Speaking at TTG Black Book on Wednesday, the Luxury Travel Designer of the Year told delegates how she multiplied her sales in just a year. 

Berry revealed that she has “doubled turnover” since investing in a robust marketing campaign – backed by Ben Blackler, whom she first met at the Carrier Retreat 2024.

After helping Berry identify conservation-led luxury safari as her niche, the marketing consultant shared his tried-and-tested formula on how to attract the right clients.

The first step of this process involved the creation of a ‘lead magnet’ in the form of a downloadable PDF guide on all things safari.

This manual covered everything from family-friendly game reserves to malaria-free destinations – and crucially, didn’t cost customers a thing.

“This is important because you’re not trying to sell anything initially – you just want them to download the guide,” Blackler explained. “These are cold customers so you have to build their trust gradually.”

In order for these potential customers to access the guide, however, they were required to submit their email address.

“Once you have their email contact, you can market to them via a series of emails,” Blackler explained.

“Email is an exceptionally unfashionable marketing channel but it’s the most effective marketing channel there is – highest return on investment marketing channel and way higher return on investment than social media.”

Berry and Blackler then ran Meta Lead Ads on Facebook and Instagram, at a cost of between £5 and £10 per day.

“A lot of you will be slogging with organic posts, but it’s very difficult to cut through on Facebook and Instagram these days with unpaid posts,” said Blackler. He added that though it is theoretically possible, it’s especially difficult for ad campaigns to gain momentum on Google and LinkedIn on a daily budget of less than £10. 

Berry also embraced candid Facebook and Instaram videos of her talking to camera, having realised how much her clients value impromptu clips over scripted reels.

“If everything's perfect and brilliantly shot, is it real?” she said. “Now when clients ring me up, they feel like they’ve met me.”

Blackler agreed, noting that overly produced videos can often read as promotion: “As soon as you see a glossy post, you think, ‘Oh, I'll scroll straight past that; that's an ad.’”

Though Blackler’s formula didn’t yield results immediately, it wasn’t long before the hard work paid off.

“One Monday I woke up to 10 enquiries, and I was like, ‘Oh God!’ It was actually quite overwhelming,” she said, before adding that she now simply switches off ads if she’s becoming too busy. “It works, and it’s quite a magical process.”