Travel agents — How to market your best summer vacations to boost sales

The evenings are getting longer, and there’s a sense of optimism in the air: Summer is on its way. And that means travelers are looking for the best summer vacations to book.

As a travel agent, the summer season is one of the best money-making opportunities of the year. But while the opportunity to attract potential travelers to your business is strong, the competition is fierce.

In order to stand out from the crowd and enjoy the seasonal success you deserve, you need to market your trips, products and services in the most efficient and successful ways possible. Here’s how to market your best summer vacations to increase brand awareness, conversions and profit.

The best summer vacations by demographic

Around 45 percent of Americans take a domestic summer vacation every year. That’s a lot of potential holidaymakers to market your trips and services to.

But before you begin to advertise your various offerings online, you first need to consider which travel destinations will best suit which summer travelers. Here are some options to consider:

• South Beach, Miami: Dubbed one of the best party spots in the United States, Miami’s South Beach offers a mix of seafront fun and a plethora of bars, restaurants and nightspots perfect for energetic 20-somethings looking to book a summer adventure with friends.
• Montana dude ranches: The serenity of the rolling Montana hills provides an idyllic backdrop for a relaxed outdoor family vacation. With a host of comfortable and scenic accommodations available, as well as the opportunity for campfires, hiking and horseback riding, this kind of vacation will undoubtedly appeal to parents with children.
• Cape Cod, New England: Filled with colorful clam shacks, quaint candlelit restaurants, quirky places to stay and a dreamy seaview that is nothing short of iconic, Cape Cod makes for the ultimate romantic summer getaway. A sun-soaked Cape Cod itinerary would be best aimed at couples looking to spend quality time together.
• An Alaskan cruise: For retirees looking for both comfort and adventure, an Alaskan Cruise ticks all of the boxes. With food, drinks and entertainment onboard, and the chance to explore Alaska’s natural beauty when ashore, this is a perennial summer favorite among retirees.

These examples aren’t only popular summer vacations, they also highlight the importance of aiming particular destinations at the right customers for maximum success as a travel agent.

How to market your summer packages

Now that we’ve identified which types of summer vacations will appeal to certain audiences, it’s time to successfully market them. But first, you’ll need to make sure your brand is recognizable and trustworthy — which you can accomplish with a strong domain name.

Better yet? Because .travel is new to the market, it will be that much easier for you to secure a shorter, more recognizable domain name. You can incorporate keywords, geographic locations, your name, and more.

You can be a jetsetting travel agent with options like:

• SmithAgency.travel
• BestEuropean.travel
• FamilyVacation.travel

Already have some ideas brewing? Go ahead. See if they’re available, and then keep reading for more marketing advice.

Email marketing

As a promotional channel, email marketing is still one of the most effective marketing methods available in today’s digital age.

By promoting particular trips to the people who will most likely be interested in them, you stand to increase your summer vacation conversion rates significantly.

For instance, you could market a South Beach summer vacation to those in their early 20s by sending out an email that includes your three best packages. Offer travelers free bonus content upon booking, like a summer vacation survival guide in PDF format.

Editor’s note: Want to market your summer vacations in style? Use GoDaddy Email Marketing to create targeted campaigns and showcase all the best travel locations.

Social media

Social media is one of the most valuable platforms for showcasing your value and sparking up meaningful dialogues with potential customers.

Recent studies suggest that YouTube and Facebook are the most popular social media platforms among adults. With that in mind, you could use Facebook to promote your Montana dude ranch vacation packages to adults with children. To do this, you could create a Facebook campaign consisting of up to 10 posts, each offering interesting family-friendly facts about the area and linking to your travel packages or related content on your blog.

For more helpful Facebook marketing insights, read these essential tips from social media thought leader, Mari Smith.

Blog content

According to WordPress, more than 409 million people read more than 23.7 billion webpages each month — and your travel agency’s blog should be part of that total.

A blog is one of the most powerful ways you can highlight your authority on everything related to travel. And when it comes to creativity, the sky’s the limit.

For instance, to market your Cape Cod summer vacations to couples, you could create a special Cape Cod series that includes posts, such as “Cape Cod: A romantic history,” “Best romantic dining spots in Cape Cod” and “A couple’s guide to Cape Cod.”

By focusing your Cape Cod blog content on romance and couples, you’ll not only help boost your SEO rankings but you’ll also engage the right people with the best summer vacations for them, increasing your chances of closing the deal.

Don’t have a blog yet? Get started with our 5-step blogger business plan. And if you need a blogging platform, then check out GoDaddy’s Managed WordPress.

Print marketing

Today’s world might be driven by digital marketing, but print advertising is far from dead. In fact, the rise of digital printing has made it easier for marketers to deliver targeted content to specific audiences. And studies suggest that by 2024, the digital printing industry is set to grow to a colossal $300 billion.

Let’s take your Alaskan cruise packages, for example. For those who might not move to the beat of a digital drum, you could create a miniature brochure complete with irresistible images, information about your business, the key USPs of each itinerary, pricing and contact information — all organized into a neat, easy-to-follow package.

In conclusion

With summer right around the corner, we hope these travel marketing tips will help you enjoy a healthy level of profit as you help travelers find the best summer vacations for them.

The post Travel agents — How to market your best summer vacations to boost sales appeared first on Garage.