Carrie Finley-Bajak
I 'm too young to be of the hippie generation and too old to be a hipster. That leaves me somewhere in between. However, my age does not keep me from exploring new tools that will help me run my business. In fact, I rather enjoy not having a label, because it allows me to be agile, which enables me to adapt to changes.
One company that is adapting to the needs of a new generation of travelers is Marriott International. With the U.S. launch of AC Hotels by Marriott, the hotelier is offering guests a spin on the traditional hotel experience.
When I looked at the AC Hotels by Marriott website, I noticed that part of the company's marketing strategy was selling its story. Front and center on the home page you'll find a hyperlink called "Our Story" which takes visitors to a YouTube video that drives the call to action to "feel the city." At the epicenter of the message is how the AC Hotel fosters a sense of community by delivering innovative design that meets the needs of this emerging demographic.
The takeaway for me after learning more about AC Hotels is that I am not going to be able to be passive while brands are benefiting from the sharing economy. The next generation of travelers participates in collaboration. They share ideas, tips and personal experiences. If I am not involved in those conversations, I will become obsolete.
It's not just hotel brands that one needs to keep an eye out for. Disrupters in the travel space such as Uber and Airbnb have succeeded at creating niches that appeal to what I call the "anti-generation." This demographic does not want cookie-cutter experiences. For example, instead of calling a taxi, they prefer to use an app to hire a car; instead of staying at a hotel, they choose to book room nights from local hosts.
Technology has played a big role in providing businesses with the means to broadcast their unique story to a global audience. Social media has created the platform where travelers can deal directly with brands, which can leave unsuspecting travel agents out of conversations.
Like most travel agents, I am looking for ways to remain relevant online as I nurture relationships and generate opportunities to share my digital story. As more consumers become accustomed to using technology to discover, connect and share, travel professionals need to adjust digital marketing strategies to take advantage of emerging trends.
Here are 10 ways agents can increase the likelihood of connecting with clients and prospects on social media:
Make your database a priority. Continuously update and sync contacts to personal social media accounts.
Since capturing contact information usually results in getting an email address, conduct searches on preferred social networking channels to look up clients and prospects. If appropriate, invite contacts to connect with you online. At the least, you can use the invitation to connect as a marketing opportunity to remain top of mind.
Facebook suggests friends for you to connect with, but for travel agents, the best feature is the ability to import a contact list. The easiest way to do this is to create a spreadsheet file from your CRM (customer relationship management) system and to save it as a CSV file.
The takeaway: Every social media channel offers multiple ways to connect with friends. Leverage the opportunity to make sure you are connecting with as many friends, personal contacts, leads and prospects on all social channels as possible.
Keep your content strategy on a steady course. The common denominator for your social media activity is quality content. Keep the following in mind:
• Always focus on the customer. Use social media updates as a tool to help give the audience what they want and tell them how they will benefit from your information.
• Encourage clients to share tips about destinations and products that you've sold them. This will help you amplify your messages and introduce you to new prospects.
• Keep abreast of current events in the industry and share them with your audience. Use Google Alerts and visit TravelWeekly.com to help expedite the process.
• Use rich visuals and video to highlight unique selling points. Don't just tell your audience, show them. Use PicMonkey.com to create text on top of images for added emphasis and Vine (https://vine.co) or Instagram videos that enable you to record and share from site inspections and fam trips. As an added bonus, embed the videos into your blog posts for extra mileage on your content and to save time.
Fine-tune your key assets. Update your website, blog and social media channels. In an effort to remain competitive online, travel agents need to make sure their channels are in position to capture the attention of visitors. This means that your website is responsive (looks right on both a computer and a mobile device), that posts are current and that your design is fresh and stylish.
Observe what your favorite brands are doing online. Travel agents can learn from their preferred suppliers by spending time analyzing their suppliers' websites, blogs, email marketing campaigns and communication strategies via social media.
There are many advantages to observing how travel brands utilize brand ambassadors, traditional advertising and promoted content on social media. It might be a wake-up call to see what your favorite brands are doing. The goal for travel agents is to learn from each brand's best practices.
Find strategic partnership opportunities. Work with your preferred suppliers and make sure that your district sales reps are supporting your digital marketing efforts. As we continue to move into new territory in terms of technology integration of traditional sales best practices, your reps will have to take more responsibility for your content needs.
Sales reps and suppliers are key to helping you grow your business. I am optimistic that sales managers and industry insiders can start getting agents the content they need to be successful.
Don't be two-faced. Were you aware that there are two faces of your favorite brand? One face is the sales department that helps you learn product and supports your sales training; the other is the marketing and public relations face of the brand. The two are not the same.
Start demanding equal treatment online. Travel agents can start to gain access to brands on social media by participating in #TWchats (a monthly Twitter chat organized by Travel Weekly). On a consistent basis, we get participants who include travel brands, influencers, journalists and travel executives who are keen to interact and discuss trends in the industry.
Set social media goals and keep yourself accountable. Common objectives for using social media can include building brand awareness, capturing leads, nurturing leads, educating prospects, servicing existing customers and establishing expertise about a topic.
Keep on pinning on Pinterest. This visual social channel is a great way to share images from fam trips and site inspections. Use Pinterest's Facebook and Twitter share buttons to save time on marketing tasks.
Create a Google Plus profile and start building a following. I can't tell you how many people I talk to who wish they would have started blogging or building their social media audiences way back before it was common. Take advantage of the opportunity to build a presence on Google Plus now. Accounts can be created for individuals, or travel agents can be recognized as a brand or business.