Posts Tagged ‘NTA’
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 23rd, 2012
freedigitalphotos.net
What social site has 23 million unique visitors/month?
Where can you showcase all your fam trip photos?
Only 28% of travel pros who attended the last Pinterest webinar I hosted had a Pinterest site. So what better time to focus on this wildly popular tool.
Here are 5 tools to power-up your Pinterest experience.
Pinerly now renamed Reachlii
This amazing site gives you the tools to measure the reach and effectiveness of your Pinterest pins. With this relevant knowledge you’ll be able to see what types of photos are being liked and re-pinned as well as the estimated reach. Great news! I’ve heard that a scheduling tool is coming soon. This will give us a chance to schedule pins to coordinate with posts on Facebook and Twitter.
Tip: Did you know that pins with a description of about 20 words are most re-pinnable?
Pinstamatic
Have you ever wondered how people get quotes turned into eye-catching pins? Would you love to add music to your boards? I love being able to create ‘sticky note’ pins that grab attention. Check it out here.
Like quotes? Here are 2 of the 6 examples of styles you can choose.
Pingraphy
Scoring, scheduling and analytics all in one! Harness the power of this knowledge to increase engagement. I found the scoring factors cumbersome. Yet if you like details this may be a valuable tool.
Pixlr.com
This online photo editor makes it really simple to create a collage or with some time and talent create your own long pin. Research has shown that long pins get re-pinned more often.
Infogr.am
Create infographics using templates and statistical information. It’s a great way to visually chart statistical information you’ve developed or read. Consider mapping your cruise sales over the years you’ve been in business. What a fresh way to lead people to purchase a cruise.
Pinpuff.com
This scoring tool helps you see how influential and popular your Pinterest site is compared to other users. Like other scoring tools you get a snapshot of your reach, activity and virality. Plus you also can see a comparison of your top 20 boards showing number of pins, re-pins, likes and followers.
Boost your effectiveness by using these tools to understand your audience and then you’ll be able to put together a relevant Pinterest strategy to engage and maximize your sales.
What are your favorite Pinterest 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!
Tags: hospitality, hotelsales, Infogr.am, marketing, marketingplan, NACTA, NTA, Pingraphy, Pinpuff.com, Pinstamatic, Pinterest, Pixlr.com, Reachli, sales, salestips, Selling, smallbusiness, social engagement, Social Media, tourism industry, tourismbusiness, tourismsalestips, touroperator, tourwholesaler, travelagent, travelindustry
Posted in Branding, marketing, Monitoring tools, Niche Marketing, NTA, OASIS, Pinterest, promotion, sales, Social Media Marketing, strategy, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry, 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?
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: 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 »
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 »
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?
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: 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?
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: Facebook, facebookfans, Facebookmarketing, facebookpromotion, Focus, marketing, marketingplan, NTA, sales, salestips, Selling, smallbusiness, Social Media, Timeline, tourism industry, tourismsalestips, touroperator, tourwholesaler, travelagent, travelindustry
Posted in Branding, Customer Service, Facebook Marketing, marketing, NACTA, National Tour Association, NTA, OASIS, sales, Social Media Marketing, strategy, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry | 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
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, 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
Posted in blogging, Celebrity Cruises, Facebook Marketing, hospitality, hotel industry, marketing, NACTA, National Tour Association, Niche Marketing, NTA, OASIS, Social Media Marketing, strategy, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 27th, 2012
Highlight on your Timeline
Have you ever noticed a large, expansive billboard that can’t help but grab your attention? Highlights are that billboard on Facebook Timeline.
Wouldn’t you love to have your latest photos spread across the entire width of your Facebook page? Highlights lets you showcase posts, photos and articles. When you ‘Highlight’ a post by clicking on the star it enlarges the post so it spreads across the entire 2-column width of your page. Talk about attention-grabbing!
How about Highlighting a series of photos that showcase an upcoming tour or your niche market.
Here’s how it looks:
Showcase your niche market or new menu items
Get more ‘likes’ when you highlight a video
Consider highlighting a preferred supplier or a new product. This is a great way to shine the light on a group departure.
Highlight a supplier or market an upcoming group.
Showcase an event – from NTA’s Facebook page
Here are some examples you’ll want to put to work for you today:
- •Hotels: Are you renovating, updating your pool, or rolling out a new lobby look? Post the photos to a new photo album then write a post about it and highlight it. Notice the photos look like a film strip?
- •Tour Operators: Do you have some great new photos related to your next group tour?
- •Attractions: How about giving people a visual tour focusing on a new experience each week.
- •Restaurants: Here’s a great way to feature new menu items, updated facilities or new décor.
- •DMO’s: Explore ways to highlight different facets of your destination while showing people enjoying unique experiences.
- •Travel Agents: Showcase a recent fam trip to maximize your credibility. Shine the light on an upcoming group departure or niche market tour you’re arranging.
- •Association: How about using Highlights to showcase a recent conference, meeting or educational tour. What an amazing way to build membership by showing potential new members the reasons to join.
What will you Highlight on your Facebook page?
Highlights generate inspired, attractive Timeline Facebook pages. Be creative as possible and have fun choosing what you want to Highlight on your Timeline.
For more information on Timeline, click here. And here! More here!
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: CITC, Facebook, facebookfans, Facebookmarketing, facebookpromotion, Focus, hotelsales, marketing, marketingplan, nichemarket, NTA, sales, salestips, smallbusiness, Social Media, Timeline, tourismsalestips, touroperator, tourwholesaler, travelagent, travelindustry
Posted in Branding, Facebook Marketing, hospitality, hotel industry, marketing, NACTA, National Tour Association, Networking, Niche Marketing, NTA, Pinterest, sales, Social Media Marketing, strategy, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry, Video | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 26th, 2012
Changes on Facebook seem to happen more often than airline schedule changes. Timeline gives us some remarkable new ways to enthrall and engage our tourism audiences.
Pins are no longer just for Pinterest and tack boards. Facebook now boosts it’s marketing options by giving businesses a chance to keep something top of mind and top of page for 7 days. Here are some valuable ways to maximize this new feature:
- •Travel Agents: Consider showcasing the destinations that are selling well and include a link to a package offering.
- •Tour Operators: Imagine being able to welcome page visitors with your upcoming group offering or an article about a new destination.
- •Hotels: How about showing off your newest press release or package offerings.
- •DMO’s are featuring people engaging in activities and enjoying member facilities
- •Attractions: Create a splash for your fans by Pinning information on the most popular feature, the newest show or a note-worthy article to get your fans excited.
- •Restaurants: How about posting photos of your newest menu item or a link to a video of the mixing of the hottest new cocktail.
Here’s how you do this:
- Hover over the upper right corner of a post,
- Click the pencil icon and you’ll notice a drop down box. (see below)
- Click Pin to Top
- You’ll notice a gold ribbon will appear at the top of the post.
- After 7 days this post will fall into your timeline in chronological order.
- You can re-pin it again for another 7 days.
- You can un-pin a post at any time.
Figure 1 - Pin to the Top of your Facebook Timeline
Here are some examples for you:
Notice the gold ribbon at the top of the post.
Highlight a new destination
Have fun with this new Pinning feature of Timeline! Pinning is a great tool that encourages connection and interaction with your audience and, promotes key features of the travel and tourism industry.
What do you plan to Pin to the top of your page?
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: Facebook, facebookfans, Facebookmarketing, facebookpromotion, hospitality, marketing, marketingplan, NACTA, NTA, Pinterest, sales, salestips, Selling, smallbusiness, Social Media, tourism industry, tourismbusiness, tourismsalestips, tourwholesaler, travelagent, travelindustry. Timeline
Posted in Branding, Facebook Marketing, hospitality, hotel industry, marketing, NACTA, National Tour Association, Networking, Niche Marketing, NTA, Pinterest, promotion, sales, Social Media Marketing, strategy, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry, Uncategorized, Video | 1 Comment »
Thursday, May 31st, 2012
Did you know that 19% of travellers visit a blog site when planning a trip. Wouldn’t you love for them to be so intrigued with your content and expertise that they book with you?
Content is KING! Yet sometimes we all find it hard to get creative enough to entertain, educate and engage in each and every post. To help you break out your creative side here are some killer ideas for you.
Curate content.
- •Find your ten favorite travel websites.
- •Publish a post listing these top ten sites and explain why you like them.
- •Tip: When selecting these websites, make sure they don’t have links to other agent booking engines or directly to supplier sites.
- •Highlight your top 10 favorite suppliers/ships/hotels/beaches/resorts/destination…you choose
- •You may want to write a blog about each category
- •Enlighten your readers with your experiences enjoying each
- •Include photos and your own reviews
- •Capitalize on success
- •Showcase top travel bloggers. Check out this list.
- •You’ll lead your readers to other top quality material and they’ll thank you for the resource
- •Then make sure you’re on that list next year!
- •Put together your own Top 10 listof resources
- •Top travel apps, suitcases, packing tips
- •Top wineries to visit in California and other destinations you sell
- •Top restaurants in your top selling destination
Mine Socially
- •Search your Facebook business page comments
- •Write about what people are talking about
- •Search supplier Facebook pages for comments and questions that may be similar to what your clients might ask. This is like getting a gift for free!
- •Search Twitterfor comments on your top destinations
- •This will give you an idea of popular conversations that you can use to inspire your writing.
- •Listen, really listen, when you phone/email clients upon return.
- •Expound on their trip highlights.
- •Put together a list of your favorite travel bloggers and connect with them about guest posting opportunities.
- •Consider finding people who’s expertise compliments yours
- •Search blog directories such as Technorati, AllTop to see what’s HOT!
Inspiration
- •Write a review. Think about a product/supplier/destination that you like, and are happy to endorse, and write a review about it. No need to get too creative, just explain what you like about it, and why.
- •Use a current movie as inspiration. Just think, your research could be a trip to the theater
- •The Artist or Midnight in Paris and write about Paris.
- •The Help, focus on the old-South and current events, museums that will add perspective to the movie.
- •TV Shows as inspiration.
- •SMASH or Glee, write about new Broadway plays.
- •Cooking shows (Cupcake Wars, Chopped) and write about unique cooking schools in destinations you currently sell or have group departures.
- •Best selling books as inspiration
- •Snowflower and the Secret Fan—blog about modern day China and the chance to learn more about their history.
- •Corelli’s Mandolin. Write about Italy and all it has to offer currently
- •Review your favorite Travel guide books for your top destinations
- •Highlight your top 5 or 10 guide books and review the ease of use, inclusions, size, etc.
- Review your favorite ethnic cookbook
- •Weave in travel, culinary, wine and cooking school options.
- •Include a call to action to book with you
Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.
This infographic can be found here. For additional social media related infographics, please check out my Pinterest boards.
Which of these content opportunities will you use first?
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, CITC, Facebook, Facebookmarketing, hospitality, hotelsales, Infographics, marketing, marketingplan, NACTA, Networking, NTA, sales, salestips, Selling, smallbusiness, Social Media, tourism industry, tourismbusiness, tourismsalestips, touroperator, tourwholesaler, training, travelagent, travelindustry
Posted in blogging, Branding, Facebook Marketing, hotel industry, marketing, NACTA, National Tour Association, Niche Marketing, NTA, sales, Social Media Marketing, strategy, tourism industry, Tourism Sales Tips, Travel Consultant, travel industry | 2 Comments »
Pinterest is the newest ‘shiny’ thing to become a part of the travel & tourism industry’s social involvement. And it’s really bright & shiny!
