Travel industry marketers need to be aware of the alarming changes underway at Facebook as it limits organic distribution in favour of paid-for posts
Bronwyn White, co-founder, MyTravelResearch.com
Due to changes at Facebook, less than four per cent of your company’s fans are now likely to see your company’s news and updates on Facebook as Facebook limits organic distribution in favour of paid-for posts.
Addressing this topic in a blog post, Bronwyn White, co-founder of MyTravelResearch.com, writes: “What many in the travel industry did not understand was that we were effectively acting as a tenant on rented space not a freeholder. The landlord could come along at anytime and increase the rent or start charging you for amenities. And if you can’t afford the increase, you might have to move out, use less space or have fewer amenities.”
“At first, entry costs were low (or non existent) for social media and impact was high. Facebook, for one, provided an easy and quick way to build a tourism brand and a following online. With tourism being a cash-poor sector, Facebook was a panacea. But with posts now reaching as few as four per cent of a company’s Facebook fans it’s time for tourism entities to diversify away from Facebook and build an online presence that tourism bodies own and fully control.”
White recommends that destinations and tourism entities should now do four things:
1) create informative, inspirational websites with images, videos and the right tone of voice
2) create content that helps customers at every stage of the path to purchase
3) make it easy for customers to book on your website
4) create their own database that they can own and control.
“We still need to promote blogs and videos through social media. But just don’t build your entire marketing strategy on a platform that can suddenly be beyond your financial reach, says White. There are plenty of free or cheap alternatives to Facebook, such as Google+, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest,” she said.
“It is time to move out of your rented space, get your own place and focus on building your own online real estate portfolio. Once you have done that, add to it on a regular basis, renovate occasionally to freshen up and regularly promote your hard work.”
Read the full blog post for more tips
By Bronwyn White, co-founder, MyTravelResearch.com
