Course curriculum

  • 1

    Instructions for this course

    • Welcome to How to Use Social Media to Grow Your Travel Agency

  • 2

    Course introduction - meet your instructor

    • START HERE: Course introduction - video (5 min)

    • Course introduction and meet your instructor - PDF notes

    • Course introduction - audio file

    • Powerpoint slides PDF

  • 3

    MODULE 1: The 7 big mistakes to avoid!

    • Module 1: The 7 mistakes to avoid - video lecture (12 min)

    • Module 1: The 7 mistakes to avoid - PDF notes

    • Module 1: The 7 mistakes to avoid - audio file

    • Module 1: The 7 mistakes to avoid - Powerpoint slides PDF

  • 4

    MODULE 2: Using social media to drive sales

    • Module 2: Using social media to drive sales - video lecture (36 min)

    • Module 2: Using social media to drive sales - PDF notes

    • Module 2: Using social media to drive sales - audio file

    • Module 2: Using social media to drive sales - Powerpoint PDF

  • 5

    Module 3: Knowing your target audience

    • Module 3: Knowing your target audience - video lecture (13 min)

    • Module 3: Knowing your target audience - PDF notes

    • Module 3: Knowing your target audience - audio file

    • Module 3: Knowing your target audience - Powerpoint slides PDF

  • 6

    Module 4: Pick a platform to match your audience

    • Module 4: Pick a platform to match your audience - video lecture (25 min)

    • Module 4: Pick a platform to match your audience - PDF notes

    • Module 4: Pick a platform to match your audience - audio file

    • Module 4: Pick a platform to match your audience - Powerpoint PDF

  • 7

    Module 5: How to rock content on each platform

    • Module 5: How to rock content on each platform - video lecture (1 hour 13 min)

    • Module 5: How to rock content on each platform - PDF notes

    • Module 5: How to rock content on each platform - audio file

    • Module 5: How to rock content on each platform - Powerpoint PDF

  • 8

    Module 6: Keeping social media simple

    • Module 6: Keeping social media simple - video lecture (12 min)

    • Module 6: Keeping social media simple - PDF notes

    • Module 6: Keeping social media simple - audio file

    • Module 6: Keeping social media simple - Powerpoint PDF

  • 9

    BONUS MODULE: 2024 Media & marketing trends

    • 2024 Media & Marketing Trends: Video (35 min)

    • 2024 Media & Marketing Trends: PDF notes

    • 2024 Media & Marketing Trends: audio file

    • 2024 Media & Marketing Trends: Powerpoint slides PDF

  • 10

    One last thing...

    • Before you go would you mind providing some feedback?

Who is this course for?

If you are a travel agent, and would like to increase your sales and grow the number of clients your serve, then I’ve got something special for you. But first let me ask you this – have you ever wondered why some travel agents are so successful promoting their business through social media, while you seem to struggle with devoting too much time to it, with limited results? 

Like you, I’ve watched many entrepreneurs struggle with social media. They’re so busy trying to build their business, that they become overwhelmed, especially when they feel compelled to post more frequently or join the newest platform. As a marketing consultant with 20+ years helping small business owners, I can assure you the struggle is real. Understanding target audiences, where to find them, and how to reach them is just one challenge, but the variety of platforms to choose from, posting options available, and creative content executions on top of it all, just renders it daunting for many. Most small business owners I’ve worked with really just want a simple solution. Social media that gets results, and draws less on their time. 

Sound familiar?

I’ve had the opportunity to meet many travel agents over the last couple years, while speaking twice at the Las Vegas Travel Agents Forum, working closely with TIMA (Travel Industry Marketing Association) as an advisor, and with their agency client base. There is often a recurring theme to our discussions – travel advisors want results from online marketing, often immediate, but struggle to appreciate how social media contributes to the sales cycle when done well. It became obvious that there was a gap in the market for social media marketing education catered specifically to travel advisors.  

But that gap has now been filled.

How to Use Social Media to Grow Your Travel Agency, is a six-module video course that takes you through all the steps needed to get results, while spending less time doing it. 

What's inside?

Module 1: Seven big mistakes to avoid

Module 2: Using social media to drive sales

Module 3: Knowing your target audience

Module 4: Pick a platform to match your audience

Module 5: How to rock content on each platform

Module 6: Keeping social media simple

BONUS MODULE: 2024 Media & marketing trends


We start out in Module 1 identifying some of the biggest mistakes travel agents make in managing their social media. And we show you how to fix them. 

While all the course content is awesome, Module 2 is the one which makes me proud, since it is the missing piece of knowledge for most agencies. In developing the material for that section I looked at 16 possible objectives for social media content ranging from the top of the funnel with awareness, all the way through to further engagement, the sale, loyalty and advocacy. We look at one sample travel agent business doing an exceptional job, and profile their content through all of the stages of the funnel, on one single platform - Facebook. This module addresses how different content feeds various stages of the sales process. 

We get to know your target audience in Module 3, through the use of personas and profiling that does deep into traveler psychology, identifying things you can use to resonate with them better in your social media content and communications.  

Module 4 introduces you to platform options, with an eye to selecting the one or two that best match the user profile you have identified as your target audience. We also tap into research showing changes in use by different age groups post pandemic, which reveals some incredible opportunities on selected platforms for certain age groups.

In Module 5 we look at content ideas specific to the travel agent business model across all platforms. This module also features a “live tour” across platforms, giving you behind the scenes knowledge on features and capabilities. It’s like having a private tour with a social media consultant, catered to your business and industry. 

Finally, in Module 6 we show you how to keep things simple while driving results. It’s not about doing more, it’s about having a plan that allows you to do less, while achieving more.

A bonus module has been added to explain 2024 media & marketing trends. There are 5 which you're going to want to have on your radar. After identifying the trend and doing a deep dive,  we look at why the trend is happening, and what you should do about it. Discussion and examples are catered to the travel advisor.


"This is going to be a huge hit" - Sheila Folk, CEO, Travel Industry Solutions


"OMG, travel agents need this course! Such relevant content" - Kulin Strimbu, CEO, TIMA Travel Industry Marketing Association


"I cannot tell you how great it is to be hanging out with you online. I absolutely love your teaching style. I felt like I'm sitting at a table with your receiving private coaching." - Julie Tessema

How will I benefit?

• Channel your social media efforts to drive business growth

• Increase your organic reach while maximizing engagement 

• Get more referrals and increase loyalty from existing clients

• Earn more customers and increase your sales

• Be better informed so you can do it all yourself, or hire well someone to help

• Understand the features and benefits of all the platforms (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok)  so you can knowledgeably select just one or two to use at full capability to do all your social media



Guaranteed delight!

How to Use Social Media to Grow Your Travel Agency is priced at $249 USD. That’s a lot less than contracting 1:1 consulting time, and you’re actually getting three hours of video content, delivered like a private consultation, plus 66 pages of written notes with visuals, audio files, and downloadable PDF copies of the PowerPoints used in the video recordings. Think of the financial impact of gaining more sales. Can you really afford to not buy it? 

Here's a guarantee that is sure to delight you. If you’re not happy with the course for any reason, you can request a refund within 30 days. But I'm 100% certain that if you put the strategies you'll learn in this course into action, you will be blown away at the impact.


"Our team took some great ideas away and we're using them next week." - Michael Drake, Director of Sales, Tourism Vancouver Meetings & Conventions, International


"Thanks for the wonderful learning journey through your personal experience. Everything was explained clearly, and the transcript notes were really helpful for future reference." - Karishma Dodia


"Mary has a gift of delivering exceptional and effective advice that gets results" - Julie Berg 

FAQ

  • Is this course worth the money?

    Frankly, priced at $249 USD it's a steal. That's a fraction of what it would cost to hire someone to help with your marketing. The course knowledge and systems you will put in place will be yours forever. That's priceless.

  • Can I find what's in this course online for free?

    Let's face it, you can Google just about anything these days. You can learn a ton watching YouTube videos or listening to podcasts. And there is a lot of written material out there about social media marketing. But there is much less applied specifically to the travel agency business model. To my knowledge, there isn’t anything that dissects in such detail how to approach social media as part of the sales funnel, to actually lead to increased clients and sales. And I’ve yet to discover material that literally takes travel agents on a live tour of platforms and features, pointing out how things work, and what to do.

  • Do I have to be tech savvy to do this?

    No. If you can press "play" on the videos and audio, and read through the content posted in each module, you should be good to go. Content set for downloading is easily accessible, and the learning platform used works well used on a laptop, or mobile device. But if you have any issues, help is just an email away.

  • How long will it take to complete the course?

    The course is delivered in 6 modules of video, audio, and text-based content. The video lecture modules run about 3 hours, so technically you could get through the material in that time. However, if you are also reading through the notes and stopping to take the time to consider applications to your own business, it will of course take you quite a bit longer. Bottom line? Take the material at your own pace.

Instructor

President, Charleson Communications. CEO & Founder, Fiveminutemarketing.com

Mary Charleson, MBA, CSP

Mary Charleson, is a marketing speaker, educator and strategist. She is the author of two books, Word of Mouth Mouse & Mobile, and Five-Minute Marketing, each featuring tips for the time-starved business leader. Mary is a member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers and the Global Speakers Federation. She is one of fewer then 12% of speakers globally who hold the designation of CSP (Certified Speaking Professional), the international measure of excellence for professional competence and proven experience. Mary's career spans over 20 years in media, advertising and education. She has been a popular marketing instructor at City University of Seattle, NYIT (New York Institute to Technology), Capilano University, and guest lecturer at UBC Sauder School of Business.Mary has worked with hundreds of businesses and organizations to improve their marketing efforts through consulting and speaking. A contributor to Business in Vancouver since 2002 and a monthly marketing columnist for the Huffington Post, her work has also been published in the Globe & Mail, the Toronto Star, the Vancouver Sun, Marketing Magazine, Strategy, Zoomer, Cottage and Outside magazine. Mary is a frequent guest on CBC TV and CBC Radio One offering her opinion on marketing and business trends. In 2019 she launched carryonqueen.com, a content creation site, bringing together her passion for travel and travel writing.