This document discusses how social media can be used in the tourism industry. It provides several strategies for engaging audiences on social media, including maintaining an informative website, having a strong social media presence on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, interacting on review sites by responding to reviews and promoting positive feedback, sending email newsletters with promotions, offering coupons, and encouraging photo and video sharing. It also discusses monitoring what is said about brands on social media and keeping track of industry competition. The overall goals are to make brands easier to find, get customer feedback to improve business, build trust and familiarity, grow reputation, and reduce traditional marketing costs.

1. Social Media in the Tourism Industry
B A L LY W H O I N T E R A C T I V E

2. Average Person + Social Media + Travel
 How do people make use of social media when
planning a trip or traveling?
 Sharing advice/promotions for travel
 Researching the experience of others
 Describing travel plans to friends and family

3. Strategies for Engaging with Your Audience
 Need exposure? A few options to consider:
 Informative website
 Strong social presence
 Interaction on review sites
 Email newsletters
 Coupons and promotions
 Photo and Video Sharing

4. Informative Website
 Continuously updated with fresh content
 A blog is a great way to share information to those
looking for details about your business
 SEO-friendly
 Using competitive keywords makes finding you a lot
easier--consider creating an SEO strategy
 Google Adwords
 Try placing ads on Google to encourage visitors to your
site

5. Strong Social Presence
 Great platforms to consider: Twitter & Facebook
 Great ways to share promotions, update inquiring minds
about improvements, and interact with current and
potential customers.

6. Interaction on Review Sites
 Make sure to claim your business on review sites
 This will allow you to receive notifications when new
reviews are submitted so that you can respond quickly
 Also allows you to interact with reviewers as your
business

7. Interaction on Review Sites
 Promote positive guest feedback by telling your
patrons where to leave friendly comments
 Let them know which review site to leave their comments
on, especially if they’ve had a good stay
 Thank those who leave positive comments on the review
site by responding to them directly

8. Interaction on Review Sites
 Turn a negative review into a positive one
 Respond by:
 Addressing the issue and taking responsibility
 Clearing up any misunderstandings without getting defensive
 Inviting the reviewer back at a discount and impressing them
End goal: inspire them to leave a more favorable review

9. Email Newsletters
 Create relevant email newsletters
 Ask them to sign up for the newsletter
 Offer promotions to retain past customers
 Offer promotions to bring in new customers
 Promote amenities that differentiate you from your
competition

10. Coupons and Promotions
 Consider offering incentives
 Groupon deals
 Living Social deals
 Promotions listed on your website encouraging visitors to
book their accommodations with you

11. Photo and Video Sharing
 In addition to your own professionally done
videos and photos, encourage visitors to post
theirs as well
 Feature them on your site, your YouTube account
of Flickr

12. Monitoring What People Say
 Free ways to monitor what’s being said about
your brand:
 http://www.socialmention.com/
 http://www.blogpulse.com/
 http://www.google.com/alerts
 http://search.twitter.com

13. Monitoring Competition
 Check commonly used review sites for your
industry and search for your competition
 Learn what they are doing that gives them an advantage
 Find out what people like and dislike about them, and use
these observations to improve your business

14. End Results
 Make your brand easier to find
 Get feedback that can help improve your
business
 Build trust by making your business more
familiar
 Grow your reputation
 Reduce traditional marketing cost
Nitsa DeVore