Travel agents need to be where travelers are. And here’s the thing: travelers are more than ever on Social Media. As a traveler myself, I get so inspired by posts on social media that I can’t help but dream of the next trip I’m going to take. So, if you want to make an impact on your target audience, you need to get your social media working for you. It’s imperative, but you also need to do this in a nice and effective way. We got you covered. Here are 5 pro social media tips for travel agents.
Using social media for travel agents can be very tricky if you don’t have a plan. Wasting time and effort on content when you are not engaging or attracting your audience is something frustrating that most businesses have done. But if you spend some time planning a good strategy, you will see the results coming your way. Here is what travel agents have to do in order to create a successful social media plan.
1: Set your goals straight
Whether you want to use your social media to create some awareness of your brand or you want to get real customers out of it, your goals need to be clear from the very beginning.
A social media strategy will change depending on the goals you have set for it, so you should spend some time thinking about this before even creating your social media profiles.
Think about your company, the growth you expect from it, and how marketing on social media can help you get the results you want for your business. A piece of advice here: be realistic about how much you are willing to do to get your goals, but also believe in your value.
2: Choose your social media channels
Every social media is different, and as such, you need to pick the ones you are going to use wisely. In the travel sector, there are some platforms that will work better for your goals than others.
Facebook and Instagram are must-haves in the travel industry, and the reasons for this are obvious. Our industry does very well at providing amazing content that comes with incredible visuals. Users love a good load of information about exotic places, customs, iconic monuments and the best places to visit when you are in another country, and they get even more excited if they see some images along the way.
If you are good at creating amazing visual content (image and video), you should also try Pinterest and Youtube. They both have great popularity, and their users are easily engaged when they are shown how beautiful our planet is.
Finally, you can also use LinkedIn, but bear in mind this platform is not meant for the potential customer, but rather for B2B. Think of it as a way to expand your connections and ally with other travel professionals.
3: Know your audience (and use it to your advantage)
Your marketing on social media needs to address your audience’s needs and desires. In order to reach and connect with your audience, you need to know exactly who they are, and what they want, so that you can offer the right content that is going to make them engaged with and thrilled about.
Spend some time gathering information about your audience and create an ideal profile. Think specific, age, job, nationality, personal income, travel preferences, hobbies, etcetera. Your own existing customers can help you with this, since they already proved they are interested in your business. Ask them if you need some additional information.
Your audience profile will decide on how you approach your social media. At the end, you are just designing your company’s social media marketing to impact your audience at the right place and time.
4: Use tools for efficiency
You will find that plenty of the tasks that you are obligated to do when following your strategy for marketing on social media are boring and time-consuming, and here is where tools come in handy. They can save you valuable time that you can spend on other duties.
There is nothing wrong with getting help from tools and applications that will make your social media marketing easier and more effective. Do your research and start using those tools that are useful to the strategy that you are using.
There are tons of tools you can use for content curation, scheduling, design, and let’s not forget about analytics. They will take your social media to the next level.
5: Engage your community
Nothing that we talked about in this article would make sense if you can’t get engaged with your audience. Listen to them and be nice. Offer them advice with that trip they are preparing or make a personal recommendation about something you know they particularly like.
Try to make them feel comfortable when they get in touch with you, let them see that you care and they will more likely continue engaging with you and your social media.
You’re creating a community. Be a part of it.
Conclusion
Yes, social media may have affected the travel agent industry, but it can also help in finding the right customers for your business. All you have to do is get involved in social media marketing for travel agents.
Now that you have these 5 pro tips to use social media for travel agents, you are ready to dive deep into the world of social media and start getting results from effective campaigns. Remember, a travel agent that uses social media marketing gets the cake.