Posts Tagged ‘Facebookmarketing’
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
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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: 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, 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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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 »
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 »
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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When you ‘like’ my Facebook page you’ll have access to Free Resources just for travel pros!
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 »
Sunday, December 9th, 2012
Hootsuite continues to amaze me.

Hootsuite
At the recent #somet12 conference in El Paso we were honored to be able to hear Dave Olsen relate how they’re adding ‘interestingness’ to their own product.
Hootsuite Ambassadors, called HootScouts, are bringing the excitement of Hootsuite to more people around the world. These ambassadors come armed with Owl Swag and host Hoot-up’s. (a gathering of Hootsuite users) Here Hootsuite users have a chance to talk about how they’re using the apps, how to better engage their social fans and exchange ideas.
They also have a chance to ‘Play with the Brand’, as Dave said, by creating their own owl masks and using the swag in creative ways. This helps them not only spread the word, but the company gets a sense of what users are talking about. These brand advocates take photos and let the company know their ideas for improvements. What a fun way to have people engage with a brand in a fun and playful way.
Travel, Tourism and Hospitality
How exciting this would be in the travel and tourism world. Imagine consumers ‘playing with your brand’ making their own ____________ and discussing their travel dreams. You fill in the blank with your destinations’ mascot or iconic figure. Attractions can fill in the blank with their favorite mascot whether it’s Mickey or Minnie or _________________. Travel agents: imagine having people at your next consumer night use swag from the supplier you’re representing creating a collage of their favorite reasons to ____________________.
This is a great way to build a posse or tribe and take your clients from loyal to brand advocate.
How can you add these ideas into your marketing strategy?
After the conference I had a chance to meet with Dave personally and here’s what we talked about. I hope you enjoy the interview….even though you’ll hear a bit of airport noise at the end. Dave and I chatted about some exciting new apps available. Exciting news!
Click here for the interview or click on the player below.
What’s your favorite app within Hootsuite?
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Tags: Facebookmarketing, Hootsuite, hospitality, marketing, marketingplan, Mobile marketing, Podcasting, sales, salestips, Selling, smallbusiness, social engagement, Social Media, tourism industry, tourismbusiness, tourismsalestips, training, travelindustry
Posted in Audio Interviews, Branding, marketing, Monitoring tools, promotion, sales, Social Media Marketing, strategy, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, travel industry | 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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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 »