Why marketing feels like so much work

I’ve heard from a lot of travel advisors about marketing. Mostly about how they're having such a hard time finding time to do it.

But I don’t think time is always the biggest problem.

It just feels like it, because so many advisors separate marketing from the rest of their business.

What about you?

Do you separate it?

Did you accidentally create two jobs?

Lots of travel advisors end up creating two jobs for themselves without ever meaning to.

Job #1 is the one you thought you had.

Travel advisor.

The whole researching destinations and planning trips thing. 

Answering client questions. 

Figuring out which supplier to use based on what your client is looking for.

And then there’s Job #2.

Marketing.

Your time slips away as you’re creating all those social media posts. Or maintaining your facebook group. 

Maybe you’re even sending emails and writing blog posts too.

But it all feels like it’s taking time away from doing your actual job.

The one you thought you signed up to do.

Actually planning trips!

So you spend all day doing travel advisor work, and then try to sit down and create your marketing when you're done.

No wonder it’s exhausting.

And why you don't feel like you have any time.

Marketing doesn’t start when you open Facebook

It’s easy to think that marketing starts when it’s time to write a post.

Maybe you’re one of those people who can sit down and slam through a month or more of content at a time.

That’s great for you. But it’s not most people’s experience.

Marketing actually starts long before that.

Think about why you chose one hotel over another. Or why you suggested visiting York instead of Manchester.

Why did you recommend that a client spend three nights instead of one?

All of those decisions can be more interesting than the actual recommendation itself.

The final answer isn’t the most intriguing. 

Most people want to know the “why” behind it. So why not share it with them?

How do advisors have so many things to talk about?

Advisors who have lots of things to talk about usually know their destinations well.

It’s not about being the smartest advisor or knowing all the things.

It’s about building knowledge in the places you sell.

The more you know, the more questions you can answer.

Anyone can google “Best hotels in Edinburgh”. Or there's a fair number of advisors who just crowdsource without even looking it up.

If that’s all you’re doing, you aren’t creating value for your clients.

Value comes from understanding which hotel fits a type of traveler. Or why one London neighborhood works for some clients but not others.

You create value when you suggest staying longer somewhere, or why you’d choose one route over another.

Value is when you suggest going to the Dingle peninsula instead of the Ring of Kerry, because it’s a bit less touristed with a similar and more authentic feel.

When you know someplace well, you can talk about the things you’ve seen and experienced.

When you truly understand someplace, your expertise comes through in your marketing.

It’s hard to talk about someplace when you’re just going off the brochure version, or what a supplier says about it.

If all you’re doing is passing along information, clients can find that elsewhere.

They don’t need to go through a human booking engine to do it.

Travel advisors actually advise. They make recommendations and service their clients. 

It’s so much more than just booking trips.

Recommendations are easy to get. But getting experience and proper judgement is a lot harder.

It’s not possible to travel everywhere. But you can borrow people’s expertise who’ve been there. 

That’s where advisors can still bring tremendous value.

Show people how you think

Marketing isn’t telling people what you sell.

That can be part of it, but that’s not what connects with people.

Frankly, someone can go online and book something similar in less time and without a middleman.

Marketing is so much more effective when you can show what you think about a place. Or how you make decisions.

That means not saying things like “Here’s a beautiful historic hotel in Edinburgh”.

Sure, that's great and all, but it doesn't do anything for anyone. Other than checking your box of "yup, created some content today".

Instead, try actually creating value. Something like “Here’s why I’d choose this hotel for a couple celebrating their anniversary, but not for a family with little kids.”

It means not saying “A daytrip from London to see the Cotswolds can be fine”.

It's turning it around and saying “Here’s why actually experiencing the Cotswolds means more than just a daytrip from London”.

Don’t just show a destination. Show your expertise.

Advisors who always seem to have something to say, or something to post, aren’t necessarily spending more time on marketing.

They’re paying attention to what they already know, or what they’re learning. Decisions are being turned into actual conversations. Things they observe are repurposed and rephrased.

Their marketing comes naturally from pieces of their expertise.

They aren’t constantly trying to invent marketing, or content, from scratch.

The bottom line: Marketing isn’t a separate activity

Marketing can feel like so much work when it’s a totally separate activity.

The more you connect it to the knowledge you’re building, and the decisions you’re already making, the easier it will be to find things worth talking about.

If you’re ready to read more, check out our latest blog posts.