The place where you can find new customers for your travel agency is online. For this, you need a good website and to be active on social networks. Romanian tourists prefer to book online and expect quick responses. They especially value the opinions of other tourists. Therefore, it is important that your satisfied customers also talk about you on social media. If you manage your online presence well, you will grow your business and keep your existing customers happy!
Why present your travel agency online?
The Internet, social media and mobile devices have changed the way Romanian tourists search for and book their holidays. These days, you mostly find your customers online, rather than at a travel trade show. The Internet is very important to the tourism industry. It shows Romanian tourists the amazing destinations that await them. Social media inspires them and allows them to share their experiences. The tourism sector is an early adopter of digital technologies. Consumer buying behavior is changing as fast and easy online booking becomes a primary sales channel for travel products.
You don't have to wait for the customer to find you. Instead, actively use the opportunities that the Internet offers to your travel business. How can you attract tourists online? Here are the top 10 tips for your travel agency's online success.
Tip 1: Have a good website
Romanian tourists are experienced internet users. If you want to successfully target tourists online, you need a good website. You should invest in it because your website is central to the success of your online business. It is the place where you can present complete information about your tourism product, at a low cost. To keep your website fresh and interesting, you should update its content regularly.
A good website should:
– have a good and attractive design
– have an informative, complete and attractive content
– be optimized for search engines (SEO)
– be easy to update and maintain
– to be mobile friendly (to allow easy and versatile access from mobile)
– contain good quality photos and videos
– have tools to measure its performance (eg number of unique and returning visitors, page views and countries of origin).
You can build your own website or hire a professional for you, depending on your skills. TravelFuse provides the best platform in Romania for developing a tourism website.
Tip 2: Offer online booking and payment
Online booking. In Romania, online booking is an important sales channel for tourism. Tourists like that booking online is quick and easy. Digital bookings now account for more than half of all European travel purchases, more than in any other market. This share is the highest in northern and western Europe, where online channels already represented up to three quarters of accommodation reservations made in 2018. Romania also follows this European trend. In the coming years, the online travel market is expected to grow. This means you need to offer online booking options for your travel product. If not, you will exclude the majority of the Romanian market.
Online payment. A key element of your online booking system is online payment. This is effective because it saves time, both for you and your customers. If you only accept cash payments, you're narrowing your customer base considerably. There are several types of online payment methods including: card payment, bank transfer, mobile payment, international alternatives such as PayPal, national alternatives. You can install a booking and payment tool on your website.
Tip 3: Be present and active on social media
Social media allows you to communicate, connect and build a relationship with your (potential) customers. Tourists also use social media as a key source of travel information before, during and after travel.
Which social media channel to use? The most important social media channels for you are: Instagram – to share photos and videos of your destination, Facebook – to create, promote and share content and interact with (potential) customers, YouTube – to expose your destination in video format. For more information, see Expedia's e-book on social media and the travel industry. This provides information as well as tips and best practices for each social media channel.
Locating potential customers on social networks. Find your prospect on social media, for example by: searching for related hashtags, using the 'search' tools on your social media accounts, joining online groups where your prospect may be, engaging with your prospect on social media social media, following customers on social media, as well as mentions of your destination, company and/or product, answering questions and/or posting helpful tips. You can also answer questions that aren't directed directly at you, for example, if a potential customer asks for advice on what to do in your area or wants to know the best destination for a particular activity. This way you can bring your product offering to their attention. However, don't block people who come with offers for your destination, as this can quickly become annoying.
User Generated Content. You can reuse your customers' User Generated Content (UGC). This means posting content from others on their social media accounts with their permission. For example, you can post: photos, videos, comments. Using your customers' content can make them feel proud and appreciated. In addition, Romanian tourists consider the content of others to be particularly trustworthy. This makes UGC a very effective way to connect with (potential) customers.
Tip 4: Let your satisfied customers speak for you
As we just discussed, what others say about you is your most powerful marketing message. You need to create a positive impression. For this, of course, you need to give your customers a wonderful experience during their vacation. In addition, you should encourage them to share their great experience online, for example through: review websites – reviews and ratings, social media – photos and videos, your website – comments and feedback.
Review websites. Use review websites like TripAdvisor where customers can rate and review their experience with your business. These websites give you free marketing through direct traffic to your own website. If you have a good TripAdvisor ranking, highlight it on your website with a graphic or widget.
Tip 5: Respond quickly to online customer contact
If a (potential) customer contacts you through your website or social media, you should respond quickly. For existing customers, slow responses can lead to upset, bad reviews, or problems if they need support. With new leads, slow responses can cost you business. There is a strong correlation between response time and consumer buying behavior. The faster you respond, the more likely your offer will turn into a sale. When people post a general inquiry on social media, sales usually go to the first company that responds appropriately. If customers contact you directly on social media, they generally expect a reply within a day. One in five customers actually expect you to respond within an hour. Don't keep them waiting, try to respond within 12 hours. If you're not in the office all the time, invest in a smartphone. This allows you to quickly respond to phone calls, email and social media.
Tip 6: Advertise yourself
Google Ads and Facebook Ads. Online advertising can be full of results. Some good ways to reach your potential customers are: Google Ads – a pay-per-click advertising service based on Google search engine keywords, Facebook Ads – various types of ads on Facebook platforms. To get started with Google Ads, you can follow the Google Academy for Ads where you will learn step by step how to promote through the Google search engine. Facebook now has a "Facebook Travel Advertising" guide with useful advertising tools for the travel industry.
Target audience selection. Before you advertise, you need to understand who your customers are and what influences them. You need to specify the demographic you're looking for, especially for Facebook ads. Pay for advertising only when it is specifically targeted to your ideal customer. Be smart, use long tail keywords that your target audience is looking for.
Tip 7: Build relationships
It's easier to sell to an existing customer than to acquire a new one. This means you should value your customers and turn them into repeat customers. A good way to build and maintain a relationship with your customers is to:
– staying in touch with them after the trip – travelers appreciate a personal touch
– asking for feedback and using it to improve your product – let your customer know how you used their feedback
- creating an email database - use your website or blog to add them to your subscriber list and create effective and exclusive information for this group.
Make sure you comply with the General Data Protection Regulation and ask for their consent before storing and using people's contact details.
Tip 8: Collaborate with travel bloggers
Another way to use what others are saying about you in your marketing is to partner with travel bloggers.
Travel blogging has become a key way to generate sales for your travel products. However, you shouldn't write all the blog posts yourself. To create trusted content, collaborate with travel bloggers. This can increase your sales to your existing target market as well as generate new leads. By using different types of bloggers, your posts can reach new groups of potential customers.
Tip 9: Keep learning
Online marketing strategies and tools are evolving and changing rapidly. Take the time to stay up-to-date with relevant marketing information, for example by attending online marketing courses, training centers or online. A good online presence is a lot of work. You need to make it an integrated part of your company's procedures. If you feel like you can't keep up with content maintenance and online visibility, you may decide to outsource some of your online tasks, as it's important to get it right.