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Social networks have transformed the way companies present themselves to their customers, and travel agencies in particular. In fact, according to GlobalData, 87% of millennials look to social networks for travel inspiration.
Social networks have made travel decisions more convenient, with specialists in the field now enjoying more opportunities to create content and promote themselves.
Here are a few tips for managing an agency's social networks.
1. How do social networks help promote your travel agency ?
The use of social networks continues to grow every day, having an influence on everyone's behavior, decisions and consumer choices. Between Instagram and TikTok with one billion monthly users respectively, and YouTube even exceeding two billion monthly users, social networks have become essential elements of a communication strategy.
So it's essential for a travel agent to showcase his or her business on social networks, in order to exchange with current or potential customers, or even to get discovered.
Most social networks will help you gain notoriety and visibility free of charge, but it's important to select the most relevant among the plethora of existing platforms. Here are the most important social networks for a travel agency:
As such, it's essential for a travel agent to showcase his or her showcase on social networks in order to exchange with current or potential customers, or even to get discovered.
Most social networks will help to gain notoriety and visibility free of charge, but it is nevertheless advisable to select the most relevant among the plethora of existing platforms; so here are the few most important social networks for a travel agency :
- YouTube
- TikTok
On these platforms, you'll need to maintain and develop your relationship with your subscribers, so as to create a relationship of trust. The aim is for customers to be more loyal and visit the agency's site more often, thereby increasing its conversion rate. The question remains: What content should I create to deploy and extend my agency's reach via social networks?
2. How do travel agencies create content ?
To reach a wider audience and connect with customers, one of the best ways for travel agents is to have a planned and precise content marketing strategy.
According to the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), three quarters of B2B companies have a content marketing strategy, and 94% of B2B companies use social networks as a means of external communication.
Creating quality content is therefore vital, and lack of inspiration can quickly become a problem, so here are some ideas for content to create that is relevant to your travel agency:
CREATE DESTINATION GUIDES
Destination guides can highlight the attractions of a destination, city or country. These guides can be created as photo reports, infographics or PDFs and published on social networks.
To stand out from the crowd, it's even possible to focus on more specific things: for example, there are many guides on Paris, but few on a Paris bike tour or a culinary tour.
PUBLISH STORIES
Publishing stories on Facebook and Instagram has really taken off in recent years. This feature allows you to create ephemeral content that will only be visible for 24 hours, giving the content an attractive edge. In general, this ephemeral content is seen more than regular posts, which encourages interaction with subscribers: for example, it's possible to ask questions or seek feedback from followers. These stories will help generate more traffic to the agency's professional page. What's more, it's possible to pin the best stories so that they remain on the profile, so you might as well take advantage of them to showcase your business on the networks, like Comptoir des Voyages !
CREATE VIDEOS
Video creation becomes an immersive experience, capturing every facet of the trip.
For example, in-flight experiences, Hotel Room Tours and video presentations of activities allow viewers to experience the agency's services first-hand. Interviews with suppliers and partners can also highlight local personalities and behind-the-scenes stories, humanizing the agency's vision of its processes.
REPOST CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES
The republication of positive customer reviews offers a tangible immersion in valued travel experiences.
Indeed, positive feedback allows future customers to project themselves into the reality of others' experiences, creating both a direct connection with customers' own experiences, and an assurance of the quality of the services offered by the travel agency.
ORGANIZE COMPETITIONS
Organizing competitions is a powerful communication strategy for travel agencies on social networks. These events actively encourage the community to take part, generating dynamic engagement, often beyond the agency's subscribers. By specifying republishing, following and liking in the terms and conditions for taking part in the contest, a higher level of engagement will be generated, as Selectour has done, for example.
POSITIONING IN THE ADVERTISING MARKET
In the wake of the pandemic, market trends have changed enormously.
Today, it's irrefutable that advertising channels, particularly Meta's, are carving out an unrivalled place in the Travel sector's visibility. As a travel agency, investing in targeted campaigns will effectively target potential customers, generating traffic to the site and increasing its commercial impact.
PARTNER WITH INFLUENCERS
Finding partners/influencers for your social networks will help draw more attention to the agency's travel-related content.
The influencer doesn't necessarily have to come from the travel industry, but could be a local celebrity in the agency's region, for example. This support is a real force for creating lots of content, interviews, photos, blogs, podcasts, competitions, visits... and ultimately increasing the agency's visibility.
EMPLOYEE ADVOCRACY
The best spokespeople for a travel agency are none other than the travel agents themselves!
The trend over the past year has clearly been to let stakeholders have their say, without any frills, in order to let the more human side of the agency shine through, giving the impression of knowing the employees and how the company works.
3. How can I promote my travel agency through the network?
Each social network has its own particularities, so here are a few tips for managing your strategy according to the network you use.
Facebook is the place to start. This is where you'll secure your customers, add photos, promote your content, manage customer service requests, link your other social networks, advertise and create events and contests.
Instagram is the leading photo-sharing platform. The important thing here is to share beautiful photos, because there's a unique link between travelers and these sites: according to Kolsquare, Instagram alone accounts for 63% of engagement in the Travel sector, and 90% of Instagram accounts follow a company.
This social network is a photo-sharing platform. The important thing here is to share beautiful images, because there's a unique bond between travelers and these sites: in fact, 30% of users buy something they've seen for the first time on the platform.
LinkedIn is the most active social network dedicated to professionals in France, with over 17 million monthly users, and worldwide, with over a billion registered users. It's a great way to showcase yourself as an industry expert. It lets you run recruitment campaigns and connect with important people. It's easy to interact with other professionals, and these professionals may be going on vacation, or even on a corporate trip (MICE), so it's not a bad idea to publish attractive images and content that show just how nice it is to go on vacation and get away.
Twitter is the right platform to provide dedicated customer service and communication to agency subscribers. Using Twitter will also enable you to stay abreast of industry news, track travel trends, follow influencers and promote your content. Using trending hashtags and shortened links to your content is very useful, making it easier to get known and redirecting directly to the agency.
TIKTOK
The trendiest video platform of recent years also has a lot to offer a travel agency, as shown by the Selectour account, with videos exceeding 3 million views.
First of all, its short format makes it possible to scan a lot of information from different accounts, just as a search engine would.
But the Chinese social network is also interesting in that it is used by a younger demographic: according to DataReportal, 38.5% of TikTok's users are between 16 and 24 years of age, making it possible to target an entirely different clientele. Although they are not the most likely to use the services of a travel agency, they are not to be overlooked as they are the buyers of tomorrow, and 43% of parents take their child's opinion into account when making their travel decision.
Finally, 42% of advertisers consider TikTok videos to offer the best return on investment, again according to Kolsquare.
YOUTUBE
YouTube is emerging as an essential platform for travel agencies, far from being a catch-all for sharing every single video created, but is the perfect place to share longer-format videos to highlight the agency's offer. These videos will be seen by people who are already potentially interested, convincing them to choose this agency and not another, and also helps create links.
LINK IT ALL
Finally, it's important to create a link between all these platforms, through a Linktree and by putting a link to each of these platforms on your site and newsletter, to increase the potential audience, creating a network effect.
4. Who are travel agencies targeting ?
Before promoting your agency's content on social networks, it's essential to know your target audience. This fundamental step is often overlooked, yet the objective is not to sell to a general audience, but to clearly define who the agency wishes to address. By precisely identifying the target, the right people will be attracted to the agency's services.
According to Le Quotidien du Tourisme, the under-30s (62%) prefer to use booking sites, while the 40s (43%), 60s (45%) and especially the "50s and over" (91%) prefer to use travel agencies.
What's more, according to Harris Interactive, the budget per person is between 500 and 1000 euros for 55% of people, and between 1000 and 1200 euros for 22% of people, with price being a decisive criterion for 69% of people.
5. How do I find travel content and trends?
Social networks also serve as a source of inspiration, so taking a look at the pages of travel specialists is always a good idea.
The Ezus selection of the 5 Facebook pages of the travel world :
The Ezus selection of the 5 Instagram pages of the travel world :
With these tools, it will be easier to find potential customers and interact with them, All that's left is to get started!
Deciding where to start, creating quality content, sharing user-generated content and staying on top of trends is the best way to become a successful travel agency! Once the right balance has been struck, customers will come directly to the agency to have their dream vacation prepared for them. All that's left is to optimize the time of the travel agency's staff!
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