Using Content to Help Your Travel Agency Take Off

Choosing someone to plan a vacation is like choosing someone to plan a wedding. It’s a big deal and often a “once in a lifetime” endeavor. Travelers want the best rates, the most amazing food, the most incredible excursions, the safest hotels, and the most memorable experiences. The good news is that travel agents are accustomed to meeting those demands. But as the travel agent, are you attracting all the new clients you’d like? If not, it’s time for you to incorporate content marketing. Travel agency content marketing increases your website traffic and helps you attract more clients. 

How Content Marketing Could Help Your Agency

Just about anyone can plan a trip, but not like you can. Standing out in the dense industry of tourism companies can be tricky. Most people can coordinate a great trip without your help, so you must convince your audience that your expertise will relieve their stress and result in the best trip. Content marketing immediately exposes your business to new customers while saving you money. 

Ways content marketing can help your agency include:

• Establish Loyalty. You don’t just want people using your services once. You want them to be repeat clients who use your services for every trip they take! Content keeps them coming back for more because it keeps reminding them of your services. 
• Build Credibility. Relevant travel content helps you become a trusted voice in the industry. There are many unknowns regarding traveling, especially for those who haven’t done it much. And, of course, traveling during the pandemic adds an extra layer of stress and uncertainty. Filling in the gaps with your travel knowledge encourages clients to trust you. Information regarding TSA, customs, hotel ratings, luggage, packing tips, and the sites to see helps.
• Eliminates Concerns. There are many questions and concerns about traveling, especially because the pandemic created new restrictions and requirements. Content marketing answers those questions in an engaging, easy-to-understand way. 
• Increase Awareness and Sales. Advertising your business and services can be expensive and short-lived. Content increases brand awareness and sales by permanently living on your website, where it continually generates traffic. The work is creating the content, but search does the work for you once it’s published.

Types of Travel Agency Content Marketing

Photos, videos, and words can convince a person to travel somewhere. Whether they realize they want to plan a vacation or not, they start feeling like they’re missing out. They see and hear of beaches, terrain, wildlife, excursions, food, and people, and they’re convinced! Your content can highlight all aspects of a destination, all in one place. 

Types of content marketing for travel agencies include:

• Destination Guides. Where should your clients travel? Seasoned travelers especially love new, unique recommendations. What are the most popular places to go and things to see once your clients arrive? What’s the best form of transportation? What about highly-rated restaurants? Guides are helpful because they make travelers feel more prepared in a place they’ve never been.
• Event Highlights. What’s happening locally in your client’s destination? Parades, festivals, microtrends, news updates, crime, and transportation fares are just some of the things your content can shed light on. Giving your clients a heads up about local events is a seemingly small detail that can go a long way.
• User Experiences. Discovering and falling in love with a new place is a magical experience. Your clients should feel that you want it to be magical for them from start to finish. Provide enthusiastic, open communication, and you will boost the travel agency experience for your clients. Empower them by making sure they’re prepared and relaxed before their trip begins.
• Showcase Reviews. Clients want to hear from others. Reviews make your business stand out and produce more leads. Positive reviews keep people coming, and negative reviews highlight what you need to work on. 

Key Elements of Travel Agency Content Marketing

You want to be a trusted, authoritative source in your industry. To do that, provide useful, relevant content targeted toward your ideal client. Give them what other tourism companies don’t with your brand’s unique perspective.

To make content marketing work for your agency:

• Know Your Audience. Personalize content to your audience. Pay attention to their wants to meet their needs. Don’t know what your audience wants? Ask them! 
• Show Your Expertise. You know what’s happening in your industry better than anyone. Be the voice of expertise for your clients. Share your knowledge, hacks, tips, and insider info to build trust with your clients. When clients trust you, they will use your services again and recommend you to others.
• Capture the Micro-Moments. People take trips for a myriad of reasons. Usually, the trips fulfill a need, whether it be physical, emotional, spiritual, or educational. Whatever it may be, target your content toward all the small moments involved with a trip. The idea, the planning, the execution, and the sadness when it’s over are all relevant micro-moments. Your audience can tell a lot about your brand’s intentions by the way you acknowledge these moments.
• Establish Your Brand Voice. All of your content should reflect your brand’s personality. Are you channeling a helpful educator vibe? An elevated luxury vacation vibe? Your bestie helping plan a fun, fulfilling trip? Whatever it may be, keep it consistent throughout your content.
• Create Optimized Content. Write and produce your content to reach your ideal audience. Make sure it’s accessible and inclusive for people with all levels of travel experience. There’s nothing worse than researching an unknown topic and feeling less informed than when you started.
• Promote Your Content. Don’t just post and walk away. Promote your content across multiple platforms to boost visibility and potential leads. 
• Be Consistent. It’s easy to slack off when it comes to publishing content. Bulk create and schedule content in advance so you can focus on the day-to-day happenings in your agency. This approach relieves some posting stress but keeps your audience engaged.
• Use Images and Video. Visuals draw people into your business. After all, seeing a destination makes you want to go there. Be sure your photos and videos are clear and accurately labeled to avoid confusion. Ask clients to submit their photos and videos of trips you planned for you to use, along with their recommendations. 

Taking Flight

If you think content marketing might be too much for you to handle, contact Content Journey for help! We’ll create the content you need to showcase your agency and all it offers. We make content our full-time job, so you don’t have to.