Social Media 201 for Travel and Tourism

Social Media 201for Travel and Tourism

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Expectations


Customers WANT YOU on social media

• 93% of customers expect companies to have a presence on social channels1

• 85% expect companies to interact with them on those social channels2

1,2 Cone Business Study on Social Media, 2008

©2011 Social Savvy Geek, LLC




NO!

• Fear

• Loss of control

• Dilution of Brand

• Waste of time

• Fad

• Difficult



Reality

• Conversation online

• Brand building

• Lasting trend

• Manageable

• Scalable

• Learnable



Tools• Facebook

• LinkedIn

• Twitter

• Wordpress

• YouTube

• Flicker

• Foursquare

• Google +©2011 Social Savvy Geek, LLC


Social Media Changes EVERYTHING...

...and NOTHING!

...WHAT?



Core Mission

• Guests/Customers

• Sales

• Events

• Projects

• Brand Awareness



Networking

The SAME rules apply (online)



• Imagine you are at a live networking function

• Have a PLAN (before, during, & after)

• Introduce yourself

• Find out about the other party

• Make introductions & Share connections

• Be a resource

• Farming not Hunting

• Visibility, Credibility, & Marketability





Don’t be “that guy”• 70:20:10

• Don’t over-share

• Don’t sell

• Don’t be a snob

• Remember your audience

• Be open & honest

• Be patient©2011 Social Savvy Geek, LLC


Brand Management

• Strategy

• Phases

• Set Up

• Manage

• Adapt



Set Up & Integrate• Identify your target audience

• Choose appropriate tools

• Define your Brand• Logo, colors, fonts

• Use what you have• Website, Email newsletter, Database

• Add Social Media icons

• Facebook Business Page, LinkedIn Company Page, Twitter, Google +

• Directories, Memberships, Associations©2011 Social Savvy Geek, LLC


Content is King

• Drives traffic

• Does not ALL have to be original

• You can repurpose your content

• Articles, Press Releases, Event Summaries

• Blog

• Newsletter

• Channels (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter)



Proactively cross-pollinate



Collect email opt-ins• Have people opt into your email list on your

social media site



• People want to

engage with brands

• Photo contests,

sweepstakes,

surveys, etc. drive

engagement

• Engaged customers

Run social promotions, contests, etc.



Advertise

• Amazing opportunity to target

locally, specific interests, etc.

• Very affordable

• Easy to do

• Facebook will occasionally

give money away for



Which social platforms should my business use?

• Users?• Competitors?• Consider multiple channels!

Trick: Use the search function on a network to gauge activity related to your industry/market vertical/audience



Diversify

• Use multiple social media

channels

• YouTube is HUGE

• Pinterest is taking off like a

rocket!

• Foursquare is a MUST for

location based businesses

• Choose your channels and



Email marketing



Mobile marketing



Location, Location, Location


Location-based marketing

From $0 in 2009, location-based marketing is projected to grow to $6 billion in 2015. Some restaurants are seeing 65 percent

redemption rates from new, real-time geo-targeted ads.

(Borrell Associates)



REVIEWSGoogleYelp!Yahoo

CitysearchFacebook

Industry Specific


Google Yourself!


Mobile advertising



Track your results and optimize your campaigns



Find new/better places to advertise (social media, mobile, email, etc.)



Create stronger, more targeted offers that appeal to more people in your market



Build your reputation as an expert(be the place to go)



Use photos and videos to tell your story



Create training/educational resources (video, educational downloads, etc.)



Create a customer mailing list



Send out emails to your list on a more frequent basis(weekly)



Use scarcity to get customers to act now instead of later (e.g. limited-time promotions)



Use auto-responder email sequences to introduce your prospects to a series of benefits/packages



Send out birthday cards and holiday cards/gifts



Create a culture of service at your business



Use customer testimonials in your email campaigns and on your website



Up-sell, cross-sell and bundle



After a person buys one product, up-sell or cross-sell them another related

product



Bundle products and offer a discount

+



Use coupons to encourage bigger purchases



Offer an expensive, premium product or service with a payment plan



Questions?




text “fan SocialSavvyGeek” to 32665
