We hear the word 'data' being used a lot nowadays, yet it still feels like a topic for boring number-crunchers and not something that the modern travel agent can really find interesting or even use.
The truth is though, harness its power correctly and data will be your new best friend. Here are 5 reasons why:
It’s likely that you already have some data on your customers on file or in your CRM system. Take it one step further; keep ALL your customers’ data on file. We are talking about things like preferences and tastes, birthdays, demographics and so on.
You never know when you could use it. The more you know about each and every customer, the better you can provide personalized and bespoke options.
You can do much more than just push out timely offers with your customer data. You can use all the data you collect to create customer personas. Cross-reference the likes and dislikes of similar profiles in your database and then build pictures of different customer types.
Paid digital advertising like on Facebook and Google ads allow for very specific segmenting and targeting. Use these personas when you segment your audiences to really unleash the power of digital marketing.
Data collection doesn't need to start once they become customers. It can start at the first point of contact. For example, with insights from Google Analytics or Facebook, you have demographic information at your fingertips about who is browsing your website or reading your content. This will give you a better understanding about who your online audience is, what content is interesting to them, and how to craft your advertising messages in a way that is appealing to them.
Another buzz-phrase right now is 'ROI'. Everybody wants to be able to measure the Return On Investment on everything they do, but up until now, it has been very hard to measure the ROI on things like traditional marketing and advertising expenditure. The digital era we live in makes it much easier to now gain information.
Facebook for example, gives you loads of quality insights into the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns. Don’t be scared to try different things. Test different types of images or videos and try writing the same message but different ways. All can have a massive impact on the success or failure of an advertising campaign.
Don’t expect to get it right the first time, as you will need to analyze and learn from the results to hone in on the best messaging and content for your advertising.
And finally, collecting and using data doesn't have to be an expensive strategy to embrace.
Adding a sign-up form either to your website or to your Facebook page is a low-cost solution for growing a database of potential new clients. You’ll need to offer something in exchange – usually email newsletters. Keep it a mix of interesting content and promotions otherwise they will soon unsubscribe!
