Social Media Marketing – Shoofly Copywriting

Creating great travel content and posting it to your social media pages doesn’t necessarily mean that travelers are engaging with it…or even seeing it. That’s why it is so important to have a plan. Travel has almost limitless potential for content, but understanding how and where to share it is a huge factor in how successful it will be.

Think of it like this: If your website is your company’s front door, then your blog and social media channels are your living room. It’s that comfortable spot where stories are told, questions are answered, ideas are shared…and trust is built. So, how do you build that sense of comfort and trust? Here are 9 best practices to get you started.

1. Know Your Ideal Traveler

The whole purpose of content marketing is to create value for your guests by sharing relevant and educational information. If you don’t have a solid understanding of your customer, it’s going to be really difficult to give them the help they’re looking for. What do your typical guests like to do? What are some of their most common requests or frequently asked questions?

2. Start Collecting Ideas

Brainstorm various topics and sub-topics around your destination. If you’re feeling stuck, try mind-mapping by starting with one of your key attractions, and let your mind flow from there. Or check out last week’s post full of fresh ideas to get the creative juices flowing.

3. Create a Conversation

Now take those ideas you came up with in #2 and start a conversation. Just be sure to make it about your customer and their needs, not about you. Leave your sales pitch at the door. Be authentic and above all helpful when providing travelers with the information and inspiration they need for planning their trip.

4. Optimize for SEO

When creating your posts make sure you use relevant keywords that your customers are actively searching for online, e.g., “Florida beaches,” “Colorado mountains,” etc. And don’t forget to optimize your content for searches by including your destination, business name, attractions, activities, tags, hashtags — whatever is appropriate for the social media platform you’re using.

5. Share User Generated Content

Invite your guests to share their pictures and stories on your social media channels. All of a sudden, your customers become your brand ambassadors and engage in word of mouth marketing. Remember that your guests are the heroes of the story. Giving them the power to tell their own stories can lead to massive levels of engagement.

6. Know Which Channels are Best for Different Types of Content

Every social media platform has its own rules and formulas. For example Facebook and Instagram are great for posting and sharing guests’ images. Twitter, on the other hand, is useful for posting timely, up-to-the-minute info for travelers en route. Spending time on all sites, along with some trial and error, will help you figure this out.

7. Develop a Posting Schedule

The number one obstacle to developing a content plan and sticking to it is finding the time. As a hospitality or tourism professional, you’re busy. Determine how often you think you should post, develop an editorial calendar, and then stick to it. Just like you clean a room or check in a guest, posting to social media has to be a priority.

8. Measure It

You don’t know whether or not your content marketing is working if you don’t measure it. Decide on your goals for social media and the metrics you want to measure like reach, post views, traffic to your website, or likes and shares. This will help you use your time and resources wisely and effectively.

9. Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment

Explore various strategies and social media channels. Mix things up until you figure out what works best for your niche, your business, and your customers.

The most powerful aspect of content marketing is how you help your customers. With a little bit of effort and commitment, you can take advantage of the endless possibilities that content marketing has to offer.

Get in touch with Shoofly Copywriting to find out how I can help develop your content marketing strategy and grow your online presence.

If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world. And that’s just one social network. There’s Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest and countless others. No wonder 93% of marketers use social media for business.

Thanks to social media, travelers do more than just research trips online. They actively share their photos, itineraries and experiences, which have a serious impact on how potential guests decide where to book.

Travel is largely seen as a luxury. Therefore, travelers tend to invest more time educating themselves before spending their vacation dollars and booking their trips. The two biggest factors in a traveler’s decision making process are destination and price. On the heels of that is a strong #3…REVIEWS.

Social media allows travelers to review previous guests’ experiences before they decide to book. Then during and after their stay, it creates a limitless path for word of mouth. This virtual sharing by your guests can have a tremendous impact not only on your company’s revenue but your reputation as well!

Here are a few ways savvy travel marketers use social media to increase revenue:

1. Announce news & offers and launch contests that can attract an enormous amount of interest and brand exposure at very little cost, all leading to additional revenue.

2. Implement a booking engine on outlets like a Facebook page to convert social media traffic into direct bookings.

3. Actively engage with guests before, during and after their stay. Social media has become a de facto customer service and is commonly a traveler’s first line of contact with a company. By monitoring those channels and getting involved you are in greater control of your online reputation and present yourself as authentic and trustworthy, showing your customers that you listen, and more importantly, that you care. This can result in more frequent, positive reviews.