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If you’re a tour business owner then you likely want to increase your client base. The more people that take your tours, the more revenue your business generates and the bigger you grow. To do so, you need to market your tours to as many people as possible which is where marketing comes in.
When it comes to marketing you have many different options at your disposal. This guide will help teach you how to successfully market your local tours business online using low-cost techniques.
Why Local Tours is a Unique Business
Flexible working hours
Travel business is not restricted to any particular time slot. It can be started during the morning, afternoon, or evening hours, depending on your availability. You can make the most of your free time between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm by starting a local tours business in your area.
Multiple income streams
A local tours business helps you generate multiple income streams from a single platform. A food tour can have a combination of both paid as well as complimentary food items that you arrange for guests during their tour. You can also offer additional services like pick and drop facilities that can boost your overall earnings without requiring you to spend extra money out of pocket.
Grow your network and meet new people
A local tour business is a great way to network with people who are interested in the same things you are. You’ll meet tourists, of course, but you’ll also meet locals who may become clients, partners, and future employees.
Traveling around your city
Foreign visitors will want to see all the major attractions in your city. Take them around and learn about your city at the same time.
Get paid to do what you love
Although this is a very competitive and sometimes stressful industry, it’s also fun and creative. If you love being outside, meeting people, and exploring new places, then running a small tour business is perfect for you!
Build your schedule
As an independent tour operator, you get to work when you want, how long you want, and where you want. To make money as an entrepreneur, however, you need to put in a lot of hours or hire other people to help you run your business.
Main Local Tours Business Challenges
Deciding your niche
When it comes to local tours, you can target different niches. You can offer tours for families, senior citizens, tourists who wish to explore the city in a certain period, etc.
The problem with targeting many niches is that you would have to hire more drivers and make more routes until it becomes impossible for one man to handle all these things alone. If you choose to target a single target market, you will be able to get more customers over the long term than if you choose multiple ones.
Getting clients’ trust
The internet has made it easier for people to find tour companies they want to work with but most of them wouldn’t make bookings because they don’t trust the company yet. It’s your job as a business owner to make them feel secure about booking with you by gaining their trust through word-of-mouth marketing and social media.
Cash flow issues
There are times when customers make last-minute cancellations or no-shows, which can be frustrating and costly at the same time. And since most tour businesses require you to take payment upfront before the tour, it’s hard to recover that money if it doesn’t show up (which is why collecting deposits is highly recommended).
The constant need for innovation
The market is constantly changing and so are people’s preferences. You need to keep up with trends and make changes accordingly to stay relevant in the industry. This requires a consistent investment of time and money.
Requirements for special licenses
For some local tours, you might need special licenses and permits to operate legally. For example, if you are planning on taking people on boat tours on a lake, then you might need a license. These licenses usually cost money, which adds to your overhead costs.
The cost of starting up
Local tour businesses often require large capital investments. You will need vehicles and equipment, as well as insurance and licenses to start operating legally.
Pros and Cons of Local tours Business
Pros
- They are not complex to run.
- You don’t need any special skills for them.
- It is not time-consuming.
- You can work from anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection.
Cons
- Location alternatives can be hard for clients to find.
- Keeping up with location changes and keeping your website up to date is hard work.
- You might not be able to control how much money your clients are willing to pay.
- Time and energy are required.
- Refunds are difficult.
- Profit margins on tours are lower than those of other businesses.
- Tours can be seasonal since tourists are most likely to visit during certain times of the year.
Best Local Tours Marketing Strategies
Start with an online presence
Once you’ve decided that starting an online presence is the best option for your business, the first step is to choose how and where you’re going to establish that presence.
The most important thing to remember is that your online presence needs to be consistent with your offline marketing.
If you haven’t yet developed a marketing plan for your local tours business, start there. Once you have a plan in place, the next step is to determine whether you want to develop a website or an online presence on an existing site.
1. If you already have a website or Facebook page that’s related to your local tours business, consider moving all of your information over to one of these platforms. You may find that it’s less expensive and easier than starting from scratch.
2. If you don’t have an existing site and can’t afford the expense of developing one, consider using a free site like Wix or Weebly for building your presence online. The downside here is that other people might be using those sites as well. It’s difficult to stand out from the crowd in this case.
3. The most expensive option is developing a custom site from scratch, but it might also be the best option in terms of branding and exposure.
Destination marketing
Destination marketing is not just a tagline, it’s a strategy to build your business. It’s about getting the word out about your destination, whether that destination is a hiking or biking trail, or an entire town or county.
To build an effective destination marketing strategy for your local tours business, you have to understand the concept of creating a selling culture. By selling culture, we mean a culture where people are continually selling your destination.
The process of selling starts with branding. Branding is not just slapping a tagline in front of your name and calling it a day. Rather, it’s developing a community that has strong ties with the image of what you’re trying to sell.
Once you get people talking about your product in positive ways, they need to be able to spread the word about what you offer.
This can be accomplished through social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. When you’re ready to take things offline, start attending events at which you can meet potential clients face-to-face and hand out business cards.
Finally, make sure every member of your team understands the importance of sticking to the message you’ve crafted as part of your destination marketing plan.
Create a local city guide
Creating a local city guide as a marketing strategy for local tours businesses is a smart step for those who are in this industry.
This is because it will help them attract people from other places to their city. You can create a guide which will teach people about your city and all the interesting things that you have there. Tours are one of the best ways to earn money.
The demand for such services has been increasing over the past few years and this trend is likely to continue in the future as well.
People are willing to pay big bucks to discover new places and experience new adventures, instead of spending time watching TV or surfing the internet. Creating a local city guide as a marketing strategy for local tours businesses will be very useful, especially if you want to make more money in this business.
It will cost you less money and effort, while at the same time increasing your chances of getting more customers, who would like to explore new places with your help.
Creating a local city guide as a marketing strategy for local tours businesses makes sense because it helps you build trust with your potential customers.
If you provide them with all the information about your company and services, they will not hesitate to use your services when they need it. You can also add various discounts and offers.
Here is a step by step guide on how to create the perfect local city guide;
Step 1: Find the best local topics for your business.
Step 2: Get a Google My Business account and claim your business listing.
Step 3: Make sure that you have a good profile and everything is 100% correct.
Step 4: Now it’s time to create a “cool” niche-specific landing page that will host the information about your city guide. This page should be written in a clear, no-fluff manner with keywords naturally integrated into the content, but not over-optimized.
Step 5: Add some social sharing buttons to make it easier for people to share it with their friends and family, who might also find this useful.
Step 6: Add a map that shows where exactly you’ll be taking people on your tours. The map will also help you get localized SEO benefits.
Step 7: Create a PDF or an eBook version of your city guide so that people can download the file when they want to read it offline later on (and also so they can print it).
Step 8: Publish the link to your new city guide somewhere relevant – social media profile, blog posts, and forum signature.
Local travel bloggers
Whether you’re a travel enthusiast, a business owner, or both, you can reap the benefits of local travel bloggers. Tours and activities businesses have to invest a lot in marketing.
Since there are so many competitors out there and it’s so hard to stand out from the crowd, most of them are looking for unique ways to promote their products.
And when it comes to unique, local travel bloggers might be just what they’re looking for. The thing is that bloggers usually want to write about the places they love and the experiences they’ve had in those places.
That’s why tours and activities businesses need to make their products as attractive as possible so that they can make it on a blogger’s list of favorite things.
Here are some useful tips on how to find and pick the right blogger for your business:
- Who Is The Blogger?
Make sure that the blogger you choose to contact is the one who runs the blog. Bloggers sometimes hire other persons to handle their blog which may result in problems when trying to get your content featured on it. So make sure that you’re dealing with the person who has the authority over their blog.
- Make Sure They Accept Guest Posts
Some bloggers don’t accept guest posts or they have strict guidelines on what they will and will not post on their blog. Make sure that you check all these things before contacting them and pitching them your content for featuring it on their blog. If they don’t accept guest posts, then this might not be good for you as a tour operator since you will need to pay for ads or SEO services.
- Contacting The Blogger
You can reach out to the blogger by sending them a private message through email or if they have contact forms.
Local SEO
Local SEO has become a crucial element of any local business’ marketing strategy. By employing effective local SEO strategies, you can drive customers to your business, improve your search engine rankings, and increase brand awareness.
Tours are one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.
They are an excellent way to see a new city or country and learn more about its history and culture. If you have been looking for ways to market yourself and increase your client base, then local SEO is worth a look.
Local SEO can be applied to many different businesses but today we’ll focus on how it can benefit tours clients.
Why Use Local SEO?
Local SEO is one of the best ways to grow a travel business and create an online presence for your business.
Local SEO is using local keywords to drive local traffic to your travel business website.
Local SEO will help you get more organic search engine traffic and this organic search engine traffic will turn into
1. More visits on your travel business website
2. More bookings for your business
3. More money for your pocket from higher conversion rates!
So, if you are a travel tour operator, then Local SEO is a must-have strategy for you.
Provide a discount for online bookings
Providing a discount for online bookings as a marketing strategy for local tours businesses can be very beneficial in terms of boosting the bookings and getting more customers.
However, one must ensure that they have all the details right like the availability of stock, discounts offered, and cancellation policies. In case of any issues or questions from the customers, they should be able to reach out to you quickly.
Also, there are many online booking sites available where one can display their details and get more customers. You must offer at least a 5% reduction on your hotel or tour packages when customers book online to win their attention.
This is a good time for you to communicate about your services in detail so that they can take a final call after reviewing all the information provided by you.
The secret to providing a discount for online bookings as a marketing strategy is simple: offer a discount on each booking made through your site. This incentive can be done in a variety of ways:
- Provide a discount on each booking made through your site.
- Offer an incentive program where the more people who book with you, the more they receive in terms of discounts or rewards.
- Have a referral program where potential clients can refer their friends and family members if they use your services, and you reward them for that referral by either giving them a discount or by rewarding them with points they can use towards future purchases.
Target local events
Event marketing is a great way for local tours businesses to advertise their services and build their brand. Here are some tips for local tours businesses looking to target events as part of their marketing strategy.
Tailor your message to the event’s audience. While an event might attract people with an interest in the event topic, it probably also attracts those who are just looking for something to do that day. Even if you’re not selling something directly at the event, if you can hand out a card or brochure that includes your phone number and website, people will have more ways to contact you.
Try to find out where potential customers will be before the event. When planning an event marketing strategy, it’s important to figure out where your target audience will be beforehand so you can get there ahead of time and set up in a good location. If possible, set up a table at the entrance or somewhere else highly visible that’s easy for people to stop by. Keep promotional materials like cards and brochures nearby so people can grab them as they walk by.
Set yourself apart from the other vendors at the event. Try creating a unique look for yourself that sets you apart from everyone else at the event, which makes it more likely that people will notice you and remember you later.
Use of Google Reviews
Google reviews can be used as a marketing strategy for local tours businesses. It’s easy to get reviews and increase your business reputation with Google.
Tours are generally personalized offerings, so customers likely want to share their experiences with others. If you encourage them to leave a review, they will be more satisfied and happy with the service they received.
The best way to get more reviews on Google is to optimize your website for it. Your website needs to have the right keywords related to your business so that SEO companies can help you rank much faster in Google.
You also need to have a map on your website with an indication of where your business is located. This helps people identify where you are easily and decide if you’re worth visiting or not.
If there are reviews on this map, it makes visitors more confident about using your services because there are other people who’ve done it before and had a positive experience.
Google Reviews makes it easier for people to find your business online and then lead them to book tours with you because they will see the success rate of other clients who’ve booked tours with you previously.
If you ask for a review from your clients, make sure that you tell them exactly what kind of feedback you’re looking for.
Embrace the power of social media
Social media marketing is something that many local tours businesses are still overlooking.
This is unfortunate because it is a powerful tool for getting new customers and increasing revenue. Here are some tips to help you get started with social media marketing:
1. Make sure your business has a social media presence. While Facebook and Twitter are the most popular options for local tours businesses, you shouldn’t ignore other platforms such as Google Plus, Instagram, or LinkedIn. If you have an official website, consider adding a link to your Facebook page on the “contact” page or within the footer of the site.
2. Develop your social media strategy and stick to it. Having a long-term plan will help you stay focused on the goals you want to achieve through social media rather than becoming distracted by less important matters. Some of the things that should be part of your strategy include establishing regular posting schedules, creating content that will interest your target audience, and developing relationships with industry experts or other businesses in your niche.
3. Pay attention to customer feedback; through social media channels and address any issues quickly if they arise. This is especially true if someone posts about having a bad experience with one of your tour guides or customer service representatives. If you have problems with customers contacting you directly via email,
Final Thoughts
It is not hard to realize how important a good marketing strategy is to the success of any business.
Local tours are businesses as well, and when it comes to marketing, they have to make sure that the right message reaches the right audience.
There are various ways of doing this, and while each of them has its pros and cons, there’s no doubt that having a clear marketing strategy will allow the people behind local tours to get the kind of results they want.
