How to Promote Your Travel Business at Any Budget

Running a travel business is an exciting journey in itself, but making sure its success requires effective promotion strategies. 

Promoting your travel agency business doesn’t have to be complicated or confusing. In a world filled with a variety of opportunities, there are endless possibilities for you as well.

But if you are struggling to figure out the best ways to promote your travel business, then this post is for you. I’ll cover some practical tips to promote your travel business, whether you have no budget, a limited budget, or some wiggle room.

Defining Your Promotional Goals

Before diving into specific tactics, it’s crucial to define your promotional goals.

You might say, isn’t it obvious that the purpose of promoting any business is to increase sales and revenue?

Yes, the ultimate goal is always to sell your travel services. However, not all travel business marketing tactics directly result in increased sales and revenue. Some methods may help you achieve other goals, such as brand awareness, which will ultimately lead to sales.

In addition, you also need to consider your company’s growth stage. If you are new to the tourism industry, you may not be able to afford all the marketing costs.

For example, Ads are a great way to reach a global audience and and sell your services more easily. However, they come with a challenge: they require a significant budget. As a newbie, you might not want to spend all your marketing budget on just ads.

Therefore, I highly recommend that every travel agency owner to choose the marketing channel and campaign based on their company’s growth stage. 

Here are some goals you can achieve while promoting your travel business:

1. Generate Awareness:  In a crowded marketplace, promotion makes your travel business visible to potential customers.  Without promotion, they simply won’t know you exist and all the amazing experiences you offer.
2. Attract New Clients:  Promotion allows you to reach out to a wider audience and attract new clients who are actively searching for travel experiences. 
3. Stand Out From Competitors:  The travel industry is highly competitive.  Promotion helps you differentiate yourself from the pack.
4. Build Brand Identity:  Through consistent promotion, you can build a strong brand identity for your travel business. This includes your brand voice, visuals, and the overall perception customers have of your company.
5. Boost Sales and Revenue: Ultimately, promotion fuels your travel business growth. By attracting new clients and reminding existing ones about your offerings, you drive sales and increase revenue.

How to Promote Your Travel Business on Google

Online presence is crucial whether you run a travel company or any other kind of business. When we say “online,” Google is often the first thing that comes to mind.

Using Google to promote your business is a no-brainer. With over 90% of the market share, it’s one of the best ways to reach consumers actively searching for solutions.

Here are the best ways to use Google to get your name out there, some of which won’t cost you a penny.

1. Create Your Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile is a free tool that allows businesses to manage how their information appears across Google Search and Google Maps. It’s particularly important for businesses with a physical location or those that serve customers within a designated service area.

Creating a Google Business Profile should be a top priority for your travel agency. Let me explain why:

Go to Google and type any travel related keyword. For example, search for “Travel agency in Paris.” Did you see the Local Pack snippet on your search result page?

What if your company were listed here? People could have checked your Google Business Profile and visited your website. If everything went well, they might have even booked your services.

If your business is ranking on Google Maps or showing up in the Local Pack of regular results pages, it is promoting itself 24/7. In addition, setting up and managing a Google Business Profile is completely free. It won’t cost you a penny!

But you don’t have this profile yet, and this opportunity is gone. 

Therefore, if you don’t have a Google Business Profile, start creating one today! Once you have ownership, you can optimize your listing to show up higher in search results and for more relevant searches.

Follow these guidelines provided by Google to claim your Business Profile: https://support.google.com/business/answer/2911778?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop

2. Build a Website

Creating a full-fledged travel booking website for your travel business – I’m sure you were expecting this step on the list, right?

Building a website is a common practice today. In fact, many businesses start by building a website first and then setting up a physical office later.

The reasons why people choose this step before setting up a physical location are pretty obvious – it’s all about cost and efficiency.

So, let’s go beyond simply building a website and talk about the things you need to consider to promote your travel business through it.

For beginners, here’s a full guide on how to create a travel booking website.

As travel and tour operators, having a simple website that shows your offerings and provides contact information isn’t enough to promote your services. Your travel website has much more potential than that.

With your website, you can: 

# Start a Blog

You can create a blog section on your website and consistently publish engaging travel content. Write about travel destinations, tips, things to do and avoid while traveling, and much more. After all, the content you create should benefit travelers.

Creating detailed and high-quality content helps you attract organic traffic to your website. When people search for specific travel keywords on search engines like Google, they might find your website and explore it to get the information they need.

By consistently producing and publishing quality content, you can build strong relationships with your potential customers and position yourself as a reliable source of knowledge and inspiration. 

This, in turn, can enhance brand awareness, increase website traffic, and ultimately lead to more bookings and revenue.

# Add Calls to Action (CTAs)

Now that you’ve engaged your audience with valuable content, it’s time to take the next step: conversion. This is where Calls to Action (CTAs) come in.

A call to action is a prompt on a website that asks users to perform a specific action like signing up for a newsletter, downloading a brochure, or booking a trip.

CTAs can appear in various forms: clickable buttons, hyperlinked text, or pop-up windows. They are crucial because each click represents a potential customer one step closer to conversion (booking a trip).

It is also important where you place your CTAs. They should be strategically positioned for maximum impact, ideally where your audience is most engaged. 

Here are some suggestions:

• On blog posts: After providing valuable travel information, encourage readers to take the next step by offering a free travel guide, itinerary inspiration, or a special discount on a related trip package. Include a strong CTA button like “Get Your Free Travel Guide Now!” or “Explore This Destination Today!”
• On trip pages: Make it easy for users to book their dream vacation by placing a clear “Book Now” or “Contact Us for a Quote” CTA button on each trip page.
• Throughout your website: Consider adding subtle yet prominent CTAs throughout your website, such as a “Contact Us” button in the header or a “Subscribe to Our Newsletter” pop-up.

Remember: Your CTAs should be clear, concise, and actionable. Use strong verbs and create a sense of urgency to encourage immediate action. 

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different CTA formats and placements to see what works best for your target audience and website traffic.

# Live Chat or Chatbot

Getting people to your website is great, but keeping them interested and turning them into customers is just as important.

That’s where live chat and chatbots come in. You can add them to your website so you can talk to visitors right away, answer their questions, and help them with any problems they might have.

Chatbots can also answer common questions 24/7, even when your office is closed. This keeps visitors engaged and stops them from leaving your website because they can’t find the help they need.

Plus, chatbots can handle a lot of the basic questions, freeing up your customer service team for the more difficult ones. This saves money in the long run and lets your real people focus on giving personalized help.

# Clear Packages and Pricing

Another way to keep visitors interested in your website is to showcase your travel packages clearly.

This means explaining exactly what’s included in each package, like where you’ll go, the fun things you’ll do, the places you’ll stay, and the day-by-day plan. Use beautiful pictures to show people what each trip is really like. Being upfront about everything builds trust with visitors and makes it easier for them to decide if your tour is a good fit for them.

However, if you want to truly stand out from the competition, consider offering personalized tours alongside your standard packages.

Personalized tours, also sometimes called custom tours, are travel experiences designed specifically to cater to an individual traveler’s interests, preferences, and budget. 

By offering custom tours, you can attract a whole new group of people who might not be interested in your regular group tours.  

People who want unique experiences are often happy to pay more for a custom tour because they get more attention, flexibility, and a trip built just for them. This also allows you to charge more than you would for a regular group tour.

Learn more about the benefits and how to create personalized tours for your business: A Guide to Personalized Tours.

# Social Proof

Many people hesitate to book trips online, especially for expensive vacations or places they’ve never been before. This uncertainty stems from a lack of trust in unknown companies.

However, positive social proof can be a powerful tool to overcome this hurdle and build a strong brand image in the travel industry. This includes things like customer reviews, testimonials, media mentions, logos of trusted travel associations, and even awards you’ve won.

All of these elements work together to reassure potential customers that your website is trustworthy and offers quality travel experiences. Seeing these things from other people helps make booking a trip online feel less risky.

So, don’t be shy to put positive reviews and testimonials from past customers all over your website, on special landing pages you create, and even next to the descriptions of your different travel packages. 

This way, people looking at your website can see what other travelers experienced when they booked with you.

Also, if you’ve won any awards or been recognized by people in the travel industry, be sure to show them off!  

Putting them in a prominent spot on your homepage or at the top of your website makes you look more trustworthy and like a leader in the travel business.

3. Use Proper SEO Practices

You’ve built a website to showcase your travel business, but how will potential customers find it?

The answer is simple: through SEO.

But what is SEO, and how can it promote your travel business?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Imagine it like this: you have a travel brochure for your tours, but instead of handing it out to everyone on the street, you want people who are specifically looking for adventures to find it.

That’s what SEO does for your travel website. It helps search engines like Google understand what your website is about and who it’s for. When people search for travel destinations, activities, or interests related to your tours, SEO can help your website show up near the top of the search results.

Here’s how SEO can promote your website:

• More visitors: People are more likely to click on websites that appear at the top of search results. So, good SEO means more people will see your website and learn about your tours.
• Targeted Traffic: By focusing on keywords related to your specific tours (e.g., “hiking tours in Nepal”), you’ll attract visitors who are genuinely interested in what you offer, increasing the chance they’ll book a trip with you.
• Trust and Credibility: Websites that rank higher in search results are often seen as more trustworthy. So, good SEO can help build trust with potential customers.
• Long-Term Benefits: SEO is an ongoing process, but the results are long-lasting. Once your website is optimized and starts ranking well, you can continue to enjoy organic traffic without needing to pay for clicks or ads.

SEO isn’t just a one-time fix; it’s a combination of tactics like keyword research, optimizing your important pages, and fixing technical issues of your website that work together to improve your website’s ranking. 

Here are some key SEO strategies for travel websites:

# Keyword Research

The first step is to identify the terms your ideal customers are looking for. 

Put yourself in their shoes. What terms would they use to search for travel experiences like yours? Brainstorm keywords related to destinations you offer, travel styles (luxury, adventure, budget), activities, and types of travelers (families, couples, solo).

There are several free and paid keyword research tools, such as Google Keyword Planner, that can help you discover a list of relevant terms at a glance. Additionally, they can also help you identify search volume and competition level.

# On-Page Optimization

Once you have your keywords, strategically add them throughout your website content. This includes page titles, meta descriptions (the snippets people see in search results), headings, image alt text, and the content itself. 

• Titles: Catchy headlines for each page that mention your keywords.
• Meta Descriptions: Short blurbs that show up in search results, like mini-ads with keywords.
• Headings: Titles within your website content that also have your keywords.
• Image Text: Words describing your pictures, including relevant keywords.
• Content: Use your keywords naturally throughout your website’s text, but don’t overdo it!

# High-Quality Content

I have already discussed the importance of high-quality content in starting a blog section. Now, let’s leverage SEO to create informative, engaging, and valuable travel content that specifically targets your audience’s interests.

# Off-Page SEO

Off-page SEO is all about creating backlinks. Backlinks, also known as inbound links, are essentially links from other websites that point to your website.

Here’s a simple definition: Imagine you’re writing a travel blog, and you mention an amazing restaurant you found in Italy. You might say something like, “For the best pizza, check out [Restaurant Name](link to restaurant’s website).” That link you just added is a backlink!

Search engines consider backlinks a sign of trust and authority. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the better your website’s ranking potential in search results.

There are many ways to earn backlinks, such as guest blogging on other travel websites, creating link-worthy content that others want to share, or participating in online travel communities.

# Technical SEO

Technical SEO is like making sure the backrooms of your website are organized and easy to navigate. 

This includes:

• Having a clean and well-organized website structure makes it easy for search engines to find all your travel pages.
• Adding a sitemap on your website. Think of this as a map for search engines. It shows them exactly which pages are on your website.
• Adding schema markup code to the website. By adding schema code, you can provide richer information about your travel offerings. 

Recommendation

SEO is not a one-time fix. It requires ongoing research, implementation, and monitoring of your website’s performance. Staying updated on the latest SEO trends can be time-consuming, especially for busy travel business owners.

As a business owner, your primary focus is naturally on running your travel agency. You may not have the same level of expertise as a professional SEO specialist, but hiring an SEO expert can be a strategic investment if your budget allows.

They can develop a customized SEO strategy specifically for your travel website and handle all the technical aspects, freeing you up to focus on what you do best.

If you are passionate about learning about SEO in detail, check out this guide: How to Do SEO for Travel Website.

4. Run Google Ads

SEO isn’t the only way to boost your online presence on search engines and promote your travel website.  Another powerful tool is advertising.

But there’s a huge difference. SEO requires time and effort to implement, but the ongoing cost is minimal. The benefits, however, are long-term, with the potential for continuous organic traffic.

On the other hand, ads provide immediate results, driving targeted traffic quickly. They also allow for specific targeting based on demographics, interests, and location. However, ads come with an ongoing cost that depends on your budget and ad spend.

If you have a big budget for your marketing campaign, ads can get your travel website in front of a wider audience, leading to more website visitors who might be interested in your tours and packages.

Even if someone doesn’t click on your ad right away, seeing it repeatedly can increase brand awareness for your travel agency. This can be beneficial for future bookings or referrals.

Additionally, Google Ads and other advertising platforms provide detailed analytics on your ad campaigns. You can track metrics like clicks, impressions, conversions, and cost-per-click (CPC). This data allows you to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns and adjust them for better results.

Read this article from Hootsuite, which has written a beginner guide on how you can run ads in Google.

5. Ask Your Customers for Reviews

As we discussed earlier, online reviews play a crucial role in strengthening your travel brand’s reputation. While testimonials on your website are nice, reviews on websites like Google, Tripadvisor, and Yelp are even better!

Here’s why.

Tons of travelers (like 93%!) say online reviews affect where they book trips. These travelers might not always look at your website for reviews, so having good ones on trusted sites like Google Business Profile is key.

Want to learn exactly how to ask customers for reviews? Check out our guide: How to Ask and Get Customer Reviews for Your Travel Business

Once someone has a great trip with you, politely ask them to leave a review. You can ask them to write it on the website they used to find you, or wherever they feel comfortable.

No matter what kind of review you get, good or bad, take the time to read it. Thank customers for nice reviews and apologize for any bad ones. Explain how you’ll fix things to make sure it doesn’t happen again. 

Remember, bad reviews can be a chance to learn and improve! By addressing concerns promptly and professionally, you can show your commitment to customer satisfaction and potentially turn a negative experience into a positive opportunity.

How to Promote Your Travel Business on Social Media

When I talk about your online presence, search engines like Google aren’t the only place to establish your business.

Another great way to establish and promote your travel business is Social Media.

Unlike Google, social media provides numerous opportunities to find and connect with your target audience in a more interactive way. And the best part is you can get started completely free! (Of course, if you have some budget to invest, you can opt for paid advertising for even greater reach.)

Here are the benefits of Social Media Marketing:

• Increased Brand Awareness: By consistently creating engaging content, you can become a trusted source of travel inspiration and expertise for potential customers.
• Targeted Reach: Social media lets you target exactly who you want to see your posts. You can define demographics, interests, and travel preferences.
• Cost-Effective Marketing: Compared to traditional marketing methods, social media offers a relatively inexpensive way to promote your travel services.
• Direct Engagement with Travelers: Social media fosters a two-way conversation with potential customers. You can respond to comments and questions in real time and address concerns.
• Create a Travel Community: You can create a community around your travel brand. In the community, people who might book trips with you or who already have can chat and share their travel tips and stories.
• Learn What Travelers Want: Social media analytics can tell you a lot about what kind of travel your audience is interested in and how they interact with your posts. This helps you better understand your customers.
• Real-Time Customer Service: You can address your customer concerns and answer questions promptly.
• Get More Visitors to Your Website: By adding calls to action (like “Visit our website to learn more!”), you can get people from social media to your website, where they can see all your tours and deals.
• Boost Brand Reputation: When happy customers leave good reviews on social media, it shows other travelers that your agency is trustworthy.

Alright, let’s explore the different methods you can use social media marketing to promote your travel business.

6. Create a Social Media Profile

Some of the great examples of social media are Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Linkedin, and Twitter. ( If I missed any other platform, pardon me)

Creating a business profile on any of the mentioned social media platforms is as easy as pie. But that doesn’t mean you start creating accounts on every social media platform.

Why? Didn’t you mention that creating social media profiles helps promote my business?

Yes, they do. Just because creating social media profiles can help promote your business doesn’t mean you need to be everywhere at once. Managing numerous accounts can be time-consuming and ultimately unproductive.

Make a Strategic Move. Not all social media platforms are equally beneficial for every business.

First, understand where your target audience, the travelers, spends their time online. Also, identify their go-to places for travel inspiration and information.

As for the travel businesses, the best social media platforms are:

1. Instagram – Best for showcasing travel destinations through high-quality photos and videos.
2. Facebook –  A broad-reach platform to connect with a wide audience and build a community around your travel brand.
3. YouTube – Creating travel vlogs, showcasing destinations in a more immersive way, and sharing travel tips.
4. TikTok – A rapidly growing platform popular with younger demographics.
5. Twitter – Useful for sharing travel news, updates, and quick promotions. 

Now, let’s learn things that you actually need to do in your social media profiles.

# Open Business Account

Social media platforms offer different account types for personal and business purposes. A business account unlocks features to help businesses achieve their marketing goals.

These accounts let you do more than just post pictures, videos, and updates about your travel business. They also give you access to track metrics like:

• Who your followers are (age, location, etc.)
• How many people see your posts
• How many people liked, commented, or shared your posts
• How many people click through to your website from your social media
• and more.

Another great feature is that you can run targeted ads with business accounts! These ads reach people based on demographics, interests, location, and online behavior.

For illustration purposes, 

here’s an example of a personal account: https://www.facebook.com/mina.tamang.961993/

In contrast, this is a business account example for WP Travel Engine: https://www.facebook.com/wptravelengine. 

Heads Up for Facebook:

To create a business account on Facebook, you need to have a regular Facebook account first. 

Once you have that, you can just log in and find the “Pages” section on the left side of the Facebook homepage. You can also click the “Create” button and choose “Page” to get started.

The way to create a business account might be a little different on other social media sites. However, unlike Facebook, some sites like Twitter don’t require you to have a regular account first. 

You can usually find instructions on how to create a business account during the signup process on each website.

# Optimize Your Social Media Profiles

Just having a social media account for your travel business isn’t enough. To get noticed and be seen as a travel expert, you need to make your profiles awesome!

The more useful info you give people, the more they’ll trust you as a reliable source. Here’s a roadmap to help you optimize your social media profiles:

• Pick a Username: Choose a short name that reflects your travel agency and is easy to remember (like @[YourTravelAgencyName]). Use the same name on all your social media accounts so people can find you easily.
• Tell People About Your Business: Fill out your profile with your business name, a short description of what you do, and your website address.
• Make Contact Easy: Include your contact information, like your website and phone number, so people can reach you whenever they want.
• Upload Logo: Use a high-quality profile picture and a cover image that shows your brand’s essence.
• Add CTAs: Some social media sites let you add buttons that say things like “Book Now” or “Contact Us.” These buttons make it easy for people to take action after seeing your profile.

# Create a Social Media Calendar and Post Content

Now, it’s time to promote your travel company through engaging social media content. This content can take various forms, including images, videos, or informative text.

For the travel industry, visuals are more impactful than simple text. So, give your followers something to admire! Eye-catching images, graphics, and videos will help your posts stop someone mid-scroll to engage with your content.

Here are the content ideas for social media marketing:

• Travel Tips
• Special Offers or Discounts
• Travel Updates or News
• Post about New Destinations or Packages
• Live Video Broadcasts
• Travel Contests & Giveaways
• National Holidays 
• Customer Spotlight
• Travel Quote Mondays
• Travel Q&A with an Expert

One crucial rule for social media marketing is to focus on creating high-quality and valuable content. This content should provide solutions, entertain, educate, or inspire your audience.  Shift your focus away from constantly pushing your services.

Let’s face it: people don’t enjoy feeling pressured by constant sales pitches.

Therefore, to build a strong social media presence, structure your content around these three categories: awareness, engagement, and action.

Moving on to creating, scheduling, and keeping track of all your posts, a social media content calendar can be a lifesaver. This tool will significantly help you manage your tasks.

The final step is to post the content. 

But be consistent with your posting schedule. Don’t bombard your audience with a flurry of posts at once, followed by months of silence. Instead, you can aim for a consistent schedule, whether it’s daily, several times a week, or even weekly, depending on your platform and resources. 

# Engage with Your Audience

Don’t think your task is done after posting. 

Social media channels are communities. You need to pay close attention to who engages with your posts and actively participate in the conversation. Respond to comments, like and share relevant content from your followers, host live streams, and spark discussions with polls or Q&A sessions. 

Bonus Tip: Build a Travel Community on Facebook

Did you know you can create a special group on Facebook for your travel agency?  This community is a great way for people who love to travel (and your past customers!) to connect and share their experiences.

When potential customers see this thriving community, it sends a strong message that your travel agency is trustworthy and can help them plan amazing trips. It’s like having a built-in group of happy customers who can vouch for you!

Here is an example of the Facebook community for WP Travel Engine, where users of our products can get help, learn new tips and tricks, and much more:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/531084495389293.

7. Join Online Communities

Similar to how your travel community allows customers to connect and share experiences, there are many online communities you, as a travel agency owner, can join. 

There are many online communities run by anyone, not just travel agencies, that offer a platform to connect with potential clients. By participating, you can learn about their interests, needs, and travel trends.

Here are some examples of online communities:

• Solo Trips & Travelers
• https://www.reddit.com/r/travel/
• Find a Travel Buddy
• TripAdvisor Forums

Here are some effective strategies you can use to promote your travel business by joining online travel communities:

# Finding the Right Communities

Start by searching for online travel forums, Facebook Groups, or subreddits dedicated to specific destinations, travel styles (e.g., adventure travel, budget travel), or demographics (e.g., travel for families). 

Join the communities that are most relevant to the services you offer. In addition, every online community has its own rules. Read them carefully and ensure your participation aligns with their expectations.

# Engaging in a Meaningful Way

After joining, don’t just jump in and try to sell your tours right away. 

Avoid bombarding the group with promotional messages. Instead, offer valuable insights, travel tips, or recommendations relevant to the community discussions.

# Showcasing Your Expertise

To gain the trust of the community, you should portray yourself as a travel expert. So, actively participate in discussions, answer questions thoughtfully, offer personalized recommendations when appropriate, and be a genuine resource for the community.

You can also create engaging posts or threads about destinations you specialize in and share interesting facts, cultural insights, or personal travel experiences.

# Promoting Your Business (Subtly)

When you join a community, make sure your profile description is informative. Briefly mention your travel agency and the kind of trips you specialize in. You can also include a link to your website for those who want to learn more.

Occasionally, you can offer exclusive discounts or special promotions to members of the community. This can incentivize them to consider your agency when booking.

You can also spark interest by hosting travel-related contests or giveaways and offering exciting prizes relevant to the community (e.g., travel accessories and weekend getaways).

8. Run Social Media Advertising

I have already covered how advertising helps to promote your travel business in the Google ads section.

Social media advertising functions similarly to Google Ads. However, instead of appearing in search results, these ads are displayed within social media feeds.

To get started effectively, focus your ad spend on just one platform. This allows you to analyze data and optimize your campaign before potentially expanding to other platforms.  

Once you’ve chosen your platform, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the various ad formats available. These formats can help you create effective and engaging ads.

Here’s a breakdown of some popular ad formats to familiarize yourself with the options available:

Facebook Ads Formats:

• Photo: A single image (not necessarily a photo) to promote your trips, services, or company.
• Video: Vertical or horizontal, for quick hits or deep dives.
• Stories: Mobile-only full-screen vertical photos or videos that disappear after 24 hours.
• Messenger: Viewers can tap to start a conversation with your brand.
• Carousel: Up to ten images or videos, each with its own headline, description, or link.
• Slideshow: Combine images and text to create a video ad that uses up to five times less data than regular video.
• Collection: Mobile shopping experiences that allow viewers to purchase directly through the app.
• Playables: Interactive previews of apps.

Instagram Ads Formats:

• Photo: A single image.
• Video: Square or horizontal.
• Stories: Mobile-only full-screen vertical photos or videos that disappear after 24 hours and appear between Stories.
• Carousel: Up to 10 images or videos, each with its own headline, description, or link.
• Reels: Fullscreen vertical photos or videos that appear between Reels and in the feed.
• Instagram Shop: Carousel or collection ads featuring square images and checkout through your website or within an Instagram Shop.

TikTok Ads Formats:

• Image: A single full-screen image.
• Video: A 5- to 60-second video.
• Carousel: Show from 2 to 35 images, depending on the selected objective. Clickable images or calls to action, also depending on the objective.
• Top view: A video ad shown as soon as someone opens TikTok. It starts with a 3-second video takeover that leads into an in-feed video. (Only available through a sales representative for qualified customers.)
• Spark Ads: These are the TikTok version of boosted posts, with the added ability to boost posts from any creator (with their permission).
• Playable Ads: Offer a preview of your app or game.
• Live Shopping Ads: Allows viewers to purchase products during a live stream.
• Video Shopping Ads: Create videos that allow users to purchase products from your catalog.

Twitter Ads Formats:

• Promoted Ads: (Formerly known as Promoted Tweets) These can be images, videos, carousels, or text-only.
• Vertical Video Ads: Full-screen, sound-on mobile ads. This is the fastest-growing ad surface on the platform.
• Amplify Pre-roll Ads: Appear before video content in 15+ categories.
• Takeover Ads:
• Trend Takeover: Allows brands to place a sponsored ad on the Explore tab.
• Timeline Takeover: Appears at the top of a user’s timeline when they open Twitter.
• Live Promotion: Increase the reach of your live stream by adding an ad budget.
• Dynamic Product Ads: Retarget people who have interacted with a product on your website.
• Collection Ads: A single hero image plus smaller thumbnails with multi-destination linking.

YouTube Ads Formats:

• In-stream Ads: Skippable or unskippable (up to 30 seconds) videos that run before, during, or after other videos.
• Bumper Ads: These are up to 6 seconds and are non-skippable; these play before, after, or during another video.
• In-feed Video Ads: A thumbnail of your video plus text; these ads appear in search results, next to related videos, and on the mobile YouTube homepage.
• Masthead Ads: (Only available through a Google sales rep) These ads autoplay at the top of the YouTube desktop or mobile app.

Read this article from Hootsuite, which has written a complete guide on Social Media Advertising.

9. Start Video Marketing

In the travel industry, video marketing reigns supreme when it comes to capturing the hearts and minds of potential travelers.

Videos bring the entire travel experience to life – unlike pictures that offer just a glimpse. People can see the cool places they could visit, the fun activities they could do, and maybe even get a sense of the amazing feeling they’d have on their trip.

Beyond captivating viewers, video marketing offers a range of benefits for your travel business:

• Makes people trust you more: Seeing real people and places in your videos shows people you’re not just some website, you’re a real travel company that can take them on an awesome trip.
• Makes them want to book a trip: A cool video can get people excited about traveling with you. They can practically feel themselves relaxing on the beach or exploring a new city!
• Helps you rank higher online: Websites with videos tend to show up higher in search results, so more people will find your travel agency.
• Shows up on social media: People love sharing videos on Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms. Travel videos can be a great way to reach a whole lot of new people who might be interested in booking a trip.

Did all these benefits get you pumped about making videos?

You can use platforms like YouTube and TikTok, which have always been video-centric. Even platforms like Instagram and Facebook are increasingly focusing on video content. In fact, even platforms with limitations on native video uploads recognize the value of video marketing.

But before you set up, record, or edit anything, start with a video marketing strategy.

Why?

Because every decision made during the video creation process will point back to your video’s purpose and what action you’d like your audience to complete after watching it.

Without a clear goal everyone agrees on, you’ll be stuck in a loop of reshooting, reframing, and editing forever. That wastes a lot of precious time. So, begin the process with a clear strategy.

Check out our comprehensive guide on Video Marketing Strategies for Travel Businesses.

For more specific, you can also check out our two other guides:

• 10-Step YouTube Marketing Strategy for Travel Agencies
• How to Use TikTok For Promoting Travel Agency?

Meanwhile, let me share some video ideas you can use to promote your business.

Destination Showcase Videos

• Travel Vlogs: Film your travels like a diary! Show what you see, hear, and feel at each place.
• Drone Videos: Get amazing bird’s-eye views of landscapes, landmarks, and resorts.
• Timelapse Videos: Speed up time to show sunrises, sunsets, busy cities, or calm beaches.
• City Guides: Make helpful videos about must-see places, interesting things to do, and hidden gems in a city.

Travel Experience Videos

• Activity Videos: Highlight fun things to do at destinations, like hiking, diving, exploring history, or trying local food.
• Customer Testimonial Videos: Let happy customers share their good experiences with you and the places you recommend.
• How-To Videos: Provide valuable travel tips for viewers. This could include packing hacks, navigating new destinations, planning specific types of trips (adventure travel, budget travel), or cultural etiquette guides.

Travel Agency Branding Videos

• Intro Videos: In short videos, tell people about your travel agency, what you do, where you send people on trips (your specialties), and who you are (your team).
• Meet the Team: Show how much your team knows about travel and how many places they’ve been. This will help people trust you more.
• Behind-the-Scenes Videos: Let people see what your travel agency is really like – your love for travel and how hard you work to make trips awesome.

Social Media Specific Videos:

• Short & Fun Clips: Make short, catchy videos (15-30 seconds) for Instagram or TikTok that show the coolest parts of a place or trip.
• Live Videos: Chat with your followers in real time! Answer their questions about travel or have fun discussions.
• Customer Videos: Ask happy customers to share their travel videos using a special word (#hashtag) to build a community and show real recommendations from real people.

Promotional Videos:

• Deal Alert Videos: Make videos to announce special offers or discounts for a limited time. This will make people want to book with you right away!
• Contest or Giveaway Videos: Get people excited with travel contests or giveaways you promote in videos.

10. Try Podcast

Podcasts have steadily gained popularity over the past ten years because they offer an interesting and convenient medium for information sharing, education, and entertainment.

One reason for their popularity is ease of access.

If you have a smartphone, tablet, or computer, you can access podcasts with next to no effort. Your phone and tablet most likely have a native podcasting app built-in. If not, downloading one takes just a few swipes. With a computer, you can simply type “podcast” into Google, and the first few results will give you access to podcasts.

Not only are podcasts easy to access, but in 90% of cases, they are free. Sure, premium listening apps like Spotify offer some exclusive content, but most podcasts are available at no cost, right there in an app or browser.

You might be thinking, “How can a podcast promote my travel business?”

Well, it can do wonders!

People love listening to podcasts. It’s like hanging out with friends and enjoying a discussion on a topic you’re interested in.

So, being featured on a travel podcast or even sponsoring one can significantly increase brand awareness. Listeners will hear your agency’s name and get a sense of your travel expertise and the types of experiences you curate.

Furthermore, participating in a podcast interview allows you to showcase your knowledge of the travel industry and the destinations you specialize in.

If you have the time and resources, consider launching your own travel podcast. This gives you complete creative control over the content and the opportunity to promote your travel agency and its services directly.

Here is the step-by-step guide by Spotify on how to start a Podcast if you would like: https://podcasters.spotify.com/resources/learn/how-to/start-a-podcast

11. Try Influencer Marketing

Ever heard of influencers? You must have heard of the Kardashians, at least!

Influencers are social media personalities who have gained a large following and are considered experts in a particular area, such as makeup, sports, travel, or fashion. 

They post content about their hobbies, interests, or areas of expertise. This could be anything from makeup tutorials to video game reviews. People who enjoy their content subscribe to their channels or follow them for more.

It might seem like influencers have a magic touch when it comes to engaging their audience.

Travel influencers are no different. Their content can evoke feelings of excitement, relaxation, or adventure, creating a powerful emotional connection with viewers. This emotional pull can inspire potential clients to dream about a similar trip – a trip your agency can help them book!

By working with travel influencers, you can show your travel agency to a whole bunch of people who already love travel videos and pictures. When influencers show off the places you can go or the trip packages you offer, it makes people who are looking for a trip see your agency. 

Plus, if a trusted influencer says good things about your agency, it makes people trust you more.

To collaborate with travel influencers, however, requires allocating a significant budget. The cost itself depends on several factors. 

Influencers with more followers and higher engagement typically charge more. The type of promotion (e.g., social media post vs. video collaboration) and campaign length (multiple posts vs. one-time) also affect the price.

For a more detailed breakdown of influencer marketing in the travel industry, see our guide: https://wptravelengine.com/travel-influencer-marketing/

How to Promote Your Travel Business in Your Community

I’ve discussed promoting your travel business online through Google, website creation, and social media marketing. However, these strategies focus solely on building your online presence.

While these online strategies are powerful, there’s a whole world of opportunity within your local travel community, both online and offline. Let’s explore other methods to promote your business in this sphere.

12. Email Marketing

Did you know a single email could attract potential travelers to your business?

Email marketing is a highly cost-effective way to promote your travel business from a sales perspective. Through email marketing, you can reach customers and potential travelers with exclusive seasonal packages, announce the best deals from airlines and other travel partners, or share valuable travel tips.

All in all, you can use your email newsletter to display everything your website has to offer to travelers with minimal cost.

To start, build your email list. By offering incentives like free travel guides or contest entries, you can gradually build a substantial email list. You can achieve this by adding signup forms to your website and social media pages.

Once you have a list, it’s time to craft engaging emails. But remember, keep your emails short, sweet, and visually appealing. Clear subject lines are essential to grab attention, and high-quality pictures and videos of exciting destinations will capture your audience’s imagination.

The final step is to send your emails. But don’t bombard people with emails; just stay in touch. Maybe send emails once a week or a few times a month. This way, you’ll stay fresh in their minds without being annoying.

Bonus Tip

There’s actually more to email marketing than this! If you want to learn all the tricks, check out this guide: link to your guide: https://wptravelengine.com/email-marketing-for-travel-businesses/. It covers all sorts of emails you can send and gives you step-by-step instructions to get started.

13. Get Listed in Online Directories

Online directories are like digital phonebooks but with way more features! They categorize and organize websites or businesses, making it easier for people to find what they’re looking for.

Yellow Pages is a well-known example of an online directory. 

Directories are especially helpful if you are still new to an area or don’t have much of a reputation yet. If you can get a few listings, even if they’re not perfect, it will help attract potential customers who may be looking for what you have to offer.

14. Partner with Strategic Businesses

Don’t try to do everything yourself! Joining forces with other travel businesses, like local tour operators and hotels, is a great way to reach more people and find new customers.

For instance, you partner with a local tour company. They have people who love adventures, and you have amazing travel packages. By working together, you can reach both audiences! This way, you find new customers who might not have known about you before.

Here’s another example- an adventure travel agency could team up with a fancy hotel. This way, they can offer complete vacation packages for people who want both exciting activities and luxurious stays. Partnering allows you to create unique experiences that travelers will love.

And it gets even better! You can work together on advertising too. It’s cheaper than doing it alone. You could co-host events, share ad costs, or promote each other on social media. This way, you all get more bang for your buck!

Partnering with other businesses also creates a stronger travel network in your area. This means you can help each other out, share ideas, and even work on exciting projects together. It’s like building a travel community that makes the whole industry stronger!

15. Make the Most of Travel Fairs and Events

The last, but certainly not least strategy I recommend for promoting your travel business is networking. 

Travel fairs and events are amazing opportunities to meet new people who love to travel, just like you! They’re also a great way to connect with other travel businesses.

Here’s how to make the most of them:

# Chat It Up

Set up a booth, strike up conversations with visitors, and answer their travel questions. This friendly approach builds trust and makes people remember you as the travel expert to go to! Plus, it opens doors for valuable connections.

# Team Up with Others  

Networking with other travel businesses is a great way to swap ideas, learn new things, and even become partners! Imagine working together to create exciting travel packages or share resources – it’s a win-win for everyone.

# Show Off Your Travel Expertise

Many travel events have special areas for presentations. If you get the chance, put together a fun and informative talk! 

Highlight unique destinations, exciting trip itineraries, or even cool travel trends. You can use pictures, charts, and maybe even some interactive elements to keep people engaged. This is your chance to shine, leave a lasting impression, and generate leads that could turn into future travel bookings!

Here’s a more suggestion for you.

The travel business is like a fast-moving river, always changing. To stay successful, you need to be flexible and adapt to new things. You need to continuously monitor industry trends, gather feedback from customers, and be prepared to adjust your strategies accordingly.

How to Promote Your Travel Agency: The Summary

Here, we reach the end of the article. As you’ve seen, there are numerous ways to promote your travel business, regardless of your budget. Implementing the strategies in this post is sure to pay off, especially if you regularly assess and adapt your strategy based on results.

I’ve covered a lot in this post, so let’s recap how to promote your travel business:

• Create and verify your Google Business Profile
• Build a website
• Optimize website for search engines (SEO)
• Run Google Ads campaigns
• Encourage customer reviews and testimonials
• Create social media profiles 
• Join relevant online communities
• Advertise on social media platforms
• Try video marketing
• Consider podcasting 
• Explore influencer marketing
• Send targeted email campaigns
• Partner with strategic businesses
• Participate in travel fairs and events

If there’s something I’ve missed, please leave a comment and share your thoughts. Your feedback is valuable!