Search Travel Market Report

mainlogo
www.travelmarketreport.com
  • News
  • Tours & Packages
  • Cruise
  • Hotels & Resorts
  • Destinations
  • Retail Strategies
  • Niche & Luxury
  • Well-Being Travel
  • Training & Events
  • Who We Are
    • Anne Marie Moebes
    • Brian Israel
    • Dan McCarthy
    • Denise Caiazzo
    • Dori Saltzman
    • Kelly Fontenelle
Sponsored By ALG
Sponsored By ALG

Using Social Media to Promote Your Travel Business

by Daine Taylor / June 18, 2019
Using Social Media to Promote Your Travel Business

Janet Bava led a breakout session during the Travel Marketplace East 2019 conference in Toronto last week, to provide insights on how advisors can leverage new trends in Facebook and Instagram to grow their travel sales. Photo: AmaWaterways 


For those in the travel industry, social media has become an important resource for growing and maintaining their businesses. With new features continuously being released on social platforms, it’s important for travel advisors to keep up-to-date on how they can maximize their presence, engage with their existing clients, and gain new customers.

To that end, Janet Bava, chief marketing officer at AmaWaterways River Cruises, led a breakout session during the Travel Marketplace East 2019 conference in Toronto last week, to provide insights on how advisors can leverage new trends in Facebook and Instagram to grow their travel sales.

“Talking to travel consultants, some of the questions I get asked the most are, ‘Where do I get started?’ and ‘How can I use social media to sell?’” said Bava.

She briefly mentioned the myriad social media networks that people use today, but she specifically focused on Facebook and Instagram, because “it’s not about being everywhere, it’s about being where your clients are.”

She described Instagram as a more visual medium that is driven by photos and images, while Facebook is more of an all-around content-driven platform. “If you don’t want to invest dollars just yet in social media, no matter how big Instagram has gotten, it still is a great opportunity to grow your followers organically,” said Bava.

“While Instagram keeps growing and growing, and tends to skew younger in terms of demographics, Facebook is still the largest platform, with more than 60% of Americans [with an account].”

Mistakes to avoid
She discussed some of the most common mistakes people make when posting to social media, and how to avoid them:

  • Don’t download images off the internet and post them as your own.
  • Avoid discussing or sharing anything political or inappropriate. If you wouldn’t say it to your client, don’t post it online.
  • Avoid errors by checking spelling, grammar and punctuation before posting.
  • Keep posts relevant to travel and your expertise, and focus on destinations and experiences.
  • Do not over-post. Try to space out your posts to once a day, so as not to oversaturate your follower’s feeds, but to make sure they see your posts regularly.

One of the most common pitfalls travel advisors fall into is thinking that all of the content they post on social media should be promotional. But this can be a major turn-off that could end up with a reduction in followers.

“People will tune out. Just like we tune out displayed advertising, people will tune out on your posts,” warned Bava. “Don’t over-post. Instead, focus on quality over quantity.”

The rule of thirds
Before posting to social media, Bava advised travel professionals to focus on following the “rule of thirds” to avoid being overly promotional. It is best to plan for one-third promotional posts, which are experiences you recommend and why, as well as any special offers that your followers can take advantage of for being a part of your network. Make another third of your posts conversational, including items that encourage your audience to engage in a conversation, which can be anything from asking your followers a question or even using a poll functionality to gauge preferences. And finally, make one-third of your posts about sharing, which includes writing about industry news or cross-promoting with your favorite suppliers.

“I do see some travel advisors that focus just on the promotional posts,” said Bava. “They get too focused on this and they lose out on engagement and they end up losing followers, because you’re not providing anything of value to them. Don’t inundate your followers. Please do not focus on selling an offer, but really try to focus on balancing your content and posts between promotional and engaging content.”

One surefire method to stimulate user engagement is to ask questions and start conversations. “Another thing that I feel we don’t do enough of is engagement and conversational post questions,” said Bava. “You’ll see in a lot of AmaWaterways posts that we always start off with question or end with a question, because we want to engage the audience. If a post just has a statement, no matter what that post is, it’s never going to do as well as a post with a question mark, because you’re going to get a lot of comments, and people naturally wanting to respond to those questions. These conversations allow you to gain insight into who your followers are.”

  5
  0
Related Articles
5 Tips to Develop Your Personal Travel Brand on Social Media
Why Facebook Groups Are So Important for Travel Advisors
Video: Geotagging and Other Social Media Tips for Travel Agents
AAA Travel Selects Railbookers as Preferred Partner
Greece Set to Reopen to Cruise Ship Traffic on August 1
ASTA Calls on Air Canada to Change its Refund Policy
The Louvre Museum Reopens With New Safety Measures in Place
CBP Postpones Trusted Traveler Enrollment Centers Reopening
What is Eco-Friendly Travel Today?
G Adventure to Host Online Event Discussing the Future of the Travel Industry

MOST VIEWED

  1. Why Travel Advisors Need to Learn to Say No to New Business
  2. U.S. Passport Renewal Processing Time Now 8 to 11 Weeks
  3. U.S. Passport Renewal Waiting Time Could Soon Get Even Worse
  4. Government of Canada Updates Its Mexico Travel Advisory
  5. European Union Delays Launch of ETIAS Until At Least 2024
  6. Here’s What the U.S. and Canada Are Saying About Travel and Crime in Mexico

MOST EMAILED

  1. U.S. Passport Renewal Processing Time Now 8 to 11 Weeks
  2. U.S. Passport Renewal Waiting Time Could Soon Get Even Worse
  3. Why Travel Advisors Need to Learn to Say No to New Business
  4. European Union Delays Launch of ETIAS Until At Least 2024
  5. Travelers Believe That Working With Advisors Is Only Way to Get a True Luxury Experience
  6. What Travel Advisors Need to Know about the Florida Seller of Travel License
TMR THIS WEEK
Sponsored by Explora Journeys
//services.travelsavers.com/AMGService.svc/REST/GetImage?ImageID=78f79d51-15c7-ed11-b00b-005056a8720b&Width=350&Height&250

All About Culinary Immersion at Sea

Travel advisors can help their foodie clients enjoy true immersion experiences by booking them on culinary-focused cruises.

Read More...
TMR Subscription

Subscribe today to receive daily in-depth coverage, analysis of industry news, trends and issues that affect how you do business. Subscribe now for free.

Subscribe to TMR

Top Stories
5 Social Media Posts You Can Use Right Now
5 Social Media Posts You Can Use Right Now

We've put together five social media posts you're free to use, complete with photos and tags. 

Read...
Cruise Execs Emphasize Tried-and-True Advice for Selling Cruises
Cruise Execs Emphasize Tried-and-True Advice for Selling Cruises

Out-of-the-box thinking is great, but sticking to basic sales tactics can be an equally successful strategy for travel advisors. 

Read...
Grow Your Travel Business with a Facebook Business Page: Tips and Tricks
Grow Your Travel Business with a Facebook Business Page: Tips and Tricks

You’re missing out on a lot of opportunities if you don’t have a Facebook Business Page. 

Read...
MasterAdvisor 68: An Introduction to Booking Villas for Travel Advisors
MasterAdvisor 68: An Introduction to Booking Villas for Travel Advisors

Are you booking your first Villa Vacation for a client? Don’t know where to start? 

Read...
What I Learned from Vancouver’s Best Travel Advisors
What I Learned from Vancouver’s Best Travel Advisors

Some insights for Travel Market Place's Ambassador Program. 

Read...
Travelers Believe That Working With Advisors Is Only Way to Get a True Luxury Experience
Travelers Believe That Working With Advisors Is Only Way to Get a True Luxury Experience

Luxury travelers are turning to travel advisors for vacation planning in greater numbers than ever before. 

Read...
TMR OUTLOOKS & WHITE PAPERS
river cruise 2022
group outlook 2022
lux cruise outlook
CP White Paper
Multi-Gen Outlook
River Cruise Outlook 2019
View All
Advertiser's Voice
https://img.youtube.com/vi/BDz_-mzUmZA/0.jpg
Meet South Africa with Your Local Guides
About Travel Market Report Mission Staff Advisory Board Advertise
TMR Resources Webinars Calendar of Events Outlook/Whitepapers Previous Sponsored Articles Previous This Week Articles
Subscribe to TMR
Select Language
Do You Have an Idea Email
editor@travelmarketreport.com
Give Us a Call
1-(516) 730-3097
Drop Us a Note
Travel Market Report
71 Audrey Ave, Oyster Bay, NY 11771
News |Tours & Packages |Cruise |Hotels & Resorts |Destinations |Retail Strategies |Niche & Luxury |Well-Being Travel |Training & Events |Who We Are
© 2005 - 2023 Travel Market Report, an American Marketing Group Inc. Company All Rights Reserved | 243 South Street, Oyster Bay, NY, 11771 USA | Telephone (516) 730-3097| Terms and Conditions
Cookie Policy Privacy Policy