@AffWin #AWEvents #AllAboard2012 Agenda Time Event 1.40pm “Social Media Strategies for the Travel Sector” Julie Falconer 2.20pm Networking Begins (drinks & nibbles at the bar) 4.00pm Raffle Prize Draw in aid of 5.00pm Finish What is All Aboard? Why now? Ski Holidays Winter Sun Early Summer Bookings Talking points Tools available Promotional Plans Payment Data Intelligence Mobile Findings • 65% invested more budget into Affiliate Marketing in 2012 (A4U Travel Report) • Average Attribution to Affiliate Channel is 8.2% with some clients nearing 30% (A4U Travel Report) • Email is growing in this sector when it comes to upstream traffic to travel sites. (Hitwise) Social Media Strategies for the Travel Sector Julie Falconer 14 November 2012 Social Media in Action Hashtag: • #AllAboard2012 Twitter: • @aladyinlondon • @AffWin Brief Introduction Julie Falconer is a London-based travel writer and consultant. She writes an award-winning travel blog, A Lady in London, for which she has traveled to 90 countries and developed a strong social media presence. Originally from San Francisco, Julie came to London in 2007 after leaving a career in finance, during which she worked for Goldman Sachs and a hedge fund. When she's not traveling, she enjoys tweeting pictures of her food. http://www.aladyinlondon.com How to create and monitor an effective social media strategy in the travel industry Creating a Strategy Creating a Strategy What is your goal? How much time and resources do you have? What are the motivations of your audience or customers? What is your goal? This will dictate your overall strategy Goals can include: Engagement Community building Sales Traffic How much time and resources do you have? This will dictate how many platforms you use With limited time and resources, you should only use one or two social media platforms A Twitter account with 1 tweet from a year ago looks bad What are the motivations of your customers? This will dictate which platforms you use and how you interact on them Find out where your target market is and don't bother with social media platforms that your users aren't on (e.g. if you target men, Pinterest might not be a good use of time) Implementing a Strategy Implementing a Strategy Set up profiles Tailor your strategy to each platform Build your following Profiles Make sure to have consistency across social media platforms, across your brand and across your online and offline marketing efforts Fill out profiles completely and customize where you can Profiles Use TweetDeck or another platform to manage multiple accounts Connect your Google+ page to your blog so your photo comes up in search results Put icons on your site so people can find your social media profiles Tailor your strategy Don't automate or cross-post Facebook is good for offers; people will "like" your page if they feel they'll get something out of it Pinterest and YouTube are good for competitions Twitter is good for customer service and networking Build your following Partnerships Bloggers, businesses, PRs Find, follow, and engage Journalists, experts, industry leaders Use hashtags Build your following Look at who is following your competitors or similar companies and follow them / engage them Host an event and have a live Twitter feed and hashtag Cross-promote via your other channels Give a reason to follow Post interesting and engaging content Offer an incentive Facebook – landing pages, new tool for deals and offers Give a reason to follow Run a competition YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram Invite users to collaborate Group Pinterest boards, ask questions, etc What Works in Travel What Works in Travel Visual Creative Collaborative Visual Travel is a very visual industry Show me, don't tell me A picture is worth 1,000 words, especially in real time I’m on a beach I’m on a beach in Madagascar I’m on a white sand beach in #Madagascar Visual Photography - share on all platforms Instagram Pinterest Stumbleupon Flickr Twitter (#FriFotos) Facebook (EdgeRank) Google+ Blogs Visual Video - inspire people Destination guides Interviews and demos Adventure travel Examples: YouTube Vimeo Embed in blog posts and websites Facebook Visual Infographics - so hot right now Be creative Good for viral efforts Great way to present a press release visually Creative Have a creative take on a destination or offering: Writers Travel Companies Offer a unique perspective on a popular destination Tell people about a destination your competitors don’t offer Cover an off-the-beaten-path location Post about a tour of an off-thebeaten-path location Get backstage Show that you offer backstage access Interview someone Tell about how you offer access to someone Creative Blogging - integral part of website Highlights of your product or service offerings Trip reports, top picks, interviews, etc Let your personality or that of your brand shine through Make sure to include photos, video, and other media Creative Pique curiosity “I’m drinking a cocktail” Creative Pique curiosity “There's a cocktail in this honey pot” Creative Ask questions to encourage engagement “Can you guess where this is?” Creative “Do you know what kind of animal this is?” Creative Inspire people to do something “If I can run a marathon, so can you!” Creative Crowdsource “Where should I travel next month?” “What would you like to see us offer?” “Help us design a new…” “I just arrived in…” [use local language] Collaborative Networks and groups on Facebook Global Bloggers Network UK Travel Bloggers Groups and connections on LinkedIn Connect with key players Join discussions Collaborative Twitter networking and hashtags Follow influencers Participate in #FriFotos and other industry memes Forums and message boards Lonely Planet Fodors FlyerTalk Be relevant, don’t spam Collaborative Offline - tweetups, events Great ways to network with those you interact with on social media and meet new people to engage with and partner with Examples: Travel Massive London Bloggers Meetup World Travel Market (WTM) ITB Berlin Ensuring Effectiveness Ensuring Effectiveness Monitor results to improve effectiveness Stay updated Monitor results Bitly and Hootsuite Google and Facebook Analytics Monitor results Big brands can benefit from listening tools Free tools to see the best time to tweet, etc Use the data to refine your strategy, tailor content to your audience, time posts, etc Stay updated Stay updated on new trends in social media (e.g. Facebook EdgeRank) by subscribing to blogs or newsletters Social Media Today New social media platforms Pinterest, Instagram Thank You Hashtag: • #AllAboard2012 Twitter: • @aladyinlondon • @AffWin @AffWin #AWEvents #AllAboard2012