As more and more travel brands, small and large, grapple with social media, it becomes obvious that most corporate social media strategies fall into 3 categories - the good, the bad and the ugly.  

Whilst of course all strive to be in the first category, there are many reasons why the majority of travel companies fall into the latter two.   According to EyeforTravel's recent research, the most common sticking point with regards to achieving social media success is – understanding of how to create compelling content.

No company wants to be putting out content that does not fit their target audience or worse, languishes unread.  However, in the rush to jump on the social media bandwagon, mistakes are frequently being made.  Most mistakes seemly occur at the planning stage.  This is not surprising given the vast array of questions that the area of social media content throws up – questions that are often not fully considered.  

For example, what content do your consumers find engaging?  How do you choose the right tone to suit your brand?  You can't talk to everyone - how do you identify the best people to engage with?  How can you make it easier for customers to talk about your brand positively?

Over the next few weeks, EyeforTravel will be releasing a series of articles looking at how travel companies can to create successful social media content.  In turn, we'll be looking at blogs, Facebook, Twitter and niche travel.  Read Part I: Blogs below.

Part I - How to Create Compelling Blog Content

Firstly let's take the issue of blogs.  Everyday another travel company launches yet another travel blog.   Blogs are of course seen as a great way to provide new content on your site, increase brand awareness and drive traffic which in turn will hopefully result in converting engaged customers.   The richness of the travel product itself sits nicely with the social web.  After all, people love to talk about their travel experiences. 

But how do you gauge what blog content is relevant to your brand?  Should you simply leverage the content that's already out there or does that lack originality?  If as an industry we all have a blog then how are we differentiating ourselves? 

How can you ensure your blog is not only read but stands out from the crowd?

Srinivas Rao, Director of Social Media, Flightster and the host of BlogcastFM has a number of tips for creating a successful blog.   Rao achieved 100% growth in 2 months for Flightster's blog.  He suggests that every blog needs a well thought out marketing plan. 

Firstly, he advises to consider the blogs' prime objectives.   For example, are you aiming to build brand awareness?  Do you want to drive up SEO results? 

Secondly, how do you plan to build the blog?  Consider the following –

1) Budget – Social media is not free, set aside at a budget.  $2,500 is a suggested guideline
2) Writers – Use your personal network to find contributors and reward them.  Choose those who are well loved
3) Editorial policy – Sound like a human, not a marketing brochure.  This will keep customers coming back for more!  Try not to impose too many editorial restrictions (although this may vary depending on your brand policies)
4) Timeless content – Not being time specific ensures content will get shared over and over again over the coming months and years

Next, consider the marketing plan for the blog.  Rao's gives the following advice ‘Marketing a blog can be quite challenging.  Having built a podcast, a personal blog, and Flightster, I've learned that marketing a blog comes down to one thing: relationships.  All the marketing tactics in the world won't mean much without relationships.   Relationships are the lifeblood of the blogosphere and the key getting your content to spread.'

Rao continues, ‘A small number of incredibly loyal readers who love everything you do will go much further in the long run than millions of "one hit wonders."   Thus, your personal network is essential for effectively marketing a blog.   Building a loyal following will be the slower route in the short run, but will ultimately pay off in the long run.'

Further information on this topic can be found at EyeforTravel's Social Media Strategies for Travel conference, March 2-3, San Francisco where Srinivas Rao will be presenting further case studies and useful tips.

http://events.eyefortravel.com/social-media