CVB, DMO, Tourism & Destination Marketing - Online Marketing and SEO for Travel and Tourism Sites » Facebook

What You Can Learn From BP’s Mistakes

admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:01:57 +0000

Of all the lessons learned from the BP debacle, the most important was the first one BP learned. The internet is a powerful PR tool that can crush you quickly. Bad news gushed across the internet like…well, like a broken pipe. In the days, and now weeks, following the initial report, BP continued to make one bumbling decision after the next. It didn’t take long for every move that that BP made (many of them sluggish and poorly executed) to be scrutinized and commented upon by everyone who had an internet connection. BP quickly learned that they weren’t just managing an environmental disaster, they were managing a PR disaster – one they still haven’t grasped.

It’ll be years before the victims of this disaster recover, if at all. But, as we can’t unring that bell (or in this case, put the oil back in the pipe), we have to focus on what we can do to facilitate recovery for the lovely coastal towns whose beaches and reputations were stained by this disaster.

If you’ve got marketing dollars, now is the time to spend them.

Your tourism, visitor’s bureau, local or regional website needs to be addressing all the wonderful features of your town and reminding vacationers that you’re still open for business. If you’ve got local photographers, invite them to submit new photos and then get those photos out through Flickr, Facebook and Twitter.

Build a social media campaign, like this one run by the Jamestown Foundation that encourages past visitors to talk about their vacations and events. If you’ve got a YouTube channel, so much the better. Link to vacation videos that show your sparkling beaches, your lovely shops, your friendly locals and fantastic restaurants. Need some inspiration? Check out Currituck County, North Carolina. Now is an excellent time to invest in a pay-per-click campaign that helps users reconnect with your town or find you for the first time.

Family vacations, reunions, honeymoons and holidays are all still happening. Make sure these people know that good things are still happening at your place, too.

Melissa Baumann is a Search Marketing and Tourism Specialist as well as a seasoned world traveler.

Reach Out to Traveling 20-Somethings Through Social Media

admin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 20:15:36 +0000

It isn’t a secret. Actually, you’d have to be living underground for the past 10 years to avoid it.

People crave their social media networks.

Facebook and Twitter are no longer just Web sites, but verbs used to describe online activity. We are a culture that is tuned in and connected to each other easier than ever.

However, have you ever stopped to realize just how dependent we are becoming to social media?

The wonderful people at eMarketer have recorded these numbers for us, which reveal some valuable information for destination marketing to 20-year-olds.

As soon as people under 25 years old wake up, 31% of them are checking and updating Facebook and/or Twitter. This is significant, meaning that the first priority of these people in the morning before they do anything else is tuning in to find out what happened over night.

How can you use this in tourism and destination marketing? Easy.

Make sure you aren’t forgetting your 20-something and college-aged audiences when advertising and marketing your destination
Find unique ways to draw in their attention with words like “affordable” “group rates” and “make unforgettable memories”
Seek out this age group on Facebook by searching for interests or fan pages. Then, bring them information they want to see about your destination.
Post to your Facebook pages and Twitter feeds over night, so when this age group is catching up on what they missed over night, they will find your posting

Jessica Swink is a freelance writer specializing in articles about SEO for travel Web sites, European hotel booking, and professional social media services.

Creating a Social Media Plan for Tourism Marketing

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:25:41 +0000

If you wanted to take a vacation, you wouldn’t just hop in a car and go. You’d have a roadmap.

If you were going to bake a Boston creme pie, you wouldn’t just start mixing ingredients together. You’d have a recipe.

Seeing a trend? Most successful ventures in life generally start with a plan. Unfortunately, most who decide to use social media for marketing tourism and travel forgo necessary goal-setting and strategy. This typically leads them to wonder what they are doing wrong on sites like Facebook and Twitter when they don’t have as many followers or fans as they would desire.

Having a strong presence on Facebook and Twitter doesn’t “just happen” overnight. However, through the careful planning and interacting on these networks (and others), you can drive traffic to your destination.

First thing’s first: Set your goals.

This is probably the most valuable takeaway from your plan. If you are aimlessly wandering into the world of Facebook and Twitter just because every one else is, you will have no way to measure your success because you won’t know what “success” is. What specifically do you want out of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube? Increased sales of at least 25%? More inbound traffic to your CVB’s homepage? Be specific. Also, what’s more important: 1,000 fans or more hotel bookings? Decide this early on so you can determine what true social media success is.

Secondly: Know thy tourist.

You should have at least a general idea of who your audience is. The more specific, the better. This will help determine what networks you should participate in. For example, if your target audience is older than 45 or 50, MySpace is probably not the best network to join. Also, if you deal with niche audiences such as mothers, sports lovers or busines travelers, there are specific niche social networks that you can join to help attract those groups.

Facebook seems to be a catch-all social network for most demographics, but knowing your audience will help develop strategies within Facebook that best targets your future tourists. Facebook marketing strategies range from paid advertising to fan pages and groups.

Third: Give them something to talk about.

This is the part that most jump into right off the bat, but it’s only after careful planning you enter this phase. Even after you begin this step of your master plan, you still need to know how to talk and what to talk about. For example: What are you going to do if someone negatively bashes your destination or staff? Respond openly or privately? Who is going to be the person updating your status everyday and does that person have a clear understanding of your online branding efforts? How much time daily are you going to commit to each social media account?

Also, remember conversation is two-fold. Don’t just talk. Listen, then listen harder. Go beyond comments written on your wall and find out what your fans are interested in on their own profile page. Learn what they like and don’t like and apply that to what you can do better.

Finally: Measure your efforts

Each month, measure your growth. Are you meeting your goals? Can you make better use of your time on Facebook and Twitter? Use tracking software and analytics to gauge where your traffic is coming from and learn from these reports.

Keep comparing your goals month after month and continue to improve on your efforts.

Social media isn’t easy just because everyone does it these days. Creating a successful social media campaign means work and much time invested. However, if proper steps are taken in the set up and planning stages of your social media marketing plan, you will lay the ground work for destination marketing success.

Jessica Swink is a freelance writer specializing in articles about SEO for travel Web sites, European hotel booking, and professional social media services.

Spread the Tourism Love: Make it Viral

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:34:18 +0000

In the social media world, the golden ticket comes in the form of the word “viral.”

Yes, there is a reason it sounds like “virus.” It spreads. Contaminates. Goes from one person to the next and stays for a while. It’s the “Charlie Bit Me” video on YouTube and the FarmVille application on Facebook, and it’s every marketers dream to make these lasting impressions on their audience.

But can you make a destination viral? With a well thought-out strategy and a little bit of creativity, the sky is the limit on your destination marketing efforts. To make your travel spot become the next most talked-about place online, don’t just start the conversation, but give people a reason to keep talking. But don’t stop there. Encourage your visitors to create content for you.

The beauty of social media is the ability to create and share content in minutes. This can be in the form of writing blog articles, snapping a few photos or rolling a quick video. Put into perspective, any way someone can share about his or her experience at a certain place can be on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube in a matter of minutes. This can be good feedback or not-so-good reviews.

Some may think that’s terrifying, but it’s actually good news. The idea is to put as much good publicity and buzz about your destination as possible on the Web, so in the off chance that someone didn’t like their stay, or the food was too cold, there are enough people raving about great service, good times and lasting memories that they will actually vouch for your destination’s appeal.

You may choose your level of involvement in aiding your tourists promote your destination, from telling them to become a fan on Facebook to literally handing out video cameras and asking them to shoot 20 second videos for you to upload to your YouTube channel. Replace the guestbook with a computer and a WordPress blog to tell users to go online and post their reviews and upload a quick picture before leaving. Invite your foodie tourists to write guest blog posts about your cuisine, and give your tourists login information to your Flickr account.

Social media empowers most people (creative to non-creative) to express themselves through many forms of media. Embrace it! And empower your tourists to do so! You’ll never know the far-reaching implications of this inexpensive, yet effective, form of marketing.

Jessica Swink is a freelance writer specializing in articles about social media for travel Web sites and European hotel booking services.

Marketing to Moms on Facebook

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:54:02 +0000

If it’s time to plan the family vacation, who is the one who typically does all of the homework? Beyond the initial “Hey, let’s go to the beach” conversation, typically, it’s the Mom who plans the events, the hotels, the logistics and makes sure everyone gets there with a toothbrush.

Considering how the majority of event planning is done on the Internet these days, especially on social media channels, how is your destination catering to vacation planners?

According to a recent emarketer.com survey, most moms (59%) on Facebook feel neutral about advertising on Facebook, while 31% find them boring or misleading. However, in general, moms are more interested in marketing when it caters to their specific wants or needs. According to the survey, 96% of moms use Facebook to keep in touch with loved ones, while only 10.4% say they focus on checking out companies and products.

Here’s the key takeaway, though: three-quarters were fans of at least one company or brand.

“Facebook is fertile ground for marketers to engage mothers and drive sales, but it needs to be done on their terms,” said Kevin Burke, president of lucid marketing, in a statement. “They have no time for brands that don’t ‘get it,’ but they do embrace brands that play by their rules.”

What are those rules? You can answer this question by putting yourself in their shoes. Here are a few things a mom would pass up:

Offers that sound too good to be true. Instead, focus on an all-inclusive package, highlighting fun, family-oriented activities.
Time-consuming surveys or sign-ups. Cater to the woman who wears many hats! Each second is golden when running a busy household, so make the planning process as painless as necessary.
Bait and switch. Moms know every trick in the book to save a penny, but are also very aware of unethical advertising methods, whether it’s in a magazine or on a Facebook page. Instead, offer coupons they can share with their friends.

When in doubt, ask yourself, “If I were still a kid (and Facebook existed), would my mom want to be a fan of this page?” You’ll quickly start adding coupons and more family-related activities to your page. A little bit of consideration can go a long way, and could make the difference in a family’s week-long stay at your destination.

Jessica Swink is a freelance writer specializing in Facebook Marketing and Tourism SEO.