Travel agents across the world are embracing social media for 100 days, in a bid to understand the uses online marketing could have for the industry, reports TravPR.com.
The “Travel Blog Project” is being labelled as a “collaborative online marketing effort”, allowing travel agents to experience the effectiveness of online marketing methods through active content marketing. Each day, the agents participating in the project will be sent an online newsletter, giving them a theme or the day. The agents will then have to compose around five lines of text surrounding the theme, and post it to their Facebook or Twitter accounts, and their travel blogs.
The organisers of the project will then analyse how well these posts drive traffic and generate sales – measured by the leads gained, email addresses added to receive the updates, and the traffic driven to the agent’s website. This will allow them to devise and share best practice methods, ultimately improving the success of the entire travel industry.
According to Free Press Release, the founder of the campaign, George Oberle, claims “The travel agent industry is one again at a turning point. Suppliers are questioning the power of travel agents to adapt to new online marketing channels in the effort to generate sales.”
“Travel agents are the most powerful marketing force in travel. Yet the game has changed, and agents know it.” says Oberle of the growing travel professionals using techniques such as SEO services to drive traffic and improve their sales. “The key to building a thriving travel practice is communicating the unique value you [the travel agent] provide on a consistent basis to as many people as you can by methodically increasing your online footprint.” concludes Oberle.
