Marketing your student trip can sometimes be a tricky endeavor.
Follow these best practices and pro tips to make selling your trip to students—and parents—a breeze.
For Anyone Who Shows Interest in the Trip
Be sure to track the names and contact information of anyone who has shown interest in your trip. Store the information in an easy to use format, such as an Excel spreadsheet or Google Sheet. Pass out a sign-in sheet at each informational meeting and request an RSVP to capture email addresses from the responses. Go above and beyond by making time for personal outreach to those prospective travelers on your tracking list.
Promote Informational Meetings to Parents and Students
When scheduling an informational meeting, be sure to check calendars for the whole district and individual schools for potential conflicts like band concerts, sporting events, conferences, etc. Make meeting information available in multiple formats, such as in an email to parents, a post on your learning management system and district website calendar. Remember to also send home a printed invite!
Additionally, creating a Facebook group for the trip where you can share important dates—such as informational meetings, documents and other information—can be especially helpful. Invite past trip participants (students and chaperones) to share their trip experiences and to help answer questions. Their testimonials could be the tipping point for those who may have been unsure.
Build Excitement
Celebrate the excitement of your trip! Let your students create a board in the classroom or hall to promote the trip and regularly share short videos from platforms like YouTube that showcase your destination in the classroom or on your social media channels. Encourage students to get creative with a logo design competition for the trip! Let the winner’s logo be admired on t-shirts and other trip materials. Take things one step further by inviting more people to join your trip by opening registration to other classes, grades, schools and clubs. The more the merrier!
Keep an Open Door
Publish your contact information everywhere and share your willingness to answer questions for anyone, at any time. Parents will feel more at ease knowing you’re available and willing to keep the lines of communication open and clear. Start keeping track of any questions you receive and then publish a list of FAQs for future use.
