Used to be a SM marketer in my past life. It's a huge subject that has a myriad of issues you have to deal with (and hence why people make a fairly good living consulting in it). Here's a couple of simple questions you need to ask"
Who are my current customers I want to keep? What SM do they use? The answer is where you need to be.
Who are my potential customers I want? What SM do they use? The answer is where you need to be.
What SM aren't used much by current or potential customers? The answer is where you shouldn't waste a moment.
You need to create a "personality" for you B&B/Inn. Are you trendy? Comfortable? An old friend? Grandma's House? Visualize your business as a person. Then in all your postings, visualize yourself as that person as you write posts.
Blogging is important. Even if you think potential and current customers don't read it, they do to some degree. And that added benefit of increasing your SEO makes it worth your time.
Some examples. Our past guests follow us on Facebook. We do a lot there. They don't use Twitter. We have an account, but our posts there are very infrequent. Most of our current/potentials aren't following us on Instagram, despite how we've tried to get them to. So that's basically a repost of photos from FB and our blog.
Finally, be very careful. It can be a huge time suck. It's much more fun to sit and gossip at the keyboard than replace outdated toilets. Make sure what you're doing is the best use of your time..
These are great tips. Any suggestions on audience identification? I see FB allows you to create a profile of that guest or even use your email list to figure out who your demographics are, but that is as far as I have gone with it so far. I think we can expand (at a cost) our FB presence successfully.
So I will be blogging and so will my husband, each with a distinct personality. It won't be grandma's house. We are looking at content acquisition and also looking at a program that does the posts when you want them to appear etc. We are determined to set this up so that it is not a huge twilight zone of unbounded time.
So, the big questions are about using (working with) bloggers and influencers. Do you do this?
In a few key conversations, we are hearing that this is what the big boys are doing and the sooner we figure out how to make that affordable and tap this resource, the sooner the better. THIS IS THE ELEPHANT IN THE LIVING ROOM. Our tourism bureau is beginning to spend on these people and we need to do get on board with this system of distribution.
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Who is an influencer in your area? Who do people respect when it comes to tourism or local info in your area?
You need to then follow them where they are. Twitter? Facebook? A blog? Instagram?
Once following you need to comment on and share what they are posting. They DO notice this. I shared a story from a blogger who didn't mention us a place to stay. She noticed it, commented on the share, sent me a DM and said she would come by to look at our place for a different story.
If you have something of interest they missed, post it where they are speaking of that thing. Make sure, unlike my goof, that photos have your info on them.
If your tourism board is really good try to be a guest blogger. Follow them on fb and post photos of your area when someone asks a question about your area.
If you cater to foodies or surfers or get away from it all types, post on websites devoted to these people.
Set a schedule for doing this so you don't go down the rabbit hole.
I used to track questions on travel websites. Correcting misinformation about my area, suggesting restaurants, things to do and then adding my info at the end.
Set up a time once/week to check a couple of busy travel websites. Even ta has a Q&A section.
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Morticia said:
Who is an influencer in your area?
Not sure yet. We are meeting with a local blogger who has been developing a larger following. Not sure how well it will fit with our demographics. Our goal is to learn how he gets work, (how the middle men hire him), how he built his following, and maybe learn a little about what goes on behind the scenes. Obviously, some bloggers get paid and some are willingly to do trades. A local blogger is less likely to do trades with us.
Morticia said:
Who do people respect when it comes to tourism or local info in your area?
There is not a single presence that fills this role. It is possible that we can begin to fill this niche. More research is needed to figure out how to do this, but it is obvious that these connections with influencers is the way you get repinned, retweeted, shared, and followed. Doing it with out spending hard cash is the tricky part.
Morticia said:
You need to then follow them where they are. Twitter? Facebook? A blog? Instagram?
Once following you need to comment on and share what they are posting. They DO notice this. I shared a story from a blogger who didn't mention us a place to stay. She noticed it, commented on the share, sent me a DM and said she would come by to look at our place for a different story.
Agreed. This will be part of our effort.
Morticia said:
If you have something of interest they missed, post it where they are speaking of that thing. Make sure, unlike my goof, that photos have your info on them.
Good reminder
Morticia said:
If your tourism board is really good try to be a guest blogger. Follow them on fb and post photos of your area when someone asks a question about your area.
I asked about this and I think they would be willing.
Morticia said:
If you cater to foodies or surfers or get away from it all types, post on websites devoted to these people.
Good thing to remember as far as being relevant.
Morticia said:
Set a schedule for doing this so you don't go down the rabbit hole.
This may end up being the most important thing of all
Morticia said:
I used to track questions on travel websites. Correcting misinformation about my area, suggesting restaurants, things to do and then adding my info at the end.
Why did you stop? It sounds like a great opportunity to get engagement going.
Morticia said:
Set up a time once/week to check a couple of busy travel websites. Even ta has a Q&A section.
all of this lies ahead...and we really haven't even talked about the KPI's and metrics.
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I'm guessing the reason there is so much thought behind this is you don't want to make a mistake.
Sometimes you just have to jump after doing 'enough' research.
You can still do research but what do you have to show the influencers? Without the give and take it goes nowhere.
One blogger's meat is another's poison. This local blogger may have a lot of followers but it doesn't mean there's a formula. The best 'formula' is to be yourself and put out good content on a regular basis.
Do you have an email newsletter or email list of prior guests? Get a month's worth of good content in a blog and a plan under your belt for more and then send an email blast to your peeps. Ask them to follow your blog, fb, Twitter feed, etc. Ask them to share.
As for roi, the way to check is to have your metrics in place before you start. How do you presently track your performance? What is the goal of your future engagement?
You can actually start by using Google as a resource. What AdWords phrases cost the most for your area? Which ones have the most traffic? Don't start there. ;-)
Start with something lower down the list, but useful and important. Write about it on your blog. That starts the clock on Google history. History counts. Local festivals. Foods. You could have a section on your blog called 'Hidden My Town' where you become the expert. (I like that one myself. Gotta think about it now!)
I stopped checking the travel sites because it got to be a rabbit hole. There were a couple of 'queen bees' who discounted everything I said, so it was better for my health to move on rather than have to defend my town every week.
These 2 did not like my town and ran it down every chance they got. "Don't stay in that town, stay here." Things like that. The more I posted, now being in their sights, the more they ran down the town.
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