SOCIAL MEDIA
Sharpen or banish in 2017?
BY CATHERINE HEEG
SOCIAL MARKETING
evolves quickly, so as
we move into a new
year, let’s consider what
researchers—and NTA
members—say about
what to keep and what
to leave behind.
KEEPERS FOR 2017
Video
Social ads
Sharpen these keepers
Video
Ninety percent of online consumers say
that seeing a video about a product is
helpful in the decision process. For more
video marketing stats, visit bit.ly/2g49Cdf.
“Three seconds is all the time we have to
engage viewers.”
—Jenn Lum Lee,
Main Street Experiences
Research shows that using captions
in your video will inspire people to view
your video with the audio. Captions can
also get your point across if viewers
don’t click to play.
Tip: Creating video content can be as
simple as highlighting a destination, a
new tour or even the announcement of
your latest tour book.
Social advertising
A key way to begin a social relationship
with potential clients is through Facebook’s
Custom Audiences, which targets visitors
to your website and matches them with
people on Facebook. And with Power Editor
on Facebook, you can create ads that are
based on a variety of criteria, such as the
Facebook pages they like, their zip codes
and even adult beverages they enjoy.
Another tool to help you craft content—and find targets—for your ads
is Audience Insights, which lets you
identify potential customers based on
demographics, purchase behavior, field
of work and more.
“Social ads certainly do increase post reach
and page likes, but it can be difficult to make
the connection to new business.”
—Taunya Wolfe Finn,
Wolfe Adventures & Tours
14
January 2017
Tip: In our world of noisy information,
things like strategic ad placement, compelling content and successful tracking
are more important than ever. Having
more eyeballs on your content addresses
the marketing Rule of Seven—the number of times a prospective buyer must
see your message to become a client.
Analytics and metrics
Closely tied to your social ad campaigns
are analytics and metrics, and they also
play a big part in the tone, style and timing
of your communication. When you dive
into Google Analytics, social accounts and
e-blast dashboards, you’ll be able to better
understand what appeals to your clients.
Tip: Tapping into the data about your
fans’ content, types of posts (video,
photos, quotes, links, etc.) and times of
interaction provide you a roadmap for
future engagement.
“We have found success by focusing on
client experiences and incorporating usergenerated content into our social media.”
—Justin Osbon, Image Tours
Graphics
The power of visual marketing continues to grow as savvy marketers create
more attention-grabbing graphic posts.
Fifty-five percent of marketers plan
to prioritize creating visual content,
according to the Content Marketing
Institute. Embrace your inner artist and
have fun getting creative.
Tip: Here are some of my favorite tools:
1. PicMonkey
2. Canva
3. Photoshop
4. Picasa
5. Pixlr
Analytics
Graphics
Banish these habits!
Too many hashtags (#Overkill)
Do you ever have trouble finding the content of a post because of all the hashtags?
Tip: One to three hashtags per post
is best.
“When I sent hashtags to folks to use on
tour, they never got used. So we won’t
worry so much about hashtags for groups.”
—Taunya Wolfe Finn,
Wolfe Adventures & Tours
Too active
As part of a joint study with NTA and
George Washington University, I found
that the three most popular social platforms for NTA members are Facebook,
Twitter and YouTube. With this in mind,
you can also survey your clients to pinpoint where they hang out socially.
“We most certainly plan to add Twitter into
the mix in 2017.”
—Patti Culp, Alabama Travel Council
Engaged in 2017
Social marketing is relationship building and brand awareness at its finest.
Keeping the “social” in social marketing
is the foundation of a successful strategy. As Jenn Lum Lee says, “It’s more
about engaging than selling.”
How will you engage in 2017? What will
you keep … and what will you banish?
Catherine Heeg, international speaker
and trainer, focuses on social media
marketing strategies for the tourism and
hospitality industry. An NTA presenter
since 2009, she understands members
and their businesses. Connect with her
socially and at cmsspeaking.com.