Travel agents are using social media not only to build online audiences but as a tool to generate leads. If you have not thought about using social media for lead generation, now is a good time to start.
Posting engaging updates that direct fans and followers to take action is worth the time and effort it requires, because establishing credibility as an expert in your niche means directly competing with big brands like airlines, cruise lines, resorts, hotels, consumer travel media, travel influencers and other agents.
What big brands don't have is your expertise, which can add value to conversations that might eventually convert to sales.
Social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn are great ways for agents to find prospects as well as to connect with existing customers.
Getting started: Build your channels
Finding qualified leads via social media begins by increasing awareness of your brand. Select networks on which your customers are most likely to engage.
In the beginning, you will want to spend time monitoring or "listening" to what fans and followers are interested in. Getting familiar with what types of content get the most attention will help you develop a content strategy. Is video popular? How about images, text, links to useful travel-related articles? The key is identify trending, then add value.
Don't be afraid to be social. Liking posts and sharing usable information adds value. Visit travel suppliers like Travel Impressions that do not sell direct to consumers and share their content and leverage their graphics.
The "Tips for beginners" section below is an example of a Facebook post from Travel Impressions regarding destination weddings. The post originated from an article on Travel Weekly, but then Travel Impressions added additional text with more links to personalize the message:
Tips for beginners: Building your foundation
The following concepts will help travel agents begin to think about their social media marketing strategy. Head to YouTube or the help feature on specific social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram) to learn how to execute the following concepts.
- Build your social networks and invest time in making sure that all your social media accounts have vanity-urls.
- Make sure that your social media accounts have keyword-rich bios and business descriptions.
- To save time consider sharing your preferred supplier content, which will add value and spark interest.
- Cross-promote content on multiple channels to get maximum reach.
- Like, comment, share, repost, tweet, pin, repin at least a couple times a day until you have determined when you audience is most active.
Intermediate level: Generating leads
Getting beyond basics requires a decision about whether to buy ads on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.
Beyond that, you are ready for intermediate-level strategy when you can manage multiple social media accounts without getting overwhelmed. For these tips to work, your need to have an engaged audience, keeping in mind that quality, not quantity, matters when it comes to followers.
Give fans and followers a reason to connect online. Ask your network to provide user-generated content (text, images or videos), a process called crowd sourcing. A great example is Travel + Leisure magazine, which invites followers to post images to Instagram with the hashtag #TLPicks.
Ask clients to contribute to your Pinterest boards. This is a great way to get user-generated content and create branding opportunities. For B2B networking for groups or potential corporate travel sales, look to LinkedIn. And always add links to your social media updates that point back to dedicated landing pages on your website.
Finding leads on Facebook
There are three ways to find leads on Facebook: interaction with fans and friends (posting, commenting, liking and sharing content), ad campaigns and Facebook Graph Search.
When sharing images, make sure your photos all have locations associated with them so they will be added to your Facebook map, a feature that's part of your Timeline. Make sure your "About" section contains your address, phone and keyword-rich details.
Finding leads on Twitter
Use an ad known as a "promoted tweet" to drive traffic to your website and participate in Twitter chats to build credibility and a Twitter following. Chats, which cover a variety of topics, are great platforms for finding leads. The trick is to take part in chats that have consumer participation. A great chat to hone your skills on is the monthly Travel Weekly chat (#TWchats).
Use the search feature on Twitter to find people who are in the market for travel products, using phrases like "looking for vacation deals" or "buying a cruise." Search and analyze what's trending on Twitter with http://topsy.com.
Finding leads requires the patience to nurture relationships, but no discussion of lead generation would be complete without metrics. Measure everything, because all online activity must serve a purpose. Be sure to measure traffic on your social media activities, because it is crucial to know the online habits of your audience to maximize reach.
Helpful links for content ideas
Some of my favorite tools for getting content ideas and generating graphics:
- Type in a keyword or phrase on Portent.com, and the site's content idea generator gives instant suggestions.
- Use Infographics tools to help create graphics (http://infogr.am, http://piktochart.com or http://visual.ly).
- Use Bottlenose to find trending topics, people and emotions on social media.
- Log on to FRE.SH, a tool that lists stories that are generating buzz online. Although a bit broad for travel agents, the stories might resonate with certain audiences and also serve as a conversation starter.
Analytic tools
Measuring the success of your efforts to reach your target audience is key to refining your strategy.
- Facebook Insights is an in-depth analytic tool for Facebook Fan pages.
- Use Twitter Analytics to find data to track the popularity of tweets, engagement, sentiment and followers.
- Track website traffic with Google Analytics. Look for spikes in traffic that you can attribute to links from promotions during a specific period of time.
- Use Bit.ly or another link-tracking service to monitor click-through rates from social media posts.
- On YouTube, measure the number of views for videos tied to a promotion or specific period of time for an ad campaign.
- Generate custom reports for Twitter using Tweetreach.com to get transcripts for Twitter chats or hashtag reports.
- Make sure to continue to track email open rates to determine if email marketing is effective for your business.
Carrie Finley-Bajak is a social media consultant who specializes in building travel industry branding online.