This document discusses how sustainable tourism businesses can use storytelling and social media to promote their brand. It argues that storytelling is more effective than simply providing information because stories are more engaging and help customers retain the message. The document provides tips for using storytelling to communicate the experiences a sustainable tourism business provides and why travelers will benefit both experientially and emotionally from engaging with such a business. It also offers best practices for using social media, including how to engage audiences and maximize the impact of social media content. The overall message is that storytelling and human-focused social media can help sustainable tourism businesses differentiate themselves and develop brand loyalty.

1. Show, Don't Tell: Employing Digital
Storytelling and Social Media in
Building Brand Advocacy
Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott, Uncornered Market
UncorneredMarket.com
@UMarket
facebook.com/UncorneredMarket

2. Show, Don't Tell: Employing Digital
Storytelling and Social Media in
Building Brand Advocacy
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”

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

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

7. 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

8. 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.

9. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. Bangladesh Homestay

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. How do you use social media?
! Distribute information
! Answer questions/customer service
! Curate and share relevant articles
! Engage with the community
! All of the above?

18. Why use social media?

19. 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.

20. 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

21. Why Engagement?
! Don’t just engage for engagement’s sake!
! Shows your personality & values
! Allows you to shine on customer service
! Develops brand loyalty and advocacy  customers
become part of your story

22. Maximizing Use of Social Media Content

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