--- title: How to Drive More Bookings | Tour Operator Marketing description: A tactical marketing strategy for Tour Operators detailing how to increase bookings and extend booking periods using social media effectively. image: https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_94327450.jpg --- [![Digital Visitor Logo](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/hs-fs/hubfs/raw_assets/public/DIGITAL_VISITOR_MAY_2021/images/logo-blue.png?width=552&height=888&name=logo-blue.png "Digital Visitor Logo")](https://digitalvisitor.com) [![Digital Visitor Logo](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/hs-fs/hubfs/raw_assets/public/DIGITAL_VISITOR_MAY_2021/images/logo-light.png?width=552&height=888&name=logo-light.png "Digital Visitor Logo")](https://digitalvisitor.com) [![Digital Visitor Logo](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/hs-fs/hubfs/raw_assets/public/DIGITAL_VISITOR_MAY_2021/images/logo-red.png?width=552&height=888&name=logo-red.png "Digital Visitor Logo")](https://digitalvisitor.com) - [Home](https://digitalvisitor.com/) - [What we do](https://digitalvisitor.com/what-we-do/) - [Who we work with](https://digitalvisitor.com/who-we-work-with/) - [Insights](https://digitalvisitor.com/blog/) - [Contact](https://digitalvisitor.com/contact/) - [Work](https://digitalvisitor.com/our-work/) - [What we do](https://digitalvisitor.com/what-we-do/) - [About us](https://digitalvisitor.com/about-us/) - [Insights](https://digitalvisitor.com/blog/) - [Careers](https://digitalvisitor.com/careers/) - [Contact](https://digitalvisitor.com/contact/) - - - - # How Tour Operators Can Extend Their Booking Period with Social Media [Travel & Tour Providers](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/tag/travel-tour-providers) February 24, 2015 ![How Tour Operators Can Extend Their Booking Period with Social Media](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_94327450.jpg)   Through years of experience working with Travel clients, we have put together a year-long plan detailing **how and when Tour Operators can use social media effectively** to grow, activate, and engage an audience, and turn them into their next bookings. As with any Travel business, Tour Operators face the challenge of grappling for customer attention in an exceptionally competitive marketplace.  But they also have the opportunity to **share the value-added knowledge** they offer customers as a unique part of their service. Up against major players in a space diluted with booking alternatives frequently offering more options and less expensive trips, a Tour Operator’s success is reliant on their ability to differentiate with exclusive experiences, and to **convince customers that theirs is the best experience.** > **That unique knowledge and expertise is what sets Tour Operators apart, and is their greatest opportunity to attract new customers.** Social media provides the perfect platform to leverage this. Communicating the value of their experiences through a story only they can tell, social media enables Tour Operators to connect this voice to an engaged community of potential new customers. And the humanised approach on social media is proven to work with **a 100% higher lead-to-close rate than outbound marketing.** --- ## **12 month social marketing plan for Tour Operators**   ## **1. August-September – Community Growth** ![shutterstock_58244269](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_58244269-1024x683.jpg?width=1024&height=683&name=shutterstock_58244269-1024x683.jpg) Your strategy should begin with growth of a community far in advance of the your booking period.  Activities during this stage revolve around a **content plan** that highlight what is extraordinary about the Tours you offer. - Photos of animals at dawn from a recent safari trip - Glowing reviews about the once in a lifetime experience of living with a host family - Little-known historical facts about uncharted city plans on an urban tour These are examples of content that you as Tour Operators are in a unique position to provide, that **resonates with customers – (OR customers naturally engage with)**. Community growth can be further enhanced through **targeted social advertising** to help **grow a highly relevant audience of potential customers** exponentially. ## **2. October-December – Tactical Campaign for Customer Data** ![shutterstock_224436049](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_224436049-1024x684.jpg?width=1024&height=684&name=shutterstock_224436049-1024x684.jpg) In preparation for booking periods, **tactical social media campaigns are the most effective way to grow your email database** to support other marketing activities. They also establish a **strong foundation for customer loyalty** by offering unique incentives and a memorably engaging brand experience. > **That customer loyalty is what drives bookings during and after your key booking periods.** A tactical campaign provides a way for you to: - Supersize a community of potential customers - Maximise engagement just ahead of your key booking period - Secure a wealth of customer data including email opt-ins With our work for the Family Adventure Company, we secured 1500 e-mail addresses from potential customers in one month which were used in **targeted e-mail marketing during the booking season**. For more information about this campaign, see our [case study](http://digitalvisitor.com/family-adventure-company-case-study/). While the true promise of these campaigns is customer data, effective campaigns will **drive traffic to your website** and show longer term increase in engagement to **support sales after your key booking period is over.** ## **3. March-April – Tactical Campaign To Extend Booking Period** ![shutterstock_210473770](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_210473770-1024x683-1.jpg?width=1024&height=683&name=shutterstock_210473770-1024x683-1.jpg) The tail-end of the primary booking period is the time to harness the loyalty established throughout the year, and **reward your community to drive more bookings**. > **Offering additional incentives peaks loyalty when it is beginning to drop.** Running a campaign at this time delivers the same benefits of campaigns pre-booking period – community growth, increased engagement, and customer data acquisition – but also opens a **direct channel to promote your Tour packages that are relevant to customers**. Effective campaign ideas to supplement addition bookings may involve: - Questionnaires followed by bespoke Tour recommendations based on customers’ expressed interests - Discount vouchers to reward customers for their participation in a campaign - Access to exclusive end-of-season Tour packages for customers’ continued loyalty The key to this stage is maintaining customer loyalty – through incentives offered by a campaign, customers feel rewarded and your business is given a final opportunity to match the perfect Tour with the right customer. --- It’s not too late to plan a campaign to help give your booking period that extra push.  For more information on how it’s done contact us [info@digitalvisitor.com](mailto:info@digitalvisitor.com) at or give us a call at 0 1179 111 420. \*Statistic taken from: [http://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics#Social%20Media](https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics#Social%20Media) [![Digital Visitor](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/hubfs/digital-visitor-vertical-coral-rgb%20(1)%202-1.png)](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/author/digital-visitor) [Digital Visitor](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/author/digital-visitor) Digital Visitor is the UK's leading strategic agency in travel, tourism & hospitality. For any more information on how we can help, get in touch.  ## Share Story - Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn ###### Related Posts [Travel & Tour Providers](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/tag/travel-tour-providers) #### [What's next for OTAs?](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/whats-next-for-otas) [Travel & Tour Providers](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/tag/travel-tour-providers), [COVID Recovery](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/tag/covid-recovery) #### [How tour providers can drive short term bookings](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/tour-providers-short-term-bookings) [![The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DIGITAL_VISITOR_MAY_2021/Images/Digital-Visitor-Digital-Partner-ALVA.png?width=120&height=120&name=Digital-Visitor-Digital-Partner-ALVA.png)](http://www.alva.org.uk/) ![The Tourism Business](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DIGITAL_VISITOR_MAY_2021/Images/Digital-Visitor-Digital-Partner-The-Tourism-Business.png?width=120&height=120&name=Digital-Visitor-Digital-Partner-The-Tourism-Business.png) [![The Association for Science and Discovery Centres](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DIGITAL_VISITOR_MAY_2021/Images/Digital-Visitor-Digital-Partner-ASDC.png?width=120&height=120&name=Digital-Visitor-Digital-Partner-ASDC.png)](https://www.sciencecentres.org.uk/) ![Google partner in Search and Display Advertising](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DIGITAL_VISITOR_MAY_2021/Images/Digital-Visitor-Google-Partner-.png?width=120&height=120&name=Digital-Visitor-Google-Partner-.png) [![Digital Visitor wins Travel Marketing Award for Best Agency 2019](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DIGITAL_VISITOR_MAY_2021/Images/Digital-Visitor-2019-Winner-Best-Travel-Marketing-Agency.png?width=120&height=120&name=Digital-Visitor-2019-Winner-Best-Travel-Marketing-Agency.png)](http://www.thetravelmarketingawards.com/) [![Digital Visitor comes second Travel Marketing Award for Best Agency 2020](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DIGITAL_VISITOR_MAY_2021/Images/Digital-Visitor-2020-SECOND-Best-Travel-Marketing-Agency.png?width=120&height=120&name=Digital-Visitor-2020-SECOND-Best-Travel-Marketing-Agency.png)](http://www.thetravelmarketingawards.com/) [![Digital Visitor Shortlisted for Best Travel Marketing Agency 2019](https://blog.digitalvisitor.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DIGITAL_VISITOR_MAY_2021/Images/Digital-Visitor-2019-Shortlist-Best-Travel-Marketing-Agency.png?width=120&height=120&name=Digital-Visitor-2019-Shortlist-Best-Travel-Marketing-Agency.png)](https://awards.wtm.com/) ### Let's work together! 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