If you are investing in social media and haven’t heard of Brian Solis – you should. In his article about the Number 1 Least asked question he provides these things for you to think about relative to your use of social media.  At the “EDGE” we speak often about ‘thinking like your travellers’.  Well I’m going to ask you to think like your traveller relative to THEIR use of social media. Can you answer these questions?

The Top 10 Questions Customers Are Asking You in Social Media

1. Why should I like you on Facebook?

2. Why should I follow you on Twitter

3. Why would I value the experience? What would I take away?

4. Why would I want to stay connected over time?

5. Why would I choose to engage your updates in my social stream over those of my real friends?

6. Why would I tell everyone I know to follow you?

7. Why would I share your content with my audience of peers?

8. Why would I decide to invest my time and express loyalty in your network and not mine?

9. Why should I care if you don’t care about my needs, experiences, or questions?

10. Why should I come back?

Happy thinking!

When people are online they will usually ask two things about online content:

How are you going to help me?

What do you have for me right now? A call to action must say more than “learn more.” It must offer benefits tailored to your ideal client needs and encourage your potential guest to take action to get educated on making the right decision, saving money on a product, or getting something that will put him on the path to happiness, wellness, or fun. After all, we’re in the travel industry – why do people make travel choices that include your services?

Tips on presenting and describing calls to action linking benefits to your ideal guest needs:

Get a quote: This call to action is usually taken much less often, but in practice creates a very high value lead. The volume of leads from this may be lower, but the quality of the lead is much higher. A consumer has already indicated interest in the product and wants to know its cost.

Download a guide/white paper/research report: Something like: “Top 10 Things to see and do when visiting Charlotte” will help build confidence in your brand for someone already choosing to travel to your region. Top recipes for cookouts, or canoe route itinerary ideas can …..

Download a poster/info-graphic: Give your potential guests an educational poster or info-graphic and they will want it. They may also print it, put it on their wall or fridge, and MOST IMPORTANTLY share it.

Get a savings certificate or coupon: I’m not big on discounts, but time sensitive offers, or value-added packaging only available here and now can generate more leads with people inclined to make a decision, but waiting for the last straw.

Watch a 2-3 minute video: You have successfully created the desire, now let people consume more information in the most popular and growing form of media – video. Spend time and money creating video that is truly compelling and ensure it matches the desires of your guest.

Like our Facebook Page: Facebook changed it’s call to action on its social pages from “Become a fan” to “Like” us. I like to call this type of offer “a small yes”. Encouraging your potential guest to share this content on Facebook, Twitter and other social media is a great way to encourage someone interested in your offer tu spread the word. Facebook’s like button is a quick and easy way for folks to suggest you to others.

Opt-in to our e-mail list: Email, yes you are getting tired of email newsletters, but they still help sell your products and services to people. Don’t just simply say, “Subscribe to our e-mail.” Be sure to offer ongoing value to your email subscriber list. Don’t just deliver your messages, deliver values and benefits that match the desire of your ideal guest.

Call now/talk to a human: After all, getting a prospective buyer on the phone is probably the thing that closes most sales. Ask for that phone call. Make it easy to connect by offering skype connections or text messaging too! Instead of “fill out this form,” how about, “call us now to get answers from an actual person!” And by all means, Track the origin of phone calls with a simple message pad clearly labeling why folks initiated contact with you.

Buy now: The ultimate call to action you want!  To make a sale, convert interest into action – secure business.

Nimmo Bay Resort, in northern British Columbia operates with their own theory of Hospitality:  E2=MC   Expectations Exceeded = Memories Created! Appreciating that there are more people ‘out there’ than will visit their property and book a vacation, they are reaching out and connecting virtually with the market place – and yes, with the goal that some will convert to bookings as a result of their online experience.

Want a ride in a helicopter!  Board the plane!

P.S. If you recognize the voices – the song is from the Canadian Tenors as as Clifton Murray (one of the tenors) is their son!  How cool is that.

Got a few minutes – listen in to the short video on the new CTC Signature experiences marketing program. Interested if your experiences fit?  Check out the application process but get moving – closes for the next wave at the end of July!

Good news for people in the experiential travel business.  At one of the most successful Rendez-vous Canada shows in history, Lesley Anderson, of the Brand Experiences Team, shared with industry their new Signature Experiences Collection. This program was created to lure international travellers to experience Canada in all its richness and diversity and builds on the leading edge Explorer Quotient research by the CTC that continues to help us refine our understanding with visitor profiles of the types of travellers who come to Canada.

The investments in experiential travel development has been going on for years now with organizations such as GMIST, Parks Canada, Gros Morne National Park and Co-0p, ACOA, New Brunswick Tourism and Parks, Department of Nova Scotia Tourism and Culture, PEI Department of  Tourism and Culture, the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation for Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta Parks and Recreation and Travel Manitoba is ready to roll now that their new brand is in market  ”Its Manitoba Time.”  No wonder our national DMO has created this opportunity to develop a program that will market the engaging, immersive, hands-on, behind-the-scenes, local, and authentic experiences to the world. The pilot program saw a number of companies qualify with experiences such as: L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site (NL),  Tranquility Cove Adventures (PEI),  Sucrerie de la Montagne (QC), Inniskillin Winery, (ON/BC), Frontier’s North Tundra Buggy Experiences (MB), Historic Ressor Ranch (SK), the Royal Tyrrell Museum Dinosaur Dig (AB), Cruise North Expeditions (NU), and Nahanni River Adventures (YK/NT) to name a few.

Do you have a great visitor experience, targeted to welcoming international visitors that you would like considered for inclusion in this marketing program?  If the answer is yes – good news, the Signature Experiences Program application process is FREE, if you meet the criteria and are accepted, you are accepted by the review panel in basic marketing programs for FREE, and special pay-as-you-play campaigns will be created into which you can buy-in, but if you choose not to – you stay in the program. There is no limit to the number of experiences/companies to be accepted so check out the program and if you meet the requirements and go for it!

It was great to see a graduate from the Gros Morne Institute for Sustainable Tourism’s Edge of the Wedge excited email today. She proudly let her stakeholders know about the launch of Tourism Dauphin’s new TOURISM website. In the past, tourism has been a sub-category of the City of Dauphin website, and was largely ineffective in the middle of many other aspects of a busy economic development website.

Kudos to Dauphin for seeing the wisdom of developing a tourism-focused website. Carla Wolfenden is an alumnus of the Edge of the Wedge experiential tourism training program.

I noticed several things about the website that I believe reflect Carla and her team’s deeper understanding of tourism as a community economic development driver, the role of good marketing, and the importance of experiential tourism, by having a look at the website:

1. The site captured specific icons that make Dauphin unique (The Dauphin Kings Junior A team, which has a very high loyalty base; Dauphin Countryfest; the Fort Dauphin Museum, a fisher with a walleye in his hands, Ukrainian culture, The Riding Mountain UNESCO Biosphere Reserve; the train station, locally made Ukrainian wood-fired breads, and many others)
2. The whole website is image-rich, with pictures of real people doing real things, along with good photographs of historic buildings, festivals, and attractions.
3. Links to Twitter, Blog posts and things to do are present.
4. Under the TO DO button, they have a whole category of EXPERIENCES.  And, they are really cool experiences. I know, because I have experienced every one of them.
5. I love how the whole tourism approach speaks to “partnering” with local, regional, and national partners (biosphere reserves, provincial parks, national parks, private parks, and local partners)
6. They have integrated seasonality, hockey, arts, and their iconic events in really simple ways.

Carla brings a lot of experience from her previous assignments, world travel in other countries, and her more recent involvement with community-based tourism. She is a great example of someone who takes industry training and applies it in ways that have relevance for her community, and for her community’s “ideal guests”. Congrats Carla and company in Dauphin!  Great job.

There’s a terrific book titled “6 Pixels of Separation” by Mitch Joel of Twist Image that  I picked up in the airport on my way back from teaching Experiential Travel at the Gros Morne Institute for Sustainable Tourism. It reinforces the key messages Todd Lucier teaches  on the importance of the Internet for creating ‘communities that matter’ for growing your business and establishing a relationship with your customers/fans that goes beyond transacting a sale.

The 5 C’s of Entrepreneurship he writes about, that are essential to today’s successful businesses include:

1.  Connecting: to consumers, to build loyalty, to nurture relationships, to make money.

2.  Creating: text, images, audio and video.

3. Conversations: that matter to your audience, connects your business to communities of interest.

4. Community: taking your business beyond four walls, a location on a street, opening up to the world – and the different type of thinking, investment, approach that is required to succeed in creating communities, not just attracting a customer.

5.  Commerce: don’t use conversations and build communities to trick people into a sale – the new business gold is building trust. Use pull strategies in gaining interest in your company, add value to people who are following you.

And most importantly – listen.  The different online conversations are like free focus groups, if you now how to listen, and do something what what you learn – it can make a difference.

A great book and I’m only halfway through!

Online activists are criticizing US oil policy by attacking Canada’s Tourism Industry

When Corporate Ethics International chose to tar Alberta’s travel industry by focusing on the Tar Sands, it was much more than a PR ploy.  It was an effort by environmental activists to inflict damage on the province and a countrys economy, specifically, its tourism industry.

The websites “Traveler’s Quiz” focuses on disturbing multiple choice questions that place “Canada” and “Alberta” as the bad guy, tarring Canadian Tourism Industry in every answer.

Upon completing the survey, visitors are shown a video and asked to take a pledge to not to visit Alberta and tell their friends and family to do the same.

The website is generating traffic with a corresponding billboard campaign in four US cities – Seattle, Minneapolis, Portland and Denver.

On-line banner and flash ads also appear on major tourist sites, Google Adwords, and in mailings to organizations that might hold conferences in Alberta as well as travel agencies.

Calgary’s news media responded to the incoming salvo with an attack on California.

Why Canadian Tourism? When the real target of CEI is US Energy Policy.

The energy policy of  United States is in large part to blame for the growth of Canadas Tar Sands Oil industry.  According Corporate Ethics International, “the US needs to end its addiction to oil, and this campaign is the foundation for the movement that will ultimately achieve that goal.”

What do you think? Is it fair game to attack tourism industry in another country over environmental controls, policies of your own country?  What is the responsibility of the tourism industry to prevent or respond to such attack ads and online media?

Still struggling to find the time to commit to creating your social media platform!  It may seem daunting with all the options, but here is a great article for those who have too much on their plate but know deep in their heart they must take action.

Social Media in 10 Minutes per Day!

Enjoy

A tweet and you may miss it, a Facebook post and you may forget to see it, send an email and you by by-pass it!  So what is a busy executive to do when he/she was raised and educated in an era when social media did not exist, you remember carrying a ‘box of punched cards’ to the computer room down the hall and then returning the next day to get your results!  Indeed the access to, and speed of information is on a racetrack to destinies unknown and you may be feeling a little ‘out of shape’ or not even sure where to start in a meaningful way — after all you are the boss, the owner, the General Manager.

Take a quick read at this great blogpost that came out  titled “Top 5 Social Media Tips for C-Suite Execs”.  If you don’t know what a C-suite exec is, that’s okay, they may not know how to tweet!  In summary they provide 5 tips, but I have a few more to frame your thinking.

1. First, accept social media is here to stay, will continue to evolve faster than you can catch on unless you are committed to perpetual learning.

2.  Second, appreciate like old fashion communications (TV, radio, print) you only need to invest-in and commit to those that are relevant to your target market.

3. Thirdly, social media represents a new opportunity to connect, listen and learn about your customer. If you are a manager who believe this is a priority – then you need to carve time out to engage. If you are an executive who ‘has people to do this’ then ensure your policies and practices support it, and ensure you high the right skills onto the team  – communicators and relationship builders — and allow them hassle free time on the job to do just that!

So what are the 5 tips – and note the common thread — PEOPLE!!!!

1. Go where the people are;    2. Invest in people;   3.  Be a subject matter expert;  4. Make it personal ;  5. Dont’ forget ‘internal social media’

Enjoy transforming your people and communictions!