building your own online community. social media in travel conference
DESCRIPTION
To build or not to build....your own online community There is much debate about whether an organisation should build their own online community to engage with their customers on their website OR to engage with their customers on already established social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and forums etc. Of course, there is a place for both of these, and Digital Visitor have been at the forefront of creating social media strategies for travel organisations all over the globe that include both onsite and offsite solutions. This session looked at some exciting projects the Digital Visitor team are working on and highlighted the benefits of building your own community and how to use offsite social sites to grow your own loyal community.TRANSCRIPT
Building your own online community
March 2011
Simon JonesCo-Founder & Marketing Director, Digital Visitor
Email: [email protected]
Introduction to Digital VisitorOur philosophy about Social MediaExamplesHow to create your own communitySome do’s and don’ts
Agenda
Digital Visitor
Specialise in delivering social media services to the tourism industrySocial media software and services Created 200+ social media solutions globally Deliver increased traffic, enquires, business, loyalty...Clients include:
Our Philosophy
Successful social media strategies are made up of two elements
Onsite Offsite
Both need to be addressed with equal weighting
Most companies are really just focussing on offsite social media
Offsite social media
Everything not on your websiteA great way to attract new audiences Access to millions of new potential customersSome very successful Facebook groupsDirect traffic back to your website
Onsite
Those on your own website and within your own brandLong-term communication channel – at moment FB/Twitter is most popular, but what about in the future?Maintains your online visitorsDrives enquiries & conversionsMany companies are looking to create their own communities
Onsite & Offsite
Start with your own brand & use this to generate new audiences
Increased browsing timesProvides your visitors with authentic & engaging informationIncrease conversions with peace of mindYou control & can moderate the contentUtilise content gathered in other marketing activities
Why build your own online community?
Connect to other social media websites with Facebook connect, Twitter updates, Share with 300+ social media sitesLonger term benefits and marketing opportunitiesYour own community should be at the core of your social media activities
Why build your own online community?
Example – Voyages Jules Verne
Background
Group travel over 55sCommunicate post tourShare reviews, videos, albumsOnline feedback and ratingEarn pointsDirect to book another group toursStaff profilesDirect to booking pages
Integration to website
Results so far
Live for 6 monthsNearly 1,500 photos75 videos900 membersBrowsing time of over 3.5 minutes
A few things to consider
How to build your own online community
Don’t over complicate – increases barriers to entry & may reduce user uptake
How to build your own online community
Consider all types of users you want to engage with & will be useful;
a) Customersb) Staffc) Company profiles?
How to build your own online community
What features do you want & really need; a) Reviews (all media)
b) Discussionsc) Information push (product
watch)d) Engagement features such as competitions or loyalty
rewards?
How to build your own online community
Some of our finding’s
Our findings – Don’ts
Friends & groups – already elsewhere
Long registrations – plenty of ways to find out useful information about users (binary questions/use of site)
Our findings – Do’sReference all content against your products for maximum benefitAllow visitors to contribute whatever they likeA review, a video, photos, a discussion, a dream itineraryIncentivise for the content you want
Our findings – Do’s
No community is an island- Share with other social media sites. Good content shared drives 2.5 x your Facebook community per month
New generation
New release of Visitor Review focusing on:
reviews discussionsbetter integration through APIdelivery of relevant content to members
Thank you for your time
Simon JonesCo-Founder & Director of Marketing
Digital Visitor
email: [email protected]: 07974 962 182