Succeeding at social media takes more than posting, sharing and commenting. Although those tasks are part of a good social media strategy, using social media to keep track of travel trends is also a vital component. And dedicating time each day to monitoring your favorite brands online can help you provide better service and keep you top-of-mind.
Here are a few travel trends in social media that can help your business and show you how to use social media to help you stay on top of the news.
Travel trend No. 1: Pinterest
In court documents filed this month in a trademark infringement lawsuit against travel startup Pintrips, Pinterest reported that it had attracted more than 660 million travel pins since launching in March 2010.
This is worthy of mention for two reasons. First, the volume of travel pins is relevant to travel agents because it suggests that Pinterest is attracting a big audience of travelers. Second, the more time people use sites like Pinterest for travel inspiration, the less time that's available for them to spend with their travel professional.
The other side of that coin, however, is that an agent can contribute content to Pinterest in order to capture leads.
If you need motivation to start a Pinterest account to market your travel business, look at the following travel suppliers for inspiration: Southwest Airlines, Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific, Four Seasons, Hilton Hotels, Ritz-Carlton, Carnival Cruise Lines and Norwegian Cruise Line.
Tip: Quotes and imagery with text on top have high appeal on social media. Give these two new programs a try to generate social media-friendly graphics: Quotes Cover and PinWords.
Travel trend No. 2: Twitter chats
Twitter is not an easy social media site to learn. The interface is not intuitive, but with practice and a reason to use the microblogging social network, travel agents can be proficient in no time.
If you are a Twitter user, consider stopping by a Twitter chat focused on travel. In general, chat organizers pick a theme, and participants answer questions. These lively events will help you master the platform because they facilitate engagement.
Having conversations on Twitter will enable you to showcase your expertise, which can result in an increase in followers. When other people start to seek your opinion about travel issues, you will begin to appreciated the key power of Twitter: establishing yourself as an influencer.
During Travel Weekly's last #TWchats we discussed travel photography and drew 300 contributors, including agents, suppliers, media and bloggers. #TWchats meets live each month, but feel free to post to the hashtag anytime to spark new conversations.
Use Google to search the phrase "travel chats on Twitter" and explore other chats that might be of interest to you and your travel niche. To help you decide if a chat is right for you, use Twubs to research hashtags, looking for chats that might help you grow your business.
Travel trend No. 3: Twitter messages
I discovered that Twitter introduced a feature that enables users to receive direct messages from people they don't follow.
In the past, Twitter restricted senders from contacting people who did not follow them back. However, users can now opt in to receive direct messages from any follower. To activate the feature, check your Twitter settings to see if the "Messages" feature is activated. (Note: It is not available yet for all users.)
The new Direct Message feature enables travel agents to create target searches using advanced search functions on Twitter. From the results, agents can look for prospects to contact directly in order to introduce their services or to send custom messages. Though this new Twitter feature is only now being introduced, I predict it could have marketing potential, especially for following through on leads.
It was thanks to an email notification from Google Plus that I learned about the changes to Twitter. A post by Margie Jordan from Jordan Executive Travel, who also reports on social media for Travel Weekly, posted a message on the Social Marketing for Travel Entrepreneurs Google Plus Community for all to see. This is a great example of how easy it is to stay on top of travel news by using social media.
How to stay on top of travel news:
- Set up Google Alerts for your travel niche, and you will get email updates when your suppliers or destinations make news.
- Make and use Twitter lists to see quickly what your top suppliers and strategic partners are posting about.
- Use Facebook Lists to follow the news feeds from your favorite pages.
- Subscribe to press releases from your suppliers' public relations departments.
- Download the Flipboard app. It's helpful for reading headlines and then accessing options to share or email the articles to your fans or followers.
Carrie Finley-Bajak is a social media consultant who specializes in building travel industry branding online. Contact her at cruisebuzz@gmail.com.