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Have you ever scrolled through social media, seen an incredible travel video, and thought, 'I need to go there'? This feeling is universal. Whether it's a mesmerizing Instagram photo, a captivating TV feature, or an enticing magazine spread, we all have moments where stunning visuals spark our wanderlust.
With billions of people scrolling through their social feeds daily, there's a tremendous opportunity for your travel experiences to stand out. Eye-catching images and videos can transform casual viewers into curious explorers and potential visitors. In fact, over 70% of travelers admit that their travel decisions are influenced by what they see online.
But what do you do when got that few seconds of attentions, how do you guide that wow moment into a meaningful interaction with your company that might lead to a sale. That is what this blog is about.
The Power of Social Media in Travel
Building Brand Awareness and Preference
Social media platforms are the place to interact with customers and your target audience and shape a brand and preferences for destinations. Here you can tell your brand story, by showcasing who you are, what are your values, your unique selling points, and why customers should buy from you instead of your competitors.
Engaging with the Community
Beyond promotion, social media allows for direct engagement with customers. By participating in conversations, sharing insights, and gathering feedback, companies can deepen their understanding of their audience's needs and preferences.
Enhancing Customer Service
Social media also acts as an additional channel for customer service. Companies can respond to inquiries, offer practical travel tips, and assist customers in maximizing their travel experiences.
Strategies for Social Media Success
But what do you need to do to grow your social media audience to more then a few likes on your posts and turn it into a powerful communication tool between you and the travel community ? How do you find balance between being a inspirational, helpful and entertaining resource for your audience. And bond with your followers to make them come back for more content and have real interaction with you. Underneath some tips for your social media strategy.
Focus on Community Building
Success on social media goes hand in hand with creating a community of like-minded individuals who share a passion for the same niche, destination and your offerings. This involves putting your audience at the center of your content strategy, providing them with valuable information, and engaging in meaningful interactions. Your community is your target audience, your niche. Be present in Facebook group, react on messages of customers and other community members.
A good example of a community builder is Favorite Grampy Travels who build a network of helpful Facebook groups where people share tips to get the most out of their theme park visits. Like for example https://www.facebook.com/groups/universalstudiosfriendsandfamily.
The team of Favorite Grampy Travels, let people help each other but also actively involve in giving tips, where they always have a link to their main Facebook page to drive traffic to there. They also welcome new members with their brand.
Regular Consistent Content is Key for Success
Users of your social media channels expect your content to be inspirational, engaging and genuine. The content you share on social media should inspire, educate, and entertain your audience. (Inspire, Help, Proof & Sell). You need to post High-quality visuals, compelling stories, and posts that capture attention with a split of second, and offer immediate value after that.
You need to be consistent and on brand, your audience need to know what they can expect from you and it should help them to connect with your destination and company. It helps to have posting schedules where you weave your story world with a mix of content types like video, visuals, links to content on your website to maintain engagement and encourage community participation.
To be consistent, define clear goals, what do you want to get out of your social media strategy, your channel. How does social media fit in your bigger digital marketing strategy.
Help customers get the most out of their holiday with practical tips and convince people to buy your product because its to good to resist.
Be clear, with your messages, one message at a time, quick to consume and or at least quick to judge if spending more time on the content will give value. You need to grab attention quickly, people don't have time and act with a split second.
Maybe most important is to post regular, it doesn't make sense to post once a quarter, try to post at least once a week, but more if you can. If you don't post regular a social media doesn't work, because its about 2 way communication, building an audience, if you are silent for long times, you are like that friend that never calls back.
Reuse existing content
Be smart with your content, you don't have to create post all from scratch ! Reuse content you have already made and use your social channels to promote content with long lasting value like a blog or a Youtube video. Most of the time a blog or video will get you visitors for a longer period of time. But you can also share or re-edit, post from your destination marketing organization, local news, posts from other travelers.
A great way to help structuring your social media is by creating social media posts on fixed timings, for example every Monday and schedule for the rest of the week. To stay consistent work with monthly and yearly plannings where you define your themes and topics. Especially if you are creating a story world that you want to unfold on social media.
You don't need to put a lot of time on making things completely perfect, yes the visuals need to be sparkling but there is no need for over production, authenticity of your messages and values are much more important.
Leverage User-Generated Content
Because social media is used by friend / family / relations who interact with each other its a great place to share experiences from customers on a trip with you, which is super power full, especially if you tag them. You bring your content / company under the nose of their friends, which might trigger an conversation about your company. Encouraging customers to share their experiences under specific hashtags can amplify your reach and provide authentic testimonials for your brand. Advertise in localities where your customers come from can also help to spark conversations.
Another way to stimulate user-generated content is to create "Insta" worth places in or around your accommodation, property, destination or during experiences. Watch underneath video what it does with the Joshua Tree Station, but also see the down side of the damage it can do to nature, by people going to far for their picture perfect shot.
You can also think about helping to create videos and photos for your customers during their experiences, make sure your guides have great phones and learned how to take photographs, have smart editing systems where you can collect best photos taken by group members and distribute them through the whole group.
Boost what works
Boost those posts that worked well to attract a bigger audience and let more people know about your travel company. Only boost in your target markets, think about boosting to cities vs countries so that your focus is better. Choose those cities you already have customers in.
Effective Social Media Practices
Choosing the Right Platform
Selecting the appropriate social media channel depends on your target audience and the type of content you are comfortable producing. Whether it's TikTok for younger audiences or Instagram for visually-driven narratives, the platform should align with your marketing objectives and audience preferences. Start with one social media at a time, does it work for your travel company go for the next.
Optimizing Your Social Media Profile
A complete and engaging social media profile is essential for making a strong first impression. Ensure that all fields are filled out, including a profile picture and links to other digital assets, to facilitate easy navigation for potential customers.
Interaction and Engagement
Active participation on your chosen platforms is crucial. Liking, commenting, and sharing posts from your audience can foster a sense of community and encourage more interaction with your brand. Be human, be empathetic, show you understand your customers, and share their concerns, feelings and desires but also provide solutions for problems, fears and possible pain points to come to your destination.
Measuring Success
Success metrics in social media marketing extend beyond bookings or visits. Engagement rates, reach, and audience growth are valuable indicators of your social media strategy's effectiveness. Regularly analyzing these metrics can help refine your approach and boost your social media performance.
Conclusion
In the digital age, social media is a powerful tool for travel companies to connect with their audience, build brand loyalty, and drive business growth. By focusing on community engagement, delivering valuable content, and utilizing strategic practices, travel companies can harness the full potential of social media to achieve their marketing objectives.
