Your travel clients don’t come from a single place

Have you ever gotten discouraged and thought “I don’t get it. I’m posting on social media, but I’m not getting clients. I must be bad at marketing.”

One social media post isn’t what brings you clients.

It’s usually not a single platform either.

That’s especially true if you’ve only been doing this a few years.

A lot of advisors assume clients come from their last interaction (or touchpoint), and may even think:

“Yay, I got a client from Instagram!”

Ok, maybe…if Instagram is literally the only place you’re marketing.

If you’re marketing in more than one place, or doing more than one thing, they probably didn’t come from exactly where you think.

They may have followed you for months, joined your email list (and read your email), checked your website, and watched your content on other platforms too.

There’s not a great way to know for sure.

And that’s ok.

So where do clients actually come from?

Most clients aren’t going to book a call after one interaction

It’s really rare for someone to jump straight to sending an inquiry or scheduling a call after seeing only one post from you.

Travel is a high-trust purchase.

That means it’s extra important to build the “know like trust” factor with your audience.

Clients want to know you have expertise and destination knowledge. They want to know a bit of your personality and how you communicate. 

And in an age where it’s easier and easier to create fake info, clients need to know you’re a real person doing a real job!

A lot of travel advisors underestimate the amount of time a potential client is watching before they reach out.

It’s important to stay visible during this stage, because visibility means familiarity.

Familiarity leads to being comfortable.

When a potential client is comfortable with you and understands the value of your services, they’re a whole lot more likely to contact you when they’re ready to talk travel.

This is even more true when you’re booking higher-budget or more specialized trips.

The last touchpoint gets too much credit

If you ask a potential client how they heard about you, they’ll usually mention the last thing they saw. 

Maybe it was social media. Possibly a recent email. Or maybe it was your website.

That doesn’t mean that was the only reason they reached out.

Your marketing channels are designed to work together.

Marketing channel = the places you show up or use to market your business. 

Think individual social media platforms, email marketing, website, blog, in-person networking, or even your local chamber of commerce or small business group.

How many touchpoints does it take?

Seven used to be the marketing “magic number”. That meant it took an average of 7 touchpoints before someone purchases.

But times change.

As of 2025, it takes an average of 28+ touchpoints with someone before they purchase. This does vary by industry, and there isn’t a specific dataset for travel.

Wow, that’s a lot!

Keep in mind that the higher the purchase value, the more touchpoints it needs. 

So if you’re focusing on high-budget, luxury travel, be ready for a lot more touchpoints with your audience than if you’re selling mainly mass-market Caribbean cruises.

Channel matters too. If you're mainly marketing on social media, that requires a lot more potential touchpoints than, say, focusing on SEO optimized content for your blog and website. 

But the fewest touchpoints?

That’s where great in-person conversations come in. Those in-person conversations increase trust the fastest and average 3 touchpoints to seal the deal. 

Marketing doesn’t mean finding a “magic platform” for your business

Different platforms do different things. And it’s more than just social media platforms.

Remember, social media is more of a “once and done” thing. You spend time creating content, then it’s seen once (by an average of only 10% of your audience) and disappears.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have social media as one of your marketing tools. 

Just maybe not the only one.

Don’t forget about using your website, email list, or blog too. 

And take advantage of those in-person opportunities when you can. That includes networking events and opportunities where your ideal client is most likely to be.

But that means knowing exactly who your ideal client is, and how they spend their time.

Not sure who your ideal client is? Read more here.

That means being confident enough to talk about what you do with your local mom group. Or striking up a conversation with the person next to you while socializing over drinks. 

Marketing can be so much more than social media. 

Don’t try to do everything at once

Don’t take this as me saying you need to be on every platform or use every channel available.

That’s how you take on too much and stretch yourself too thin.

And that's when you get overwhelmed, or even worse, burn out. No bueno!

Choose one platform to focus on first. Get good at it and be consistent before adding something else.

Maybe it means starting with posting on Instagram, then deciding to add a private facebook group, or start an email list.

Or maybe you start with a website, then use social media to push people to it and generate more interest.

Repeated touchpoints build trust

Getting a potential client from that first contact all the way to actually purchasing takes repetition.

It doesn’t mean clients have to see you in 10 different places to consider hiring you to plan their next trip.

A client’s journey could look like this:

• Seeing 5-10 social media posts before deciding to join your email list because they’re intrigued by your destination-focused freebie

• They’ve gotten 6-8 good, informative emails (and read them), when your last blog post email catches their attention

• They’re still seeing some of your social media content, like what you have to say, and have started trusting the info you’re providing

• They click through from your email to your blog post

• Your post has got such great info that it’s the final tipping point, and they click that “schedule a call” button

This isn’t the journey that every client takes to get to you.

But it’s one of the potential ways that clients interact when you use multiple marketing channels to promote your business.

By the way...when you specialize in a destination, it makes your marketing SO. MUCH. EASIER.

Did you know we have a British Isles Travel Expert membership specifically for Travel Advisors? If you want to sell more of the British Isles, learn more here.

The bottom line: Travel clients need multiple touchpoints

Most clients need multiple interactions with you before reaching out. 

When you market in different ways, especially when you do it through channels where your ideal client is more likely to be, your marketing builds on itself.

And don't you want marketing to be a little bit easier?

You don’t have to be everywhere.

Choose the touchpoints that make sense based on who your ideal client is.

Just remember, being consistently visible over a period of time is going to be a lot more effective than trying to pick the perfect platform for your audience.

It usually takes time and multiple interactions (more than you think) to build enough trust for a potential client to contact you about booking a trip.