About Surprise Me
Surprise Me is a platform for booking independent tours. The client pays for a tour, enters a unique password into the mobile app, and can play audio excursions at any time. All the routes in the 76 cities presented on the Surprise Me app were composed by professional guides and local experts.
The app, which works on both Android and iOS, determines the user’s location and describes nearby points of interest. Some excursions contain questions to ensure the tourist remembers the peculiarities of each place.
94% of the customer feedback is positive, which demonstrates the high quality of these excursions. Uniquely designed tours from local citizens won’t leave even the most sophisticated travelers feeling indifferent.
You can find detailed information about each excursion on the page for that specific tour. Travelers can find the starting point, length, duration, language, and a list of sights for each tour.
You can get your money back for any of the 250 excursions available on the platform if you were unsatisfied with your experience. Contact technical support via email within 14 days from the moment you started the route in the app and describe all the downsides in detail. Surprise Me will refund the unsatisfied tourist if they have completed no less than 50% of the tour and have not missed any landmarks.
Advantages of Surprise Me for travelers
Surprise Me excursions are perfect for those who travel independently and enjoy exploring local sights. The smartphone guide will help you follow the route, share useful information, and point out secluded spots that only locals know about.
The main advantages of the service:
- Full comfort. The app connects to the GPS-modules of each client’s smartphone and shows relevant data about the local sights. Surprise Me also has integrated maps to help users navigate.
- Independence. Unlike excursions with an in-person guide, mobile tours can be paused and turned on again at any time. Travelers can take the time to capture a beautiful selfie, go to a bar, or ride a vintage bus.
- Autonomy. No need to spend money on a mobile internet service. Download your excursion via the hotel Wi-Fi and simply open it on the spot. The route will remain in the app indefinitely after your purchase.
- Interactivity. Each excursion is a unique product with interactive content that has been planned with care. The user is not simply walking along the streets in Barcelona, but has the opportunity to explore secret places and hidden landmarks. Each tour includes audio, video, and augmented reality elements.
- Gamification. Travelers can only open the tours at the starting point. Until then, it is impossible to learn all the secrets that will be shared with them.
- Low price. Offers from Surprise Me cost $10 on average and, thus, are significantly cheaper than excursions with an in-person guide.
- Total control. The app indicator allows clients to track how much time is left until the end of the tour.
- 24/7 support. Clients can contact representatives of the service via online chat, phone, or email.
- Free testing. Each user is provided with six free tours to test the quality of the service.
Surprise Me affiliate program
Surprise Me affiliates can earn on excursions in 76 cities around the world and get a 20% commission from each booking. Only purchases made via the website count for commissions. Orders made via an app are not commissionable. The cookie lifetime is 30 days from the first redirection. The commission will be accrued only after the tour is launched in the app.
Webmasters can use affiliate links, widgets, and link generators. Webmasters are allowed to use traffic from context and teaser networks, content projects, targeted advertisements, and messengers.
With Surprise Me, you can monetize traffic from the USA and other countries.
Traffic arbitrage experts and owners of content projects will find it beneficial to join the affiliate program despite the relatively low price of products as opposed to individual and group excursions with an in-person guide.
Benefits for affiliates:
- Affiliate commission — 20% on each purchase.
- Only 0.5% of booking cancelations per year.
- 11% of clients complete more than two orders in six months.
- Top partners get personal promo codes.
- You can get free excursions by leaving a review.
The affiliate program currently only works on the website, but will soon be available for the app. Representatives of Surprise Me note that the conversion rate is higher on the website, as users find it more comfortable to pay with a card there and download an app just before an excursion.
How to earn with Surprise Me
The service is aimed at independent travelers who love digging into the atmosphere of an unknown place and want to learn hacks from the locals.
Audience
- Age. The main audience is aged between 23-35. They are active online buyers. The second segment is composed of customers aged 36–55 with children. They are regular travelers and order online products for their children.
- Number of participants. Usually there are more than two travelers on each excursion.
- Gadgets. Customers complete their orders via mobile gadgets more frequently. Most of them own Apple products.
Peculiarities of website interaction
The service shows a good conversion rate: 11% of clients who bought products come back within six months. Repeat orders are usually completed within five days of the first payment. More than a half of customers buy excursions immediately if they liked a program.
English-speaking customers prefer to be alone during the tour. They do not wish to share their headphones or be disturbed.
Popular destinations
A list of the top excursions depends on the season. Below, we have collected a list of destinations that are popular from June to September.
Berlin
Rome
Best practices on how to sell tours
According to the company’s own data, the most common clients of Surprise Me are middle-aged travelers who are also active users of online services. They are more attracted by the emotional side of traveling to new places and the unusual formats of Surprise Me’s tours.
Tips for webmasters:
- Focus on visual content. Photos of the route and specific landmarks motivate users to make a purchase. They want to know in advance what they are going to experience.
- Prepare reviews. Potential clients want to know how the service works and what popular excursions look like.
- Get personal. Describe how you feel about completing the route and about the service’s benefits.
For example, the blog 2Btraveler presents a great review of the Berlin tour by accentuating the strongest points of Surprise Me and their mobile excursions.
The advertiser observed that affiliate websites provide the highest conversion rates. Surprise Me is not yet popular on social networks and messengers. Though it is still worth using these channels to purchase independent excursions. Traffic from social networks is accepted upon approval.
Monetization of a website or social group with Surprise Me is especially relevant now, as the independent tourism market is becoming more popular. Interest in traveling is slowly increasing and people find it beneficial to buy mobile excursions and save up during this complicated post-quarantine period. Join the Surprise Me affiliate program through your Travelpayouts personal account.