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13 Best Travel Agency Marketing Ideas to Grow Your Business

Travel agency website on a laptop screen
Published on: October 2, 2020
Last updated: August 19, 2024

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Kyle Kroeger

Written by Kyle Kroeger

Kyle Kroeger is the Founder and Owner of ViaTravelers.com. He is a full-time traveler and entrepreneur.

It’s a tough business, especially when trying to grow and compete with the big brands. To get your marketing ideas flowing, here are several marketing tips for travel agencies.

If you want to grow your agency, you know a solid plan is important. But it’s not enough. You’ll need a plan that works efficiently. These are the top marketing ideas for travel agencies you need to deploy.

I remember when I was trying to help out my first travel agency. I ran into a number of difficulties, ranging from the industry’s seasonality to some of the restrictions imposed by international regulations.

While I wondered how to market myself as a travel agent, I found a successful plan.

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Of course, leveraging the internet is one of the top ways to grow a travel agency. Regarding travel agency marketing, there are innovative ideas for a travel agency that every travel agent should leverage.

Best Marketing Ideas for Travel Agencies

Let’s get into our list of the best travel agency marketing ideas to help you grow your business.

1. Use content marketing and effective copywriting with Jasper.ai

What if I told you that you didn’t have to write anything on your travel agency website to drive leads and sales? Yes, it’s true.

Why? Because it’s the 21st century and artificial intelligence is here to stay.

Enter Jasper, an artificial intelligence platform that can write high-converting copy for your website. Jasper will analyze your website and your competition to write the perfect sales letter to drive traffic and leads to your website.

If you are one of the small travel agencies out there or an independent travel agent, you likely don’t have a team of content writers or the budget. That’s where Jasper.ai can be incredibly powerful. You can create content for one low cost per month to use the software.

Not only is Jasper a great copywriter, but she’s also an expert in SEO and online marketing. With Jasper, you’ll get the perfect mix of human and artificial intelligence to help you grow your business.

If you want to grow your business, you need a digital presence. To grow your digital marketing strategy, you need effective content.

Jasper can help with everything from writing copy for your business page to blog posts to scripts for your YouTube channel.

There isn’t anything out there that Jasper cannot do to help you execute your travel agency marketing plan and, thus, your business. Try Jasper now for 30-days or your money back.

2. Use Search Engine Optimization to organically drive leads with Surfer SEO

Search Engine Optimization is a process by which your website can be ranked higher in search engine results. This, in turn, can drive more leads to your business as people are more likely to click on websites that are higher up in the search engine results.

Surfer SEO is a tool for optimizing your website for search, making it the perfect software for travel agencies. With Surfer SEO, you can improve your website’s ranking, attract more visitors, and boost your sales.

Surfer SEO is a comprehensive tool that can help you to improve your website’s ranking on search results. It offers a range of features that are perfect for travel agencies, including:

  • Keyword research: This tool helps you identify the keywords most relevant to your business. You can then use these keywords to optimize your website and improve your ranking in search.
  • SEO audit: This tool audits your website and identifies areas for improvement. It then provides you with a detailed report outlining the steps you need to take to improve your ranking.
  • Competitor analysis: This tool allows you to spy on your competitors and what they do in SEO. You can then use this information to improve your ranking.
  • Rank tracking: This tool helps you to track your website’s ranking and identify any changes. This allows you to optimize your website for better results.
  • On-page optimization: This tool helps you optimize your content for search engine results.

3. Put your email list to work with Constant Contact

Constant Contact Logo

Constant Contact provides an outstanding tool for travel agents to use for email marketing. With a user interface that is quick, easy, and intuitive, you can create new emails and newsletters quickly.

Furthermore, you can even conduct surveys, run beta tests, and set up event registration. This adds value to the platform far beyond its powerful email marketing abilities.

Some of the pros include:

  • Numerous email templates can help you get your email campaign off the ground
  • The user interface is reliable, intuitive, and convenient
  • This platform provides access to other tools beyond email marketing

Some of the drawbacks include:

  • The list management options can be confusing
  • The reporting features are not customizable

4. Develop a content marketing plan with WriterAccess

WriterAccess Logo

All travel agents need to make sure that they have a strong blog post writer and a copywriter who can help them run effective digital marketing for travel agencies.

One of the top platforms to find a writer is WriterAccess.

WriterAccess instantly provides you with access to a wide range of talented writers. Through this platform, you can narrow down writers by industry expertise, take a look at their experience, set up your own payment rates, and establish a long-term working relationship.

Furthermore, the administration team at WriterAccess is strong and will quickly respond to all of your customer service needs. Check these awesome travel agency blogs to get a better idea of how to use content to grow.

Some of the pros of WriterAccess include:

  • The customer service team is outstanding
  • You can find a writer to meet your specific needs quickly and easily
  • Deadlines are met nearly every time

Some of the drawbacks include:

  • WriterAccess takes a 30 percent commission, which can frustrate both the writer and the client
  • Not every top-ranked writer has experience in the travel industry

5. Improve your website page speed with Bluehost

Of course, a website will be one of the centerpieces of your travel agency promotion plan. When it comes to a hosting platform, Bluehost is the way to go. This is a quick, convenient, and affordable hosting option that will ensure your website’s uptime is maximized.

That way, leads and other potential customers can rest easy knowing that they will have a reliable website to visit every time.

Some of the pros include:

  • The setup process is quick
  • This is one of the cheapest website hosting options out there
  • The customer service team is outstanding

Some of the drawbacks include:

  • The pricing plan is not that flexible
  • The website speed leaves a little to be desired

See Related: Free Travel Rewards and Credit Card Spreadsheet

6. Improve your sales with Keap

Keap Logo

Keap is a tool that provides an email marketing and sales platform to small businesses and can be an important part of how to attract customers to a travel agency.

This allows you to manage your products, optimize the lifecycle of your customers, and manage automation tools with ease. You can follow these travel agent tips and use Keap as one of your top travel agent marketing tools.

Some of the pros include:

  • This is a great entry into the world of marketing automation
  • The integrations are vast and easy to use providing you with marketing ideas for your travel agency business
  • The dashboard for the campaign builder is a helpful visualization tool

Some of the cons include:

  • The automation features will become limited fairly quickly
  • The CRM tool is not flexible 

See Related: Best Travel Agent Jobs

7. Finally generate quality leads with Leadpages

Leadpages Logo

One of the most important parts of building a travel agency marketing plan is email marketing. At the same time, how are you going to be able to collect the contact information of people who might be interested in your offer?

This is where Leadpages can help. Leadpages is an online tool that lets you collect the email addresses of subscribers via landing pages.

You can use the templates provided by Leadpages to build an attractive landing page and complete it with an email autoresponder.

One of the top travel agent sales tips, you can use this tool to collect email addresses, increase your subscribers, boost your conversion rate, and drive revenue for your travel agency.

Some of the pros of using Leadpages include:

  • You can build numerous landing pages in a short amount of time
  • Leadpages provides templates that allow you to expedite the process of collecting email addresses
  • The email autoresponder tool helps you broaden your reach

Some of the drawbacks of using Leadpages include:

  • This is not a free tool, starting at $25 per month (but you can get a free trial)
  • While the templates are easy to use, some people find the rest of the platform a bit confusing

8. Hire a Graphic Designer on Fiverr

Fiverr Logo

When finding a graphic designer, one of the top places to look is Fiverr. Although not specific to the travel industry, this is a straightforward tool that travel agents can use to quickly find someone with experience in graphic design.

Then, they can screen applicants quickly, set up a payment plan, and ensure they receive projects that meet their specific needs.

In addition, this platform offers freelancers who have experience with music and audio, video and animation, and more, ensuring that all of your graphic designs are tailored to your specifications.

Some of the pros of using Fiverr include:

  • It is easy to screen creative talents based on your specific needs
  • You can look for professionals who have experience in ancillary areas, including video, animation, music, and audio
  • This is one of the least expensive freelance platforms to use

Some of the drawbacks include:

  • This might not be a suitable place to establish a long-term working relationship
  • Fiverr does not screen its talent as thoroughly as other platforms

9. Hire an App Developer on Toptal

TopTal Logo

If you want to make sure that your travel agency can reach as many people as possible, then you need to ensure that you have a mobile application. To do this, you might need a graphic designer, a programmer, and a professional app developer.

One of the top places to go to find such a professional is TopTal.

TopTal it’s one of the top freelance platforms for those who specialize in the tech field. Here, it is possible to hire professional coders, professional programmers, professional website developers, and professional mobile app developers.

You can work with an expert app TopTal Define a trained professional who meets your exact specifications. Then, you can work with a freelancer directly, ensuring that the project meets your needs.

Some of the pros of using TopTal include:

  • All of the talent is vetted thoroughly to make sure they have the right skills for the job
  • It is possible to quickly screen and interview some of the top tech professionals in the world, finding the right person for the job
  • The client and tech professional will set up an exclusive working arrangement

Some of the drawbacks include:

  • Not everyone on TopTal is going to have travel agency marketing experience
  • This platform is not ideal for short-term projects

10. Use Tailwind to Master Pinterest

For a strong social media scheduling tool, Tailwind is a strong option. Specialized for Pinterest but also working with Instagram, this helps travel agents manage their Pinterest accounts from a centralized location.

As a result, this can help you save time on your pinning strategy and help you increase your reach. This platform does provide a free trial that will let you schedule up to 100 pins.

After this, users will have to pay to use the platform; however, the results will be easy to see after 100 pins. Consider these Pinterest fonts when designing your pins for optimal click-through rates.

Follow my step-by-step Pinterest travel guide for ultimate marketing success.

Some of the pros include:

  • You can easily promote your business using a straightforward pinning strategy
  • This platform will save you a tremendous amount of time when it comes to social media
  • There are extremely helpful tutorial videos

Some of the cons include:

  • This platform only works for Pinterest and the Instagram functionality is rudimentary
  • The free trial is only for 100 pins, costing $9.99 per month after the trial ends

See Related: 101 Funny Travel Puns

11. Hire Social Media Strategist on Upwork

Upwork Logo

Social media is an important part of digital marketing for travel agencies. Some of the most popular social media platforms are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. However, the exact demographic that uses these platforms varies from platform to platform.

How can you make sure that you reach the right people? This is where a social media strategist can be helpful. Upwork is one of the top platforms you can use to hire a social media strategist.

Upwork is the quintessential freelancer tool. Here, it is relatively easy to take a look at the available people, review resumes, interview them, and make a decision on who you would like to work with.

You can use it to hire a writer or developer for your business. Travel agencies use it as one of the top ways to find a social media strategist.

Some of the pros of using Upwork include:

  • You can review an unlimited number of profiles at will
  • You can narrow down the number of people you are looking at with a few simple screening tools
  • You can set up a remote working relationship with a freelancer that is convenient for both you and the freelancer

Some of the drawbacks include:

  • Upwork is not a tool that is specifically designed for social media marketing or travel agencies
  • Upwork can take as much as a 20 percent commission on the payment, which can frustrate both the freelancer and the travel agency

See Related: 8 Hotel Digital Marketing Tips

12. Help A Reporter Out (HARO)

Help A Reporter Out Logo

Help A Reporter Out (HARO) is a powerful public relations tool that can connect you to reporters who can write informative news articles about your travel agency. Furthermore, this tool is free to use.

Three times per day, this tool is going to send out an email filled with numerous requests from various sources. The good news is that there is an entire section specifically for travel, which makes it particularly relevant to travel agents.

For example, by signing up to use this tool, you might end up quoted in a news article or on a blog post.

In a matter of minutes, you can type up a quote and respond, ensuring that your name gets out there.

Some of the biggest pros of using HARO include:

  • This tool is free to use
  • This provides you with a golden opportunity to make sure that your name gets in front of ideal prospects
  • When a reputable news outlet provides it went back to your website, it will improve your SEO campaign

Some of the drawbacks of this tool include:

  • It is hard to tell when someone is going to reach out to you for a quote or a news article
  • The quotes reporters ask for might not be particularly relevant to your subsection of the travel industry

See Related: How to Start an Online Ticketing Business

13. Use Later for Instagram Scheduling

Later App Logo

Given the specialized nature of Instagram for sharing photos and videos, this is ideal or travel agents. At the same time, it can take a lot of work to come up with salad Instagram posts and schedule them on a regular basis.

It’s one of the more important travel agency advertising ideas that one should consider.

That is where Later can help. Later is a scheduling tool that is specifically designed for Instagram.

By scheduling Instagram posts when it is convenient for you, you can avoid the problem of having to type out long captions on a mobile device, saving you a tremendous amount of time.

Some of the benefits of Later include:

  • It is free to schedule up to 30 posts per month
  • You can avoid having to formulate Instagram posts on your mobile device
  • You can automate posts to be scheduled at a later time

Some of the drawbacks include:

  • Later is specialized solely for Instagram
  • After 30 posts in a month, you have to pay to use the platform

Tips for Improving Your Travel Agency’s Online Presence

Your marketing efforts in the travel industry must be effective, measurable, and user-friendly. Running a travel business is extremely tough. It’s very competitive, and hundreds of different travel marketing platforms exist.

While it’s important to stay up-to-date on all the various digital marketing strategies, here are several travel marketing tips that will help you find your target market online:

Use content to provide valuable information

The most effective marketing strategy is using content to help your target customers and clients. This is the most proven way to grow your business, and it’s been going on for years. It used to be in print media, but now it all lives on.

This should be your top priority for selling your services and building trust with your potential clients. Content is a way to show your clients and customers that you provide the best services. You don’t always need to write the content yourself.

Make sure your business webpage is mobile-friendly

In an age where more and more people are using their smartphones and tablets to access the internet, it’s more important than ever before to ensure your business webpage is user-friendly and simple to use on mobile devices.

Optimize your website for search engines

One of the best ways to increase your website’s traffic is to optimize it for search engines. This means using the right keywords and including relevant content that will help you rank higher in search results. Use a tool like Surfer SEO to monitor your website and ensure you are attractive to search engines.

Create a social media presence

An effective social media strategy is a great way to attract customers and share information about your travel agency.

By creating accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms, you can reach your exact target audience and find new potential customers.

Using email marketing to communicate and drive sales

Email marketing is a great way to stay connected with potential and current customers. Think about it. This is one of the few mediums where you can stay in direct contact with your audience.

By collecting email addresses and sending out regular emails about your travel agency, you can keep people updated on how to book trips and the best deals, and you can even offer discounts based on your customers.

FAQ

What is the best tool for marketing a travel agency?

Although there is no “best tool” for a travel agency, it’s important to focus your efforts on the right channels. Today, if you have a smaller budget, it can be more advantageous to go with SEO or Google AdWords rather than spend money on print ads that are often hard to track and measure.

Why is marketing important for travel agencies?

Marketing is important for a travel agency because it makes buying a trip easier, which leads to more happy customers. One way to do this is by organizing and optimizing your site so visitors can quickly find what they’re looking for. It’s also key to provide as much information about destinations on your article’s website as possible, as this builds trust between you and the customer. Additionally, having a mobile-optimized website gives your business an edge over competitors who do not have one.

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