optimising social media for small tourism and hospitality businesses

Optimising Social Media for Small

Businesses

Foodie Forum2rd February 2012

Laughlin Rigby, Marketing Director, Travelshake.com

Travelshake.com: the social media curator for the travel industry

Tour Operators

Restaurants

Hotels

Attractions

Social Media Microsites on Travelshake.com

http://www.travelshake.com/ThunderRoadCafe

500+ Irish tourism businesses

1300+ tourism businesses from 77 countries worldwide

700 new posts on average to Travelshake.com every day

4 posts per business per week

213 posts per business per year

Travelshake Report Oct 2011: Analysis of social media content from the global travel industry

Report is based on analysis of 2,000 posts from a 3 day period in October 2011

Represents 17 sectors within the travel and hospitality industry

500+ businesses from 45 countries

© Travelshake.com

Oct 2011 Results:Social Media Content: Identified Themes

Greetings Events Press articles Product marketing Weather Offers Videos Local tourism info Tips & advice Photos Newsletter User interactions Reviews Company PR Fun posts Peer recommendations Menu Competitions Questions Industry news Check-ins Blog

© Travelshake.com

Greetings Events Press articles Product marketing Weather Offers Videos Local tourism info Tips & advice Photos Newsletter User interactions Reviews Company PR Fun posts Peer recommendations Menu Competitions Questions Industry news Check-ins Blog

Social Media Content Themes

© Travelshake.com

Most popular social media updatesGlobal Travel Industry by category

eventsproduct marketing

offerspeer recommendations

local tourism infophotos

user interactionscompany PR

competitionsindustry news

blogquestionsgreetings

press articlesweather

videostips & advice

fun postsreviews

menucheck-ins

newsletter

0.00% 2.00% 4.00% 6.00% 8.00% 10.00% 12.00% 14.00%

© Travelshake.com

Most popular social media updatesIrish Vs Global Travel Industry

events

product marketing

offers

competition

photos

peer recommendation

greetings

company PR

local tourism info

questions

user interaction

videos

industry news

fun posts

tips & advice

blog

press article

reviews

weather

0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00%

global

Ireland

© Travelshake.com

Social Media Updates by Restaurants

menu; 12%event; 11%

blog; 10%

tips & advice; 9%

offer; 8%photo; 7%greetings, 6%

competition; 6%

peer recom-mendation; 6%

product market-ing; 5%

local tourism info; 4%

press article; 4%company PR; 3%

industry news; 3% question; 2%video; 2%weather; 1%

© Travelshake.com

Conclusion & Recommendations for businesses when posting updates

Use rich media when possibleRun competitionsCreate exclusive social media offersTalk about local tourism newsAsk questions and interact, build a communityDon’t over-promoteInteract with complimentary businessesLink to newslettersFeature upcoming eventsPost tips & advice on your specialist areas

© Travelshake.com

twitter

Irish Stats:

350,000 twitter accounts in Ireland

217,845 unique active Irish users on twitter

49% sent only 1, 21% sent 10 or more, 0.5% sent more than 1000 per month

Average of 159,000 Irish tweets were sent per day

Top link domains: t.co 27%, bit.ly 18%, tumblr.com 6.7%, fb.me 6%, twitpic.com 4%, ow.ly 2%, 4ms.me 2%, yfrog.com 2%

© Travelshake.com

@crackBIRDdublin

@skinflintDUBLIN

#tweetseats and the pop-up restaurants “Tweet us with date,time (12,2,4,6,8pm),no of ppl (max4) including #tweetseats in ur

request & u eat for free if slot is available. 24hrs notice needed”

https://twitter.com/

© Travelshake Social Media 2012

@cakebombs @8degreesbrewing

@greensaffron

© Travelshake.com

@wildpeeta Dubai“open-source Shawarma restaurant that shares decision-rights with their followers”

twitter wall:

© Travelshake.com

Staffed by employees based in Omaha, Australia and Mumbai Respond to requests and questions within an hour Field queries ranging from where to find good sushi to alerts that a guest will be checking in late © Travelshake.com

“the restaurant spends no money on any advertising, beyond remaining very active on Twitter and Facebook and running email campaigns”

“We have sold out every event we’ve had since we opened by using only Facebook, Twitter and our mailing list.”

Play Food & Wine – Restaurant in Ontario, Canada

© Travelshake.com

Create a twevent using a #

Twitter for PR:71% of Irish journalists use Twitter as a news source

Mentions of Twitter in the Irish media increased from 16 mentions per month in January 2008 to 2,058 references in March 2011. (Kantar PRII)

twitter - publicity

© Travelshake.com

Global Stats:

800+ million active users 50%+ active users log on to Facebook

daily 130 average friends per user 80 pages, groups and events per user 250+ million photos are uploaded per

day 7 million+ apps and websites are

integrated with Facebook

Facebook

© Travelshake.com

Ireland Stats

2,060,740 Irish profiles on Facebook 900,000 + active daily 4hrs 10min ave person spends on

Facebook pm 54% of users female v 46% male 49% of the population over 15 years of

age are on Facebook

Facebook

© Travelshake.com

How to Grow your Facebook Likes

© Travelshake.com

1. Place Ads

Ad creationDemographic selectionTargeted audiencesPublishing and Monitoring a campaignAnalysing results, Metrics and ROI - €1 - €3 per fan acquisition


© Travelshake.com

Benefits Increase Facebook Likes/Fans Creates a buzz around your

business Fully compliant with facebook

policy Drive Brand Engagement Builds Loyalty Increases your email database

2. Competition/Promotion


© Travelshake.com

3. Offline Add URL stationary, menus, receipts, staff...


4. Awareness online “Share” with friends on FB, email to contacts, ad to your

other social media sites, put FB widget on your own website, email signature...

© Travelshake.com

5. Increase Engagement

Use Facebook Apps Run a Poll or contest Use the @ Tag Upload a large main image with

other social media account listed on it

Upload Videos and Photos Write consistent updates Start Conversations with your

fans Link to Twitter or vice versa Get fans to upload fan photos

and tag them


© Travelshake.com

Default “Welcome Page”, which would be the first page shown to new visitors to your page, encouraging them to “like” your page can include:

The tab markets your business to the new visitors and helps convert them from lookers to bookers.

How to Grow your Facebook Likes6. Welcome Page

© Travelshake.com

Give visitors a reason to “Like” your page

Benefits Increase Facebook Likes/Fans Covert to Bookings and Sales Reward Loyalty Encourages Viral Sharing

How to Grow your Facebook Likes7. Fan-Gating

© Travelshake.com

1. Email list of fans from database2. Upload Exclusive “fan-only” Offers3. Add a booking or purchasing link4. Create a Facebook Store...

How can FB be used to improve sales

© Travelshake.com

Facebook Stores:

Vendorshop (Irish) Payvment

Enhance your FB page with Facebook Apps

http://lujure.com best free functionality and ease of use but only for only page

http://shortstack.com most advanced functionality and includes contests and forms but free is limited to 2,000 likes

http://travelshake.com Multiple functionality and apps all in 1 tab, includes travelshake microsite, custom branding , contact form, map, video, photo gallery.

http://iwipa.com http://socialappshq.com http://faceitpages.com http://tabsite.com

© Travelshake.com

Top 3:

Others:

http://lujure.com/

http://shortstack.com/

http://travelshake.commultiple/

http://iwipa.com/

http://iwipa.com/

http://socialappshq.com/

http://socialappshq.com/

http://faceitpages.com/

http://faceitpages.com/

http://tabsite.com/

4 billion daily views

YouTube

Irish Stats:

• 2011 Youtube had 1.3 million regular Irish users• 400 million views per month• Estimate daily unique traffic of 500,000 users approx.• 2.1 million unique users per month.

© Travelshake.com

Branded Channel on YouTube

How can Video Benefit your business

Short length – maximum of 2 to 3 minutes

Quick and simple demos – nothing too complex requiring zooming in and out or different camera angles.

Short interviews at events, or on-the-spot customer testimonials

Offering a timely “sneak peek” at a daily special or a behind the scenes view

The audience is only convinced by honest testimonials and authentic interviews

Work out what differentiates your product from your competitors and find people who can express these key points with intelligence, humour and conviction.

Story line is more important than how it looks

Key elements of a good online video

© Travelshake.com

Distribution is key – Put the video on your website, embed it in your newsletter and add it to your blog.

Post the video to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter... If your friends, fans and followers like it, they’ll share it with their friends, fans and followers, multiplying your audience.

Make it available on - corporate materials, DVDS, video podcasts and other promotional material.

© Travelshake.com

Online Video - Distribution

blogs Westin St. Martin working with wedding bloggers

Travelshake Social Media Consultants

Digital Video Production Facebook Compliant Competitions and Apps Twitter Strategy and Promotions Social Media Advertising Campaigns Location-Based Marketing and Deals Monthly Social Media Management Tailored Training & Consultancy

Services:

Contact: Email: [email protected]: + 353 (0)1 44 333 65

Facebook.com/Travelshake Twitter.com/Travelshake

YouTube.com/Travelshake Travelshake.com/Travelshake