Description: Welcome to another episode of The Travel Marketing Podcast brought to you by
Propellic. I am Brennen Bliss, your host, and today, I am joined by
Jeff Woelker, founder of
The Underground Donut Tour - an ingenious tour concept with 13 locations across the US. He's also the CEO of
Ixperimint. In today's episode, Jeff and I discuss topics such as what to do with unbooked tour times, the mindset around paid versus organic traffic, and when you should give up on an underperforming channel. Jeff also shares his extensive knowledge and experience in marketing applied to tourism, he gives great advice about what to do and what to avoid when promoting your business online.
Key Takeaways:
[
1:21] What has been the most memorable travel experience for Jeff?
[
2:08] Jeff talks about The Underground Donut Tour’s international locations.
[
2:33] What is The Underground Donut Tour and what makes it unique?
[
4:55] Jeff is also the Founder and CEO of Ixperimint.
[
6:54] What was the pandemic like for the Underground Donut Tour?
[
8:34] The three competencies: GWC: Get it, Want it, and the Capacity to do it.
[
9:51] In regard to marketing, Jeff talks about what can be done that is paid versus what is not paid.
[
13:45] Jeff talks about his philosophy of paid.
[
16:03] What channels are working well for Jeff right now and which aren’t?
[
18:15] Jeff talks about the partnership with Airbnb.
[
19:27] Jeff and Brennen talk about booking tours on Expedia
[
20:40] Jeff talks about a complete marketing failure he had launched.
[
22:26] When did Jeff realize Facebook was not working for his company and decide to cut it off?
[
24:20] What is Jeff noticing currently in travel behavior?
[
29:27] What is going to be Jeff’s next trip?
Mentioned in this episode:
The Travel Marketing Podcast is brought to you by
Propellic
Tweetables and Quotes:
“If you are not paying commissions for the bookings then you have to take your business elsewhere.”— Brennen Bliss
“You have to figure out where you can win consistently.” — Jeff Woelker
“What is a “truly organic” sale today?” — Jeff Woelker
“A brilliant optimization strategy is that regardless of what channels it falls under when you have a gap in time you fill it with something that is going to generate PR for the company.” — Brennen Blis
“People are more cautious now than they were pre-COVID” — Jeff Woelker
What is The Travel Marketing Podcast?
You’re a marketer in one of the most competitive industries.
You may be tired of trying, over and over, to use the same marketing strategies that you read about online or learned about in school - but is that really going to move the needle?
We all know the big brands - Booking.com, American Airlines, The Points Guy, Royal Caribbean, Marriott, VRBO, and Hertz... but what about the emerging brands that have found their path to scale?
The Travel Marketing Podcast is about sitting down with successful marketing professionals in the travel, transportation, and tourism industry to learn what has worked for them, what they’ve learned along the way, and what new trends they’re noticing.
We are Propellic, and we’re on a mission to create more diversity in thought for the planet. We’re doing that by helping brands - specifically travel, transportation, and tourism brands - increase their reach through intelligent marketing that travels further.