As demand for travel continues to rise, we are seeing an increase in individuals returning to the industry.

Many are choosing to return as Independent Contractors and Independent by Flight Centre (IFC) has seen a corresponding surge in joining our Host Agency.

Those who have chosen the independent route agree that there is a learning curve when transitioning from being an employee to being the boss.

One aspect that many don’t consider is the importance of marketing themselves and their brand.

YOU are now the marketing, advertising and sales team for YOUR business. Independent by Flight Centre, like most host agencies, provide our contractors with an email and website, but advisors have the freedom to create and manage their own social media channels to help in promoting their travel business.

This month IFC has launched its new marketing platform iReach, providing our Independent Contractors with access to a variety of tools such as email templates, social media collateral, trending destinations, supplier spotlights, the ability to schedule promotions to their social platform and more.

Our advisors have access to marketing promotions offered by Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) such as our current Black Friday deals and iReach provides them the ability to personalize them and share directly with their individual clients.

‘THE RULE OF THIRDS’ & FREE APPS

When creating posts, it’s a good idea to follow the rule of thirds: 1/3 of posts promoting services/product, 1/3 of posts interacting with the audience (polls, questions etc.), and 1/3 posts sharing industry news or tips that can benefit clients.

While actively recruiting new clients and building a book of business can seem daunting at first, IFC can help.

Here are some free apps that are easily accessible on mobile devices that can assist you to market yourself like a pro!

1. Meta Business Suite – When you set up a Facebook or Instagram business page you get access to Meta Business Suite which allows for scheduling of posts and reviewing analytics to see what posts are performing well. If you have allotted a marketing budget, you can also utilize the ability to boost posts and create ad campaigns here for a relatively low investment.

2. Buffer & Later – These both have free options, and a paid subscription gives you access to more tools. Both of these apps allow posts to be scheduled on a variety of social media apps for planning purposes.

3. Canva – Canva’s free plan allows access to a wide variety of templates for everything from social media posts to flyers to videos and PowerPoint presentations. All can be personalized to reflect your brand colours, personalize them. It provides multiple different tools to create a unique template for your business.

4. Unfold – Offers a diverse collection of templates for photos and videos allowing you to elevate your stories and Reels.

5. Adobe Lightroom – Offers both free and paid options giving you the ability to edit photos and load purchased photo presets for you to apply to your travel images.

6. Inshot & Capcut – Both are popular video editing tools that allow you to add effects, fonts and music to your images. They have options that range from flipping an image, to adjusting the speed of a video. It also allows for video playback in reverse allowing you to create one of a kind, eye-catching content.

7. Unsplash, Pixel, Nappy, Flickr & Canva – All offer creative high resolution, quality travel related images.

8. Giphy – Allows you to create fun travel related GIFs that you can use to connect with your clients.

9. Bitly – Allows you to shorten weblinks and track the corresponding click rate so you can see if the information you’re sharing is engaging your audience. The paid version allows you to create a custom link featuring your brand.

10. YouTube – Many advisors have found this platform to be a great tool in their marketing arsenal uploading videos where they offer travel updates, reviews, and current trends to their clients. The best part is it can be shared across a variety of mediums.

Most of these tools, such as Canva, and Buffer & Later, offer free tutorials.

For the others, check out #10 on our list! You will find a wealth of resources and tips for Capcut, Lightroom and more on YouTube if you are just starting out. When it comes to marketing and social media the most important thing is to be consistent and don’t be afraid to try something new.