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Follow Barrack Obama, says new media expert
The travel industry needs to learn from the Barrack Obama school of marketing when it comes to social networking.
This was the advice of new media PR guru Neil Maclean of agency Smallmedialarge.
Speaking to an audience at the Travel Technology Show, he said the new US president had conducted a masterclass in how to effectively conduct a Twitter campaign to reach as many people as possible.
“He did a fantastic job and we can really learn from how he did it,” said Mclean.
But he added that not all social media was appropriate.
“I don’t think there’s any point in having a Facebook presence just for the sake of it. People do not want to be marketed at, they are there to chat with friends and family.
"There are exceptions, however, such as STA Travel, where organisations have very loyal followers and a Facebook presence can work but on the whole I have mixed feelings about it.”
Mclean emphasised the importance of travel companies having a blog on their sites.
“With social media, there are two measures you must guage things against. Will it help you be found and will it help you be trusted?
"Having a blog, where you repeatedly write about the product you are marketing, will gradually allow you to be found that much quicker and if its good and people can identify with it, it will help you be trusted.
"Everyone knows that customers find it harder not to buy again from a brand they have established a relationship with so everyone’s happy then.
“But don’t just put on your special offers. Be creative and have one of your tour guides blog about the morning’s game safari or something that you offer and upload his pictures of the lion he spotted.”
Mclean said that the key to using social media successfully was to incentivise other people to create content about you online.
“It’s just as key to get other people to talk about you as it is to talk about yourself,” he added.
By Dinah Hatch
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