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The recent changes in online marketing top dog Facebook prompted me to go through my recent images and create some albums about my current state of residence.
I’m passing along the advice and hoping you’ll do it, too, to help promote your own business, be it in tourism or other products and services. One photo is worth a thousand words; now they can be displayed even bigger on your Facebook wall and photo albums.
Upload those big, beautiful photos
The new photos are much larger.
When you upload an album you can create a mini-story that is eye-catching and provocative. Post more pictures on your Facebook Page and think about what story you can tell with the photos.
Showcase an event, your products, or (interesting) happenings at your office.
The other great thing about the new photo size is that they take up more space in the News Feed. You are claiming more real estate than a typical post. Remember to add comments onto the main picture in the Album so you can also get your message across, along with your great images.
3 Way Magic
Use these three techniques to get your message out and engage with travellers and travel planners.
1. Showcase your product
Web video is ideal for showing exactly how your hotel or tour works, and why it’s the best on offer at the destination.
Your web video doesn’t have to be fancy. It’s more important to:
Take the time to develop your story
Write a script: don’t wing it
Edit carefully so your video comes in under three minutes
2. Share your reality
Any time you share some of your own reality, your two-dimensional Internet presence becomes more three dimensional, and that makes your company — and its offerings — more appealing to visitors.
Show readers you’re just like them by sharing a little about yourself on Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, your blog, and your email newsletter. You can post photos or short videos that show them the real you, both inside and outside of work.
Keep it light, tie it in with a topic you know your audience is interested in, and turn it around and talk about them the first chance you get.
3. Shatter your stereotypes
If your business is typecast a certain way – eg luxury hotel, spa and conference center – accept it and set the record straight online.
Showing your prospective guests a little personality is an excellent way to make your hotel or tour memorable.
A good example is Vision Villa Resort in Bali that now calls itself Vision Villa Bali, the Center of Adventure, with links to its new concierge desk, Vision Adventures. The stereotyped image of a luxury spa resort built for relaxation has been shattered by the “adventure centre” personality, taking advantage of the adventure playground at the resort’s doorsteps.
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About the Author: Pamela Wilson helps small businesses grow with great design and marketing at Big Brand System. Her article has been adapted for tourism operators by Dee Farrell at Peacock Tourism Marketing. Together, we hope your blogs and fan pages will add some personality through your stories.
…it will work wonders for you.
Talking about content management of your website and social media channels. You need magnetic copy and images – clever stuff that will elicit response.
Do you have a fledgling blog, Facebook page or other social media channel? If it’s time to refresh and regroup, consider getting help with the content and all-important photos.
My brother's lanai view every day on the Big Island
Studies indicate that images are the second factor right behind pricing in terms of influencing the choice of a property to stay, or tour to take. For some, the perceived experience may be first and price second.
My rule of thumb is: experiment with types of photos, with people or animals first, your rooms, exterior and pool second.
With today’s technology, taking a good picture is easier than ever. Facebook is great at sharing pictures and engaging users – every day 100 million photos are tagged on facebook.
So, ask your guests if you can take pictures with them, then tag them on your Facebook page. Your property, tour and event will be seen by many of their friends.
PS Include a great caption and good descriptor of the image. Not “img 78643321″ but “Kona Coast Sunset.”
The adage “keep it simple” goes a long way with Facebook fan pages and business blogs. Below are ways for new players to maximize their online presence and social networking with minimum resources and a small budget by using the KISS rule.
1 Make time
Try to set aside an hour a day to work on your page, post updates and communicate directly with guests and fans.
2 Start with a small budget
If you do decide to try ads, you’re better off starting out doing small test ads to see what kind of performance you get in a month, and then ramp it up when you figure out which demographics and keywords you want to target.
3 Create a page, not a profile
Start with a personal page and build up your friends list. These folks are the first people you want to invite to become fans of your business page.
4 Have one-on-one conversations
Send a thank you and personalized message right after someone clicks “like” on your page or makes a “comment” on your blog – if they are worthwhile and relevant only.
5 Post cool status updates
Have a goal of one post per day to your page’s wall and one a week on your blog.
Finally, Learn as much as you can. Take notes based on your experiences with social media posting and blogging so you can research answers to your questions later. If you need a coach, ask the birds-of-a-feather at Peacock Tourism Marketing.
Do you log into your Google Reader first things in the morning to check for relevant information?
Do you spend at least 10 minutes of your work day checking social media sites like Facebook and Twitter?
These are good marketing practices. If you’re not doing this at least this much, you should to get in the habit. Of course, the challenge is to stick to a schedule for monitoring, but don’t let it consume your whole morning – or longer!
One article written by HubSpot has suggested the following.
3 Minutes – Check for Twitter chatter about your company, competitors, or relevant topics
2 Minutes – Scan Google News and Blog Alerts
3 Minutes – Flag and answer relevant LinkedIn and Quora questions
2 Minutes – Open Facebook and scan your wall and comments
The key to using your limited time most effectively is consolidation of information, scanning, and taking action. Thanks to HubSpot for the software and for the marketer tips.
Using social media to enhance your travel, tourism or attraction marketing is a great idea.
Recently, a destination consultancy posted an article titled “Top 10 reasons why your social media campaign is failing” There is food for thought in the essay, and the key point is…”to ensure success on the back end, make sure you have established clear guidelines and benchmarks on the front end.”
Peacock Tourism Marketing, with more than a quarter century of experience in travel, hospitality and event marketing, has a start-up kit for tourism operators new to social media networking and who want to engage with travelers to their destination, hotel or tour.
Start your social media marketing on the right foot
Contact the Birds of a Feather team for more information on the how-to-get-started-on-right foot kit. How big is your footprint? Click here for an example of a savvy planning advice offered by niche web publisher Rainbow Tourism.
Make a plan before launching
These tips apply to corporate websites and new media channels and are not exclusive to tourism. Every business needs a down-to-earth savvy strategy.
- Dive in – only after understanding the Social Media beast.
- Understand your target audience and give them what they want – simple information and quick insights.
- Incorporate images and videos – people love ‘em and saves writing a thousand words.
- Monitor and don’t fumble – both favorable interaction and negative feedback are to be expected and should be handled quickly.
What content tips and tricks do you need to know?
What will give you the edge over your competitors?
Whether you’re a luxury travel startup or established tourism operator, you probably need a social marketing strategist on your content/marketing teams. Someone to advise and train you on how to maximize your exposure on Facebook, Twitter and You Tube – not to mention creating postings for your blog and website.
We all have heard it before – content is king! Speak to any SEO expert and they will confirm that having the right content on your website is essential to get good rankings. When your website is constantly being updated with new content and images, it helps increase your site’s retention, bookings and enquiries, encourages repeat visits, and increases the browsing time.
But it is important to get the right balance of content as too much will overwhelm your visitors; too little and they will just go elsewhere. Just as it is important to get the right balance of social media pages working together.
Since the birth of social media, the type of content expected by potential customers has dramatically changed. Nowadays, when people visit your website, blog or Facebook they want to see reviews, videos and photos from other people who have used or experienced your service or product as this is believed to be more trustworthy.
Tip for New Media Novices
1. Seek an experienced web content writer/online marketing manager, someone who is a savvy strategist. This will not cost you an arm n a leg.
2. Work with the marketing writer to develop your Social Media Startup kit, something that complements your online and traditional marketing plan and budget. A savvy plan won’t break the bank.
3. Start with Facebook or a Blog, then progress to Twitter and You Tube if your destination/accommodation/tour/service warrants more interaction with your guests/customers. Monitor these daily, and reply with those who make comments.
4. Develop the content. Images (including videos) are as important as words – for the search engines and because users click on them a lot. If your content or marketing team does not have this material for the content writer, create and collect this first.
5. Create a template that suits your style, tone and story. The Blog and Facebook images can be different or close to your website design. A good web graphic designer will help you with colours, images, easy-to-read layout, great navigational buttons and useful widgets that help distribute your content and message.
For more tricks of the trade, ask Peacock Tourism Marketing’s Birds-of-a-Feather team. They’ve been involved in travel themselves, and creating content for other operators for many years.
No doubt about it. Today it’s imperative to extend your story.
How do you do it?
By integrateing the power and reach of social media marketing with traditional online strategies.
Start Here
1. Build a Social Media presence and personality. Have a plan to use available, current tools like Facebook, You Tube.
2. Cross link between Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Blogs, Linked In and News Feeds to traditional marketing and company website.
3. Use a content manager– Use Word Press or Blogger and add postings and images at least weekly, if not daily.
4. Listen and Answer users – Comment back to your visitors, provide useful links, collect data and build a 1-on-1 customer relationship .
5. Check Statistics and Insights – review weekly and adjust campaign if necessary
The Big Benefits
The Birds of a Feather team at Peacock Tourism Marketing listens first and foremost. We are of the school where one-to-one communication is paramount. You talk, we listen, then together we develop a strategy and implement it with our sleeves rolled up. Peacock Tourism works on one client at a time – onsite at the startup and online afterwards.
What you Get
Get a Savvy Strategy – plain English, no techno babble, creative thinking, and tips you can implement quickly, cheaply, easily.
Get to know the team – The editor is your primary contact for website and blog content and images and how to make your online presence work smarter. The marketing manager is your primary contact for technology and insights on social media channels and Google/Facebook ads.