Sherry Heyl presented on how to use social media, specifically Twitter, to connect with travelers at each stage of the travel planning process. She outlined the 10 stages of travel planning from dreaming to reflecting. She then discussed how businesses can leverage influencers on social media to inspire destinations, provide research, boost existing social media efforts, create brand ambassadors, and generate buzz for new products. Finally, she provided tips for finding and working with influencers, setting expectations, and closing the engagement loop.

1. Presented by
Sherry Heyl
Turning Tweets Into Travel
Connecting Social to the 10 Stages of Travel Planning

2. About Me:
• Started working in social media in October 2005 (What a
Concept! /Concept Hub)
• Ran my first influencer marketing campaign in 2007
• Co-Founder of SoCon the first social media conference in
Metro-Atlanta
• Co-Founder of The Change Challenge
• Co-Founder of the TAG Enterprise 2.o SIG (Now Social
Business SIG)
• Managing Director of Sensei Project
• Mom of 2 boys, an aspiring stand-up comedian and a
future rock start.
@SherryHeyl / @SenseiProject

3. I’m Not Kidding!

4. Today, when we need an escape, we turn to the mobile apps
on our smart phones and the Internet. When we need a
mental break from work, we turn to our social networks.
When we need to escape boredom we turn to our news feeds.
When we need to avoid an awkward moment we face one of
our many digital screens.
So it should be no surprise that when we need a break, an
escape, a getaway we turn to our social networks, news feeds
and various digital screens to plan a vacation.
A recent survey from Leadsift showed that 52% of the
participants used social media to plan their vacations. Are you
connecting with them?

5. Becoming an Influencer - Align your content to
vacation stages
1. Dreaming
2. Researching
3. Planning
4. Confirming
5. Comparing
6. Booking
7. Experiencing
8. Sharing
9. Recommending
10.Reflecting
@SherryHeyl / @SenseiProject

6. Imagine you're the publisher of a magazine with a million readers that you
can reach out and interact with directly whenever you want–that's the
power influencers have on social media.
Today I will demonstrate how you can leverage wide-reaching, influential,
and interactive users on social platforms to boost your signal and lead to
bookings.
@SherryHeyl / @SenseiProject

7. The Dreaming Stage is a collecting stage.
- Inspire Bucket List Destinations
- Share the Vision
- Make the Vision Accessible

8. The Researching Stage happens when the
decision has been made to get away.
- Target Deals to Specific Tweets
- Listen and Answer Questions

9. Listen and Engage
Plan your listen and engage strategy for each stage of a person’s vacation.
Prepare to provide customer service online.
Amplify (Share) what they are posting.

10. @SherryHeyl / @SenseiProject

11. @SherryHeyl / @SenseiProject
Influencer marketing continues to gain in popularity because it works.
People have always looked to their peers and role models for
recommendations and inspiration.
Find your Influencers

12. The best marketers can do is to
proactively guide the experience an
influencer is having with your brand.
@SherryHeyl / @SenseiProject

13. When Would You Work With Influencers?
@SherryHeyl / @SenseiProject

14. 1. You do not have the internal
resources or support to launch and
manage your own social media
efforts
2. Your current social media efforts
needs a boost
3. To create a network of brand
ambassadors
4. You are launching a new product or
experience that you would like to
generate buzz around.
@SherryHeyl / @SenseiProject

15. To create a network of brand ambassadors
@SherryHeyl / @SenseiProject

16. Results:
The local ambassadors who participated did so
because they were building their own personal
brands and benefited by being hailed as the local
experts by their city. The travelers benefited by
getting real information by real people as opposed
to slick marketing jargon that they typically have
to sort through when planning a trip.
@SherryHeyl / @SenseiProject

17. You are launching a new product or experience that you
would like to generate buzz around
@SherryHeyl / @SenseiProject

18. Results:
We selected 8 of the top influencers in the country each
with a unique but relevant content niche, such as family
travel, Architecture, Overseas Travel and so forth. From
the 8 influencers the stories of their experience at the
hotel netted over 10 million with $115,000 of media
equivalency value.
@SherryHeyl / @SenseiProject

19. What to look for when evaluating which influencers
to look for:
• Following/Reach
• Level of Engagement
• Quality and Consistency of Content
• Relevancy to Your Brand and Goals
@SherryHeyl / @SenseiProject

20. Setting Expectations:
Influencers are making a living Tweeting, Pinning, and
Posting
Top Pinterest stars are now earning as much as
$250,000 per year.
You can create win-win opportunities to work with
Influencers in lieu of money.
Influencers are people and they will work with people
they have relationships with.
Create an experience to guide the content you want
influencers focus on.
Openly engage with the influencer online about their
experience with your brand.
Choose wisely who you work with.
@SherryHeyl / @SenseiProject

21. Closing the Loop
1. Develop Content/Editorial Calendar
2. Search to see who else is having similar
conversations. Respond/Retweet.
3. Look for people posting questions or sharing their
plans. Help them.
4. Post calls to action.
5. Work with Influencers
@SherryHeyl / @SenseiProject

22. Who Are You Going to Engage With and How?
Sherry Heyl
sherry@senseiproject.com