This document discusses how social media has become the primary driver of trust in brands and destinations. It notes that recommendations from friends online are trusted more than traditional advertising. The key points made are that destination brands are built through the stories and experiences shared by visitors online, and that destinations should focus on facilitating remarkable experiences that people want to share in order to build their brand through word-of-mouth marketing. It recommends that destinations identify and activate influential storytellers online like bloggers, residents and digital influencers to help share positive stories and experiences about a place.

1. Vancouver | Detroit | Amsterdam | Sydney
NHTV
ISABEL MOSK
@ISABELMOSK

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People under
the age of 30
don’t know life
without the
internet.

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TRUST THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA
TV/magazine/OOH advertising: 47%
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consumer opinions posted online: 70%
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recommendations from people you know: 92%
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Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising and Brand Messages April 2012

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gapingvoid.com

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TRIPADVISOR

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DESTINATION
BRANDS ARE
BUILT SOCIALLY

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Tourism brand
•The sum of stories people hear
•The sum of experiences people have

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DESTINATION MARKETING = STORYTELLING
advXertising stories

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GOAL: NARROW THE FUNNEL
ineffective use of resources
Awareness
Consideration
Intent
Purchase
Visit
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2/3
share their
travel plans
on Facebook

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>70%
update their
status on
Facebook while
they are on
holiday

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52% of
Facebookers said
“that seeing friends’
holiday pictures had
Inspired them to
book a holiday
to the same place”

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other
people’s
stories
your stories

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NETWORK EFFECT CREATES SCALE
Facebook
user
150
friends
15,000
friends of friends
1,500,000
friends of friends

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MARKETING TO FRIENDS OF FANS
http://www.tourism.australia.com/en-au/documents/Corporate%20-%20Markets/Industry_Briefing_Sydney.pdf

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“Get people talking and they
will do the marketing for you”

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DESTINATION
MANAGEMENT, NOT MARKETING

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STORIES NEED TO BE MANAGED

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FEEDBACK LOOPS
Awareness
Consideration
Interested
Purchase
Visit
Evaluate

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NEGATIVE STORIES
Bad destination experiences Negative influencer experience
Politically motivated boycotts
Natural disasters

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SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING

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MEASURING THE DESTINATION EXPERIENCE
Would you recommend this destination to a friend?
negative stories
positive
stories

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KNOW THE STORIES YOUR TELLING
Sveinn Birkir Björnsson
Promote Iceland

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Peter Kentie
EHV635

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MAPPING THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY
Individual’s journey
remarkable experiences
bad experiences
Love it
Meh
HATE IT

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MARKETING BY
ACTIVATING STORYTELLERS

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MARKETING THROUGH STORYTELLERS
stories storytellers target audience

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DESTINATION STORYTELLERS
Staff
Destination
Residents
Past
visitors
Influencers
Industry

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CONSUMERS

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RESIDENTS

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INDUSTRY - SEYCHELLES

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DIGITAL INFLUENCERS
Anna Wintour
Bryanboy

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REMARKABLE EXPERIENCES

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REMARKABLE EXPERIENCES ARE SHARED

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ENCOURAGE SHARING

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ENCOURAGE SHARING

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MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE

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BE REMARKABLE

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REMARKABLE CONTENT

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THE NETWORK STRATEGY

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ACTIVATE INFLUENCERS

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BLOGGERS ARE CONTENT CREATORS

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BLOGGERS ARE STORYTELLERS

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BLOGGERS ARE INFLUENCERS

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BEYOND THE BLOG TRIP

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MARKET TO
PASSIONATE NICHES

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• 54 posts were written by the bloggers
• 192K people read those posts
• 547 tweets #FASHIONINANTWERP
• 281K people got involved

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• Antwerp in top ten of
Fashion capitals in the
world (Global
language monitor)
• A fashion community
that keeps on growing
• Good contacts with
the fashion bloggers
(that kept coming to
Antwerp in the
months after the blog
trip and kept on
writing after the blog
trip)

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PASSIONATE COMMUNITIES
passion
influencers
community
everybody
else

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Brownies
The term used to describe the fan
community (usually adult men) of the
show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

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PASSIONATE COMMUNITIES

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SOCIAL AT THE CORE
OF YOUR MARKETING

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SOCIAL AT THE CORE OF MARKETING

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GUIDE PHOTO SELECTION

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Stay in touch!
@isabelmosk
isabel@thinksocialmedia.com
www.vivelevoyage.nl