Does your CVB or tourism bureau use social media in its destination marketing plan? If not, what are you waiting for?
According to a recent study, 81 percent of all marketers surveyed said their social media efforts have generated exposure to their business, and 61 percent of marketers saw an increase in Web traffic. If your destination isn’t keeping up with trends in social media, your CVB or tourism bureau is losing money. Here are a few ways to market your travel agency using social media.
1. Search for groups and individuals’ interests on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to find out what people are saying about your destination.
2. Publish your blog articles on Digg, Delicious, Reddit and other social bookmarking sites to generate a wider viewing audience.
3. Constantly update your travel blog with new information, paying attention to Google Keywords to improve your search engine results rankings.
4. Extend friendships to tourists (former and future) to maintain relationships and keep them coming back.
5. Use photo sharing sites to link pictures taken by tourists to create a community among people who are interested in your destination.
6. Twitter travel deals and packages, as well as updates on area construction, new businesses, events and festivals.
7. Offer contests and promotions through social media outlets to help increase your followers.
8. Create customized URLs to Facebook and Twitter to provide another contact option for tourists. (e.g. facebook.com/yourcvbhere)
9. Create a network or online community among all businesses in your area to provide more information to your future tourists, as well as generate more traffic back to your profiles
10. Post videos on a YouTube account of different activities to participate in at your destination.
Having an active presence in many social media platforms will not only generate more exposure to your CVB or tourism bureau, but it will also redirect people back to your Web site.
