Travel Industry’s POV: Is Your Strategy Really “Social” For Social Media Marketing?

1. There has been a substantial growth in the travel industry as well as social media marketing. You can say one does not exist without the other or, the two need each other for future growth. Tourism plays a vital role in the economic growth of any country. It fuels growth and helps entice people, which in turn help in generating revenue and boosting the economy. For many countries, tourism is the primary mode of revenue generation. Ever since social media became a key participant in promotions, it has helped revive the importance of travel & tourism industry in most countries. Leveraging the social media, major campaigns are being planned that create awareness and help in enticing the audience to those places. It’s a known fact that travel & tourism industry is exceedingly depending its marketing on social media platforms. Your presence should float on this platform if you want to improve your user base, and gain profits. It is not enough to follow some social media principles; you need to work on a complete strategy to build your social media presence. Here we will discuss ways in which you can create your social media strategy to establish a sound presence in the travel industry. Serve your Community as Concierge When your user sets out to plan the vacation, they mostly end up planning the dates and nothing further. It is on you to help them plan a complete vacation, from travel to accommodation and what all they should visit. You should serve them as a concierge when they come to your community page. Inspire them, engage them and offer them maximum value in terms, so that they leave with complete information on the destination. Social media, with its variety of tools, will help you serve your audience with precise information, and help you help them plan the vacation. Build Information Booths

2. Some places are known for the local events they host. For example, a good time to visit Dubai would be the Dubai Shopping Festival, or you should visit Germany during the Oktoberfest. Create information booths on your social media channels, wherein you can talk about the different local events, when they happen, and other related information. This would help your audience plan their vacation around these events. Share your Stories Ask fellow travelers and your users to share their stories using your social media platform. A personal experience is worth a thousand words. You will need to make people share their stories so that you can engage your users and get more people on board. If people can relate their experience to you then it would just help you build a better brand. Entice with Photos It always works to upload a photo or two, or ask people in your community to upload photos. A picture always manages to entice better as compared to any other sort of content. Pinterest is one of the best ways to get people to share. Sharing the photos will get more people on board. This is one of the best ways of curating content and building your community. Check-ins to Promote People generally check-in to the city, bar, restaurant etc. they are traveling to on their social channels. Encourage them to do that more, so that you get to reach out to more people. With check- ins you create more buzz for your brand, which will eventually help you get more visibility and improve your conversions. Listen & Help There will be some experiences that the customer would be trying to get through to you. For example a cancelled flight or a delayed flight is something the customer would be trying to get your attention towards. The social channels are majorly used for this purpose. Try to listen to them, and help them wherever possible. This would better your chances of improving user base. Inject Fun It is not necessary that you give out information in a serious tone all the time. Of course, you need to make the seriousness felt, but that does not mean your brand cannot be identified with fun. Try to inject some fun into the brand identity, so that regular travelers can really feel good traveling with you. Go International There are some channels that are specific to certain countries, and not being present on them could be a big loss for your brand. Try to find channels that are suited for your brand, and work in the international domain also. Build campaigns that can work across the channels. Together, this will help you win more customers.