Archive for the ‘hotel industry’ Category
Thursday, May 23rd, 2013
Is seeing reallybelieving?
Photo tips for Travel & Tourism pros
Ever find yourself in a spot you just know your clients would love to see themselves?
Using photos online is an awesome way to strike up engagement with your clients and draw attention to the great experiences you have to offer them. And the good news? You can take these pictures yourself!
#1 Photograph Lighting
No matter what the subject of your picture is, the lighting can make or break the quality of your photograph. Always make sure that the main focus of your photo is easily visible, and when possible, try to make the subject the brightest part of the picture.
Hotels: to showcase your rooms, utilize both natural and artificial light. Watch for glare from reflections on windows and mirrors.
Destinations: take advantage of the hours of sunrise and sunset in order to give your destination an out of this world appearance. If you are taking a photo of a landmark when the sun is behind it, consider using the flash feature to fill in any unwanted shadows. You may have to use manual flash for this – many cameras on Auto will not flash during daylight.
Travel Pros: use natural light to make a landscape or landmark pop during sunrise when few people are around to interfere with your shot! Be sure the sun is not creating distracting shadows within your frame.
(image with glare from lighting)
(image free from glare)
#2 Photograph Framing
Lead all eyes right to the target of your photos by framing your subject properly. One way to frame your subject is to use the Rule of Thirds: dividing the photo into nine equal squares and placing the object of focus on or near an area where the lines intersect.
Image by John R. Daily, Source
Hotels: include multiple features of a room in one photo by placing them on opposite sides/corners of a photo. If you wish to only highlight one feature, place it in the center of the photograph to maximize attention.
Destinations: when photographing landscapes, keep the land/water level just below the center of the photo. Use lines in the landscape as “leading lines” to draw attention to a certain subject/area!
Travel Pros: use the “Grid” option on your camera to more easily follow the Rule of Thirds with your shots. Use distance to your advantage by allowing an object or line to travel diagonally across the shot, such as a stream or pathway!
These two tips will help you get some sensational snaps of your own to show off to your clients online!
Next in the Photos in Social Media photo tips series: How to Use Photos on Different Platforms. Stay tuned!
Thanks to Ruby Murphy for her research and input.
Other posts you may enjoy:
2 Photo Tools for Travel Pros
5 Powerful Pinterest Tools
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When you ‘like’ my Facebook page you’ll have access to Free Resources just for travel pros!
By Catherine Heeg
About the author, Catherine J. Heeg
Catherine Heeg is a travel, hospitality and tourism industry thought leader. As President of Customized Management Solutions and an international speaker and trainer she delivers customized interactive social media, marketing and communication workshops and webinars. Customized social marketing strategy design and coaching keep her driving results for the tourism, travel and hospitality industry.
Tags: marketing, marketingplan, Photo Tips, Photography, sales, salestips, Selling, social engagement, tourism industry, tourismbusiness, tourismsalestips, touroperator, tourwholesaler, travelagent, travelindustry
Posted in Branding, hospitality, hotel industry, ITMI, marketing, NACTA, National Tour Association, NTA, OASIS, strategy, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 30th, 2013
freedigitalphotos.net
Maybe it will go away.
Social media’s really not that important to my clients.
I don’t want to make any mistakes, so I just won’t do anything.
These are common concerns I hear whispered at the back of the conference room. Guess what, when I spoke at NTA in 2009 to a capacity filled room, social media was in its infancy. Now in 2013, it’s growing exponentially and changing constantly. Are you harnessing it for your business?
Key takeaway: Survey your clients to find what social platforms they use, then decide how to leverage your time and talent. Social media is the new search engine. When you have a consistent voice and presence you’ll find your SEO will grow and clients will help you market by becoming your brand advocates.
Free Survey Tools
There are a number of simple, free tools to use to survey your clients. You may want to check out Survey Monkey, Kwik Surveys, and Poll Daddy.
Travel pros, you may want to ask your clients 3 quick questions; 1) What social sites do you visit? A. Facebook, b. Twitter, c. other, d. none. 2) How often do you check your social pages? A. daily, b. weekly, c. other. 3) Do you read on-line news and travel info? YES, NO.
Tour Operators, you may be interested in polling your tour participants about their social photo album use by asking something like this; 1) What social sites do you upload your vacation photos to? a. Facebook, b. Instagram, c. other d. none. 2) How likely are you to photo tag your friends in your vacation photos? A. always, b. when I remember, c. other 3) Do you capture your memories on video? YES, NO
Here’s what it looks like on Survey Monkey:
You can easily reach your audience in a variety of ways:
Social Tip
Remember to use the powerful polling and questioning tools on Facebook and LinkedIn. Don’t forget the instant power of a question on Twitter.
With these tools you’ll leverage the power of knowledge. You’ll be amazed at the many ways you’ll be able to apply your new knowledge and reach your clients, potential new clients and brand evangelists where they ‘hang out’ in the world of social media.
Tip: Start simple. Keep at it. Evolve. Focus on the 1 platform where most of your clients are, then branch out from there. Here are 9 Key Tactics to avoid Social Media Missteps.
How many social sites do you invest your time in?
Another social slip-up to avoid is to think it’s just about business. Read more
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When you ‘like’ my Facebook page you’ll have access to Free Resources just for travel pros!
By Catherine Heeg
About the Author, Catherine J. Heeg
Catherine Heeg is a travel, hospitality and tourism industry thought leader. As President of Customized Management Solutions and an international speaker and trainer she delivers customized interactive social media, marketing and communication workshops and webinars. Customized social marketing strategy design and coaching keep her driving results for the tourism, travel and hospitality industry.
Tags: Facebook, facebookpromotion, LinkedIn, marketing, marketingplan, Mistakes to avoid, sales, salestips, smallbusiness, social engagement, Social Media, Social slip-ups, Survey Monkey, Survey tools, Surveys, tourism industry, tourismbusiness, tourismsalestips, touroperator, travelagent, travelindustry, Twitter
Posted in Branding, Customer Service, hospitality, hotel industry, LinkedIn, marketing, Mistakes to avoid, promotion, sales, Social Media Marketing, Social slip-ups, strategy, Suvey, Travel Consultant, travel industry, Twitter | No Comments »
Sunday, March 31st, 2013
Choosing your words wisely will help you close more sales!
Luxury Words that Sell
Travel pros: here’s a selection of words that will attract, entice and enthrall luxury clients. Imagine being able to sell more travel by simply adjusting the words you use in your conversations, blog posts, social media posts as well as your written communication.
Social Media for Travel Pros–Luxury Words that Sell!
What are your favorite luxury words?
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By Catherine Heeg
Tags: Facebook, Facebookmarketing, marketing, sales, salestips, Selling, smallbusiness, social engagement, Social Media, Words that sell
Posted in E-mail, Facebook Marketing, Google +, hotel industry, marketing, Niche Marketing, NTA, OASIS, Social Media Marketing, strategy, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, February 22nd, 2013
Travel pros are always searching for new ways to reach untapped markets.
Leverage your LinkedIn Presence
LinkedIn is the opportunity to reach new potential clients in a different channel and meet them thru a business networking situation. That’s great news for both leisure and corporate travel consultants, hoteliers that focus on both markets, as well as tour operators and receptive operators.
LinkedIn has been called the ‘red-headed step-child’ of social media. As a red-head growing up with dark haired parents, I always thought that maybe I was the step-child. When LinkedIn came along I had to check out this new ‘Red Head’. So I jumped on the band wagon and have found great connections and new ways to communicate with colleagues.
Marketing tactics
Travel consultants
Think of the possibilities of marketing yourself to distinct groups of professionals by giving them the gift of time and relaxation in their next vacation. Consider reaching small business owners and providing them expertise for their corporate travel planning.
Hoteliers
Consider LinkedIn as a way to reach out to conference planners and corporate-stay decision makers.
Tour Operators
Have you thought about maximizing your connections with industry leaders and keeping up with your suppliers.
I love the Infographic below as it brings focus to 10 ways to make the most of your social networking.
Positive Positioning Statements
My favorite tip is #2: Optimize your positioning statement. This is a critical piece of your LinkedIn success when members are searching for a skill set or expertise.
Travel pros may want to list their title as “Cruise Expert” or “Vacation Pro” to aid in search results both within LinkedIn as well as in organic internet searches.
Tour operators may find success listing their key destinations in their title. It may look like this; “New York and Washington DC inbound receptive expert”.
What successes have you found on LinkedIn?
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When you ‘like’ my Facebook page you’ll have access to Free Resources just for travel pros!
Here are other marketing articles for travel & tourism pros:
5 Creative Ways to Market your Social Presence
3 + 30 Proactive Promotional Tips for your Blog + Infographic
5 Key Blog Marketing Tactics+ Infograhic
By Catherine Heeg
Tags: hospitality, hotelsales, LinkedIn, marketingplan, Networking, sales, salestips, Selling, smallbusiness, social engagement, Social Media, tourism industry, tourismbusiness, tourismsalestips, touroperator, tourwholesaler, travelagent, travelindustry
Posted in Branding, hospitality, hotel industry, Infographics, LinkedIn, marketing, Networking, promotion, sales, Social Media Marketing, strategy, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry | No Comments »
Friday, February 8th, 2013
Google +. Is it worth paying attention?
With 400 million registered users and more than 100 million active users visiting the service every month it’s hard to ignore the impact on the tourism, hospitality and travel industry.
With the introduction of Brand pages, Google+ leverages another marketing channel to connect, inspire and compel brand advocacy…plus maximize revenues and relationships.
Here are some clear reasons to get involved today!
- Hangouts. Free video conferencing is available for up to 10 other Google+ members. Tap into social interaction that can be recorded and viewed by others on demand. Imagine group planning sessions, media interaction, guest relations and internal communication all via video chats.
- Hotels consider using a Hangout with staff members from around the country.
- Attractions can use a Hangout to let sales people and tour operators know of new developments.
- Tour Operators can Hangout with key clients or group leaders.
- Circles. Similar to lists on Twitter and groups on Facebook, Circles takes you one step deeper into your marketing efforts. A business can now easily market directly to segmented audiences by sharing content only with selected Circles. Business pages can Circle other businesses, but not people…at this point in time.
- Hotels can pass along rate information only to tour operators, not their entire list of followers on Google+
- Attractions can target the drive market with promotions to geo-based Circles.
- Tour Operators can create a Circle of potential group leaders (who have a business profile on Google+) and learn what is needed to build the perfect package.
- Note: When people add you to their Circles they will always see your brand’s posts.
- SEO Ranking. Google is proven to give preference in search rankings to content shared in Google+. This means that your business is more likely to rank higher in Google searches and that ranking increases for people who have added your business into one of their Circles.
- Search. When your company is searched using “+your company name” it stands out immediately as the company logo is shown and the real estate is larger for Google+Businesses. See this example for Tauck Tours:
Searching Tauck on Google+
What do you like about Google+ brand pages?
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Tags: Google + Brand pages, Google Plus, Google+, hospitality, hotelsales, marketing, marketingplan, Networking, sales, salestips, Selling, social engagement, Social Media, tourwholesaler, travelagent, travelindustry
Posted in Branding, Google +, hospitality, hotel industry, marketing, Mobile marketing, Networking, promotion, Social Media Marketing, strategy, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 30th, 2013
Did you know that your Facebook fans only see about 16% of your posts? I was appalled when I learned this.
Here’s the secret to boosting your exposure and reaching more of your fans.
#1 Get Notifications
To ensure that your hard work, research and frequent posting gets you the most mileage possible your fans now have to take one more step to get information from you. The secret tool in your toolbox is to ask your fans to check ‘Get Notifications’ and ‘Show in News Feed’ once they ‘like’ your page. Here’s how it works:
You may want to post this graphic (see the smaller version below) on your page and then include a post showing people what benefit they’ll get when the check “Get Notifications”. (To save this image to your page, please right click on the image below, choose ‘save link as’ then choose a place on your hard drive to save this graphic. Then go to your Facebook page and select “Photo Video” > Attach Photo> browse your hard drive and select this graphic that you saved >Post.)
With this graphic you may consider saying something like this:
Travel pros may want to say “For the latest travel info, please remember to check “Get Notifications” so you’ll be sure to receive the most up to date destination info from me.”
Destinations—consider posting a brief note like this…”Do you LOVE ______________(fill in your destination name)? Check “Get Notifications” so you’ll be the first to hear what’s hot and happening here in ___________(fill in your destination)
Hotels can easily mention a benefit that’s provided on their Facebook page and create a post like this….”If you’re looking for more great recipes and fun events at _________ (fill in your hotel name), don’t miss a beat. Click “ Get Notifications” and keep up to date!
Remember to do this yourself as well! This way you’ll continue to get the information you need from the business pages you’ve ‘liked’ right in your newsfeed. This will keep you up to date on all the news from your own suppliers, destination partners and services that you depend on to provide the best service for your clients.
Hint, Hint….you’re invited to click ‘Get Notifications’ on my page. Here you’ll find relevant social media and marketing tips for travel and tourism pros.
#2 Interest Lists
Are you finding it hard to sort thru all the great information you receive every day on your Facebook page? Here’s a way to sort thru it quickly and easily while capturing a snapshot of what’s top of mind in our industry.
When you set up “Interest Lists” on your personal profile, you can easily manage your news feed by creating a customized newspaper for yourself. Here’s how to set up interest lists on your personal page.
First: On the navigation bar on your personal page scroll down to Interest Lists, then click “Add Interests” (See #1 below in the screen shot)
Second: Name your “Interest Lists” and add interests as related to your business and the topic of the list.
Travel Pros may want to add an Interest List for each specialty; Cruising, Adventure Travel, Top Hotels, Tour Operators, etc. They may also want to create Interest Lists for their top destinations. This will give you a birds-eye view of what businesses you’ve ‘liked’ are talking about .
Destinations can create Interest lists on the personal page that’s associated with the business page. You may consider adding Interest Lists for Entertainment, Dining, Attractions, etc. This will give your page manager a chance to easily scroll thru posts and share information relevant to your Destinations page fans.
Hotels consider creating Interest Lists for attractions, restaurants, shops and services in your locale. Like Destinations this will give you easy access to relevant posts that can be shared on your Hotel page.
In #2 on the screen shot below you’ll see how to add business pages to your customized Interest lists. Facebook also provides suggestions for you to subscribe. These new subscriptions will appear in your customized Interest List feed.
This simple step makes it easy for you to curate and assemble your own customized newspaper so you can easily see what’s happening and share relevant info with your fans.
Taking this one step further you may want to also encourage your fans to add your business page to their own Interest Lists. This will give you even greater exposure and opportunity to build a stronger relationship with your fans.
These 2 tactics are part of a marketing strategy to bring you more buzz and biz!
What other tactics do you find helpful in growing your following?
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Tags: Facebook, facebookfans, Facebookmarketing, facebookpromotion, marketing, marketingplan, Networking, Questions, sales, salestips, social engagement, Social Media, Timeline, tourismbusiness, tourismsalestips, touroperator, tourwholesaler, travelagent, travelindustry
Posted in Facebook Marketing, hospitality, hotel industry, marketing, Networking, promotion, Social Media Marketing, strategy, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry | No Comments »
Friday, January 25th, 2013
Fact or Fib? 80% of U.S. social network users prefer to connect to brands through Facebook.
Fact or Fib? Social media and blogs reach 80% of all U.S. Internet users.
Are you reaching your potential clients with your social media marketing?
Here are 5 powerful ways to reach a wider audience while drawing more fans, readers and followers to your social channels. By creatively funneling people from one channel to another you will leverage their involvement and help them become more engaged. They’ll get to know you better!
You know the saying; people buy from people they know and like. Here are some tips to develop that relationship.
#1 Blog Sharing 
Sexy Bookmarks is a great tool to encourage people to share your blog. It’s reactive and cool! When you hover over an icon it pops up! Plus you can customize which icons appear in your blog. Here’s what it looks like.
An RSS feed is a way to capture their attention with each new blog post.
Bonus tip: Once people see your blog, remind them to connect with you on your other social sites by including an invitation to connect via hyperlinks to each of your other social and web sites. See below for an example.
#2 Facebook | Blog 
Networked Blogs is an easy to set up app/tool that will automatically roll your latest blog post right to your Facebook page. Here’s what it looks like on your Facebook page.
#3 Pinterest |Facebook 
WooBox is the go-to tool ensuring that your Facebook fans have direct access to your Pinterest page. Simple to install it puts a Pinterest app front and center on your Facebook business page.
Bonus tip: Pinterest has just added Business pages. You can now change your personal Pinterest site into a business page and add your website verification that makes it easier for people to find you. When you complete this step by adding some code provided by Pinterest to your website .
Here’s what your Pinterest bio will look like.
#4 Twitter Engagement 
Have you uploaded your new Header image? Twitter has recently given us more real-estate to brand and show who we are and what we do. Here’s your chance to put a picture or graphic of your specialty, niche or latest fam destination. Remember to include links to your other social sites in your Twitter profile. Here are some great examples from our industry.
#5 Measure & Monitor 
Some of my favorite tools to learn more about when to post, fan demographics and HOT news are:
- SocialMention-track what’s being said about your top destinations, suppliers and your company
- Crowdbooster—measure and optimize your social marketing, plus tips to help you improve
- GoogleAlerts—set up a notification system to be alerted to top news on your key words
- TweetWhen – track your Twitter stats
- Facebook Page Insights—check your fan demographics and success of your posts
- Reachli—learn more about your Pinterest audience with analytics
- More of my favorites.
Fact or Fib? Both are FACTS! Gripping reasons to leverage your involvement and up your game!
For more stats please go to: http://bit.ly/W3mWet and http://bit.ly/U3QKGa
What success stories have you had marketing your social sites?
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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!
Tags: blog, blogging, Facebook, facebookfans, Facebookmarketing, facebookpromotion, hospitality, hotelsales, marketing, marketingplan, Networking, Pinterest, salestips, Selling, social engagement, Social Media, tourismbusiness, training, travelagent, travelindustry, Twitter
Posted in blogging, Facebook Marketing, hospitality, hotel industry, marketing, NACTA, National Tour Association, Networking, NTA, OASIS, Pinterest, promotion, sales, Social Media Marketing, strategy, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry, Twitter | 2 Comments »
Monday, December 31st, 2012
Is anyone reading this?
Here are 3 creative ways to gain more exposure and make your blog work harder for YOU!
After you’ve spent your time writing, editing and publishing now you get to market your blog. These 3 key promotional tips will immerse you in other channels to bring a wider audience to your blog posts.
Audio podcasts are perfect for commuters and travelers to have a new way to connect with you and learn from your expertise. Using audio podcasts to promote your blog will give listeners a chance to sample your style and compel them to subscribe to your written blog.
Travel pros can easily create a short audio podcast of tips you’ve gained from you last fam trip or destination presentation. Tempt, tease and titillate listeners to subscribe to your blog.
Destinations can create a story about their city for people to listen to on their commute. At the end of the audio podcast remember to direct people to your written blog for related posts.
To record an audio podcast check out Garage Band for MAC users and Audacity for PC users. You’ll record your blog and tips as an .mp3 and then upload it to your social sites and e-newsletter.
Tip: make sure to have a call to action in the audio recording inviting people to your blog site and provide them the link.
For more information on creating audio podcasts, please see my blog post filled with how-to information and listen to my podcasts here
#2 – Video Podcasts
Video is quickly becoming the way of the world. You-Tube is now the 2nd largest search engine garnering over 800 million unique users each month. Leverage this success and market your blog in a video giving people a preview of your latest or most popular blog posts. Then make sure to turn your next blog post into a video podcast.
Travel Consultants & Tour Operators; how about taking video of yourself in your top destination? This gives you the perfect venue to showcase your expertise and show (not just tell) people why they want to travel and why they want to book with you!
To spice up your blog marketing video you can interview others while in a destination. How about interviewing the ship’s captain, your favorite waiter, your contact at the CVB or other supplier.
Have you considered doing a brief interview with your DSM after a destination presentation or training session?
This interview can be embedded into your next blog post or stand alone as a video on your You-Tube channel. When recording the video don’t forget to provide the link to your blog site so that people can engage with you on one more channel.
Tip: When recording with your phone or digital recorder you may want to consider placing your camera on a tri-pod or stable surface and editing where necessary.
#3 – E-book
Get more bang for your blog by turning a series of blog posts into an e-book. This e-book will then become a give-away at trade and consumer shows as well as an on-line giveaway to your fans and potential clients. Some people have added e-books to their selection of items for sale in their on-line travel store.
Imagine an e-book featuring each destination, ship or city you’ve visited. Think of the marketing possibilities. What better way to capture more subscribers for your written blog.
Tip: When creating your e-book make sure readers know how to find your blog so they can engage with you on a regular basis.
Below are 30 more ways to promote your blog. Check out the cool infographic!
What else are you doing to gain more eyeballs for your hard work and research?
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Source: http://marketingland.com/infographic-how-to-promote-your-blog-posts-24579
Tags: audio podcasting, blog, blogging, Facebook, Facebookmarketing, facebookpromotion, marketing, marketingplan, Mobile marketing, Podcasting, Podcasts, sales, salestips, Selling, social engagement, tourism industry, tourismbusiness, tourismsalestips, touroperator, tourwholesaler, travelagent, travelindustry
Posted in blogging, Branding, hotel industry, marketing, National Tour Association, NTA, OASIS, promotion, Social Media Marketing, strategy, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry, Video | No Comments »
Friday, November 30th, 2012
Pinterest is the newest ‘shiny’ thing to become a part of the travel & tourism industry’s social involvement. And it’s really bright & shiny!
The biggest news is that it’s actually working to engage travellers while they’re in the trip planning stage.
Travel consultants are leveraging this by using their own library of photos along with photos from supplier image galleries to entice, enthrall and close more sales.
Destinations are reaping the benefits as travelers are posting photos to their own boards and further spreading the word to future travellers. In addition, pins a DMO posts on related boards are benefitting local businesses as they’re being frequented by travelers.
The big question now is how to leverage this exposure over other social sites. Here are some marketing tactics to help travel pros spread their Pinterest page content to their other social pages.
Pinterest |Facebook
- Make sure you add the Pinterest app to your business page. Check out Woo Box to easily add access to your Pinterest site.
- Add a Post to your Facebook page announcing your newest board
- Ask your Facebook fans to follow you on Pinterest
- Make sure your Pinterest address is in the About section on your Facebook page
- Monitor your social presence. Here are some tools for you.
Pinterest |Website
- Add a ‘Pin It’ button onto your website
- Add the Pinterest icon linking directly to your Pinterest site.
- Create ‘Pinnable’ web materials
Pinterest |Blog
- Add your Pinterest address to your blog post
- Add a ‘Pin It’ button to your blog
- Blog about your Pinterest contest or your newest board
- Get creative with your photo editing. Here are some tools for you.
Pinterest |Twitter
- Tweet about your new involvement in Pinterest and provide a link to your newest board
- Create a Welcome board that showcases photos of your latest trip, an upcoming group departure or your newest blog post and Tweet about updates to this board.
- Update your Twitter profile to include a link to your Pinterest site.
Pinterest |LinkedIn
- Add your Pinterest address to your LinkedIn profile’s Professional section
- Announce new boards to relevant groups on LinkedIn
Pinterest |Google+
- Post your latest blog or photo updates to relevant Google+ circles
- In your G+ posts, include information on your latest Pins with a link to the relevant board.
Here are some other tactics for you to make the most of your Pinterest presence and grow your following of raving fans. See Infographic below.
Tags: blog, blogging, Facebook, facebookfans, Facebookmarketing, facebookpromotion, hospitality, LinkedIn, marketing, marketingplan, NACTA, NTA, Pinterest, sales, salestips, Selling, social engagement, Social Media, tourism industry, tourismbusiness, tourismsalestips, touroperator, tourwholesaler, travelagent, travelindustry, Twitter
Posted in blogging, Facebook Marketing, hospitality, hotel industry, marketing, Monitoring tools, NACTA, National Tour Association, Networking, NTA, OASIS, Pinterest, promotion, Social Media Marketing, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry, Twitter | 2 Comments »
Friday, November 16th, 2012
freedigitalphotos.net
1 Hour and 17 minutes! That’s how long people spend on Pinterest.
1 in 5 Facebook users are on Pinterest DAILY! That’s 4 million daily unique visitors to Pinterest.
Are you leveraging this untapped potential in your own marketing? Here’s how to engage your followers and turn them into clients today!
Tip #1 – 
Announce your latest Pin on your Facebook business page and provide a link.
Photos on your Facebook page are more readily shared and ‘liked’ so here’s your chance to maximize your social reach. In working with travel pros I’ve found that people are more likely to share photos of beaches, sunsets and food. Where’s your focus going to be?
Tip #2 —
Do you want to engage and sell more? A call to action is crucial to reach your goal. Ask your Facebook fans to re-pin their favorite photos from your boards.
Bonus tip: Is cruising your niche market? You may consider setting up boards for each cruise ship you’ve sailed, then ask your fans to re-pin their favorite photos to their own Pinterest boards. This is a call to action along with building remarkable reach. Then, consider making this into a contest. More on that later.
Tip #3 — 
# aren’t only for Twitter! When you’re composing a description of your latest Pin think about key words that people may search and include as many as you can using # for the most important. Picture this—you’ve just returned from a fam trip and you’re in the process of marketing that destination. How about creating a board for the destination then in the description of each pin include something like this: “#name of destination, is great for #activity enjoyed. I had a spectacular time! Tip: remember to #travel tip”
Tip #4 —
Your blog is the perfect avenue to talk about what’s exciting on your Pinterest site and ask for comments and re-pins. Have you considered inserting some of your best photos into your next blog post, talking about Pinterest in that blog and then linking people to your Pinterest site? An awesome way to stimulate conversation all while maximizing credibility!
Tip #5—
Try this…in your next e-blast announce your newest Pinterest board additions, provide links and ask people to comment and re-pin their favorites.
Bonus tip: make sure that your links in your e-blast open in a different window so you don’t lose your blog reader.
When you put these techniques to work for yourself, imagine the potential for reaching and engaging your fans in a unique new fashion. Ignite and inspire your friends, fans and followers with these techniques!
What success stories have you had with your Pinterest site?
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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!
Tags: blog, blogging, Facebook, facebookfans, Facebookmarketing, facebookpromotion, hospitality, hotelsales, LinkedIn, marketing, marketingplan, NACTA, Networking, Pinterest, sales, salestips, Selling, smallbusiness, social engagement, Social Media, tourism industry, tourismbusiness, tourismsalestips, touroperator, travelagent, travelindustry, Twitter
Posted in blogging, Branding, E-mail, Facebook Marketing, hospitality, hotel industry, LinkedIn, marketing, NACTA, National Tour Association, NTA, OASIS, Pinterest, promotion, sales, Social Media Marketing, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry, Twitter, Uncategorized | No Comments »
