Below is the Friday Five blog post by Steve Crowhurst, CTC, about Public Relations that he wrote for The Travel Institute’s “Promote Your Professionalism” month.
The art of public relations, PR, is to spread the good word about your company, or your travel agency, in such a way that your PR activities promote a positive response by the general public and local media when they come into contact, in any way, shape or form, with your company. Excellent PR should help convert the interested and prospective travelling consumer into a new customer.
The PR activity has value when things are both good and not so good. The PR role here is to refocus the consumer by presenting the facts and how a customer’s complaint for instance was handled with the outcome being a positive one. In general you’ll want your PR activities to achieve the following:
- Clients are comfortable that they can trust you
- You are thought of as genuine and credible
- The local community holds you in high esteem
Here are five things you can do to maintain your public image, performance and recognition:
1. Create a Public Relations mandate: You’ll need a PR plan and one that outlines your monthly PR activities such as where you will be presenting this month, which local sports team to support, your topic for a radio show interview, the content for your newsletter and travel blog. Focus on the old adage that the P and the R also stand for ‘performance’ and ‘recognition’ – so no hard sell, just soft tell. Get the good word out about your agency using a planned, established process.
2. Manage Your Media Relations: Start now by building a travel journalist media list that includes print, radio, TV and social media too. You’ll want to reach out and engage your media contacts and build positive relationships as they will likely help distribute your press/media releases and advertorials. You can engage the media by inviting them to your agency, to a press conference, to hear you speak at local events and by sending them your latest newsletter or digital travel catalogue if you produce one. Keeping them informed is key.
3. Use Social Media: Social media lets you bypass the general media and go straight to your customers. Using social networking sites allows you to follow and be followed by journalists, drive web traffic, manage issues by responding quickly to criticisms or negative perceptions, and increase exposure for your agency. Your social media activities might also prompt travel journalists to contact you.
4. Initiate a Community Relations Program: Establishing solid relationships with members of your community will help build customer loyalty, support and boost referrals. You’ll make this happen by hosting informational consumer events such as: how to pack, how to use travel apps, the latest destinations and travel trends. You can offer to be a guest speaker at local events, too. There is no hard sell here, only a demonstration of your knowledge, experience and credibility.
5. The PR Team: Your agency staff are your PR ambassadors. Engage your agency team and train them in the art of Public Relations to the point where each member of your agency understands and supports the agency business plan, culture, brand, logo, tag line and has a firm sense of pride in who they work for, demonstrated by being punctual and dressing accordingly. They will know what to say, how to say it, keeping the company integrity intact. They might be the first contact a travel journalist or new client has with your travel agency which means your credibility starts with them. Be sure to keep your PR team updated on company performance, accolades and complaints so that are ready to respond in a positive manner.
Please rate this tip!
Click here to read Steve’s bio.
The Travel Institute offers 11 resources created by Steve Crowhurst, CTC in their online bookstore. Click here to learn more.
