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Social media fans and how they can impact your brand, authentically
While we’re on the subject of social media, see here, we should discuss your fan base. You may or may not be aware of this, but I come from a background of journalism and public relations. With the rise of the blogosphere and social media, these two trades have almost become, well, obsolete. And I’m OK with that. I’ve adapted and continue to adapt to the changing times.
Back to the topic.
I encounter many travel brands who are so caught up in gaining 3,000 + fans on their fan page and it makes me wonder: what does it really mean to have 3,000 or so fans following you?
I’ll tell you, absolutely nothing!
The focus must be on great service and the overall experience with your brand. Social media is great for business. It serves as a resource for other families who might be looking for a good shuttle company to the airport or a tasty family friendly restaurant to try out. However, what I see more and more travel industry service providers doing is paying for moms to blog about them. That’s insane and customers usually don’t buy into it.
Paying for social media mention is an apathetic way to express who you are. Why not spend those dollars providing ongoing training and empowerment for your staff.
What your fans say about you is far more important than how many of them you house in your base. However, it is likely that the more fans you have, the greater your chances are of getting a mention in the world of social media, be it favorable or unfavorable.
My overall advice to all the family travel leader brands of the world, is to focus on being the difference in family travel. Just focus on that. Forget who’s following you. The proof will be in the bottom line. If you focus all of your efforts on being of great service, I can guarantee that you will get talked about both on and offline. And that makes all the difference.
Only a few summer months left to get ‘em talking
Where have the summer months gone?
We’re almost in the middle of July and before you know it, it will be time to roll out the fall specials. I ask you, what have you done this summer season to get your family travelers talking?
I’m tuned into family travel blogs, Twitter and Facebook, and I have not seen any raving fans (parents) talking about how great their travels have been. I’ll continue my search. Don’t be discouraged. There’s still time to roll out the “Wow” factor for your family travelers.
In fact, now is the perfect time to reconsider what programs and specials you have in place and tweak them a little. Summer is ALWAYS a great time to experiment. Get families raving about you during their social media time. Disney Cruises has the idea. Just last night I saw their new “end of summer” commercial campaign, where they are encouraging families to book a cruise now before school starts. I must admit, although we’ve already planned our summer vacation, which is in a few weeks, I was feeling tempted to at least pick up the phone and inquire.
I do realize that Disney is in a breed of their own. I used that example to show you that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Just get your family travelers talking about their grand experience with your brand. From there, have a plan in place to have them come back for more.
