In today’s day and age, running a successful business without any form of online presence is almost impossible. Whether you’re looking to promote a financial institution, a travel agency, or something more niche like a molecular diagnostic company — you’ll need to need to advertise online and one of the best ways to get instant reach is to use social media sites.
With platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter only growing in popularity, it is no wonder that businesses jump on the opportunity to use these sites as advertising boards for their campaigns. Nevertheless, if the social media strategy is poorly executed, it can do more harm than good.
To avoid potential pitfalls, travel companies should follow a few simple rules. Here is a list of tips that can help travel businesses make an impact on social media sites.
Choose the right social media platforms
Not all social media sites are created equal. Thus, one of the critical steps in creating a successful social media strategy is choosing the right platforms to promote the company’s content.
Social media platforms can vary by engagement opportunities, audience type, visual flexibility, and many other factors. For example, the TikTok audience significantly differs from the one on professional networking sites like LinkedIn.
To prevent the organization from looking foolish, marketers should analyze the needs of its core audience and act accordingly. If the customers want more visual content, the company should opt for platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Alternatively, if people want to gain insight into travel-specific subjects, LinkedIn and Facebook might be a better choice.
Understand your audience
As previously mentioned, the company should specifically tailor its content to suit its audience’s needs and preferences. However, as these metrics may change over time, monitoring them constantly and making necessary adjustments is essential.
To discover its audience’s current social media preferences, the organization may utilize social media analytics tools. Using these tools, it can figure out who is engaging with its site and which posts seem to perform best, among other things. Of course, using traditional tools like customer surveys also can be advantageous — especially when combined with modern technology.
Avoid being overly promotional
While companies run social media accounts strictly for business purposes, they should avoid being overly promotional. If every post the audience sees is an advertisement, it will result in backlash and frustration, not positive feedback or more sales.
Instead, businesses should focus on using the platform to showcase their brand’s personality. They can try to stand out by sharing their origin stories or giving a sneak peek at what is going on behind the scenes. Moreover, they may use this opportunity to communicate the brand’s core values and its general mission.
Producing this type of content might seem like a waste of time. However, it is one of the best ways to strengthen the bonds between the firm and its clients. Plus, it is an excellent method to maintain a loyal following and attract new customers.
Engage with your growing community
Creating engagement is one of the main functions of social media. If the business is not using the platform to engage with its customers, it misses out on a significant opportunity.
Every social media platform is the perfect environment for building a community around a particular brand. Businesses can utilize sites like Facebook and Twitter to put their clients in the spotlight. It is not only about written reviews as companies can also opt for guest video testimonials, giveaways, community events, and many more.
By doing these things, the organization shows that it values its customers’ input and wants to make deep connections with them. As a result, it becomes recognized more as a group of individuals rather than an artificially-created corporation.
Stay consistent
In the case of social media, consistency is key. Without it, the company will remain unnoticed — both by potential customers and algorithms. Unfortunately, managing multiple accounts might be challenging.
To remain consistent, organizations should create a schedule and stick to it. Their accounts need to be regularly updated with photos, video clips, blog posts, and other relevant content. For instance, the experts suggest posting one to two times per day on Facebook.
If the firm struggles with managing its social media profiles, it can turn to various scheduling tools. With their help, people responsible for social media management can schedule posts to go live at certain times of the day.
The bottom line…
Nowadays, travel companies have a wide range of marketing tools they can use to attract more customers. Nonetheless, social media sites remain one of the best options in that regard. If used correctly, they can evoke a more significant emotional response from the audience than any other tool.
To succeed in their social media efforts, travel agencies should account for the needs of their audiences and select the correct media platforms. Additionally, they need to avoid being overly promotional, engage with the community, and post consistently. If they do all of these things, they will start reaping the benefits and stay one step ahead of the competition.
