B A L LY W H O I N T E R A C T I V E

Social Media in the Tourism Industry

Average Person + Social Media + Travel

How do people make use of social media when planning a trip or traveling? Sharing advice/promotions for travel

Researching the experience of others

Describing travel plans to friends and family

Strategies for Engaging with Your Audience

Need exposure? A few options to consider: Informative website

Strong social presence

Interaction on review sites

Email newsletters

Coupons and promotions

Photo and Video Sharing

Informative Website

Continuously updated with fresh content A blog is a great way to share information to those looking

for details about your business

SEO-friendly Using competitive keywords makes finding you a lot

easier--consider creating an SEO strategy

Google Adwords Try placing ads on Google to encourage visitors to your

site

Strong Social Presence

Great platforms to consider: Twitter & Facebook Great ways to share promotions, update inquiring minds

about improvements, and interact with current and potential customers.

Interaction on Review Sites

Make sure to claim your business on review sites This will allow you to receive notifications when new

reviews are submitted so that you can respond quickly

Also allows you to interact with reviewers as your business

Interaction on Review Sites

Promote positive guest feedback by telling your patrons where to leave friendly comments Let them know which review site to leave their comments

on, especially if they’ve had a good stay

Thank those who leave positive comments on the review site by responding to them directly

Interaction on Review Sites

Turn a negative review into a positive one Respond by:

Addressing the issue and taking responsibility

Clearing up any misunderstandings without getting defensive

Inviting the reviewer back at a discount and impressing them

End goal: inspire them to leave a more favorable review

Email Newsletters

Create relevant email newsletters Ask them to sign up for the newsletter

Offer promotions to retain past customers

Offer promotions to bring in new customers

Promote amenities that differentiate you from your competition

Coupons and Promotions

Consider offering incentives Groupon deals

Living Social deals

Promotions listed on your website encouraging visitors to book their accommodations with you

Photo and Video Sharing

In addition to your own professionally done videos and photos, encourage visitors to post theirs as well

Feature them on your site, your YouTube account of Flickr

Monitoring What People Say

Free ways to monitor what’s being said about your brand:

http://www.socialmention.com/

http://www.blogpulse.com/

http://www.google.com/alerts

http://search.twitter.com

Monitoring Competition

Check commonly used review sites for your industry and search for your competition Learn what they are doing that gives them an advantage

Find out what people like and dislike about them, and use these observations to improve your business

Nitsa DeVore

End Results

Make your brand easier to find

Get feedback that can help improve your business

Build trust by making your business more familiar

Grow your reputation

Reduce traditional marketing cost