Public relations includes:
- media (articles about you),
- networking
- speaking opportunities,
- events; and
- writing (articles by you).
In each of these efforts, your personality is at the core of the marketing tactic. When the public reads an article about your agency, hears you speak, works with you at an event, or reads an article you have written, they engage you as an individual, not as a faceless company. That encounter is intensely personal and carries an authority that an advertisement cannot. People are trained to ignore advertising. They are equally well-trained to engage those in their presence.
When a consumer sees an advertisement, there is a large credibility gap to be overcome – the ad merely says what the company professes. When a consumer meets you in person or reads an article by or about you, the depth of the encounter is significantly greater. Words are suddenly accentuated by actions. It’s not what you say you are going to do that matters, it is what you actually do that is the measure of your brand.
A good public relations campaign is a multi-effort program. A single press release, public speaking engagement or event is only the most visible part of the campaign. Weaving together the various elements in a campaign with the right timing is the key to making a campaign work to its maximum potential.
Every campaign should start with a marketing plan directed at just the immediate effort. The marketing plan should lay out each component of the effort: the message, the promotion, the event, the presentation, and the follow-up. Naturally, the more elaborate the campaign, the more important the planning.
Why do some travel agencies consistently garner good press coverage while others don’t? Smart travel agents who know how to get their name in the paper know how to find a unique angle for their story ideas or speaking engagements and to fashion and time the story to the needs of the press. By developing an awareness of trends, timely events, and other cultural influences, you are more likely to find the public interest inherent in your story that reporters seek for their articles. Part of your overall networking strategy should be to meet as many people associated with media as possible: writers, editors, radio and television personalities, and publishers. Cultivating good relationships in the media helps to give you an edge in getting your story noticed by those responsible for editorial and advertising.
A crucial mistake is to approach a reporter with bare information on your services or on client products. Writers look for “angles” and for human interest. Writers and reporters are interested in stories that advance their reader’s interests, not your business.
If at all possible, utilize the services of a local PR professional. Local publicists are likely to have already established relationships with reporters and know how to craft a press release or story
for your community market An excellent way to time your PR campaigns properly is to look at the editorial calendars of your area’s local magazines and print publications. Most publications produce an editorial calendar – a list of themes for upcoming issues- to provide advertisers with an advance awareness of good issues in which to place an advertisement. However, editorial calendars also give the smart travel consultant insight into opportunities to have local media feature their travel planning practice in an article. To take advantage of the editorial calendar, write the editorial staff well in advance of their deadlines, which will also be featured on the calendar. Give the editors an interesting twist on some national issue that has a local angle: “Philadelphia travel agent promotes angry green travel!” What does that mean? I have no idea, but it grabs your attention, doesn’t it? It will grab the attention of a local reporter as well.
Here are a couple of examples that might assist you in understanding better the process of developing good copy. Let’s say that a few weeks ago, you wanted to start a public relations campaign designed to explain the customer service and relationships your travel agency has had over the years. A press release explaining how many years you have been in business, how large your agency is, where your office is, and a copy of your mission statement to “be the best, blah, blah, blah…” is going to put every reporter in any newsroom fast to sleep. Instead, you must find a twist on the story that presents a unique angle. Do you have a client that has traveled with you for 10 years? One that has been to every continent? One that is taking their first cruise? One that is traveling to visit a lost relative? These are the human interest stories that can serve to demonstrate the intersection of what you want to promote with what the public wants to read. That intersection is the PR copy sweet spot.
You can also generate reader interest by directly addressing current events and news. Put a local spin on national news. In fact, there is probably no better way to demonstrate your usefulness to the media than to help local reporters better understand the impact of current events. The dollar is off, and the economy is bad. An airline declares bankruptcy, stranding travelers. A couple books online only to arrive at their destination to find no hotel room, ruining their honeymoon. A travel agent is jailed for defrauding a group on a cruise that did not exist. Crime, drugs, and the flu [fill in the blank] devastates travel to Mexico.
Left unanswered, the headlines at times such as these convince some not to travel at all or to ‘do it themselves”. Do not allow news like this go unanswered in your community. Bad headlines provide the perfect opportunity for a strong travel consultant to step up and do their job: help the public understand the travel industry. When the news is bad, offer your local news outlets, social organizations, and clients an explanation. Write articles for the newspaper and letters to the editor.
Use your insight into the industry to assist the public in understanding how to mitigate the impact of these events:
- Yes, Europe is a bit expensive right now, so this is a great time to visit Latin America or time to travel off-season to see Europe without crowds
- Yes, the airline declared bankruptcy, which is why you advise your clients to use a credit card to book;
- Yes, the couple booking online needed the assistance of a good travel agent – here’s why;
- Yes, the public is concerned about the flu, but here are the facts, and here is what you are advising your clients;
- Yes, the public should investigate the credentials of their travel agent – here’s how to do it.
Rather than ignoring these events, use them as opportunities to act as the expert you are. The next time bad news about the industry pops up in your community, consider how you might use it to your advantage. Offer your services and be heard. Those who listen will be potential clients. Those who do not will be potential victims for the next travel headline. Better yet, reporters will be turning to you for advice, information, and insight.
Using these principles, articles on my companies over the years have appeared in USA Today several times, Newsweek, Money Magazine, and dozens of local city newspapers. Even in the travel industry, where I am surrounded by media competitors, manage to get articles published about us. These techniques will work if you work them!