The Ultimate Guide to Launching, Promoting, and Selling Out Your Dream Group Trip
Congratulations – you’re hosting your dream group trip! Preparing to launch is an exciting time. But, whether you’re launching your first trip or your tenth, having a good strategy is always crucial to getting bookings. Read on as we walk you through the steps of successfully launching, promoting, and selling your Best In Travel group trip.
Why a Promotional Strategy Is Important
Let’s start with a few common misconceptions.
“I have a huge social media audience, so it’s a given that this trip will sell well, right?”
Not exactly. Having a large social media audience is a great place to start, but it doesn’t guarantee your trip will sell. And on the reverse side – if you DON’T have a large social media audience, then there are still plenty of ways that you can successfully promote and sell a trip.
“Some trips just sell themselves, right?”
Well, yes, but. A trip that looks like it “sells itself” only looks that way because the promotional strategy has already started!
Let’s take a look at the the ideal process.
Step 1: Expression of Interest (EOI) Campaign
Build Your Email List:
Establishing interest in your trip is super important, and we actually highly recommend doing this early in the planning phase. Before a whole lot of time and effort goes into putting your trip together and getting it out there, it’s a great idea to run either an audience survey or EOI. We can help set this up for you – click here to check out our guide to planning your trip, and below to check out our sample survey and EOI forms:
👉 Example Audience Survey
👉 Example EOI Form
Aside from confirming genuine interest in your trip, the survey/EOI process is great for building your email list. Once the trip is planned, and pre-launch, go out with an EOI campaign. You can include info on locations, dates, activities etc. You can actually do this as many times as you want – even during the planning phase – let your audience know that it’s nearly ready to go – the more opportunities for people to show their interest and leave their details the better!
Offer Added Value:
A great idea is to offer your audience a reward for expressing their interest. You can offer exclusive early access to the trip when it launches, and/or offer an early-bird discount only available to those who leave their details (you’ll need to discuss this with us while we are working out pricing).
Promoting your EOI:
One of the easiest ways to promote your EOI is by using the link button feature in Instagram stories to link to the EOI form we have set up for you (or you have set up yourself). You can also post it to your Facebook page – just share it wherever your audience lives. The more email addresses you collect, the better your chances of getting the numbers you need to confirm your trip!
🔥Hot Tip: Another way to run an EOI entirely in Instagram is to use the “ask a question” story feature and ask people to leave their email address – but this involves collating all the email addresses manually later!
Step 2: The Big Launch!
Create Buzz with Teasers:
Before the official launch, tease your audience with glimpses of what’s to come. Share captivating images, snippets of the itinerary, and enticing details about the destination. Create a sense of anticipation that will leave your audience wanting to know more and ready to jump in and book. You can also use this as an opportunity to get a few last-minute email subscribers!
Subscriber Email Launch:
If you’ve compiled an email list, you can launch to them early by email. This is something we can help with via our platform, but it’s also something you can do yourself from your own email address to add a personal touch and encourage personal engagement.
🔥Hot Tip: When the email goes out, follow it up with a story on Instagram letting people know to check their inbox (or their spam/junk if they didn’t get it). You can also reach out to people who registered their interest personally via DMs – this is REALLY effective!
Click here to see an example of a subscriber launch email that we have sent out.
Craft a Compelling Announcement:
When you are ready for the official launch, make it memorable. Craft a compelling announcement post that includes the trip’s key details – dates, destination, unique experiences – but also and more importantly, why it’s a must-attend. That initial impact of the announcement, and the first couple of weeks following, are key.
🔥Hot Tip: Make sure you make mention of the fact that guests can book with a deposit, and pay the rest off in instalments. Making sure potential guests know that the trip is both affordable and achievable is really important.
Step 3: Driving Sales
Promotion Without a Sales Pitch:
Share, don’t sell: Focus on expressing genuine excitement about the upcoming trip. Highlight unique aspects and draw on your own personal experiences to create inviting content. Celebrate and share bookings – it shows your audience that that people are joining and the trip is filling up.
Create a Q&A Session or Broadcast Channel:
Post Instagram stories encouraging questions from your audience about the trip. This is a great way to not only address questions that they might have, but also to further promote and highlight the features of your trip in a different format. Another way to do this is to create a broadcast channel – in which you can post questions/polls etc. If you get a good response within that channel, you could even look to do a live Q&A session.
This personal touch builds trust and helps convert interested followers into confirmed participants. Stimulate open and personal communication and actively encourage feedback.
🔥Hot Tip: Not getting many questions asked on your story? Just ask them and answer them yourself! We won’t tell, promise. Seriously though – your audience doesn’t need to know you’re creating it all yourself – make it look like you’ve been inundated with people seeking information!
Proactively Engage with Your Audience:
Initiate conversations with your audience by responding to comments, direct messages, and mentions. Pose questions related to the trip, encourage followers to share their travel aspirations, and create polls to gauge interest in specific aspects of the journey. Encourage potential guests to engage in personal conversations – be proactive with this – message them first.
🔥Hot Tip: We cannot stress enough how important personal communication is to securing bookings, and how important those first few weeks following launch are to have as many personal comms as possible!
Step 4: Strategic Promotion & Content Strategy
Showcase the Trip and Location:
Visual content is key to capturing attention on social media. Create eye-catching posts, stories, and reels that showcase the beauty of the destination and the exciting activities participants can expect.
Personal content is the most effective, but if you don’t have personal content or need more, don’t be afraid to tap into stock images and video (we can provide this). Embrace social media trends without compromising authenticity. Use trending songs in videos with a call to action to boost sign-ups.
Be strategic – create specific content based on different aspects of the trip to make sure posts/stories are fresh.
🔥Hot Tip: Instagram STILL reigns supreme: Stories on Instagram remain the preferred choice for Hosts due to its (more) friendly algorithm, and ability to post single click external links.
🔥🔥BONUS Hot Tip: Don’t forget to tag us – we’ll share your content to our audience (if you’d like for us to collaborate on a post/reel, please send us the content for approval first, otherwise we’re always happy to share to our stories as long as the content aligns with our brand).
Share Behind-the-Scenes:
Take your audience behind the scenes of trip preparation. Share snippets of your planning process, your excitement, and any challenges you’re overcoming. Authenticity builds a connection with your audience and makes them feel like they’re part of the journey from the beginning.
Showcase Testimonials and Reviews:
If you have hosted trips in the past, share testimonials and reviews from previous participants. Highlight their positive experiences and the unique aspects that made your previous trips memorable. Social proof is a powerful tool in convincing potential participants.
Follow-up Emails & Messages:
Make notes to send follow-up emails and messages to people you’ve had personal conversations with to see if they have questions or need help with anything. Don’t forget to update the guests already booked on how it’s going as well – they will be keen to know when the trip is close to reaching the minimum numbers to be confirmed!
Step 5: Expand Your Audience
Facebook Groups:
Haven’t been able to fill your spots with your own social media audience? Time to expand! There are a huge range of Facebook groups filled with keen travelers looking for both travel ideas and like minded people to go on an adventure with. Past hosts have had great success with these – and they are especially useful for hosts that don’t have a large following to begin with!
Your Best In Travel consultant can provide you with a comprehensive list of Facebook groups.
🔥Hot Tip: The strategy for Facebook groups is to join early, and start engaging with other posts before you post. Engaging within a Facebook group builds up your credibility within the group (both with other members and with the algorithm). When you do post about your trip, it’s important to keep it vague. Post a few pics, very rough details – no links. Encourage people to message you for more info, and then you can send the trip page link (plus you’re now already having that all-important personal engagement).
Step 6: Your Adventure Awaits!
Launching, promoting, and selling a group trip on social media requires a strategic and engaging approach. By planning your launch, creating compelling promotional content, and employing effective strategies, you’ll not only give yourself the best chance of filling up your group, but also create a community of enthusiastic travelers ready to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.
Is your trip confirmed and happening? AMAZING – congratulations! Click here to for tips on preparing to host your dream group trip.
