Tech Tips and Tricks to Micro-Target Clients - Travel Weekly's CruiseWorld 2012 Live

This presentation was done by CruiseOne franchise owner, Gary Smith, MBA, ECC, EB.

Download Gary's powerpoint presentation

His agency is ranked #9 of 720+ CruiseOne franchises. This is his 9th (successful) business so it's safe to say he knows what he's talking about.

Gary started out by asking the audience if any of the following sounded familiar.

• My clients should feel special, like family
• I want to have a relationship with my clients
• I wish I had a better ROI on my marketing
• I want to do more, sell more and in less time with less effort.

He then gets into how to do the above instead of just thinking it.

The core focus of his presentation was using micro-targeting to grow your business. He stated his agency grew 100% from last year and while other travel agencies were hit hard with the recession, his agency has grown year over year.

What is Micro-Targeting?

Micro-targeting is about sending individualized messages to your clients and tracking the results. Smith talks about sending customized messages that work.

How are you Segmenting?

Take a look at what are you doing to segment your clients and the data you have on them. Segmentation is important to be able to micro-target.

Smith cites a few examples. He tracks clients if they use an American Express card. When Amex has special promotions, he sends out the promotion to past customers that have booked with an AmEx card. Same deal when he sees a military deal. Smith even segments by pet ownership and sends out specials like a week of free kenneling if they book a certain cruise.

What’s required for Micro-Targeting?

• Inventory relevant data sets (what data do you need to keep?)
• Psychographic segmentation
• Test multiple messages (he changes offer, changes a few words, sees what works best)
• Multiple message distribution methods (email, phone, social networks, etc.)
• Track impact and update

Gathering and Storing your Data

You will also want to think about the backbone or structure for all this data. Where are you going to store it? Smith gave examples such as Clientbase, Clientease, or a spreadsheet.

To gather your data, Smith gives two options – ask for it or interpret it. When you’re asking for data, a few examples on ways to ask:

• Direct Conversation (qualify/interview)
• Surveys (he asks 3 questions – did the trip meet expectations, did our agency meet expectations, where do you want to go next?)
• Polls

Smith interprets data by looking at their previous purchases, what links clients have clicked on in his newsletters, special dates, and demographics such as where they live. If he sent out an email on Alaska and the client clicked it, he goes back into his CRM and enters that they’re interested in Alaska for future marketing efforts. While he may only be sending out the Alaska email to 50 people, the open rates are much more effective. He urged agents to anticipate clients needs down the road. Call the husband of the woman turning 50 in 2 years and remind him what an important occasion this is and he’d better start planning!

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