TRAVEL JOBS: How to become a travel marketeer (+ free checklist!)

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Do you ever look at those fancy travel jobs and think ‘how do I get me one of those?’. Well, my friend, this is why I created this series. For the ‘travel jobs’ series I’ll interview bad ass babes who either have a job that allows them to travel the world OR work in a really swanky travel field and get to look at pictures of dreamy beaches all day.

This time we’re talking to Hannah from thatadventurer.co.uk who works as a travel marketeer. She dishes all the details: how did she score her job, what skills do you need, what do you earn and at the end of the post you’ll find a FREE checklist to help you get started as a travel marketeer!

Hey Hannah, can you tell us a little bit more about yourself?

I’m Hannah and I’m the marketing manager at a really cool travel startup called Vidados. We are on a mission to change the way people travel. No faceless, boring hotels and definitely no booze filled all inclusives.

We believe in supporting local communities and holidays where you DO stuff and don’t just laze around all day. All or holidays are with local, independent hosts who love what they do, whether that be yoga, cooking, surfing, painting, scuba diving or even antique shopping (yes we have an antique shopping holiday!)!

When I’m not working at Vidados I travel and write about it on my blog thatadventurer.co.uk.

My job involves writing newsletters, creating and sending them, social media, website management, blog writing, PPC, Facebook adverts, PR and partnerships and communicating with our sellers. It’s busy that’s for sure!

How did you get started doing this? What appealed to you?

I actually kind of fell into marketing. I did a French and politics degree and took a year out after graduating in 2013. I’d planned to travel around South America, which I did, and decided to write about it. I’d started blogs before but always been too nervous to share them.

Just after I graduated, my parents moved and opened a shop in Norfolk. I went with them and helped them out on the website, with newsletters and day to day shop keeping.

Together with this job and my blog I landed a job as a digital marketing executive at an agency in London (I taught myself about SEO and PPC in the weeks before and in between the interview).

My clients weren’t travel related and I still really wanted to get into travel. So, after a year at the agency, I applied for the job I have now. I think my blog was a really useful part of getting the job – they could see that I really agreed with the ethos of the company and am clearly travel obsessed!

What is your favorite part of the job? Are there any downsides?

My favourite part of the job is getting to look at amazing holidays a day every day and helping people find out about them. We have holidays where you learn to make ice cream or cheese and an incredible cycling one in India! My favourite part is also the downside. I just want to to away ALL the time!

What are important skills you should have if you want to do this successful?

You’ve got to be organised. Because Vidados is a marketplace I effectively don’t just do the marketing for Vidados itself but also for the 500 or so sellers we have on our site. I have to market their holidays on our social, newsletters, press releases and partnerships. It’s a lot of work.

How often do you have to travel for your work?

I don’t travel for work unfortunately! I get 24 days holiday and just use that to travel. I’m pretty good with making the most of my weekends and I’ll NEVER use a day of annual leave to just sit at home.

How much do you earn per month with this? (yep: dish the deetz!)

I earn just over £2,000 a month. Although that doesn’t go that far in a city as expensive as London!

What would be your advice for people wanting to start working as a travel marketeer?

Don’t be afraid to use your blog as a portfolio. I was afraid to as I thought it didn’t really show anything and as it wasn’t a ‘real’ job, just a hobby. I’ve changed the way I think about this now. Also for a job I’m digital marketing just go and teach yourself! It’s not hard at all, anyone can do it you just need to have a but of creativity alongside it. Read Moz.com and work your way through Adword’s help centre and you’ll get a job in no time!

Could you give a little step-to-step guide on how people would get started as X?

Use Moz.com to learn more about SEO and PPC (pay per click) and the Adword’s learning centre to learn more about Adwords. It’s not hard and I really don’t agree with recruiters who say you need to be numbers focused. I’m not great with numbers, I just prefer words, but even I can analyse whether a PPC account is working and suggest changes.

Once you’ve taught yourselves the basics and live played around in Adword’s, just start applying for jobs! You probably won’t get a job in travel straight away (everyone wants a job in travel) but the skills you learn elsewhere in other industries will be so valuable and if you work for an agency you could always end up working on a travel client!

Thanks Hannah for sharing this useful insight into getting started as a travel marketeer! Be sure to follow Hannah on her blog thatadventurer.co.uk, her Instagram, Facebook & Twitter!

Looking for a handy free checklist on how to become a travel marketeer? I’ve got you covered my friend! This tells you step by step, as by Hannah’s advice, on how to get started as a travel marketeer yourself! Click the banner below to get access to the checklist!

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