Marketing your travel business shouldn’t feel like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks. If you’re constantly struggling with what to post, how to talk about your services, or wondering why your efforts aren’t bringing in the right clients…your travel agency branding might be the issue.
When your branding is clear and consistent, marketing is easier, more effective, and a lot less time-consuming.
Not sure how that’s possibly true? Let’s break down how a strong brand identity can simplify your marketing strategy. And makes it a whole lot easier to attract the clients you want.
If you missed the first two posts, read more about how good travel branding creates a clear identity for your business and the travel agent branding mistakes that confuse your clients.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I may get a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.
Branding creates instant recognition
Think about your favorite brands. It can be any brand. Or even your favorite travel brand like a luxury cruise line or boutique hotel chain. Most likely, you’d recognize their logo, colors, and messaging instantly because their branding is clear and consistent. That’s called brand recognition.
Your travel business should have a similar effect. Clients should be able to recognize your content, whether they see it in an email, on social media, or on your website.
Strong branding means:
Your colors, fonts, and imagery (pictures and videos) are consistent across any platform you’re using. You may use variations of your travel agency logo depending on the platform or where you need to use it, but they all go together as part of your broader brand design.
Your messaging is consistent. Your expertise and niche or specialty is clear.
A potential customer knows exactly what to expect when they work with you.
But if your branding is weak, you end up with:
Scattered visuals and messaging that make your travel company forgettable
Potential travelers (or even current clients) who aren’t sure what you specialize in or who you serve
More effort spent trying to explain your business and why someone should use a travel advisor, instead of focusing on attracting the right people.
Why a consistent brand makes marketing easier
If your branding is clear, you usually won’t have an issue with figuring out what to post on social media. It’s more a choice of what great content to highlight, rather than trying to figure out where to focus.
When you have clear branding, you won’t end up rewriting your website copy over and over in an attempt to figure out what might actually bring in a client. You know who your brand is aimed at attracting and your copy is written to them!
Branding clarity means you aren’t struggling to communicate your value to a potential client. You know what you do, why you do it, and who benefits from it. And you know the travel experience your clients can have when they book with you.
When you know exactly what your brand is and what it stands for, marketing can feel much more natural…or even effortless! Your brand messaging guides everything you create. So you’re never starting from scratch.
But what does that look like in practice?
If your travel brand focuses on destination weddings, your content (social media, emails, blog posts) might include things like:
Top 5 Caribbean resorts for a stress-free destination wedding
How to plan a dream wedding in Italy without the overwhelm
The biggest mistakes couples make when booking a destination wedding
If your travel brand focuses on bucket list travel for newly retired couples, your content might include:
7 bucket list trips that are perfect for the first year of retirement
How to plan an African safari without the hassle
Luxury train journeys that belong on your travel bucket list
When your branding is clear, your marketing strategy, marketing efforts, and content ideas come much more naturally.
Where to apply branding for maximum impact
Your branding should be consistent across every client touchpoint. This means everywhere a potential client interacts with you.
Website
Your homepage should clearly communicate who you are and what you offer. Fonts, colors, and imagery should match the overall aesthetic of your brand. Your brand voice should come through in all of your copy (the text on your site) and calls to action (CTA).
If you’re specializing in luxury travel and have a friendly but slightly formal way of communicating based on your ideal client, “book a consultation” may be a great call to action. But if your focus is family-friendly travel and your ideal client is a stressed out mom, “let’s talk” or “I need help” could get her attention in a way that a more formal CTA never will.
Social Media
Your profile or bio should always align with your brand’s messaging. Your posts should follow a consistent theme, style, and tone.
Social media marketing can be so much easier when it's consistent. Not posting frequency (although posting regularly is important). Be consistent in what you're putting up and how you're talking about it.
If one day you’re posting about a brand new luxury resort and the next day you’re highlighting the latest mid-market or budget deal, you aren’t giving clients any reason to book with you. They don’t know who you serve or why. And you’re giving them whiplash.
Captions should reflect your brand’s personality and expertise. Give them a reason to book with you!
Emails & client communication
Keep your email signature consistent with your brand. If you include your logo in your signature, keep it consistent with the experience you want for your clients. A cutesy, busy logo could be fine if there’s a story behind it or if you specialize in family travel. Or it may be better to consider a simple text logo. Whatever you do, stay away from clip art and unprofessional graphics!
Use a consistent tone in your client interactions. This is called “brand voice”. The voice you use to write your email newsletters should match the tone and voice you use to communicate with an individual client. If it doesn’t match, it can leave clients wondering who the “real you” actually is. And less likely to become a repeat client or recommend others. Consistency is key.
Plain text emails are fine, even for newsletters, but some advisors choose to use a fancier template. If you use an email template, make sure it matches your branding visuals. A fun or pretty email template doesn’t do anything for you if it isn’t aligned with the experience you want clients to have.
How to stay consistent
Brand consistency doesn’t mean obsessing over every little detail. You can keep everything in line without overcomplicating it.
Use brand guidelines. Define your colors, fonts, tone and messaging style so everything stays cohesive. If you use Canva, use the built-in brand feature! Or if you use Kit (formerly ConvertKit), use an Email Template to customize your welcome sequence.
Create reusable templates. You can use the brand features in Canva to create your social posts and emails. After customizing, set one of Kit’s (formerly ConvertKit) email templates as the default for any new emails. When you use templates, creating marketing material becomes so much easier.
Audit your branding regularly. Check your website, social media, and marketing materials every few months to be sure they’re all still aligned. You may be surprised at how things can slowly change over time without realizing. Checking back in keeps them all in line.
The bottom line: Clear travel agency branding = easier marketing
When your branding is clear and consistent, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time. You’re giving yourself a solid foundation that makes it easier to attract and book the clients that you want.
You start to build brand recognition. You have a consistent brand voice. You've developed a brand personality.
And most important. Your clients understand how you're different from all the other travel agencies out there.
Are you ready to create a brand that works for you? Download the brand checklist to bring your travel agency branding together. And make your marketing a whole lot easier.
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