In a digital era where travel experiences can be meticulously curated with the click of a button, tour and activity operators are faced with an increasingly competitive landscape. Success hinges not only on the quality of the experiences provided but also on a savvy approach towards booking strategies. If you're in the business of creating unforgettable travel memories and don't want to leave your booking rates up to chance, then it's imperative to employ tested strategies that actively elevate your bookings.
In this article, we explore four key strategies that, combined with TrekkSoft's powerful tools, can place your business head and shoulders above the competition.
Generate discount codes
Discount codes are a powerful tool for influencing consumer behavior and driving sales. A study conducted by Claremont University, showed that "saving money on a product that is perceived as being worth more than the price tag literally creates feelings of happiness via the release of oxytocin" So, for consumers, discount codes are not only perceived as getting a good deal or saving money, but they also help boost the purchase decision.
Offering discounts can create a sense of urgency, encouraging customers to make a purchase decision before a great deal expires; this also makes the customer stop looking for alternatives and choose your business.
Here are some ways to utilize discount codes in your operation:
- Welcome discounts. Want to attract more new bookings? Create a code for first-time purchases and increase engagement and conversions. These discounts are a compelling way to greet new customers and encourage them to experience your activities. Offered to first-time customers or new subscribers, the discount becomes an invitation to try out a tour or activity at a discounted rate.
- Referral discounts. As you may already know, references are essential for any small business. With the referral discounts, you're rewarding your existing customers and welcoming new ones. Remember that the goal is to make your brand shine in everyone's mind, so your discounts should benefit existing and new customers. In your referral program, you should add clear terms & conditions, putting restrictions and benefits according to your different scenarios. An example of how your referral program can work is you can give your customers a percentage off their next booking or a voucher for every successful referral they make. You can also give your referrals a similar discount or credit to encourage them to book with you.
- Seasonal discounts. Seasonal discounts are great to attract customers during specific times of the year and capitalize on seasonal trends and holidays. You can offer discounts during peak and low seasons and themed discount codes for special promotions like Christmas, Carnival, New Year, Valentine's Day, or any other relevant occasion.
- Email marketing discounts. Using coupons and discounts in your email marketing mailing can help boost your email open rate and bookings. These types of promotions help make customers feel special and allow you to retain them. Consumers say they're most likely to open emails about available promotions/discounts; keeping this in mind, to improve sales, add the discount you're offering in the message subject; a clear message can encourage them to open the email.
- Flash discounts. Have you ever had to cancelation at the last minute, or the weather forecast has changed, and now you have an open schedule to offer your activities? A flash sale offers a discount for a limited time. By creating the buzz around your activity you can increase bookings at the last minute. Offer it personally, on social media, through OTAs, and other means where your customers can learn about your activities.
- Early bird discounts. This strategy is well known by tour and activity operators who want to incentivize customers to book in advance. By offering discounted rates to customers who book their experiences or activities ahead of time, you can drive sales and better manage capacity.
Remember that in the tourism industry, you can use the discount codes in different ways and times. Choose the one that makes sense with your business and goals.
Generating discount in TrekkSoft
TrekkSoft's discount code generation feature allows operators like you to create customized codes tailored to your promotional strategies. With easy-to-use tool and tracking capabilities, you can monitor the performance of the discount campaigns and adjust them accordingly to maximize results.
Here is a detailed guide on how to utilize TrekkSoft's discount code feature. You can learn more about how easy it is to create a discount code, how to generate multiple discount codes, and even import your own discount codes.
Promote your offers with Google Things to do
Google Things to do (GTTD) has become an essential platform for reaching a wider audience, showcasing what you offer directly on Google Search and Maps. Why is it so important to be on Google? When travelers search for attractions or activities, GTTD shows general information, allowing travelers to discover, compare, and book tours and activities without effort.
By providing conveniently essential information about your business — like contact details, location, open hours, customer reviews, images, videos, ticket prices, direct links, etc — the chance of people finding your business and, more importantly, trusting your business gets higher. As you already know, the tourism business has to demonstrate credibility on all sides, and GTTD can help you with that.
Besides being free, GTTD is user-friendly and allows you to provide important data; some other benefits of listing your business in Google Things to do are:
- Boost your visibility. When people search for businesses like yours on Google or for the activities you offer, your listing can appear in the results.
- Enhance website traffic. By showing up in different searches, customers can visit your website.
- Increase bookings. GTTD displays relevant information that the user might be searching for, so, for example, if a person is searching for an activity such as things to do in Madrid, Google will also share ticket prices and direct links to purchase tickets.
For a successful GTTD strategy, it is important to follow good practices, such as SEO, so that customers can find you when searching for terms related to your business and services, keep your information updated, work links, and more. For more information, read Everything tour and activity operators need to know about Google Things to do.
Boosting your listing with TrekkSoft's integration
TrekkSoft's integration with GTTD ensures that your offerings are visible and presented with real-time availability updates and enhanced listing features. This seamless integration means that potential customers always view the most accurate information, leading to increased trust and higher conversion rates.
With our content enrichment tool, you can efficiently add or edit content directly from the Channel Manager platform, ensuring that the information you share is the most recent.
To learn more about maximizing visibility through Google Things to Do with TrekkSoft, check out this link: Google Things To Do.
Automatically collect customer reviews
When we talk about promoting sales and increasing bookings, we are talking about a strategy encompassing different parts so that everything works out and you get the best result.
In the travel industry, trust and credibility are everything. Customer reviews are essential for gaining insight into your customer base and enhancing your services based on the feedback provided. They boost credibility by showcasing that your business is legitimate and offers valuable services. Additionally, reviews serve as social proof, as customers often rely on the experiences of others rather than solely on recommendations from friends and family.
Reviews are so relevant that BrightLocal's local consumer survey shows that 49% of consumers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends and family members. Not only that, but TripAdvisor shared a survey showing that 3 out 4 respondents said online reviews were "extremely or very important" when making travel decisions.
TrekkSoft TripAdvisor integration
Authentic, positive reviews can be the tipping point for someone considering your services, and to streamline your time, TrekkSoft offers a TripAdvisor Widget for automatic review collection, allowing you to display recent and relevant customer testimonials directly on your website.
This not only saves time but also ensures that your website visitors are immediately presented with positive experiences from past customers. For more information on integrating the TripAdvisor Widget with your TrekkSoft account, visit the following guide: TripAdvisor Widget.
Track performance with analytics
Understanding your customers' interaction with your website is part of optimizing your marketing efforts. Google Analytics is a powerful tool that provides insights that inform strategic decisions, optimize operations, and enhance customer experiences. You can measure your business performance and success by measuring and analyzing your strategies.
Other tools are available, but Google Analytics stands out as a powerful platform, especially within the travel industry, where understanding customer behavior is essential for growth and competition.
Google Analytics is free and allows you to analyze in-depth details about the visitors to your website. It provides valuable data on user behavior, acquisition channels, conversion rates, and more, delivering a comprehensive understanding of performance. With data-driven decision-making, operators like you can refine strategies and allocate resources more effectively.
Google Analytics and TrekkSoft
TrekkSoft offers seamless integration with Google Analytics, enabling businesses to track conversions, understand visitor demographics, and gain a deeper understanding of customer journeys. This integration helps in making informed decisions to improve marketing and sales strategies. For a step-by-step guide on using Google Analytics with TrekkSoft, check out this resource: Using Google Analytics - UA Properties with TrekkSoft.
TrekkSoft's Facebook integration
Social media platforms are essential for successful promotional sales. In social media, you're able to engage with your customers, amplify your brand presence, and share all your promotions. Facebook offers unprecedented advertising potential for tour and activity operators. It allows you to reach your desired audience based on interests, behaviors, and demographics.
The engagement built through social media raises brand awareness, drives bookings, and nurtures loyalty among travelers seeking unique experiences.
Our Facebook integration features empower you to monitor the success and track performance directly from your management dashboard. Click here for a comprehensive walkthrough on our Facebook integration and start transforming your insights into actionable business strategies today.
Scale your business through effective sales tools with TrekkSoft
Promotional sales are a powerful way to drive bookings and grow your tour and activity business. By leveraging discount codes, maximizing online visibility, offering a variety of sales promotions, collecting customer reviews, and tracking performance with analytics, you can build a robust marketing strategy that resonates with your audience.
The ultimate goal of promotional sales efforts is to convert interest into bookings. An easy and efficient booking system is essential for capitalizing on the momentum created by your offers.
TrekkSoft provides a user-friendly booking system that streamlines the reservation experience for your customers. With a smooth booking process, you can increase conversions and ensure your promotional sales translate into business growth.
Ready to see how TrekkSoft can transform your promotional efforts? Book a demo today.
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