Getting to know your customers is important regardless of your industry, but it’s especially important when you work in travel.
You might be thinking that anyone could book a holiday with you or stay at your hotel. That might be true, but it doesn’t mean you should be marketing to everyone.
Here’s how getting to know your customers will get your business on the right track.
What do you offer?
It should go without saying that the customers you attract will depend on the service that you offer. If you work for a travel business that specialises in package holidays overseas, you’re already part of the way there. After all, business travellers aren’t going to be looking for a beach holiday. Equally, if you work exclusively for businesses your audience is already fairly well defined.
Sometimes it’s not that simple. You might be an independent agent who can offer a range of different services. If you run a hotel you could attract different people depending on the season or even the day of the week. Your location will play a part in the customers you attract but you can also target a specific clientele by the services you offer.
Why you shouldn’t market to everyone
Let’s face it, pretty much everyone books a holiday now and again. Most of us will be after a hotel stay at one time or another. Just because anyone could use your services doesn’t mean that you should market to them all. The problem with marketing to everyone is that your message is too broad.
Get to know your customers and you can talk to them directly. The people who will come back to you time after time are the ones who feel you understand them. If you get to know your customers’ needs, wants and aspirations your marketing can reflect that. You aren’t going to achieve that with a bland, catch all, marketing message.
But who is your customer?
Who loves you?
Are you struggling to imagine your ideal customer? If you are, think about the people you work with already. Do you get lots of business clients or people looking for family friendly holidays?
If you already specialise, are there certain types of people that you love working with? Are some customers a dream whilst others are a pain in the bum?
However you work now, conjure up a picture of your favourite client. Think about the things that make that relationship great. Alternatively, if you don’t have any dream clients yet, think about the nightmares. What’s the opposite of that? If you’d like more on getting to know your ideal customers, have a look at this blog post. Interestingly, my thoughts on my niche have completely changed since I wrote this!
How do you communicate?
Of course, knowing what you offer and who you want to work with isn’t enough. You need to talk to people about it too. Your marketing needs to be absolutely clear about the ways you can help people. That can be as simple as putting a clear description on the home page of your website. Someone landing looking for a family holiday will soon go elsewhere if your description talks about exclusive services for business travellers.
Beyond that, getting to know your customers allows you to tailor content to their needs. But that’s for another blog post!
Who do you want to work with? Do you already tailor your services to specific types of customer? Leave a comment and let me know.
