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Develop a consistent and distinct
look for all of your advertising and marketing. If you can
afford it, have it professionally done. If not, pick a
distinctive border from a book of borders obtainable at a local book
store. Use an unusual typeface or layout.
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Develop a computerized database
of all your clients which captures their travel preferences,
demographic and psychographic data, hobbies and other relevant
facts. Use it!
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Send clients an 'advance notice'
postcard reminding them to book peak season or popular vacation
packages early.
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When clients return from their
honeymoon, send the a certificate good for $50 off on their first
anniversary trip. Follow up with them about six months later
to encourage them to use it.
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Write a travel column for local
newspapers and community journals (apartment complexes, senior
centers, fraternal organizations, etc.).
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Have every employee who is on a
fam tour send 15 postcards to clients from the destination they are
visiting.
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Include a colorful, high impact
ticket stuffer featuring a preferred supplier stuffer in every
corporate ticket envelope.
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Create a colorful, professionally
done, quarterly flyer featuring the latest travel specials and
unique trips. Distribute these flyers to all corporate
accounts, to neighboring businesses, etc. The nicer and more
interesting they are, the more companies will be willing to
distribute them for you.
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Write a manual offering tips for
mature travelers, prospective group leaders, and so on. Enter
the names and addresses of all responders into your database.
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Advertise a special in a special
'boxed' panel on all of your faxes.
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Create news releases on late
breaking travel-related stories and send them regularly to all local
media. If you get quoted or interviewed, the visibility is
tremendous.
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Use 'tag ads' but consider taking
a double size ad so that yours will stand out.
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Consider the use of color in your
ads. It costs more but it increases readership by 41%.
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Cut out engagement, anniversary
and retirement announcements in he newspapers. Laminate them
and send them to the individuals featured with a letter of
congratulations.
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Look for businesses in your local
community with whom you can cross-market. Sun tanning studios,
dress shops, camera shops, health clubs... all offer natural
synergies.
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Co-op mailings with businesses
who have the same target markets as you do.
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Advertise cruises and tours with
a per diem rate. Just $149 a day.
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Select some kind of an icon to
represent your agency (an animal, your logo, etc.). Invest in
producing that image in a folding 2 by 3 foot color poster.
Give one to each client going on a vacation and tell them to take a
picture of themselves with the icon (the unfolded poster) at famous
landmarks like the Sphinx, the Eiffel Tower, etc. Then,
dedicate a wall of your agency and start collecting and framing the
most interesting ones.
