We have devoted this series to Guerrilla Marketing and to the type of tactics that require very little capital but lots of initiative and work. Let’s finish off with a few ways to spend your small marketing budget on tools that will help you more effectively market for many months to come. Specifically, look to all of your “Points of Contact” – those areas where clients come into contact with your brand, and polish them just a bit. An occasional upgrade to your points of contact is a necessary part of keeping your business personality fresh and smart-looking.
Friday’s guerrilla marketing tactics for $150:
- Invest in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System – Every
service business should have a good CRM system and travel consulting perhaps more than most. Your client’s birthdays, anniversaries, children’s names, past travel, and details of their travel ambitions are a goldmine of information for marketing purposes. If you are not currently using a CRM system, it is time to get one and learn to use it well. The relatively small investment will pay off many times over in the months and years to come. The smaller online systems are relatively inexpensive and your $150 investment will get you started down the path of keeping up with your clients. - Invest in a professional domain name – Even if you are an employee in a large travel agency, you need a professional domain name to promote “the brand called you.” Having trouble finding a good URL? Use your name, e.g. “KarenLJones.com”. A domain name such as this, and the email addresses you associate with it, reinforce your brand identity. $150 will most likely purchase a year’s worth of domain and email account ownership.
- Logo Design – What are you using for a logo? If it’s something you designed yourself, take a hard look. Too many travel agencies use logos that look like they were put together out of clipart or out-of-stock images. Your logo is a pictorial representation of your company. It must be unique and professional. Google “logo design” and spend your $150.
When should you launch your Guerrilla campaign? There is no better time than now – it’s the only time you have. Marketing drives sales, pure and simple. You can market effectively with little or no budget if you are willing to do what it takes to build your business. Chances are, your competition is not any better at travel planning than you, they are just marketing more effectively. Get out and get into gear. No time like the present.