This document discusses how storytelling and social media can be used to effectively market sustainability in the tourism industry. It argues that storytelling helps cut through the noise by processing information more efficiently and building trust. The document provides tips on crafting stories that show sustainable tourism experiences from the traveler's perspective and highlight community benefits. It also offers guidance on leveraging social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to engage audiences and maximize the impact of sustainability stories. The key takeaway is that storytelling can differentiate sustainable tourism offerings and change perceptions when it focuses on sharing authentic experiences over promotional messages.

1. Digital Storytelling and Social Media:
The Keys to Marketing Your
Sustainability
Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott, Uncornered Market
UncorneredMarket.com
@UMarket
facebook.com/UncorneredMarket

2. Digital Storytelling and Social Media:
The Keys to Marketing Your
Sustainability
Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott, Uncornered Market
UncorneredMarket.com
@UMarket
facebook.com/UncorneredMarket

3. How to Tell Your Sustainable
Tourism Story…
Without Using the Words
“Sustainable Tourism”

4. “Not everything that can be
counted counts, and not everything
that counts can be counted.”
- Albert Einstein

6. Roadmap
! Storytelling: philosophy and
approach
! Business case for storytelling
! Storytelling & sustainability
! Social media and engagement

7. What Business Are We In?
! Travel business?
! Experience business?
! Inspiration business?
! Differentiation business?

8. Backdrop: Too many messages
Too
many
messages…!
! Prospect, 6000 messages. Japan photo
Your
average
prospec-ve
customer
is
enduring
more
than
6000
adver-sing
messages
every
day

9. Awareness of Sustainable Tourism
! Bad news: Not everyone knows about what
sustainable tourism is, how it is different
and why it matters.
! Good news: Not everyone knows about
what sustainable tourism is, how it is
different and why it matters.

10. Storytelling: What it is NOT
! A bullet list of sites, activites, or amenities
! A mass distribution press release
! A bunch of statistics
! A chronological list
! Fiction, making things up

12. What is Story?
! Story:
! An account, a telling of an
experience
! Does not need to be long form
! If experience is the new currency…
! Then storytelling is your bank

13. Storytelling and Sustainability: Why?
! Information is processed more efficiently when in story
! Cuts through noise, helps customers retain message
! Delivers depth of impression
! Differentiator, not a commodity
! Goals:
! Plant the seed
! Change minds/Shift perception
! Story  Trust  Believe  Take action

14. Storytelling: Leading Questions
! Who is affected? And how?
! What is being done?
! Why is it important? (Is the community benefiting?)
! How can this impact a traveler’s experience?
Zikra Initiative, Jordan

15. Storytelling Components & Techniques
! Show, don’t tell
! Involve characters
! Crux and conflict
! Emotional connection
! Multi-dimensional, taps multiple senses
! Communicates: what, but how and why

16. Storytelling for Sustainable Tourism
! Communicate the experience first, not sustainability
! Show why travelers benefit from choosing sustainable
tourism: experience amplifier + feel good
! Travelers/stakeholders become part of the story, part of
solution.
! Effective storytelling = Greenwash killer

17. Why use social media?

18. Social Media Basics
! 83% trust family & friends for advice, 33% trust social
networks
! It’s social. Personal. Human to human.
! Two-way communication.
! Not just about numbers, but about engagement.
! Visuals are King. With context, they are Queen.

19. Social Media Toolbox
! Do not link your Twitter & Facebook feeds!!
! Managing Twitter feeds: Tweetdeck / Hootsuite
! Following keywords/hashtags: Hashtracking.com or
Tweetreach.com
! Create different Twitter lists for each group

20. Maximizing Use of Social Media Content

21. GSTC Stories - Members

22. GSTC Stories – Early Adopter

23. Upshot & Take-aways
! Story is a differentiator
! Build depth of impression
! Partner with storytelling agents
! This is a human exercise
! Have fun!

24. Thank you!
Stay in touch!
Let’s continue the conversation. Connect with us on:
! UncorneredMarket.com
! Twitter: @Umarket
! Facebook: /UncorneredMarket