5 Ideas for Travel Agencies on Small Business Saturday

Mark your calendar: Small business Saturday (SBS) is just around the corner! Nov. 30th, 2019 to be exact. Maybe you're thinking, "More planning! More work! More time spent on aimless marketing initiatives and less time spent booking!" But before your run screaming for the hills, hear me out.

This article will offer you a few simple ideas for giving your agency some exposure on small business Saturday (Pssst! You can do some of these ideas in fewer than 5 minutes). Here's some shortcuts to what we have in store:

1. Social Shareables from HAR
2. Small Business Vacation Selfies
3. Check with Local Networking Groups to Participate in Events/ Promotions
4. Sync Your Client-Appreciation Event with SBS
5. Travel Agent Hashtag Tips for SBS

1. Social Shareables from HAR

Usually people "save the best for last," but I'm going to go ahead and put the best right up front: HAR's social shareables. If you do nothing else, do this: Share these social posts in the week leading up to Small Business Saturday. Why? They're eye-catching. They're clever. They take all of 2 minutes to share on your page, and you can even slap on your agency logo. What's not to love?

Here they are:

2. Small Business Vacation Selfies

One thing retail shops may do on Small Business Saturday is to encourage customers to take selfies in their store and post them to social. But just because your agency may not be perched right on main street, it doesn't mean your business has to go unnoticed.

Here's what to do: Ask a few clients if you can post photos of their vacation on your feed to help promote your agency on Small Business Saturday. Better yet, ask for a photo from a client who has written a testimonial on your site (that way you don't have to create content!) or ask your client to share a few words on why they want to support your agency on Small Business Saturday.

If you don't want to pester your clients for post content, just write a post reminding people that supporting small businesses extends beyond black Friday shopping at their local cheese/clothing/book/bike/bake shop.

3. Check Local Networking Groups for Events/ Listings

Do you want a little press for your agency? Research local or online guides to see if they have a small business directory guide (in print or online). What are the chances another local travel agents is chomping at the bit to participate (unless they're reading this too)?

You can also check with your local networking groups to see if they’re doing anything to promote small businesses, then sign up to participate! It's best to start with groups that you're already a part of—chamber of commerce group, a local networking group, or any other groups you're already a part of.

4. Hosting a Client-Appreciation Event? Host it around Small Business Saturday

If you're already in the habit of hosting client-appreciation events, Small Business Saturday can be good timing. It lands after people are waking up from their tryptophan-induced Thanksgiving fog, but before the avalanche of winter holidays. Better yet, this time of year tends to be a slower for travel agents in general.

If you're not in the habit of hosting a client-appreciation event, you might consider doing so. It can be something simple like an informal happy hour (at your favorite local bar or brewery), a sit-down dinner at a restaurant, or even a picnic in the park.

5. Quick Hashtag Tips

How do you know what hashtags to use to accessorize your great social posts? We have some quick tips on how to choose which ones to use¹.

Don’t Use Every Hashtag:

I am prone to getting hashtag happy on Instagram, but stuffing as many hashtags as possible into a post will bring you diminishing returns and it can look spammy. What’s the optimal number of hashtags to use?

1. Facebook: 1
2. Instagram: 9
3. Twitter: 2

But which ones should you use? You can mix and match from the categories below!

top Small Business Saturday hashtags

For Small Business Saturday, you'll want to use one of these hashtags below:

#Shoplocal #ShopSmall #SmallBusiness #SmallBiz #BusinessOwner #SmallBusinessOwner #SmallBusinessWeek #SmallBusinessSaturday #SmallBusinessOwners #SmallBusinessLove #SmallBizOwner #SmallBizLife #CreativeEntrepreneur

Top travel Hashtags

Below are some of the most popular travel hashtags. Pick a few that are relevant to your post. For example, if you’re posting one of HAR’s social shareables, it doesn’t make sense to use a hashtag like #TravelPhotography (even though it's extremely popular).

Here's some travel hashtags that will cast a wider net:

#Travel, #Trip, #Traveling, #Traveler, #TravelPhotography, #Travels, #Traveladdict, #Travellife, #TravelPhoto, #TravelPics, #TravelBug, #TravelAwesome, #TravelPic, #Travelers, #Traveldeeper, #TravellingThroughTheWorld, #Travellers, #Travelmore, #Exploring #Explorer #Wanderer #Wanderlust #TravelBug

instagram Travel hashtags

Instagram has its own breed of hashtags too. So if you want to get #insta_specific, check out a few of the options below for your insta account:

#instatravel, #instatrip, #instatravelling, #instaexperience, #instatraveller, #instatraveltips, #instago, #instavacation, #instanature

niche or destination-specific hashtags

Do you focus on a particular kind of travel or destination? Using that in a hashtag help you target your audience to those who are most interested in what you sell. Here's a few examples:

#[Niche]Travel (i.e. #FamilyTravel, #NatureTravel, #LuxuryTravel, #AdventureTravel)

Of choose to tag specific to your destination (if applicable):

#[Destination], #[Destination]Travel, #[Destination]_Insta (e.g. #Italy, #ItalyTravel, #Italy_Insta)

You're Ready for Small Business Saturday

That wasn't so bad was it! You're ready to go for Small Business Saturday! Do you have any of your own tips and tricks for getting the word out there for your business? Post them in the comments below!

Footnotes

1. Sources: Thrive Hive, ASTA AGC Conference, Sprout, and Content Career ↩