i help travel brands build a profitable dtc channel

Clay Knows Travel - Fractional Marketing and Brand Expertise

I'll provide a free and honest analysis of your site.

Design Your Digital

Success

Crafted Websites and Graphics that Leave a Lasting Impression

Hello, i'm clay

A real person ... and I don't know everything, but I know a lot about a few things, specifically travel, insurance, hospitality, and marketing.

I've helped many, many companies in those industries over the last 15-years and I'm poised to help more in a fractional capacity.

From global, publicly traded mega-corporations to startup/scale-up companies, I've seen a lot and I've learned a lot.

Our Story

We are passionate web artisans, committed to creating visually stunning and functional websites that captivate audiences and elevate businesses to new heights.

clay knows marketing

Hot take: you don't need a big agency and you don't need a full-time employee. You need a fractional expert with a highly specialized set of performance-tested skills.

marketing strategy

The right strategy and channel mix is contingent on a myriad of factors, most important of which is determining your north star, or end goal, of what you're aspiring to achieve through your efforts. Even the best laid plans will be presented with challenges and it's crucial to be flexible and adaptable to changes along the way.

E-COMMERCE DEVELOPMENT

Boost your sales with an attractive and efficient online store. Our e-commerce development expertise integrates secure payment gateways and intuitive navigation for a smooth shopping journey.

Positioning

Brand and product or service positioning is a center piece to every marketing discussion I have, with anyone! By understanding your target audience and product and/or service value propositions at an intimate level, we'll craft engaging brand narratives and experiences that resonate and convert leads into loyal customers.

Customer Profile analysis

Understanding customer profiles is key to reaching the right audience, with the right message, at the right time. We'll work together to identify and target specific customer segments, allowing for more effective and personalized marketing campaigns in the travel, insurance, and hospitality sectors on a project or ongoing basis.

RESPONSIVE MOBILE DESIGN

In the mobile-first era, our responsive designs ensure your website looks stunning on all devices. Enjoy increased user engagement and conversions with seamless adaptability.

customer journey

You have the strategy, you've fully vetted and confirmed key value props and positioning, and you have a firm grasp on your key audience demographics: now what? We go-to-market. But how can you choose the proper channels to distribute content? Customer journey mapping to meet your audience with relevant information at the right time is critical and a MUST to enhance LTV.

their words, not mine

Former boss #1

Clay was the best marketing hire I ever made.

Former boss #2

I don't know exactly what he does or how he does it, I just know whatever it is he's really, really good at it.

Large OTA Partner

We love the creativeness, innovative thinking, responsiveness, and professionalism brought to the partnership.

info you should know

How long has Clay worked in travel marketing?

Clay started his travel marketing career in April 2015 as a digital analyst for Carmel, Indiana-based Seven Corners. Fast forward to February 2020, he became Vice President of Marketing and E-commerce at WorldTrips, a Tokio Marine Group Company. Most recently, he served as Head of Global Marketing for battleface and Robin Assist and continues contract with both companies.

What is Clay Knows Travel?

Clay Knows Travel was originally started in November 2024 as side project and creative outlet. As of May 2025, its officially in business as a soloprenurship led by travel marketing industry expert, Clay Coomer. After spending nearly 10 years serving in multiple full-time employment roles for three different travel brands, Clay is now building a portfolio career working with several travel companies asynchronously in a fractional capacity for each.

What services does Clay Knows Travel provide?

While the list could be long, Clay is narrowing the focus to work with travel brands to provide his in-depth marketing and brand expertise to smaller sized companies looking to build out a more robust and efficient DTC book of business. He is helping brands address specific needs around brand and product positioning, strategic messaging and content creation, website cleanup and optimization, e-commerce purchase path design, UX and UI, paid media strategy, audience segmentation analysis, and ideal customer profile ideation and creation.

How much of what Clay does is AI-dependent?

AI is making marketers wildly more efficient and helping speed along the creative process by leaps and bounds. Clay leverages AI in his day-to-day by helping him automate more time intensive and tedious tasks, break down data and analysis more efficiently with visual aides, and first drafts for content creation inspiration on an as needed basis.

What are a few pain points Clay is solving for that most travel brands are facing?

Smaller travel brands who compete against massive organizations are at a disadvantage. And most have to get incredibly creative to stand out and get noticed. It's not easy to do, but it is definitely possible. Clay helps travel brands identify specific characteristics that make them unique and crafts messaging and positioning concepts to communicate and distribute to build brand awareness to capture demand from market segments with the highest probability of conversion. At the end of the day, travel brands want to acquire new customers efficiently and retain them as a customer for life. Clay can support to help you achieve this.

How much does it cost to partner with Clay Knows Travel?

Much less compared to the cost of hiring a full-time employee and the cost to partner with an agency. Both options should be considered, because it is a big decision on who to work with when building a sustainable brand in the travel industry. Partnering with Clay will afford you (pun intended) the option of flexibility and highly specialized expertise for areas critical to the growth of your DTC channel. Pricing options vary based on specific needs, RE: flexibility. Clay's standard independent contractor agreement starts at 10-hours per week and $80 per hour on a month-to-month basis. Fixed monthly retainers and one-off project based Master Services Agreements are also available. Each agreement will come with a tailored SOW (Scope of Work) and supplemental mutual NDA (Nondisclosure Agreement) for confidentiality.