Good content will keep the leads engaged. Enthusiasm in your staff will bring a personal appeal to your brand. Once you have an audience that trusts you, you can use your strategic partnerships to curate personalized packages. As usual, you need good reviews to win new business. Use social media and review sites to maintain a great reputation.
