SOCIAL MEDIA AND TRAVEL ORGANIZATIONS

Fran Stephenson Step In Communication

WHERE IS YOUR ORGANIZATION IN SOCIAL MEDIA?

• Facebook/Twitter• Flickr ~ Picasa ~ Snapfish• YouTube• Podcasting• Foursquare/Gowalla• LinkedIN ~ SlideShare • ITunes• Groupon • Digg ~ Delicious

96 percent of teens use social networking tools. (NSBA, Aug 2007).

Facebook is #2 most visited site on the Internet….after Google.

44% of social sharing on Web is driven by Facebook

Age groups 25-54 represent HALF of all new Facebook users in the past year.

WHO IS USING SOCIAL MEDIA?

WHAT ARE TRAVELERS LOOKING FOR? Inspiration Aspiration Real experiences Accurate information Special experiences Opportunity to tell others

HOW IS SOCIAL MEDIA HELPING?

Access to more content Can pull from multiple sources Word of mouth on steroids Real-time

SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT NEW

Blogging platforms are 10+ years old Speed of adoption is high and will

continue Smart Phones! SaaS and web-based programs have

built-in analytics

HOW ORGANIZATIONS ADOPT SOCIAL MEDIA PRACTICES

SOCIAL MEDIA PRACTICE

Exploration

Selection

IntegrationComfortability

Capability

THE ISSUES…..

Safety Privacy The IT Department and “Cyber Security” Loss of Message Control Crisis Communications Staffing Training Sustainability ROI

BEST PRACTICES FOR ADOPTION

Set objectives for your plan Create guardrails or guidelines Establish listening posts/monitoring Become an informed advocate Look for resources in unusual places Build your profile Create sustainability Create two-way conversations Analyze and measure against objectives

SOME TIPS

Share your expertise. Focused communities can get in-depth

Share your opinion Communicate regularly Be brief Link to resources and other experts Respond to questions and comments Find a balance bet. seeding conversations

and letting the community lead

SOME TIPS…

Don’t be afraid of negativity Start with the goal, not the tool Embrace niche communities Empower people to speak for the

organization Give to get Listen

The Conversation Prism

Source: http://www.briansolis.com/2009/03/conversation-prism-v20/

ObserveListenParticipateEngageGive/GetEvaluateLather, Rinse, Repeat

TRAVEL CASE STUDIES

ENGAGEMENT

GEOLOCATION

Foursquare Gowalla Go places, earn

stuff Leave tips, get

recommendations

TOURISM APPLICATIONS

TWITTER

140 characters Headline news Customer service

engine

MOBILE MARKETING

FACEBOOK

Interaction Engagement Promotions Contests Customer Service

TIP OF THE ICEBERG

IMAGINE THE NEXT STEP

Trip Planner of today

Aspiration delivered Integrate real +

virtual Targeted Individual Measurable

INTEGRATED TRAVEL PLANNERS

TX Route Builder

Integrate w/geolocation

game

Layer on biz offers

ENRICH EXPERIENCE

Download to IPhone

Poll as you Go Feedback + Enter

Community

Spontaneous offers based on choices in

Plan phase

PARADIGM SHIFT IN MARKETING

Acquire real-time data Targeted offers No more mass coupons Can tweak and revise campaigns

ANALYTICS SHIFTING

SaaS and web-based social networking have built-in analytics

Polls/research more accessible

Instant feedback Shorter term trends

PARTING THOUGHTS

Think IntegrationThink Mobile Think Niche Envision Success

RESOURCES

Cluetrain Manifesto www.cluetrain.com

Naked Conversations Robert Scoble and Shel Israel

New Rules of Marketing and PR David Meerman Scott

Twitter Power o Joel Comm

THINGS TO READ

Now is Gone Geoff Livingston

Groundswell Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff

Personality Not Included Rohit Bagarva

The Secrets of Social Media Marketingo Paul Gillen

THINGS TO READ

http://delicious.com/franstep Search for “casestudy” and “tourism”

Mobile Marketing Assn. http://

mmaglobal.com/resources/content_category/study/9/339

Social media groups in all cities

OTHER RESOURCES

E-Mail: franstep09@gmail.com

Twitter: @fransteps Find me on:

Facebook LinkedIn Foursquare

CONNECT WITH ME!

Questions?

Thank you!