Savvy Agents Use Meetup.com to Build Local Business
by Dori SaltzmanThis is the fifth article in a series of practical technology articles featuring advice and insights from social media expert Sophie Bujold.
With online communities demanding so much attention, it’s easy for travel agents to overlook the value of building business through their local, real world communities. Yet connecting with community groups and organizations – affinity groups, special interest or sports clubs, volunteer organizations and the like – is still a powerful way to network and generate leads.
Meetup.com is an online network that lets travel agents make meaningful connections with local groups, both online and offline. The website helps people with shared interests plan meetings and form offline clubs.
 |
“Meetup is a marriage between social media and face-to-face networking. You use the site to find people in your community who are interested in what you are selling, then you do face-to-face contact,” social media expert Sophie Bujold told Travel Market Report.
Meetup group members also socialize online, keeping up-to-date with other members between meetings or asking and answering questions through a group’s profile page.
The ABCs of meetups
There are two main ways travel agents can use Meetup.com to grow business:
• Join as a member and socialize at meetings.
• Contact a group and offer to make a presentation, either on a specific travel topic or a group travel idea.
Participating in business meetups designed for B2B networking is a third option. Another option is sponsoring meetups (see sidebar).
Finding groups on Meetup.com is easy. To find all groups in your area, simply enter your zip code. If you want to narrow it down, add keywords.
Learn about the group
Before you contact a group, check out their Meetup.com profile, Bujold advised. The profile will tell you about the group, what they like to do and the kinds of meetings they hold.
“Decide, based on that context, whether a presentation would be appropriate or if you need to take a casual approach,” she added. For example, a dog walking group probably isn’t open to presentations, but an Italian cooking meetup probably would be.
Whether you decide to join a meetup as a member or to propose doing a presentation or pitching a group travel idea to a meetup is up to you. There are pros and cons to both strategies.
Bright ideas for meetups
In the case of a dog walking group, if you have a dog and you like to hang out with other dog owners, joining to socialize could eventually land you a new client, Bujold said.
The Italian cooking meetup might love to hearing about a hands-on culinary tour of Northern Italy you could arrange for them. One idea: If the purpose of their meeting is to cook together, prepare a menu of dishes from different Italian cities and, while everyone is cooking, explain where they’re from and what group members can do if they visit.
If you’re lucky enough to live in a port city and there’s a local cruise meetup, contact your cruise sales reps and arrange to host the group for a private tour of a cruise ship. “That’s probably something they don’t have access to or might have limited access to,” she said.
Corporate agents should consider meetups comprised of business owners looking to interface with other business owners. “If you’re a corporate agent, there’s tons of business groups. Join in. All those people own companies,” Bujold advised.
Pros & cons of joining
Joining as a member can have long-term benefits, as over time group members will get to know you and what you do for a living. Assuming you join a group that matches your interests, you’ll also get to spend time doing something you like.
Once you’re solidly in the group, ask other members if they’d be interested in your posting travel deals on their meetup page that are related to the group’s theme.
As for the cons, joining a group requires a time commitment and the forbearance to not oversell.
Remember, a meetup is a social environment, so don’t make your involvement all about business, Bujold cautioned. “It has to be social and it has to be something you enjoy, otherwise you’re going to come across as phony and too driven by your agenda.”
Pros & cons of presenting
If you want to present or pitch to meetup groups, look for those that match your expertise, both directly and indirectly, Bujold said.
For instance, if you’re a France expert, contact groups of French speakers, cooking groups, art lover appreciation groups – any theme you could build a France FIT around.
The downside of only using meetup to facilitate presentations to groups is that most communities only have a small number of meetups for whom your presentations are appropriate. So there’s limited opportunities, but less of a time commitment.
Create a meetup
Another option is to start your own group, Bujold said.
The easiest to start are travel groups, such as a seniors’ travel group or a women’s travel group. Build presentations into the group’s purpose so it’s appropriate for you to talk about different travel ideas or to have your clients talk about their travels.
Create the group through current clients and word of mouth, as well as by posting it on Meetup.com, so you’re drawing on more than one source for members.
No matter what type of group you create, it’s critical to have fun with it, Bujold said. “It’s a social tactic for your business. You need to make sure people are having fun and that they want to come back.”
Please see other articles on how agents can tap social media to increase business based on interviews with Sophie Bujold under the Tactical Technology department in the Retail Strategies section.
