Archive for July, 2012

4 Ways to Maximize your Milestones!

Tuesday, July 31st, 2012

Have you just returned from a fam trip and been awarded another specialist certification?

Has your hotel just earned another award?

Will your attraction be featured on a new Top 10 list?

As a tour operator, have you just booked your 10,000th client?

Here’s your chance to make your business milestones work hard for you!  Facebook offers a fabulous tool to showcase your company achievements and boost your credibility…for FREE!  Beats taking out an ad!

Milestones are similar to highlighted (starred) posts    and will enable you to show off a bit, without being a show-off.  When you add a Milestone you’ll be defining a recent event or story so that your fans will better understand your business.  Remember people do business with those they know and like.  This gives your clients and potential clients a chance to know you and like you better.

Here’s how it works:

First.  Log-in as your business page.

Second.   Hover over the share box and click on Events and Milestones

Now you’re ready to create your Milestone

Third.  Complete the info in all the drop down boxes.  See below.

Fourth. Upload photos either from your Facebook Photo albums (Choose from Photos) or from your hard drive (Upload Photos).   Tip: Add photos that tell the story of your Milestone.  Multiple photos are great as they will appear as a film strip beneath your main photo.

Fifth. Complete the story box.  Remember it expands so that you can include as much info as you feel is relevant to your audience.

Sixth.  Remember to click SAVE!  Your Milestone will become a part of your Timeline and stay in chronological order

Here’s how it looks. 

Bonus TipYou can Pin    or  Highlight  your Milestone so that it shows up more prominently.

Hint:  You may want to crop your photos in advance of uploading them if you want to Highlight your Milestone.  This will eliminate heads being cut off!  Also, remember to upload as many photos as you have because you’ll have space for 7 photos when you Highlight.

Travel & Tourism pros, here’s how to use this.

Travel Consultants:

Fam trip: Showcase your new expertise with photos

New Destination Specialist Award: Add a photo of your certificate along with destination photos

Hotel:

Renovation: Show off your newly renovated rooms, restaurant or lobby.

New Menu: Take photos of your new menu as well as the chef preparing the food

New event décor: Include photos of new tablescapes, new trade show set-up, wedding décor

Anniversaries: Create a milestone for the anniversary of your opening

Attraction:

New events or shows: Upload photos of guests enjoying the new features of your attraction

Restaurants: Show off your newest restaurant or food outlets.  Include room and food photos.

Tour Operator:

New travellers: Take a photo of your 10,000th client along with them enjoying the trip they’ve booked with you.

New Staff: Upload photos of your team, tour directors, reservations team, etc.

New Destination: Include photos of destinations you’re just beginning to offer along with your ground handling team, hotels, attractions.  Make this a virtual tour of your newest destination.

Anniversaries: Have you been in business for 10 years?  Create a Milestone!

Association:

New Staff: Include photos of your staff in their offices, res staff at their desks.  This will put a personalized face out there for your members.

Events and meetings: Upload your candid shots and event highlights.  Then Highlight the Milestone for even more exposure.

Member awards: Include photos of awards you give to your members.  Include a photo of the award and of the person.

Monthly new members: How about including photos of the members that have joined over the past month.  Tag them in the photos and bring even more exposure.

What other ideas do you have for using this powerful new tool to engage your fans?

Connect with me online

Join me socially:  Facebook, Twitter , LinkedIn and Pinterest

When you ‘like’ my Facebook page you’ll have access to Free Resources just for travel pros!

Custom Apps

Friday, July 13th, 2012

Do you want to attract Facebook users to your page?  In order to do so, you will want to engage your audience through original, fun, and creative means!

Custom apps are an essential way to make your page POP!  This section of your Facebook page used to be fairly stagnant.  Now you have the option to customize the caption and photo that accompanies each.

Custom apps can be created using companies like Involver, Scribd, Sprout Social, Wildfire apps.

Once you’ve created your app here’s what to do to leverage it’s appeal

1 .Move it to a position that will always appear on your page

2. Customize the caption and image.  Try a catchy word pairing. Think about: New, Free or Win.

a) Remember if you do sponsor a contest or even mention a sweepstakes you need to use an approved platform to market it on Facebook.  This applies to photo and video contests as well.  Consider Wildfire apps or Offerpop  for your contests.

b) A photo speaks a thousand words.  When you upload a custom image to your new tab, make certain you own the rights to use this photo.  The best option is to upload a photo you’ve taken.  Otherwise consider a photo purchasing site like I-Stock, Fotolia or Dreamstime.

Here’s how you can make this happen on your page:

•Log into your Facebook page as an Admin

•Hover over the app you’d like to customize

•Click on the pencil that appears

•Select Edit Settings

•Custom Tab Image, click change and  browse your library of images and upload

•Save when you’re finished

Creative examples in our industry:  

DMO’s are leveraging their blog posts and maximizing their social engagement

 

Tour Operators are using these apps to highlight new contests and video libraries

 

Tour Operators are also editing the Events app to showcase their niche

 

Hotels are maximizing this powerful tool with booking options and showcasing features and contests 

 

Cruise Lines are focusing on bookings and creating sharing tools

 

Attractions are focusing on new events to build excitement.  If they have other associated pages, they are creating a tab to lead fans to other Facebook pages.

 

Large agency groups are creating business opportunities with ‘find an agent’ apps that search by location.  Notice the Survey Monkey app here?  

 

Check out this business building app.

 

Associations are using surveys in their apps line-up

 

Travel agents are showcasing their blog by using Networked Blogs app

Notice the custom caption below the blog app?

To change the caption beneath the app here’s what you do:

•Log into your Facebook page as an Admin

•Hover over the app you’d like to customize

•Click on the pencil that appears

•Select Edit Settings

•Custom Tab Name, enter the name you’ve decided on for this tab

•Save when you’re finished

•Click OK to finalize

Strategy Tip:  Select a catchy, descriptive name and graphic for your apps.

These essential features continue to make Facebook a key marketing component for tourism and hospitality leaders.  Are you making the most of your page?

What apps have you added to your Timeline?

For more information on Timeline, click hereAnd here!

Additional Timeline tips and strategy can be found:

7 Steps to a Powerful Timeline Pin

8 HOT Highlight Tips for Tourism Pros

Connect with me online

Join me socially:  Facebook, Twitter , LinkedIn and Pinterest

When you ‘like’ my Facebook page you’ll have access to Free Resources just for travel pros!

Get in Touch with Catherine

Catherine welcomes you to phone or e-mail her with your needs and interests. A preliminary discussion will help determine whether Customized Management Solutions may help you drive the results you’re looking for.

Contact Catherine Heeg