As the holiday season or peak travel periods approach, many travelers scramble to find last-minute deals. These offers are a goldmine for travel advisors, as they attract spontaneous bookers who are ready to lock in their travel plans. However, constantly promoting these offers across multiple platforms can be time-consuming and overwhelming.

Wouldn’t it be easier if there was a way to automate your last-minute deal promotions? Good news: using the blog feature in TravelPro Suite (TPS), you can create a dedicated blog site for last-minute deals and automate the entire process of distributing new offers. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how travel advisors can efficiently promote last-minute travel offers using a blog and an automated email campaign, giving you more time to focus on serving your clients.

Step 1: Set Up a Blog Site for Last-Minute Deals

The first step to automating your travel deal promotions is to create a blog site in TPS. This blog will act as a central hub for all your last-minute travel offers.

How to Set It Up:

1. Choose a Blog Name: Pick a name that clearly communicates the purpose of the blog. Consider names like “Last-Minute Travel Deals” or “Exclusive Holiday Getaways.”

2. Set Up Your Blog in TPS: TPS’s blog feature makes it easy to create a dedicated site. Customize your blog with a clean, easy-to-navigate layout, and brand it to align with your travel business.

3. Create Categories: Organize your blog by creating categories such as "Holiday Deals," "Weekend Getaways," or "Luxury Offers." This helps clients easily find the type of deals they’re interested in.

Pro Tip:

Make sure your blog is mobile-friendly since many travelers browse and book deals directly from their smartphones.

Step 2: Automate Deal Promotions with an RSS Email Campaign

Once your blog is live, it’s time to automate how you share your deals with clients. By setting up an RSS email campaign in TPS, your latest blog posts will automatically be sent to your subscribers on a schedule you define (such as weekly).

How to Set Up Your Email Campaign:

1. Choose the RSS Email Type: In TPS’s email marketing feature, select the RSS email type. This allows TPS to pull content from your blog and send it directly to your subscriber list.

2. Set the Frequency: Choose how often you want emails to go out—weekly is often ideal for last-minute deals. As soon as you publish a new deal on your blog, it will be included in the next scheduled email without you having to do anything else.

3. Customize Your Email Template: Design an email that mirrors the look and feel of your blog. Include a catchy subject line like "New Last-Minute Travel Deals You Can’t Miss!" to grab attention.

Pro Tip:

Segment your audience based on preferences (e.g., luxury travelers, budget travelers) to ensure the right deals are reaching the right clients.

Step 3: Create Engaging Blog Posts for Each New Deal

Whenever you have a new last-minute travel offer, all you need to do is create a blog post, upload an SEO-friendly image, and add the promotion details. TPS’s blog feature makes it simple to post deals quickly.

How to Create a High-Converting Blog Post:

1. Write a Catchy, SEO-Optimized Title: Use phrases like “Last-Minute,” “Exclusive,” or “Limited Time” to create urgency. For example, "Exclusive Last-Minute Holiday Getaway to Paris—Book Now!”

2. Upload a High-Quality Image: Include a visually appealing image of the destination or promotion. This image should be SEO-optimized and include alt text for better visibility on search engines.

3. Provide Clear Promotion Details: In the blog content, provide all the important details about the deal—what’s included, the booking deadline, any special perks or upgrades, and pricing. Make the booking process easy with direct calls-to-action like "Book Now."

4. Add Keywords for SEO: Make sure to use relevant travel deal keywords in your post to help it rank in search engines. For example, phrases like “last-minute travel offers,” “holiday deals,” or “getaway promotions” can help boost your visibility.

Pro Tip:

Keep the content concise but impactful. Use bullet points for key deal highlights and ensure your call-to-action is easy to find and click on.

Step 4: Promote Your Blog on Social Media

Now that you’ve created a central hub for last-minute deals, it’s important to drive traffic to your blog. Use TPS’s Social Planner to schedule posts that promote your blog and individual deals across social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

How to Maximize Social Media Reach:

1. Create Attention-Grabbing Posts: Use engaging visuals and short, punchy captions that emphasize urgency. For example, “Don’t miss our exclusive last-minute deals—Book your holiday escape today!”

2. Schedule Posts for Maximum Visibility: TPS’s Social Planner allows you to schedule posts in advance, ensuring consistent promotion of your blog and deals. Choose times when your audience is most active, such as afternoons or weekends.

Pro Tip:

Include direct links to your blog in each social post to drive traffic and encourage bookings.

Step 5: Track Performance and Optimize

Once your blog and email campaign are running, it’s important to monitor performance and make adjustments as needed. TPS provides analytics tools that help you track how well your blog posts and email campaigns are performing.

What to Track:

• Email Open and Click Rates: Check how many people are opening your emails and clicking through to the blog. If the numbers are low, try adjusting your subject lines or call-to-actions.

• Blog Traffic: Use TPS’s built-in analytics to monitor which blog posts are generating the most traffic and conversions. If a particular type of deal is performing well, focus on promoting similar offers in the future.

Promoting last-minute travel offers doesn’t have to be a stressful, manual process. By setting up a dedicated blog in TPS and automating your email campaigns with an RSS feed, you can streamline your promotions and reach your clients with minimal effort. With this setup, travel advisors can continuously promote new deals and focus more on growing their business.

Start setting up your last-minute travel deals blog today with TravelPro Suite. Take advantage of the automated email campaign feature, and let TPS handle the heavy lifting while you focus on booking more clients. Need more tips? Join our next LIVE training session to learn how to maximize your promotions!