5 of the Most Effective Social Media Sites for Travel Agencies

[Adam]

Allowing customers currently traveling to include their comments on a travel agent's social media site allows the travel agent to know right away what is happening. This has a number of benefits that allow the travel agent to:


• Make any changes needed if it's a negative comment..

• Send the message to all viewers about the great experience the customer had if it's positive.

• Better know what their customers want.

An agent can improve customer service immediately and come out ahead of competitors who do not use social media. And in order for social networking sites to be useful to the travel agency, it is important that the travel professional engages the customers regularly and consistently. For example, this means that the agency must find ways to motivate their clients to leave comments on the sites.

There are of course myriad travel oriented social-networking sites worldwide (including this one, Tripatini). But here are the "big five"  which travel agents can use to amplify five of the most popular sites:

Twitter

This massively popular microblogging platform (with some 330 million users around the globe) enables those users to post and read messages called tweets on their own and other users' profiles.Through Twitter, travel agents can communicate their products, services and news with messages (up to 280 characters) and photos posted to followers and appearing instantly on their followers' feeds. Tweets link followers to the travel agent's website; Facebook page; photos or videos where followers can spend more time;  and landing pagess for any specific deals. Agents can also enhance their reach and leverage their products by using hashtags such as the genera #travel, #wanderlust, and #travelgram but also the more specific #traveltips, #travelagentlife, #travelquote, and themed days such as #MexicoMonday, #TravelTuesday, #WanderlustWednesday, #SunsetSunday, 

Facebook

Savvy travel agencies heavily use Facebook to promote their products and services, and pages on this site can be more detailed than Twitter, with longer text descriptions of products and services, including a wider variety of photos and videos. Destination videos on a corporate Facebook page can effectively promote an agency's travel specialties, featuring niche destinations or hotel properties. Facebook promotes a product in real-time and can increase the number of clients who use an agency's services. Pages include a blogging feature where the public, and especially agency customers, can display testimonials and comments for all to read. Facebook can link back to the product's website and Twitter page, and can instantly send out reminders to followers or members. To better engage the client, travel agents should aim to update the page with several posts per week.

LinkedIn

The world's premier professional business-to-business site is ideal for travel agents to interact with business accounts as well as potential clients. They can also use LinkedIn to connect with other vendors and managers of resorts, tour operators, and other services directly to ensure that their customers' needs are met. Agents are also encouraged to update their LinkedIn page with posts at least weekly to maintain interest and encourage other business customers to respond. It allows business or corporate travelers to include comments about the services they receive and to gauge customer satisfaction. It is a great “word-of-mouth" tool, LinkedIn members are professionals who use the site for serious business communication.

Pinterest

Most sales in travel are about selling dreams and offering visual images for customers to envision themselves at a destination. Here travel agents can create “pinboards” of images and link these pinboards to websites or other social-networking sites such as Facebook. They can post pictures of travel offerings and can also “like” and comment on their clients' “pins” related to their travel experience. This shows their customers they are interested in what they do, appreciate them, and drive valuable engagement and create loyalty.

Instagram

One of the world's most popular and fastest growing social-media platforms - with well over twice the membership of Pinterest - Insta is also built around the visual, and like Pinterest allows travel agents to share photos and link them to other social networks (another advantage over Pinterest is that it allows direct posting of videos). And here, too, “liking” and commenting on their clients' images allows them to build and cement that all-important relationship.They may also choose to partner with Instagram "influencers" to leverage the followerships of those individuals (for a price, of course).

EG SKY Travel Professionals Network

EG SKY Is a Specialized Travel & Tourism Training Center founded in Egypt. EG SKY currently established Travel Life, which is a Travel Professionals network, provides Professionalize of the e-learning systems according to the learner’s needs and knowledge level presents the key element in a learning processes, using a unique blended resources from IATA, The Travel Institute, VIASINC, Amadeus, Galileo, and Sabre to meet the needs of each targeted group based on the training need analysis.