New apps and ad formats are seemingly emerging every day. In social marketing, like fashion, it can be hard to keep on top of what’s best here and now!
This brief guide shows you where to focus your efforts ‘here and now’ in order to get the best response online for our industry. Not all fashion and fluff, these are proven tactics take your marketing to the next level.
Today’s fashions are far more exciting than those huge shoulder pads of the 80’s! Sometimes what’s old becomes new again. Remember ‘petal pushers’? Now check your closet for some ‘capri’ pants.
Today’s red-carpet stunners are:
- Video, video and more video
- Lead generation and retargeting
- Immersive ads
Video
Back in the days when Vine made its debut with short 7 second video we thought we were so cool. Now we have such variety in live video options with amazing uses for travel and tourism. Here’s a few creative topics for your next video:
- Interviews; chat with your favorite BDM, DMO or GM.
- Fam tips and site inspections; capture short video of each area you see. Shoot 1 video of a guest room, another video of the pool and yet another of a culinary delight. Wah Lah…now you have a video library collection that you can trickle out to your audiences.
- Local events and festivals; what a fun way for people to live vicariously and then decide to experience it live.
- More content ideas here.
Jump on the video band wagon with live-streaming options like Facebook Live, Periscope, Meerkat and Twitter. Up your game with a HD or 360 video and a great external microphone to capture those interviews.
Video posts are a shoe-in for generating more coveted ‘likes, comments and shares’. Remember to add captions, a call to action and your contact information.
Tip: Check your Video Relevance score to assess your success.
Video Ads
Video ads generate red-carpet attention. Consider creating Carousel, Canvas or Slideshow ads on Facebook.
Video Slideshows
Not into creating your own live video? You can be fashionable in our video-obsessed world by creating video from your still images. Tools like iMovie, Movie Maker, ShowBox, Magisto, Flip A Gram, Adobe Spark and even the Facebook Slide Show option let you string together a series of still images to create a video. Here’s how to create yours.
Earn New Clients
Whether you’re adapting a new fashion-forward trend to your wardrobe or reimagining an old favorite; generating leads from new clients or reigniting relationships with past clients, there’s a valuable way to increase your possibilities.
Lead generation options are as plentiful as cheap t-shirts. Consider these opportunities:
- Create a downloadable give-away on your website. Lock it behind an email capture form. This way readers will happily provide their contact information in exchange for your valuable lead magnet give-away. Think: Destination Guide, Packing List, Travel Tips.
- Check out the lead generation ads on Facebook. In Power Editor select ‘Collect Leads for your Business’. “Using a Facebook form, advertisers can build an email list without needing to send users to their website.”
Immersive Ads
As advertisers and marketers we can provide experiences for our viewers and involve them in our ads. Creating the travel experience in an ad that inspires a viewer to connect with you and travel is the goal.
Here’s some tools to build an immersive experience that draws attention.
- Canvas ads in Facebook
- Carousel and Slideshow ads in Facebook
- You-Tube
- Promoted Pins on Pinterest
- Instagram ads
Here’s a visual recap of what’s HOT, here & now.
As you’re studying what changes and updates you’d like to make to your social marketing strategy remember to add to your closet some cool new pieces, but don’t forget about the reliable, hard-working classics.
While fashions can be fickle, great marketing strategies are always stylish.
Guest Post
This post is from my friend Catherine Heeg, of Customized Management Solutions. Check out all her links and contact information below. If you go to her website, you will see she has posted one of my WeChat blog posts.
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Social Marketing Strategies for Travel and Tourism
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