7 Steps to Socialize your Marketing Campaigns | Travel Research Online

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7 Steps to Socialize your Marketing Campaigns

Is your next marketing campaign percolating in your mind? If you want to do something different to set this marketing promotion apart, how about putting your campaign on caffeine?

While your BDM’s have given you awesome marketing tips, you really want this campaign to pop! You want to capture attention. Whether this campaign revolves around a supplier promotion, your next exclusive group departure, or a new destination you’ll be promoting, you want to make a splash.

How can you integrate your social and traditional marketing to give it a jolt?

The goal is to create content that inspires people to travel and to connect with you. I’ll bet you’ve seen some social campaigns that focus entirely on price. What do you do when you see those ads? Delete them? I’ll bet you ignore them faster than a barista can add sprinkles to your coffee.

Consider creating your campaign to be filled with a mix of content:
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  • Links to related articles;
  • Blog posts written by you;
  • Videos from your suppliers;
  • Videos produced by you;
  • Great images;
  • Helpful tips;
  • Inspiring quotes and graphics;
  • Questions to stimulate interest;
  • Posts that inspire people to travel;
  • And lastly, sales messages.

 

 

Facebook

Facebook is the standard social medium we all turn to when marketing in travel. Whichever type of content listed above you’re planning on posting, you can easily take it to the next level with Facebook.

Let’s bring on the caffeine with these tactics. We’ll start with novice level tactics and move to more advanced:
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  • Changing your cover image is a really easy tactic that will instantly draw more attention to your campaign. Select or create an image that showcases the destination, ship, or activity that’s the focus of your campaign.
    • Tip: Don’t focus on price!
  • Create a Facebook group. Create a new Facebook group for fans that are interested in the destination or ship you’re promoting in this campaign. Use the group to inspire conversations among members and to provide additional relevant content. Here’s how to set up a Facebook Group.
  • Carousel ads feature up to 4 images that revolve as they are shown on Facebook. Imagine creating an ad showcasing a number of destination photos with links to your website.
  • Lead ads provide a questionnaire form within Facebook. What a cool, new way to grow your mailing list with interested, potential clients.
  • Video ads have been shown to reach a broader audience and garner more interaction.
    • Tip: When creating a video ad be sure to add 1 of the call to action buttons available The cool thing about video ads is that Facebook will create a new audience of people who viewed this video. You can then use this information in your next targeted marketing campaign.

Twitter

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Integrate the themes and conversational style you’ve been using on Facebook into some snappy tweets that just beg to be re-tweeted. When you carry the same theme across all of your social platforms, your fans will smell consistency and credibility.

  • Share your content mentioned above in a short version (140 characters or less) and include a photo with your tweet.
  • Change your Twitter header image to reflect your campaign theme.
  • Advertising on Twitter can be as simple as creating Twitter cards and targeting a select audience.
  • Remember you can share videos to Twitter!

 

 

 

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Instagram

When you repurpose your photos and videos to Instagram, you’ve just broadened your reach as well as increased the number of times you can potentially touch a client or potential client.

  • Now you can set up Instagram advertising campaigns right in Facebook.
  • Focus on amazing images of the destination or ship you’re promoting while providing tantalizing information.
  • Research # (hashtags) and use them extremely well.

 

 

Blog!

Channel your inner journalist by writing blog posts that showcase the destination and provide insider information. Your blog is your opportunity to answer the questions you hear most from clients. Plus, you can highlight the benefits of the destination or ship you’re featuring in your campaign.Picture

  • Write a blog post focusing on the benefits of the destination, ship, or your upcoming event. This post will include photos, video, embedded tweets, or Facebook posts. Design the blog post to be informative, not sales-ey.
    • Tip: Share your blog to Facebook and Twitter, and create one of the ad styles mentioned above.
  • Don’t like to write? Simply create a photo blog by adding captions to a selection of great photos that tell a story. Write a simple opening and closing and you’re done. More tips for non-writers.
  • Repurpose your blog to Pinterest.
    • Tip: Create a custom longer Pin so that it stands out.
  • Love videos? How about creating a series of short (20-30 second) videos. Then embed each one into a different blog post. Now you have a series of blog posts where you only need to write a short opening and closing paragraph. Waaalaa! Easy!
    • Tip: Repurpose and use these videos on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

 

 

Pinterest

80% of Pinterest users are women, so consider how many of your female clients make the final travel decisions. This is a great reason to focus on creating amazing boards and uploading your best photos.Picture

  • Create unique boards for each destination, activity, culinary option, ship, etc in your marketing campaign.
    • Tip: Include the link to your website in each board description. Use the link that will drive people to a landing page for your campaign.
  • Upload photos in portrait format.
  • Create long pins showcasing destinations and activities.
  • Add your blog posts and create long pins with the blog title.
  • Send boards to clients using Pinterest Messages.

 

 

Periscope or Meerkat

These live streaming video platforms allow you to interact with your fans while creating video. How about inviting your clients to join you on Periscope while you interview your BDM? Your clients can chime in with questions and you can record it on Periscope. All of this in a convenient live-streaming video format.

  • Direct potential new clients to your Periscope recording for more information
  • Learn more here

 

 

Blab.im

Blab is a new live video opportunity for you to directly interact with a number of viewers and live participants. The live video format is perfect for:

  • Chat with confirmed group members to answer questions.
  • Interview your BDM on live video and take live questions from your viewers.
  • Record and share.

Spreading the word about your live Periscope or Blab is easy on your other social sites. Create posts, tweets and graphic invites and market traditionally and socially.

Here’s a visual to put it all in perspective. Check out these additional tips to market socially.
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PictureCatherine Heeg, international speaker and trainer, focuses on social media marketing & communication for the travel and tourism industry. Join the conversation and connect with her at www.cmsspeaking.com and socially.

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