Presented at the International Conference on Travel Technology India in Kerala, India on June 8, 2013.

1. Social Media: Opportunities and
Challenges in Tourism Marketing
Presented to:
International Conference on Travel Technology India
Kerala, India
Prepared by:
Chad Wiebesick
Director of social media & interactive marketing
Twitter: @Wiebesick
June 8, 2013
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

2. Largest Global Social Media Sites
• Facebook is the world’s largest social network with 1
billion active users.
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

3. India is 3rd
Biggest Country on
Facebook
Top five countries on Facebook are United States, Brazil,
India, Indonesia, Mexico@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

4. In America: Social Media Fast
Facts
• 62% of travelers use the Internet
to research a trip
• Over 50% of travelers have
changed plans after researching
trips on social media sites
• 70% of travelers update their
Facebook status
• 76% of travelers document their
vacation by posting photos to a
social network
• Source:
http://sproutsocial.com/insights/2012/07/social-media-travel/
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

5. Smartphones are now the most popular device used to
access social media in Australia, overtaking laptop and
desktop computers for the first time ever.
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

6. With All The Social Networks
Available, Where Do I Start?
Don’t waste time! Focus on where your audience is at.@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

7. Key to Success: Make Fans the Hero
Follow the 80/20 rule: 80% is relevant content from fans and
20% is from you (self-promotion).@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

8. Align Your Social Strategy With Your
Business Objectives
• Facebook status updates with photos get the most likes,
shares and comments
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

9. The Secret to Facebook Success
Facebook incentives great content by showing posts to more
fans. Pages with poor engagement get seen by fewer fans.
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

10. How Do You Measure EdgeRank?
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

11. #1 Biggest Challenge in Social Media:
Measuring ROI
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

12. How To Measure ROI?
Top way businesses measure social media ROI is the number
of followers.
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

13. New York State Has The Largest
Number of Facebook Fans
• Yet, only 0.9% of their fans are talking about the page.
• The most popular age group are 13-17 year old teenagers.
• Most of their fans live in New York City.
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

14. State of Florida Has Far Fewer
Fans, But More Engaged
• Average age of fans are 35-54, a demographic more likely
to have budget to travel.
• Most fans live in out-of-state, a more lucrative traveler.
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

15. Another Reason to Not Focus on
Number of Fans
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

16. An Alternative: Use Klout to
Measure Influence
• The Klout Score measures influence based on your ability
to drive action. Every time you create content or engage
you influence others.
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

17. Traffic to Website is 2nd
Most
Popular Way to Measure ROI
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

18. Tip1: Use An Editorial Calendar to
Drive Traffic
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

19. Tip 2: A Blog is the Only Social
Channel You Own
• Businesses that blog generate
57% more leads than those that
don’t (Hubspot, 2011)
• Use Wordpress.org
• TIP: Share travel stories, things
to do, places to visit
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

20. Secret to Boost Your Website Traffic
• Easier URL to remember
• Better integration into main website
• Improves SEO
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

21. Tip 3: Pinterest Drives Traffic
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

22. Tip 4: Includes Links to Your
Website in Facebook Posts
• Out of 2,400 sources of traffic to michigan.org, Facebook
is Top 10.
• Michigan.org is most visited state tourism website 7 years
in a row.
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

23. 2nd
Biggest Challenge is Lack of
Time
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

24. Tip 1: Save Time
• Think about timing and consider posting different hours of
the day. Maybe you are a morning person, but your
audience is not. Consider testing different hours of the day,
including the weekend.
• Take advantage of Facebook’s scheduler.
* Post consistently at least 2-3 times/day
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

25. Tip 2: Save Time
• Not everyone is online all at the same time. Tools like
HootSuite allow you to schedule your tweets throughout
the day, from early morning to late evening, including
weekends. TweetWhen.com can also help you find your
most retweetable days and times.
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

26. Tip 3: Save Time
• Use NutshellMail to get a free summary of your social
media activity delivered directly to your email inbox on your
schedule.
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

27. Summary
1. Use networks where your audience is at.
2. Measure your success by engagement, not number of
fans.
3. Save time by using a content calendar.
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013

28. Thank You
Chad Wiebesick
wiebesickc@michigan.org
Twitter: @wiebesick
Facebook.com/cwiebesick
Linkedin.com/in/wiebesick
@Wiebesick #ICTT2013