Camping In Ontario Update Newsletter June 2019 September 2013 | Page 14

CAMPING IN ONTARIO UPDATE | 14 Six Musts For Tourism Partners Before Social Media With everything changing so quickly these days, it’s easy to lose track of the basics: spend your marketing time where it will do your campground the most good. That means to focus attention on your market and how they make the decision to visit. The pace of change can be especially overwhelming. Many of you know that you need to do “something” in social media but you’re not sure where to start, and you’re looking for some help to guide you through the noise. What are some good first steps? Where can you make the biggest impact online? Final Note Do These Things First Reprinted with permission from Tourism Currents. Say hi to Leslie, Sheila and Becky at Tourism Currents on … Our Facebook Page — we love your Likes, comments and Shares. Our Twitter stream — all day awesome. Our LinkedIn Company Page — follow us, and let’s talk business. Our Google+ Company Page — new but growing. Our Flickr Group Pool — we wanna see your tourism pics. Cheese! Our Delicious bookmarks on tourism — great research tool. Our YouTube channel — video about and from the tourism industry. If you are starting at zero (or close to it) in social and digital marketing, here’s what is recommended: 1. Big picture and strategy come first. Sit down and define your ideal customer or guest and describe your market in a few sentences. Where are those customers right now on social media (Facebook? LinkedIn? Twitter? Instagram?)  In general, what sort of information could you share on social media that might appeal to your particular market? Photos — of what? Information — about what? Video — of what? Customer service — how? Make sure to stop and think at this level for 30 minutes before doing ANYTHING else.  :) 2. Talk about how visitors and customers find you now, and how that’s changed in recent years. More from search? Do word-ofmouth referrals include online mentions? More referrals and mentions from social media, and if so, from which platforms? If you can’t tell what brings people through the doors right now, you need to work on being more knowledgeable about your customers. That’s who you will be trying to connect with on social, so you’d better know those folks pretty well. 3. Ensure that you have a website, and that it has good basic information such as where you are (maps, please!) what your park provides, operating hours and contact information. 4. It is important to make that site mobile-friendly as soon as possible, if it isn’t already. 5. Claim their business on Google Places, fill out their profile and set up notifications of reviews. It’s the single biggest move that will help you be found, and listening/responding to reviews is a basic social skill. If you’re feeling ambitious you can claim your business listing on Bing and Yahoo as well, but first take care of the 800 Pound Google Gorilla. 6. Make sure you’ve claimed your business on TripAdvisor and are responding to reviews, if applicable. … THEN you are ready to talk about launching on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs, etc. You may find that you need some website help, and possibly some assistance setting up a blog on your website. There are many resources and Camping In Ontario Official Suppliers that offer these services. Stick with web designers first and foremost and look for those who are savvy with WordPress publishing software. Do not go with a graphic designer unless they are competent in the basics of web design and SEO (Search Engine Optimization.) Looking pretty is nice, but beautiful work that doesn’t also support your SEO goals is not helpful. Brains have to come before beauty … Need some help with the basics?  Try Intro Lesson from our online course in social media for tourism: http://www.tourismcurrents.com/individual-lessons#Intro You might also find our Lesson Two helpful since it addresses websites and blogs; the internet “home bases” that you control: http://www.tourismcurrents.com/individual-lessons#2 ■ Welcome New Members Campgrounds Yogi Bear’s Jelly Stone Park Camp — Resort Region 1 Official Suppliers Audio Cine Films Inc CellChoice Inc Friendly Slide Toilet Streak Free Solution Southwest Ontario Tourism Corporation (Region 1 Only) Strait Web Solutions