How to Choose the Best Marketing for Your Business – Social Media/Content Marketing

Hello again!  A quick recap: last week I presented a basic overview on how to choose the best marketing for your business.  We discussed what key information you need to gather to best create your strategy.  Did you do your homework?  Make sure to share what you discovered about your goals.

Today we’re going to focus on a specific type of marketing –social/content marketing.  This type of marketing is hot right now -everyone has hopped on the social media band wagon.  Facebook, Twitter, Vine, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+  –words that mean nothing  on their own but are highly recognizable to the public.

Why?
According to the Pew Research Center 66% of online adults regard “connections with family members and friends (both old and new) as a primary consideration in their adoption of social media tools”.  Users are also looking to connect based on a shared interest, read comments by public figures and even look to make a love connection.  This makes sense.  The OECD ranks the US as the 9^th hardest working nation in the world.  Finding time to visit with friends, join clubs and meet a romantic partner is difficult.  Hopping on the internet after a long day at work is much easier and time effective.  Plus you can do it while you wear your pajamas (a nice bonus).

So what does this have to do with marketing your business?

Fast fact number one:  Users spend more than one fifth of their time engaging on social media channels (I imagine the rest of the time is spent looking up funny cat pictures).
–CNBC.com

Fast fact number two:  Social media accounts for only 16% of customer engagement today, but is expected to increase to 57% – the second most used channel, behind only face-to-face interaction – within five years.
–Marketing Pilgrim

That’s a significant jump in a short amount of time and a huge potential audience for your travel business.  This is also where the content portion of social marketing comes in.  For this type of marketing you need to focus on creating interesting, engaging content that makes your clients view you as an invaluable resource.  Once you’ve built up a rapport with your followers, you can dedicate 10% of your engagement to sales (SophieBoujold.com).

Who should use social media/ content marketing?

65% of Facebook users are age 35 or older, and 60% are female (Pingdom.com)  Facebook users tend to be more affluent –32% of Facebook users have an annual household income of over $150,000 per year.  Women dominate most social sites (Reddit is the exception) which is good for travel agents since women are more likely to make decisions about family vacations.  And with the exception of Reddit and Tumblr, most social sites have a large older demographic (remember: older Americans tend to have more disposable income available for travel).

Because of the large demographic and income ranges most anyone can use social media/ content marketing.  An added bonus is that most social sites allow you to have accounts at no cost.  Just remember this type of marketing does require a time investment.  You must engage users on a regular basis and provide dynamic, original content.  Today’s homework –write one blog about a destination you have traveled to.  Make sure to include information about the resort and any activities you did.  Bonus points if you include pictures.

Next time we’ll look at direct mail marketing.

-Amber ☺

Questions?  Email me at amberm@tpionline.com