It's no surprise that many travel agents use social media as part of their market strategy. Travel is a very visual thing and many of these tools are great for sharing inspiring travel imagery. Social media is also one of many tools available that can help you get the word out about you and the services you offer.

A social media strategy can also be very time-consuming, so you should only join the social networks that you can fit into your schedule. Having social channels isn't enough - you need to keep them up-to-date and offer value to people viewing them.
 

 

Facebook

Consider creating a Facebook page for your business, instead of using your personal page. This allows you to make sure of Facebook's business features, and keeps you from annoying all of your family and friends with continuous posting about your business.

 

Before you start to share your page, create 7-10 posts. This way, when people join or follow your page, there is some content there already for them to explore.

Set aside some time each week to schedule social media posts. These should be posts aligned with the products that you want to sell and should focus on destinations and experiences rather than just sharing supplier-specific content.

You may see some agents using tools like BranchUp to automatically post content to their Facebook page. These posts are very generic and unless they align to your sales goals, end up sending a mixed message that could confuse your clients.

 

A couple of times a month, include a post about yourself without being sales oriented. This allows potential clients to get to know you a bit and shows that you are not just a faceless business online.

 

Facebook offers a lot of free training, which is worth going through if you plan to use Facebook as part of your marketing strategy.

Facebook Blueprint

Video: Facebook and Creator Studio


 

Facebook Contests and Giveaways

Facebook has very strict rules on contests and giveaways that should be followed (you otherwise risk having the Facebook page you've worked hard to build shut down). These rules change often so you should always check before running a promotion.

Your post should always include a statement that releases Facebook from any involvement with your contest/giveaway.

 

Facebook Page Promotion Terms

 

Facebook Competition Rules


 

Instagram

Instagram is a very visual social media platform that in some ways makes it perfect for travel. When using Instagram in your strategy, you'll want to become familiar with hash tags and how to include important information in a page linked to your bio. Instagram is owned by Facebook, so they also have training available for this platform.

Learn about Instagram

Using Instragram for business

 

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TikTok

 

TikTok is a very popular video sharing platform, which when used effectively may allow you to rapidly scale your online presence. In 2020, they added a TikTok for Business option. Posting information with value is a great approach for this platfom, so followers will consider you an expert.

TikTok Marketing

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Social Media Schedulers

There are many scheduling tools that exist for social media, and these may be something that you want to use to save time. They all offer a variety of features, so look for one that has the features you need. Some of these will have free versions and others will require payment to unlock all of the features. Common tools include Later, Canva, HootSuite, and Sprout Social.



Using Images in Social Media

 

You must ensure that you have permission to use any image you want to include in your social media posts. You cannot just use a Google image search and take whatever image you want. You also cannot just use images you see other people post on social media.

Always use high quality images. These can be your own personal photographs or images you have downloaded from stock photography sites. When using free or purchased stock photography, it is your responsibility to read the terms of use for the image. Some of them are not permitted for business use.

A Google search will point you to many stock photography sites, including Unsplash and Shutterstock.

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