Tips, Tactics, & Best Practices
What is Social Media Taking the First Bite
How Did We Get Here
Perspective
The Sociology of Social Media
Social Media’s Big 3
Identifying Social Media Platforms
Social Channel Facts
Google Places
Time to Plan
Starting Point
12 Months or Bust
90 Day Rule
Ask, Ask, Ask
Stop- Look- Listen
Cross Promote
Social Media Goal Setting
Plan of Action
Publishing Guidelines
Food for thought regarding Social Media
How does Social Media and its elements fit into your Marketing Plan?
Do you have a plan for Social Media, or are you just Facebooking and Tweeting as you go?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable communication techniques. Social media is the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue.
Richism - ”Social Media is Virtual Word of Mouth”
It is sill the best & most powerful form of advertising.
Any form of electronic communication that starts, maintains and perpetuates a conversation, with one or multiple individuals & interactions.
Social Media is “VIRTUAL WORD of MOUTH”.
Social Media Marketing is like eating an Elephant.
How do you eat an Elephant?
One bite at a time!
Bite off only what you can effectively manage. As time goes on and you become proficient, add new bites.
Most people & companies have a Facebook page, it might be time to look at taking that next bite.
Great Ad Concepts -copied by- Bad Advertisers
Have caused customers to change how they search for and how they receive information.
George Louis is “Mr. Big Idea.” George is one of the advertising industry MEGA leaders. He launched the “I Want My MTV!” campaign in the early 1980’s. He also launched the little known TOMMY HILFIGER clothing line, which soared to the top seemingly overnight.
In Advertising & Marketing, there are a few Big Idea’s or great concepts. These concepts tend to set the industry standard.
Soon the market becomes flooded with copycat ideas. More often than not the copycat promotion lacks the substance and the passion of the original Big Idea.
Thus they fall short of expectation, take up space & just make noise.
We Create ads, buy placement, insert & hope for results?.... When that fails!
We buy BIGGER ads, RAISE our Voice, & make the Phone Number Bigger!
We are throwing our products at the consumer with the tact of a Carnival Barker!
People have Tuned Us Out!
Do not let history repeat itself! As you move in to the world of Social Media, don’t make the same mistakes as we did in advertising.
SOCIAL MEDIA is
People Connecting with People
Your company can & should have a personality. Be transparent, let your fans, friends & followers know who you are, and what you believe in.
To be successful in the emerging world of Websites & Social Media … You must make your fans, friends & followers FEEL SOMETHING. Invite them to follow you & when they do, be sure include them in conversations & thank them.
Websites and social media can be very cold and devoid of emotion … As human beings we have a hunger for socialization we have a need to be involved and accepted as part of a group.
In order to find customers online you MUST learn to THINK like an online customer.
Shift your thought process, for a moment become a stranger to your product.
Put yourself in the shoes of someone who has never been to your area, never seen your hotel, never experienced your attraction or product.
NOW YOU CAN BEGIN TO LEAD THEM WHERE YOU WANT THEM TO GO!
Communication methods have changed drastically, therefore our sociology and behavior patterns have also been changed drastically.
John Antonios, marketing consultant has created a WONDERFUL graphic depiction of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs and how they relate to Social Media. http://johnantonios.com/2010/02/06/the-social-media-
hierarchy-of-needs/
The Internet = Entertainment! It is 24-7/365
It’s gone Mobile, which makes decision making and information gathering instantaneous.
Social Media sites are the Hounds.
Your Website is the Hunter.
The Hounds purpose is to drive traffic/business to the Hunter.
The Hunter, then in turn takes
care of business.
Think of Social Media & Websites as Hounds & Hunters.
1. Content- Topic what you are saying.
2. Conversation- Engaging the guest, what you are speaking about usually becomes a running dialogue that can last minutes to months.
3. Credibility- Ranking, Comments & Social Bookmarks- Who is endorsing you & what they are saying about you and your product.
Content is the information or text that is on your website, blog, and or your social conversations, it is…
“The Topic or… What you are Saying”
It can and should include
images, pictures, graphs…
anything that is relevant
and can help catch the
eye of a potential client.
Content is one of the many factors that the search engines use when assigning a value to or the ranking of your website.
Content/Keyword strategy is a must, it should be well thought out & planned.
(TIP) Build it in your Social Media Marketing plan!
The Organic Search - Google looks at many factors when page rank and search relevance are concerned:
Page Title
Meta Data
Content & Keywords
Photos with Alt tags
Search Engine Friendly URL’s
A conversation is a two or more sided exchange of information.
In most cases it is a running conversation between a company and several guests or followers simultaneously.
In my opinion the next GREAT metric to influence web rankings is the credibility factor. Search engines are beginning to pay very close attention to Social Media Sharing.
o Shared Social Links
o Social Bookmarks
o Comments & Rankings
This is Google’s latest solution to the Social Media question. Google is a search engine that organizes and ranks web content.
Google realizes the web is changing, “Virtual Word of Mouth” sharing of information in social circles is growing at an inconceivable rate.
To stay on top of the
information game,
Google has to have a
piece of the social action.
Blog- = Self Publishing
Facebook- = Online Branding
Twitter- = Short Quick Publications
YouTube- = Control Product Depiction
Linked In- = Global Ideas/Corp. Research
TRIPADVISOR- = Reputation Management
Blog- is a self-publish platform which allows relevant content and information regarding your business to be digitally uploaded or broadcast on the web.
(Tactic)–Great place to insert
a link to another website
or package partner.
Blogging is a KEY element in any Social Media Strategy, it can be used to
1. Add relevant Keyword-Rich content to a site.
2. Link relevant information from site to site.
3. It is Content, it is Conversation & with the proper social widgets, adds Credibility to your overall web presence.
Facebook- (Best Practice)
Use it for online branding; Facebook’s strength lies in it’s ability to convey passion & elicit emotion. Leverage your contacts friends list. “Share the Love” well-planned commentary can excite peripheral clientele as never before.
Make your Fan’s Friends - Your NEW Fans
Be who you are, be transparent… people fall in love with people, not companies & soulless creatures.
o Receives More Traffic than Google Each Day.
o 500 Million Active Users, 50% Logging in Each Day
o 700 Billion Minutes of Time Per Month
o 69% of Users are a Fan of One or More Business Pages
o 46 Years of YouTube Video are Watched Each Day
o Women are Likely to Visit Multiple Times per Day
o280 Million Registered Users
o460,000 New Accounts Created per Day
o1 Billion Tweets per Week
o182% Increase in Twitter Mobile Users in One Year
o75% of Twitter Traffic Comes from Other Collaborating Social Networks
oTwitter’s Search Engine Receives 600 Million Search Queries per Day
o400 Tweets per Minute Contain a YouTube Link
o490 Million Unique Users Worldwide per Month with 92 Billion Page Views.
oRegular Visitors Spend 15-25 minutes per day.
oAuto Tweets result in approximately 6 new sessions.
oVideo Consumption Across Social Networks Equals 46.2 Years per day.
o50 Million Monthly Visitors across 18 Travel Brands
oHosts 6 Million Candid Photos
oProperties with More Than 20 Photos Get 150% More Engagement
oVast Majority of Traveler Comments are Positive
o65% of People Surveyed State a Management Response would Sway Travel Decisions
http://blog.miraiespana.com/tripadvisor-business-listing-analysis/
If a social media platform is not bringing in business but still carries weight and has value, (Tactic) - utilize it as a tool.
Remember- 65% of People Surveyed Stated
“A management response would sway travel decisions”
In the overall scheme, TripAdvisor provides businesses with a great venue to show off their public relations & customer service skills.
Bad online comments are like my golf game, I have a tendency to slice. IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN!
I had better come up with a way to cope with it.
(Best Practice) Come up with a simple solution where you can encourage “Happy Guests” to comment on their experience. Fight Fire with Fire!
WHY?
1. Free Local Platform from Google to help local search results.
2. Easy to use page display with map & location.
3. Allows for customer reviews and management responses.
4. Google Places is Google’s answer to Trip Advisor and Yelp.
For the purposes of Tourism Marketing, I suggest
the use of these 4 tools to publish and broadcast your information.
1. Blog- Ties to your website / Home to your content.
2. Facebook- Leverage fans relationships.
3. Twitter/In- Broadcast message in short form.
4. YouTube – Visual representation for the guest.
Build a blog, make it the solid foundation of your information/ content creation.
(Best Practice) Host your Blog on the same server as your website.
Just because it’s Social doesn't mean that there are no SEO benefits.
I believe in a 12 month planning cycle, September is a great time to lay out your plan of action.
It is deep enough into your season that you have solid statistical data to use as a reflection. It is also close to the end of the year, if there is a need to adjust plan for an emergency campaign it can be accomplished.
If you are not comfortable planning 12 months out, I suggest at least a 6 month planning cycle.
Are designed to feature relevant/targeted information, delivered with strategic timing.
(TIP) Acquire event calendar from your city or chamber of commerce, publish engaging info.
(TIP) Feature your destination, write unique relevant content that will position your destination and your facility as a “MUST Do!” Guests are HUNGRY for information they want
you to be their Online Concierge.
Your online efforts/plan should be ready 90 days out.
Broadcast information with enough advance notice that you give your clients, followers & fans enough time to plan and be able to forward information to their friends.
Whether you are posting a daily chat, planned post, or scheduled E-newsletter ALWAYS make it easy for your fans, friends & followers to Share your information.
(Tactic) Meet with your Website administrator, have them create a “Share or Add this” account. Use these widgets on all website pages, blog pages & E-newsletters.
Both Share & Add this widgets have analytic reports. Be sure to sign up for these reports.
◦Ask to be “Followed”.
◦Ask them to “Like” video or post.
◦Ask them to “SHARE” information with their friends.
◦Ask for their “Thoughts & Opinions”
◦STOP - LOOK - LISTEN
Stop -Yelling at your Customers!
Social Media is
not about the
“Hard Sale”
If your standard post is “Buy Now”
I guarantee most people have tuned you out!
Look -Find out what is important to the
guest by read their reviews & comments.
(Best Practice) Learn from the client. The more you study them as a group, the more likely you are to find that they share common points of interest.
Listen - To your co-workers, many of them
have their finger on the pulse of the consumer.
If you are a hotel– go see the concierge or front desk staff, find out what guests are asking for?
If you are an attraction – go spend some time with admissions staff. They hear the good, the bad, and the ugly from the guests.
• Cross promote all Videos on Blog- by linking videos from YouTube Channel to Blog.
• Each time you produce a new video, send a message to fans & followers on Twitter, Linked-In & Facebook.
Not any more, Animoto.com is a tremendous resource for creating cost effective presentations.
Turn digital stills into great video.
Once you produce your video, upload it directly to your YouTube Channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/therichestweb?feature=mhee#p/u/4/SOfKQR4iKI4
http://www.youtube.com/user/therichestweb?feature=mhee#p/u/0/5tIk1VRNlZw
Richism” Analytics are your Social/Web P&L Statement”
Be sure that your company is using some kind of analytics program on both its web site and its blog. I.e. Google Analytics, Webstats, Urchin.
Get used to measuring traffic, know what information generates the greatest traffic.
(Feed the visitor more of what they like,
keep engaging the visitors.)
2011 Actual Facebook -Likes Insert Present # of Likes
2012 Goal Facebook -Likes Insert Goal #
2011 Actual YouTube Views Insert Present # of Videos viewed
2012 Goal YouTube Views Insert Goal #
2011 Actual Tweets & Followers Insert Present # of T & F
2012 Goal Tweets & Followers Insert Goal #
2011 Actual Blog Followers Insert Present # of Blog Followers
2012 Goal Blog Followers Insert Goal #
2011 Actual E-News Subscribers Insert Present # of Subscribers
2012 Goal E-News Subscribers Insert Goal #
Acquire local event calendar from City or
Chamber of Commerce.
Look in house at events or special occasions that
your property is involved in.
9-01-11
9-01-11
DOM- Writer
DOM - Writer
9-06-11
9- 06-11
Interview Front line workers to verify guest’s
wants and needs, incorporate into 12 month blog
posting plan.
9-7-11
DOM –GM-
Frontline- writer
9-15-11
Create 12 month blog posting outline
Decide how many times a month you will post.
Again only bite off what you can manage..1x -2x-
4x ???
9-17-11 DOM - writer 9-24-11
By topic decide where you are going to distribute,
Facebook, Twitter …
What video will you produce if any and when will
it drop
Action Start Date Responsible End Date
When writing always remember to address the Who, What, Where, When & Why of the topic.
Keyword research, find 5 great terms that help promote your property and event.
Create a twelve-month plan around special events or a series of “How-to” posts.
Publish upcoming events 90 days out in blog posts and in e-newsletters.
Send E-mail to subscription list, this is where you can push the “Hard Sale” include Share Button.
Blog
Company Facebook Page
Company Twitter Page
Company YouTube Channel
Google Places Account
Add this or Share Widgets
Social Bookmark Widgets
Develop 12 month Blog Post-Plan of Action
Analytics-Web/Social P&L Statement
Cross Promote
Commitment
• Social media is a Commitment If you decide to utilize social media as part of your online marketing, realize that you can not start and stop this activity. You must:
• Post on a regular basis
• Reply to all guests
• Keep it Professional & Personable (Don’t whine online)
• Keep it Pertinent (Answer their questions & comments)
• Keep it Passionate (Always write with a smile)
• Keep Business site & Personal sites SEPARATE at all times
[email protected] (865) 242-1700
Download this presentation at http://therichestweb.com/downloads/
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