Tourism leaders joined us for an engaging social media workshop to learn about platforms to promote their business, build brand awareness and drive engagement. Two sessions were available depending on their knowledge and experience level, followed by a practicum to get one-on-one support and advice.

1. SOCIAL MEDIA WORKSHOP
QUARTERLY TOURISM FORUM:

2. TEXT
MIKE TALKINGTON
SOCIAL MEDIA SPECIALIST AND OWNER, TALK MEDIA
▸ Mike is the founder and owner of Talk Media, a company
offering social media marketing consultation and training.
Mike has helped businesses in a variety of industries achieve
social media success with his “commitment to being an
utterly reliable social media marketing specialist for small
businesses.”
PRESENTERS:
MARCY SALO
GROUP SALES MANAGER, SUN MOUNTAIN LODGE
▸ Marcy is a marketing communications leader with over 20 years of
experience focused on professional services, hospitality, real estate,
and content marketing. She helps businesses to obtain optimal
results through engaging storytelling, exceeding client
expectations, and growing brand loyalty through effective
campaigns and programs.

3. BEGINNERS GUIDE TO
SOCIAL MEDIA
SESSION 1:

4. TEXTTOP SOCIAL MEDIA BENEFITS
▸ Increase Exposure
▸ Increase Website Traffic
▸ Develop Loyal Fans
▸ Provide Marketplace Insight
▸ Generate Leads
▸ Improve Search Rankings
▸ Grow Business Partnerships
▸ Establish Thought Leadership
▸ Improve Sales
▸ Reduce Marketing Expenses

5. TEXT
WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM
YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA?

6. TEXTSOCIAL LANDSCAPE
▸ Social Media Users
▸ Most Popular Platforms
▸ Benefits of Social Media
▸ Third-Party Referral Sites

15. TEXTMOST POPULAR THIRD-PARTY REFERRAL SITES
▸ Bing Places
▸ Facebook Places
▸ Foursquare
▸ Google My Business
▸ Trip Advisor
▸ Yelp!
▸ YP
▸ Zomato

16. TEXT
STARTING YOUR SOCIAL
MEDIA PLAN

17. TEXTASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS:
▸ Who is your audience?
▸ What are your goals?
▸ What is your message?
▸ What content will engage your followers?
▸ How do you get people talking?
▸ Do you have metrics?

18. TEXTSTAY TUNED FOR SESSION 2:
▸ Plan Your Social Strategy
▸ Platform Goals
▸ Content Calendars
▸ Becoming an influencer
▸ Utilizing Your Social Proof
▸ Responding to Reviews
▸ Knowing What to Measure
▸ Popular Social Media Tactics

19. QUESTIONS

20. SOCIAL MEDIA 2.0
SESSION 2:

21. TEXTBUILDING YOUR BRAND THROUGH SOCIAL
▸ Plan Your Social Strategy
▸ Pick a platform or three that best suits your audience, your message, your
product (or service) and your ability to post good, relevant and consistent
content
▸ Ask yourself, “Where are MY customers spending their time?”
▸ What are your platform goals?
▸ Include things like growth, engagement, event attendance, brand awareness and
conversion
▸ Make your goals realistic, but don’t be afraid to really WANT something out of the time
and energy you’re going to spend

22. TEXTBUILDING YOUR BRAND THROUGH SOCIAL
▸ Start Slow, But Be Consistent
▸ It’s not necessary to be active on every social platform
▸ If you aren’t happy with your results with a primary platform, and maybe
one or two secondary platforms, then consider a content scheduling and
publishing platform like Hootsuite, Buffer or Sprout Social to make it easier
▸ Create a content calendar
▸ Plan, schedule and track your posts
▸ One of the MOST IMPORTANT keys to social media is consistency
▸ Ex: https://airtable.com/shrLbOwMLi7ZxUV3E/tblXg1lRCk5ycHYux/
viwMGrdaywRrFtvCK

23. TEXTBUILDING YOUR BRAND THROUGH SOCIAL
▸ Be the Expert
▸ One of the easiest ways to become an “influencer” is to show your
expertise online:
▸ Post your thoughts on your topic of expertise
▸ Share other thought-leaders’ writings, but be sure to put your personal
spin on it
▸ Always respond to questions and comments on your professional
platforms
▸ Make sure to use your created content thoughtfully
▸ Don’t be afraid to have an opinion

24. TEXTBUILDING YOUR BRAND THROUGH SOCIAL
▸ Use Referral Networks – Social “Proof”
▸ Businesses grow by word-of-mouth and personal referrals
▸ Take advantage of the many opportunities to be found on (Yelp!, TripAdvisor, etc.) and
share those good reviews
▸ Social Proof
▸ The likes, reviews, comments and shares of people NOT related to you or your business
▸ Don’t be afraid to ask your customers and clients to share their good experiences
▸ Be thoughtful about handling those who didn’t have such a great experience
▸ Respond to them in an honest, and considerate manner
▸ Considerate responses can rebuild trust and respect

25. TEXTBUILDING YOUR BRAND THROUGH SOCIAL
▸ Keep it Current
▸ Make it a point to reevaluate your social platforms on a regular basis
▸ Ensure that you’re regularly posting, sharing and responding to comments
▸ Six months after launching your strategy, measure:
▸ Awareness: Use metrics like volume, reach, exposure and amplification
▸ Engagement: Numbers of retweets, comments, replies, reach
▸ Traffic: URL shares, clicks, conversions
▸ Advocates, Fans & Followers: Contributors and level of influence
▸ Market Share: How much of the conversation is about YOU relative to your
competitors?

26. TEXTBUILDING YOUR BRAND THROUGH SOCIAL
▸ Keep it Up
▸ It takes time to establish a presence
▸ Utilize ways to make your social media personas popular:
▸ Contests / Giveaways / Sweepstakes
▸ Surveys
▸ Games
▸ Videos
▸ Hashtags
▸ Guest blogging
▸ Behind the scenes looks
▸ Employee introductions
▸ Emojis
▸ etc…
▸ *Just be sure whatever you do is appropriate to your brand, your customer and the platform. You’re bound for success!

27. TEXT
EXAMPLES…

34. QUESTIONS

35. TEXTSTAY TUNED FOR THE PRACTICUM:
▸ Boosting a Post
▸ Instagram Stories Tutorial
▸ How to Set up Pages to Watch & Pages Feed
▸ Responding to a Live Review
▸ How to Analyze Your Facebook Insights
▸ More…

36. ONE ON ONE TRAINING
PRACTICUM:

37. CONTACT INFO:
MARCY SALO
GROUP SALES MANAGER, SUN MOUNTAIN LODGE
MIKE TALKINGTON
SOCIAL MEDIA SPECIALIST AND OWNER, TALK MEDIA
info@talkmedia.co
425-772-4146
Msalo@sunmountainlodge.com
206-369-2096