Amazing what a difference a few months make! After getting beat up the last several quarters, major airlines are posting big profit gains. Of course, much of this comes from annoying fees and charges (Spirit Air remains full-speed ahead on this front), but that being said, people are traveling and spending dollars – great for the economy and new travel-related business opportunities.
As a travel destination – whether you’re a hotel, restaurant, or attraction – here are some basic social media tips to help expand your PR capabilities:
• Partner with the big kids. When it comes to positive publicity, why do the heavy lifting when other companies and organizations have already done that for you? Partner with major locations and sites in your business area, and spread the cost of promotion across these entities.
• Hit the playground. Add your business as a venue to foursquare and create unique savings, giveaways, or other rewards for potential clients and customers. As of now, foursquare remains in its infancy compared to other social network platforms, so its potential should only grow along with its popularity. Keep your eyes on this one, it will likely take interesting turns in the future.
• Facebook promotions. Though it seems a bit clunky now compared to the clean, simple aesthetic of foursquare, your business absolutely must have a Facebook page. And remember, don’t get tunnel vision on simply accumulating “likes” for your page. That raw number is meaningless if you aren’t empowering site users to champion your business on their own. Engage in interesting dialogue with these users and you’ll get tremendous mileage from the interaction. This is just one way to leverage your new army of fans.
• Blog at least every couple weeks. Don’t just sit back and smile at the witty blog entry you wrote about the upcoming city festival, concert, or whatever else is about to put your area in the spotlight. Write and publish to your business blog frequently, as it communicates to customers and clients that you care about your business’s image, down to all the small details. Also, take advantage of basic search engine optimization tactics to make your blog (and by extension your business’s website) the go-to source for relevant travel-related inquiries.
Nice post offering simple suggestions for companies to get started. I often see so many hospitality companies using these social media tools to simply push out information- with absolutely no conversational exchange. Many don’t realize that engagement, with their current and potential customers, is the most important part. There is no value in one-way communication. Explore and have fun with social media- after all, the travel and hospitality industries are supposed to be about adventure and new discoveries.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Adrienne Bailey, Marissa D'Orazio and DC Business PR Firm, Praecere. Praecere said: #PR and social media tips for #travel related businesses and destinations http://bit.ly/aIOunQ [...]
Thanks Adrienne! As you state very correctly, engagement is a two-way street — just spitting info, hours of business, etc. back to the public is a poor way of leveraging social media.