Laura Dominguez, CTIE
I began in the travel industry in 1989 and have, of course, seen my share of changes. Our industry manages to survive and continues to thrive as new niche segments emerge, i.e. millennial travel, adventure travel, eco tourism, the explosion of river cruising, just to name a few. Each audience is uniquely marketed to in order to get their attention and ultimately the sale!
Consolidation has become a constant and traditional agencies are often competing against the Internet for sales. These mergers and acquisitions build mighty agencies but may also clear the field a bit for some of the smaller players. So, hope is not lost for our industry. New agencies continue to open each year and Independent Contractors, ICs, also emerge on a daily basis. There are many reasons behind the continued interest in the IC role. An IC can be their own boss with no brick and mortar overhead, and most host agencies have tools in place to aid their members. There are also technical aspects for ICs to investigate and ensure they are compliant. This could include assisting the IC with their licenses and the insurance needed to start the business. Errors and Omissions insurance is a must and in some cases the IC will roll under their host’s insurance. Certain states required additional licenses in order to sell travel and host agencies are usually there to help guide the IC in getting started in their home office. One thing is for sure; an IC is not alone on their journey!
There are lots of decisions to make before getting started, and it is important to plan ahead. If an IC is looking at their entry into the travel industry to be more of a hobby, the financial goals will not be as important, while a full time IC will be very concerned with how much they will need to sell to make ends meet and ultimately become profitable. To be successful as an IC, there is a lot of planning involved when embarking on a new career and a major focus is how to market their new brand. Below are just some of the common questions ICs will ask themselves:
What is the “Why” behind this new career step?
What are the financial goals on a weekly, monthly and annual basis?
Will the focus be on a particular type of travel or destination?
How will the IC reach and promote to their primary demographic?
What will make the IC different?
The answers to these questions will determine how an IC will move forward with their marketing, and I will provide some insight on how ICs can get started to compete successfully. Before diving into the marketing strategies, I cannot stress enough the importance of training. This will help ICs become experts in their areas of concentration. Our industry has many tools to help ICs, too. First, many host agencies will likely provide an in depth training before setting them free to sell on their own. Most supplier websites have their very own online academies or universities. ICs can reasonably pay for courses at The Travel Institute where they can earn certifications and accreditations that will give an IC valuable sales tools and credibility in the industry and with their clients. Sales training is critical. Even if an IC’s background was previously in sales, being trained on the travel industry sales process will be beneficial to an IC right from the start. While early training is most important, it is an ongoing process and each year an IC should expect to complete several hours of training to remain at the top of their game. Training will build an IC’s confidence and will help an IC communicate better with their clients.
While training is key to getting started, so is marketing. Some of the important marketing concepts ICs may focus on include Marketing Strategies, Personal Branding, Public Relations, and Digital Marketing.
Probably the most important of these concepts is an IC’s Marketing Strategy. This is a single document outlining the IC’s marketing goals and defining their audience. Some people may like using their intuition or gut instinct which may work for some, but having something in writing helps define business goals. Developing a Marketing Strategy is not a hard task to complete and should include, but not be limited to, budget, product mix (what products or destinations will their agency will focus on along with their benefits), the target audience (and how that demographic will be positioned) and the IC’s unique selling proposition. Marketing goals should be revisited at least once a quarter giving the opportunity to revise as needed. This helps ICs ensure they’re on target.
Establishing a budget is crucial to the success of an IC’s business. Having a proper accounting system in place to manage an IC’s cash flow, bookkeeping and accounting. Many host agencies either offer back office systems at reasonable prices or can at least recommend companies that have this service. There are many options for ICs. General-purpose software may work well as an IC may already be familiar with using it in a previous business. Travel-specific software offers travel specific support and in some cases may integrate with different booking tools an IC may decide to use for their business.
An IC must ensure that all monies coming in and going out are accounted for and have measurements in place to see if the business is achieving profitable growth. Monitoring the business finances will help them redirect any miscalculations or participating in activities that prove to be unprofitable. Accurate accounting will also make filing taxes easier when the time comes each year.
Defining the product mix and unique selling proposition helps an IC define what will make their business different. What products or selling features will help them stand out? Also, what would the IC like consumers to associate with them?
Being a firm believer in continued training, I recently completed the required modules and topics for The Travel Institute’s CTIE certification. While following the course curriculum, the section on Public Relations Trends had thoughtful insight on Personal Branding. Some obvious yet often-neglected points are listed below:
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- Establish a unique company name, logo and digital presence. Whether an IC starts out with a social media page or a website, it’s important to have a presence on the Internet. There are specialty firms that can help an IC with their branding but in most cases, their host agency is available to help, too. The name and logo should be consistent on business cards, websites, social media and anywhere the IC’s business in listed.
- Create and send out a press release to the local newspaper, community newspaper and local magazines. There are specific rules to follow for press releases so it is important to follow the proper formats that can easily be found online for a professional-looking end product. Sending a press release does not guarantee publication but could mean free publicity if it is picked up. Also, only one person at the paper should be sent the release. Preferably, this contact would be the editor and the IC can reference inclusion in the consumer, lifestyle, travel or media sections of the publication.
- An IC may look into joining local organizations that fit the niche of the audience the IC is targeting. This could include the local Chamber, becoming a member of the local yoga studios, volunteering with local LGBTQ organizations. Participating in book clubs, wine groups, local churches or synagogues can also help connect ICs with the community and prospects for their travel business. An IC may wonder why do all this and how will it help their business? In these examples, they are marketing themselves, their brand, so getting involved in areas they are interested in or passionate about will shine through. Also, while FIT (individual travel) business will certainly keep an IC busy in the beginning, later on an IC may test Group Travel. Group Travel is a lot of work but can be very rewarding financially for ICs that decide to focus their efforts on group business.
Digital Marketing has many layers and it is important to stay focused. It helps ICs connect with their audience through a variety of channels such as SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and their Website, Social Media, Content Marketing, and Email. Below are more details on each of these mediums:
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- SEO is the strongest Digital Marketing presence an agency may have since a company, in this case an IC, can pay for their website to appear higher up in online searches. Having a strong website is important and most host agencies can assist in building one at reasonable costs.
- Social Media Marketing can become an overwhelming task with so many choices, i.e.: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Pinterest, Twitter, and many more. An IC should research the demographics for their target audience and stick to the one or two platforms that reach their prospects. Some social media outlets allow for affordable advertising with data analytics showing the success of an ad campaign. In Social Media, quality (a thoughtful post every few days) resonates more than quantity (a weak daily post.)
- Content Marketing can really showcase your creativity. Content Marketing includes blogging, vlogging, podcasts, etc. If channeled appropriately, this medium can really give and IC an edge above of the competition. Certain brands inside and outside our industry have pared back traditional forms of advertising and replaced it with Internet influencers showcasing their products on their IG or FB pages. Most recently, I’ve seen this with hotels near my home promoting “staycations” via influencers. Another local business has the owner doing 30 second videos talking about what’s new or on sale.
- Email marketing is an essential tool. Keeping an electronic database is critical. Done correctly, email marketing helps build a relationship with prospects. There are several platforms that facilitate database and email distribution at no charge if the audience is below a particular amount. Usually it’s a few thousand dollars. Otherwise, many host agencies have platforms that ICs can take advantage of for professional, personalized email communication. If a host does not offer a platform, some common sites to review are Mailchimp and Constant Contact.
While the above Digital Marketing mediums will help ICs keep their customers engaged and well as reach prospects at fairly reasonable costs, there are a few financial traps an IC would want to avoid. Pay per click (PPC) is when a business owner displays ads in the requested sponsored result using Google Adwords or Yahoo Search Marketing, and others for example. If not done correctly, PPC advertising can cost a business owner a lot of money.
Another area to be cautious of are the SEO options. There is White Hat SEO where a business owner follows the rules in the Google Webmaster Guidelines and can ultimately receive a higher search rank for their business, a very positive outcome. However, Black Hat SEO refers to more vague and even deceptive practices by purchasing links that are not transparent about the business. Black Hat SEO can get a business banned from Google, so it’s definitely something to stay away from. It’s as simple as following the rules to ensure there is no trouble for the business.
There are many different options for ICs. Having a clear vision will help guide them on the best path to take for their business. As Author Lee Bolman said, “A vision without a strategy remains an illusion.” Their marketing strategies are not set in stone. They are an outline, a guideline and with quarterly reviews can be changed and updated to help best suit their business needs.
The travel industry is ever changing but I can’t imagine having gone into anything different in my career. When I travel for business to conferences, industry events or just sales calls and come across ICs (or any agent for that matter), many are excitedly talking about where their business has been and most importantly, where it’s going next.
