Nexion Holds First-Ever Master Marketing Symposium
Travel agent members sharpened their marketing techniques and in-depth industry knowledge to strengthen their businesses so they can better serve their clients
IRVING, TX (July 5, 2017) – In keeping with its commitment to providing its members with educational experiences to enhance their businesses, Nexion, the premier host agency for independent travel professionals, hosted its inaugural Master Marketing Symposium June 20-22 in Minneapolis. Educational opportunities included classes from industry experts in marketing, public relations, and social media, as well as tutorials on internal Nexion tools available for members. As a capstone project, Master Marketing Symposium attendees developed and presented a marketing plan for a fictional business, and were able to receive onsite coaching from marketing experts.
“Marketing can be a challenging subject for travel professionals,” said Jackie Friedman, CTC, CTIE, President of Nexion. “Our members know it is a necessary part of achieving business success, but exactly how to go about it can be perplexing. The Master Marketing Symposium was designed to give our members a strong foundation of marketing excellence, and provide them with tactics that they can use in their own businesses immediately.”
Master Marketing Symposium attendees represented a wide variety of Nexion members, from new travel agents to those with years of experience in the industry – all with goals of elevating every aspect of marketing their businesses. The program was designed to give the travel professionals in attendance a broad view of marketing initiatives and best practices, along with the opportunity to create a marketing plan that covered the concepts presented during the two-and-a-half day symposium.
Participants formed small groups and were assigned a supplier-partner executive to guide them on how to create the most successful marketing plan for their mock businesses. Each supplier expert provided detailed insights based on their own areas of specialty, which allowed the attendees to learn what was needed for a strong plan. In addition, Master Marketing Symposium attendees networked with supplier executives during the Marketing Zone portion of the program. They were also able to make appointments with Nexion’s onsite marketers to take advantage of the overall organization’s marketing expertise for services such as branding and logos, writing effective emails, lead generation profiles, and building content for social media.
“I make it a point to educate myself with all the programs that Nexion offers. The Master Marketing Symposium was by far the best hands-on training experience I have had. While we are a team, we are still independent contractors that need to thrive in a competitive landscape. This program not only gave me tools, but also taught me how to use them,” stated Nexion member LouLu Lima. “Running your own successful business requires that you are aware of how to become successful–it’s not all just luck. It’s about strategy, networking and doing things the right way. Nexion’s Master Marketing Symposium gave me all that in spades.”
The member attendees will have access to follow-up online coaching from Nexion and industry experts, as part of their participation in the Master Marketing Symposium. This dedicated support will help encourage the intrepid marketers to continue to develop their skills in their coached area.
“We’re thrilled to be able to give our members access to this type of training. This was something completely new for our members and our industry partners,” Friedman added. “We couldn’t have provided such an exceptional experience without the coaching from our supplier partners and internal subject matter experts. Based on the level of learning that took place, we know our members gained and developed exceptional skills that will benefit their businesses.”
All travel professionals interested in learning how to succeed as a professional business owner, backed by Nexion’s many great benefits, are encouraged to call 800-747-6813 or email sales@nexion.com.
Nexion, LLC
As a branch of Tzell Travel Group (a Travel Leaders Group company), Nexion® is a fully licensed, bonded and accredited host agency, where members have focused on selling travel since 1995. Nexion provides ticketing, operations and fulfillment support to independent travel professionals coupled with best-in-class tools, technology, marketing, education and support. Nexion is the complete host agency for multi-agent agencies, corporate agencies, experienced agents and those new to the industry.