If you use pay-per-click (PPC) search ads on Google, Bing, and Yahoo, that’s a good thing – but you are probably overpaying for your ad placements. Commonly-searched terms are always more expensive, and that’s not a good thing.
Let’s say, for example, you run a travel agency in Cincinnati. You can purchase ads for the keyword “Cincinnati travel agency,” or “travel agency near me.” That would certainly bring more people to your business – but chances are, these high-volume keywords may exceed your small budget.
What’s the key to PPC low budget marketing for travel agents? Long-tail keywords, of course! These keywords are more specific, longer, and usually cheaper to purchase ads for.
Using the above example, you could go for the keyword “tropical vacations from Cincinnati” which has a lower search volume and is cheaper – but also implies a higher likelihood that the customer knows what they want and more likely to make a booking!
One great thing about using modern web ads is that you can target specific audiences with laser precision. If you want to advertise Spring Break travel packages, for example, you can choose to market them to younger people who live near college towns – and avoid serving up these same ads to older baby boomers, who will not be interested in these packages.
By using audience segmentation properly and targeting the appropriate age, gender, location, and income levels with your ads, you can maximize your budget – and your results.
Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways for you to market your business. After you’ve managed to get a customer to book with your travel agency, it’s essential to keep them active and engaged, so that they will use your services again the next time they want to book a vacation or a trip.
We highly recommend staying connected with a regular monthly email newsletter. You can use a service like MailChimp to build a newsletter quickly and easily, and send it to thousands of people – for free! Find out 6 other free marketing tools for travel agents.
You should also make sure that you have social media accounts like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Encourage customers to follow you on social media, and update these pages regularly to stay connected!
It costs 5x more to attract a new customer1 than it does to keep existing customers. That means you need to encourage your customers to book with you repeatedly. We recommend providing a discount for repeat customers, or some kind of other special perk or offer for those who consistently use your services. If you can build a loyal customer base who always travels with your agency, you can keep turning a profit without spending a dime on marketing efforts! Find out 3 ways you can instantly boost customer loyalty.
If you are offering a great travel experience, chances are that your clients are telling their friends and family about it anyway. So we recommend building this into a customer referral program! You can offer your past clients a reward – such as $50 off a future booking or an Amazon gift card – when referred customers book a trip with your agency.
Word-of-mouth is a powerful tool – and by offering exclusive rewards for customer referrals, you can boost the power of your reputation even more, and bring in qualified leads for a low price. Even better, you don’t have to pay out until a customer makes a booking – so you’re guaranteed to turn a profit if you budget for your referral program properly.
This is one of the easiest ways to make sure that your website appears on search engines – and that customers can quickly and easily read reviews of your services, and leave their own reviews.
Simply make sure that your business is listed on local directory services – like Yelp, Angie’s List, The Better Business Bureau, Google Reviews, and the Yellow Pages. Doing this is free, and ensures that the name of your business and your contact information are both easy to access online.
The above tips for marketing tactics for travel agents will help you get the most for your marketing dollar, and bring in more sales without spending more cash on ads. So start thinking about how you can use them now – and get started today.
1. Source: invespcro.com
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