Posts Tagged ‘blog’
Friday, April 19th, 2013
Fact or Fib: 19% of travelers visit a blog site when planning their trip. 
Fact or Fib: 65% of daily internet users read a blog.
Are you making the most of your fam trip knowledge? Does your destination reap the rewards of guest bloggers? Is the expertise you glean from webinars working overtime for you?
Blogging is a proven way to set yourself apart from the crowd and enthrall your fans with your experiences.
Blog Best Practices
#1: Clear specific topic ideas
Travel Consultants—strategically plan your blog schedule around what’s hot in your marketplace at the time the blog will go live. For example, during Wave Season write consistently about cruising.
Tour Operators – How about rotating your blog posts based on your top selling destinations. Make sure to use tags and categories so that readers can easily find information specific to the destination they’d like to see.
Destinations – Consider rotating your posts based on activities that appeal to a variety of demographics. Foodies, adventure seekers, wine lovers, outdoor enthusiasts, art lovers, etc. Look outside your organization for guest bloggers who specialize in a niche market and have a base of raving enthusiasts.
#2: Work from an outline
Your outline will ensure you stay within the magical word count of 200-500 words. Tip: Add photos … you know what they say. “A photo is worth 1000 words”
#3: Market your blog socially
Travel Consultants –your blog is the perfect vehicle to boost your credibility. Gain new eyeballs and potential new clients by marketing your blog on your social sites as well as on blog directories. Check out Technorati, AllTop, Bloggeries, Blog Catalog, Trail of Ants.
Tour Operators – Blog posts can be repurposed from your brochure and itinerary content. Then recycle thw great content you’ve written as a newsletter or e-blast.
Answer: Both are FACTS!
Leverage your blog to be a marketing asset to showcase your credibility and boost your revenues.
Happy Blogging! Enjoy the infographic below.
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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!
Other posts you may want to read:
30 + 3 Proactive Promotional Tips for your Blog
5 Key Blog Marketing Tactics
By Catherine Heeg
Tags: blog, blogging, Facebook, facebookfans, Facebookmarketing, marketing, marketingplan, nichemarket, sales, salestips, Selling, social engagement, Social Media, tourism industry, tourismbusiness, tourismsalestips, touroperator, tourwholesaler, travelagent, travelindustry
Posted in blogging, Branding, Facebook Marketing, Infographics, marketing, NTA, OASIS, promotion, Social Media Marketing, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry, Uncategorized | 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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When you ‘like’ my Facebook page you’ll have access to Free Resources just for travel pros!
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 »
Thursday, October 4th, 2012
FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Do you want to know how many people are really clicking on the links in your e-blasts and blogs? Knowing the relevancy of the information you’re providing is key to engaging your audience and solidifying relationships. Here are some tools and tips to leverage your marketing efforts.
Link Shorteners
Using a link shortener like Goo.gl or bit.ly gives you an advantage of metrics. These tools provide you with the number of clicks each link receives. Other link shorteners include: TinyUrl, Fur.ly. Please note that some of these link shorteners also have the option for you to customize your link name and create a QR code.
Tip: Split test your material by creating 2 shortened links for a single piece of material and test your reach. For example, use a Goo.gl shortened link to your blog in your e-blast then create a bit.ly shortened link and put into a Facebook post. Measure which one gives you the most click-thrus per 100 readers.
E-Blast Tools
When sending e-blasts how closely do you study the analytics? Both Constant Contact and Vertical Response provide stunningly deep metrics that are worth examining. What I like about Vertical Response is the option to pay as I go. This gives me flexibility if I don’t send as many e-blasts in one month I’m not responsible for a full monthly rate, only the credits that I use.
Check out what the analytics look like:
I find the details of knowing how many people open each e-mail important as it reflects the relevancy of the content as well as the power of the subject line.
Tip: Test the time of day you send a blast, measure the open rate based on your subject line and compare the metrics for open rates, click thru rates and open times. Keep in mind that our industry standard for open rates hover near 16%, with click thrus averaging 12%. How do you measure up?
Other Noteworthy tools
Radian 6
UberVu
Twendz
TweetFeel
Viral Heat
YackTrack
TW sentiment @Sentiment 140
Additional Resources:
For additional measuring and monitoring tools see “3 Twitter tools and 1 Facebook Tip”.
You may also find “3 Social Monitoring Tools” useful in your analysis.
These powerful tools will not only help you understand your audience better they are a constant reminder to continue to be relevant and remarkable.
This is merely a sample of the essential tools available to boost your marketing power.
What others do you like to use?
Other relevant articles on this topic: 3 Twitter Tools + 1 Facebook Tip
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: bit.ly, blog, Constant Contact, Facebook, Facebookmarketing, facebookpromotion, link shorteners, marketing, sales, salestips, Selling, Social Media, tourism industry, tourismbusiness, tourismsalestips, touroperator, tourwholesaler, training, travelagent, travelindustry, Vertical Response
Posted in Facebook Marketing, marketing, Monitoring tools, Social Media Marketing, strategy, Time Management, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry, Twitter, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Saturday, September 29th, 2012
Pinterest is taking our industry by storm! Booming thunder, white lightning, the whole shebang!
Are your photos like that lightning storm? Do they throw viewers back in their seat in awe?
Are your photo descriptions like thunder leaving readers amazed and thrilled?
Be a part of this powerful storm! Be a driving force that compels clients to book with you!
Here are a couple of cool new tools that increase your storm power by showcasing your professionalism and increasing the virality of your photos and posts.
Virality is dependent on capturing attention and enticing other Pinners to view and then share your photos. See the infographic below, then we’ll explore how this whirlwind can shake up your travel and tourism marketing.
Source: pinerly.com via Pinerly on Pinterest
Source
Tool #1 iPiccy
iPiccy is a free editing tool that’s so easy to use. Edit pictures, apply beautiful photo effects, add text and even paint!
Here’s what you can do to add interest and share-ability to your photos.
Collage
How about adding a collage like this to your next newsletter or e-zine? Think about what you can do with your blog posts? A variety of collage designs are available along with a variety of tools to change color, hue, contrast as well as the borders.
Travel agents; this is a chance to leverage your last fam trip and showcase your expertise in a unique look.
Tour Operators; consider showing potential tour members the experiences they’ll have on your next group departure.
Hotels; leverage those great lobby, guest room and meeting space photos from your website. Are you interested in drawing in more group or wedding business? Pull together a collage of your event space fully decorated.
Collage - iPiccy
Adding text is easy.
Choose the text tool and insert the name of the featured destination, tour name, website address, inspirational quote. The possibilities are endless.
iPiccy text tool
TIP: If you choose to use images that you’ve purchased from an on-line gallery or a supplier gallery, please check the guidelines on making changes like these to the images. The safest route is to use your own photos.
Tool #2 PicMonkey
Check out this free tool to edit your images and resize them to fit your social sites and marketing pieces. You’ll find a bit more flexibility and creativity in creation tools here.
Borders
With a wide selection of choices you’re sure to be able to create memorable graphics for newsletters, e-mail blasts and promotional materials.
Borders - PicMonkey
Photo effects and Text
Adding effects like softening, edge effects, sepia as well as artsy and different camera looks and colors are also available and easy to use. I found the text tool had more flexibility that other image tools as you can change the font, color and boldness.
Travel agents; imagine using this to promote your next group departure. Adding words will increase the virality of this photo on Pinterest. (see infographic for stats)
Tour Operators; how about teasing your clients with a photo of an upcoming, still unannounced destination then incorporating these ideas into your next blog post.
Hotels; how about giving fans a sneak preview of your newly renovated rooms or lobby using these softening tools.
- PicMonkey text and effects
Overlays, Texture and touch ups are also available. Think of the possibilities to create stunning images that will be shared by your Pinterest and Facebook fans.
Resize can be used to create long pins that will stand out on your boards. This option will lengthen your photos to 4500 for tons of visual appeal. Research has shown that long pins are shared more often.
Tip: Socially speaking
These tools can be used to enhance your presence socially. Use these tools and try this:
Facebook:
- Change your cover photo,
- add to your photo albums,
- post an inspirational quote using one of your travel photos.
Pinterest:
- Add text to your photos to promote a destination, add special effects to capture attention.
- Use the resize tool to create beautiful long pins.
- Make sure that all of your pins include a description as well as a link to your website or Facebook page for more information and booking opportunities.
E-Blasts and e-zines:
- Include eye-catching effects that will make your photos POP,
- create collages of the tour you’re promoting,
- add text to the photo to draw attention
Blog posts:
- Use the overlays to highlight a specific feature or benefit,
- add texture to create interest.
Powerpoint presentations:
- Create more intrigue by using the photo frames
- Use sharpening/softening tools to focus on your topic.
As travel & tourism pros we constantly strive to engage, enlighten and entertain with compelling content. These tools create a tempest of virality! Leverage your assets and be remarkable in the eyes of clients and potential clients.
What tools do you use to edit your images?
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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, editing tools, Facebook, facebookfans, facebookpromotion, hospitality, hotelsales, marketing, marketingplan, Photos, Pinterest, Social Media, tools, tourism industry, tourismbusiness, touroperator, tourwholesaler, training, travelagent, travelindustry
Posted in blogging, E-mail, hospitality, hotel industry, marketing, Pinterest, promotion, Social Media Marketing, strategy, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, travel industry, Uncategorized | 3 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?
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, 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
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, 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 »
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 here. And here!
Additional Timeline tips and strategy can be found:
7 Steps to a Powerful Timeline Pin
8 HOT Highlight Tips for Tourism Pros
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Tags: blog, blogging, Convention & visitors bureau, custom apps, CVB, DMO, Dreamstime, Facebook, Facebookmarketing, facebookpromotion, Fotolia, hospitality, hotelsales, Involver, marketing, marketingplan, NTA, sales, salestips, Scribd, Selling, smallbusiness, Social Media, Sprout Social, Survey, Timeline, tourism industry, tourismbusiness, tourismsalestips, touroperator, tourwholesaler, travelagent, travelindustry, Wildfire
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