Archive for the ‘NACTA’ 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
Connect with me online
Join me socially: Facebook, Twitter , LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest
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, May 14th, 2013
FACT or Fib: Social Success Will Happen Overnight
Success in athletics takes years of training. Success in business can take a lifetime. Social media success doesn’t happen overnight.
Key takeaway: Tracking, optimizing and keeping up to date on communication trends will ensure your social success. Don’t make the common mistake of assuming that just because you have a social media presence your clients are connected. Check your social demographics to see if they match the demographics of those you reach with traditional marketing.
Key tracking tools: Facebook Page Insights (see below), CrowdBooster and TweetWhen.
CrowdBooster provides additional demographics and stats that enable you to learn more about your fans. Once you find a communication style that’s generating likes and shares, be sure to replicate it to increase your reach. On your CrowdBooster dashboard you’ll learn which is your most popular tweet and/or Facebook post along with suggestions on what times to reach your audience. There is a nominal fee for this service.
TweetWhen is a free service that gives you stats on when your tweets will get the most re-Tweets. Armed with this information you can plan your strategy and schedule your tweets for the greatest reach beyond your followers.
Travel pros: These tracking tools can be used to reach a wider audience and build your fan base. Remember to market your social presence using every tool in your toolbox; e-blasts, your blog, any printed materials you produce.
Time and patience do pay off when you have a plan.
Want more fans?
While we all strive to gather as many fans, followers and contacts as we can, we still need to focus on keeping these people engaged so they remain loyal, revenue-generating clients.
Key takeaway: We need to be vigilant about responding, listening and being pro-active to create new business. Remember, people do business with those they like—really like, not simply ‘like’.
Key listening tools: Social Mention, Google Alerts
Gaining the inside scoop on your unique audience will help you give your fans what they need and want from you. Transform your tool box and propel your presence to new levels that will help your business.
Which tools to you use to track and monitor your social presence?
Other related posts:
2 Social Metrics Tools + Tips
3 Social Monitoring Tools
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!
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: CrowdBooster, Facebook, facebookfans, Facebookmarketing, facebookpromotion, Google Alerts, marketing, marketingplan, Page Insights, Polling, sales, salestips, Selling, smallbusiness, social engagement, Social Media, Social Mention, Social Metrics, tourism industry, tourismbusiness, tourismsalestips, touroperator, travelindustry, TweetWhen, Twitter
Posted in Facebook Marketing, marketing, Mistakes to avoid, Monitoring tools, NACTA, National Tour Association, NTA, OASIS, Social slip-ups, strategy, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry, Twitter | 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?
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!
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 »
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 »
Friday, November 9th, 2012
FreeDigitalPhotos.net
What’s the secret to fan engagement?
Questions are the oldest yet most effective way to get people’s attention! Posting questions on your Facebook page will double comment rates over other types of posts.
Essential Types of Questions
1. Multiple choice
- Remember many people will be viewing your posts on their mobile device so keep the answers options simple.
- Tour Operators may ask “What’s your favorite thing to do on a motor coach? A) talk with fellow travelers B) watch a movie C) Sleep
- This critical knowledge will help your tour directors understand your unique clients’ needs.
- Hotels may ask “What’s most important to you? A) a hearty breakfast B) evening cocktail hour. See LaQuinta Inns and Suites as an example.
Bonus Tip: The Question feature on Facebook is under-used and provides a graphic look that will encourage engagement. You’ll find this in your ‘Status/Share’ box:
2. Fill in the blank
- Learn insights to influence your marketing and delivery tactics and combine with other demographic data for a broader picture.
- Attractions could ask “My favorite exhibit is _________________. Fill in the blank”. “I love to visit with a/my _______________. Fill in the blank”.
- Travel agents find success with “My favorite cruise ship is__________” “What one thing is always in my suitcase________”
- Tour Operators Tauck has great examples.
- Research shows that this type of post receives 9 times more comments than other posts. Source:
3. One word
- Intriguing! These posts are similar to Fill in the Blank questions, but strive to gain a one-word answer.
- Tour Operators or destinations might want to post something in this style; “New York City makes me feel….”
- Hotels may post “Like it or Leave it…Hot breakfast….” (ok, it’s 2 words yet filled with impact
4. Open-ended questions
- These questions take a bit longer for your fans to answer but provide an invaluable emotional connection.
- Tour Operators consider these “My favorite thing about motor coach travel is…..” Or how about “What’s at the top of your travel bucket list?”
5. Photo with a question
- Post a series of 3-5 photos on your wall and in an album then ask people to ‘like’ their favorite photo.
- For more info on photos and editing images, click here.
- Tour operators can have some fun by posting different destinations, attractions or restaurants that are components in past or future tours. Imagine the market research you’ll gain when planning your next group departure.
- Attractions can intrigue people by posting photos of different features of their venue. Consider choosing a couple of highly popular exhibits as well as some often-missed or little known.
- Hotels can post 2 photos with slight differences and ask fans to tell what’s different in each photo.
- How about bringing your Pinterest boards into this equation. Check out Visit Savannah.
Quintessential tip: Create compelling posts with a call to action. This simple formula targets fans interests and provides you with all-important activity on your page. Choose a topic that you think the majority of your fans like or agree with. Then compose a post in this format: “Click ‘like’ if you’d love to…. visit Colonial Williamsburg. Try this: “Click ‘share’ and let your friends see this great photo.” How about this: “Love Girl Getaways, click ‘share’ and spread the word to your gal pals.
Using questions to boost your ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ and ‘shares’ will increase the likelihood (based on Facebook’s EdgeRank methods) that more of your fans will see your content. Why not increase traffic and comments to your Facebook page?
What question has brought you the most response?
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Tags: Facebook, facebookfans, Facebookmarketing, facebookpromotion, hospitality, marketing, marketingplan, NACTA, NTA, Pinterest, Questions, sales, salestips, Selling, smallbusiness, social engagement, Social Media, Timeline, tourism industry, tourismbusiness, tourismsalestips, touroperator, tourwholesaler, travelagent, travelindustry
Posted in Branding, Facebook Marketing, hospitality, hotel industry, marketing, NACTA, National Tour Association, Niche Marketing, NTA, OASIS, Pinterest, promotion, Social Media Marketing, strategy, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 25th, 2012
So you’ve spent your valuable time blogging about your latest fam trip, the newest addition to your attraction or destination or adding a new video blog to your archives, now what?
How do you get more eyeballs to see your posts?
As travel pros, we have exciting topics and a never-ending supply of possible content. Marketing it is essential!
Here are 4 ways to maximize your marketing.
Tip #1 – Newsletter
Announce your newest blog post in your e-newsletter, print newsletter or thru an e-mail blast. Bonus tip: make sure you check that the link opens in a new window.
Tip #2 – Facebook
How about adding your blog to your Facebook page? Check out Networked Blogs for a free and easy way to automatically post your blog to your Facebook business page. Bonus tip: remember to use a media calendar to plan out your weekly themes, then add links to your blog posts that focus on these themes.
Tip #3 – LinkedIn
Depending which blog platform you use, check out the applications in LinkedIn. Bonus tip: Announce your newest blog posts in LinkedIn groups to which you belong.
Tip #4 – Twitter
Conversations on Twitter are real time and it’s an excellent way to spread the word about your newest blog post. Join conversations, use # that refer to your blog topic and @mention specific followers who are a part of your blog.
Tip #5 – Pinterest
Don’t forget to include your blog posts links into Pinterest pins. This is an incredible way to spread the word and engage new readers who have searched out a specific destination. Try this: Create a board of photos from a desination. In each Pin description include info on the photo as well as a link to your blog post that highlights this destination.
Follow this blog for additional tips and tactics for travel pros. In upcoming blog posts I’ll share more essential marketing tips for your blog.
Below are some essential tips to ensure your blogging success. I found this infographic here.
Connect with me.
What tactics do you use to market your blog?
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When you ‘like’ my Facebook page you’ll have access to Free Resources just for travel pros!
Tags: blog, blogging, Facebook, Facebookmarketing, facebookpromotion, hospitality, marketing, marketingplan, Networked Blogs, Pinterest, sales, salestips, Social Media, travelindustry, Twitter
Posted in blogging, Branding, Facebook Marketing, LinkedIn, marketing, NACTA, National Tour Association, NTA, OASIS, Social Media Marketing, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry, Twitter, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, August 30th, 2012
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Want to know what’s being said about your company, destination, top supplier or hotel? These tools are great for listening in from the outside—being that mouse in the corner. With the information you learn you’ll be able to adjust your marketing, customer service or products.
Social Mention.
Discover the sentiment that your company generates across the social spectrum. You’ll find information based on 4 categories providing insight into key areas of engagement. Plus you’ll be able to see who’s talking about you and in what medium. It’s a great way to get your arms around customer service as well as sales opportunitites.
DMO’s and CVB’s: Destinations can use this to track what’s being said about their destination and/or partners of their organization. You can check out your advocates and engage them in conversations and other opportunities. How about connecting with these advocates and entering into a blogging agreement with them or having them contribute to your Pinterest boards?
Travel Agents: This is the perfect opportunity to learn what’s being said about your top suppliers so that you can be on the cutting edge in your blog posts and your sales efforts.
Hotels: Sales teams love Social Mention as a way to keep up with client conversations across the social spectrum.
Here’s how it looks:
Scrolling down you’ll find top Keywords, Hashtags, Users and Sources. This will give you a glimpse into how people are searching for this company or product and then you can incorporate these findings into your own marketing.
Tip: Leverage the opportunity and join the conversations to develop brand advocates.
twitrratr
Track the sentiment of people talking about your destination, hotel, top supplier or attraction. This tool quantifies comments and gives you a percentage of Neutral, Positive or Negative.
Tip: Look closely at the context of the comments as I’ve found that one negative word will be ranked as a negative comment when in reality it may be positive.
Google Alerts
This stellar, free site is key to learning what’s being talked about across our world. Setting up custom alerts gives you the chance to learn what’s being said about your company, destinations, associations you belong, as well as key words that matter to your business. Automatically receive updates on a daily, weekly or ‘as it happens’ basis.
Here’s how to set this up:
In the search query box enter the company, destination, attraction, hotel group or key words you’d like to receive updates. You can include key words you generally search. I’ve set up alerts for ‘social media in travel’. By putting phrases in quotation marks you’ll get a cleaner search that shows more relevant information.
Next you can select what type of results you’d like; everything, blogs, news, video, discussions, book.
The ‘How Often’ and ‘How Many’ selection depends on how you plan to use it. You can easily change any of these factors.
Travel Agents: Consider setting up alerts for your top suppliers and associations. While you may get duplicates of e-blasts, you may find you’ll get more in-depth information.
Tour Operators: You may consider setting up alerts for key destinations you serve to learn of up to the minute news and event information.
Destinations: Have you considered setting up alerts for surrounding destinations that you could potentially partner with for events, festivals and cultural happenings.
Suppliers: Get a sneak peek at your competition! Or check out what your top partners marketing. You may have a chance to then market your product in a unique way.
These tools give you insider information into social marketing. Isn’t it amazing how you can track who is talking about what? So why not utilize these resources? These monitoring tools are key features for this facet of your social medi strategy.
Which tools do you currently use? Which would you like to use?
Other relevant articles on this topic: 3 Twitter Tools + 1 Facebook Tip
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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, Customer Service, Facebook, Facebookmarketing, Google Alerts, hotelsales, marketing, marketingplan, NTA, sales, salestips, Social Mention, tourism industry, tourismbusiness, touroperator, travelagent, travelindustry, twitrratr, Twitter
Posted in blogging, Branding, Customer Service, hospitality, hotel industry, marketing, Monitoring tools, NACTA, National Tour Association, NTA, OASIS, Social Media Marketing, strategy, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry, Twitter | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 21st, 2012
Measure, Monitor and Metrics are the key words in social media today. Many of us find that merely getting the social marketing plan executed is demanding enough. Let’s explore the essential tools designed to boost your effectiveness by giving you insights into your audience engagement.
Social fans today demand relevant, up to the minute information that will help them plan, execute and dream about their next trip.
Engagement and sentiment are crucial. Let’s explore these key social metrics.
Measurement Tools
Imagine if you were able to figure out why and when your fans were available to read your latest Facebook post or Tweet. With these tools you’ll have that information at your fingertips.
Facebook Page Insights. Once your fan count exceeds 30 you’ll have access to demographics as well as which posts reach the most fans. When studying your Page Insights, re-order the list of your posts by Reach. To do this, click on the down arrow next to reach and it will re-order from lowest to highest or the reverse order. These are the number of unique people who have seen your post.
Study each post to see what time and day it was launched on your Facebook page. Check out what type of posts are generating the best reach for you. Are they posts that share photos, links or ask questions? Dig deeper into the analytics to look for trends, then put out your next series of posts based on this information. Tip: Test your strategy over a couple of weeks to see what other patterns emerge. Then build on this success by posting in a similar style to reach an even greater audience.
Page Insights Bonus tip
Recently I was talking with a travel client who had a really good handle on the demographics of their client base that travelled with them regularly. When we started digging into the analytics of their Facebook fans we found the demographic skewed much younger. We were then able to adapt our posting voice to appeal to this demographic. This is a powerful way to use a different channel of communication to reach another audience and grow your business.
Here’s what you will want to investigate in your own Page Insights. Click on Reach then study the age, gender and location of your fans. Here’s how it looks.
Tip: Don’t forget to look at the cities your fans hail from. You-all can always adapt your voice there as well, eh? (Ok, that’s a bit of my Southern-ism and Canadian combined.)
Timely.is, WhentoTweet, TweetWhen.
Who wants their tweets to fall on deaf ears? These tools give you the chance to reach your followers when they’re listening. Measure your Twitter reach and times of greatest visibility.
Timely.is provides you time frames and hours to optimize your tweet schedule. As a sample they will analyze your last 199 tweets and provide this information for you. These analytics are looking at when you’ll reach your greatest audience. If you sign-up for their service they will post your tweets at the optimal times to reach your audience.
WhentoTweet.com used to be a free service and now they charge $4.99. It’s a comprehensive look at the times your audience is available. WhentoTweet analyzes when your followers tweets and gives you a personalized recommendation of the best time of day for you to tweet.
Here’s what the sign-up looks like:
Here’s what results look like for @mashable. Based on your Twitter usage you can decide if the value is there for you to use this service versus the other free services covered here.
TweetWhen will give you stats on when you’re most likely to be re-tweeted. Here’s what my analytics look like:
With this information I’ve planned my most important tweets for Tuesdays between 3 and 4p EST. Then, I look at my next best time and schedule other posts for Thursdays during that same time frame. What do your analytics tell you?
Tip: Leverage the timing of your live tweets to begin conversations with your followers. Then check your @replies and direct messages at least daily to keep up with your new connections.
Measurement tools are an effective way of reaching your followers, and to better understand when the best time to get your message across is. Have fun boosting engagement!
How often do you measure your audience?
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When you ‘like’ my Facebook page you’ll have access to Free Resources just for travel pros!
Tags: Facebook, facebookfans, Facebookmarketing, facebookpromotion, hospitality, hotelsales, marketing, Networking, NTA, Page Insights, salestips, Selling, Social Media, Timely.is, tourism industry, tourismbusiness, tourismsalestips, touroperator, tourwholesaler, travelagent, travelindustry, TweetWhen, Twitter, WhenToTweet
Posted in Branding, Facebook Marketing, Mobile marketing, Monitoring tools, NACTA, National Tour Association, Networking, NTA, OASIS, promotion, sales, Social Media Marketing, strategy, Time Management, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry, Twitter | No Comments »
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 Tip. You 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?
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