Taking social media up a level

Measuring success

Jamie Turner is chief content officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine for BKV Digital and Direct Response, which provides marketing for companies such as AT&T, Home Depot and Mercedes Benz. In a recent interview, he said there are five ways companies can make money using social media, as well as three stages of tracking social media's cycle of return on investment.

5 ways to monetize social media

• Branding: A 20th century approach to marketing as a way to promote a brand but with no directly trackable metrics. "A good example is the Old Spice videos on YouTube that created awareness for the brand."

• Research: Getting the thoughts of customers. "For the travel industry, a great use of social media is to get your prospects to tell you what they want and what their needs are." Turner cited MyStarbucksIdea.com, where customers share ideas on ways to improve Starbucks, as a good example.

• Customer retention: Monitoring what people are saying about their brands and responding to negative tweets and blog posts rapidly. A quick response helps retain customers: "Delta Airlines is a great example. They know that invariably they are going to lose a small percentage of their customers' luggage. If that customer starts tweeting about it in the airport, that's bad for Delta. They say: sorry you lost your luggage, and here's a way to find your luggage."

• E-commerce: Using social media tools like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube to drive people to a website where they can be converted from prospects to customers: "It's very trackable. ... If you do a 24-hour offer on a cruise by clicking through a link, that's very trackable because you can see how many people clicked through and converted."

• Lead generation: "Travel agents say, 'We need more prospects in our sales funnel. If we can just get them to our website, then we can reel them in.'" An example is a travel agent who specializes in safaris creating three YouTube videos on picking the best safari, what to pack, or offering a free download on eight things you should know about booking a safari in Africa. Then, by tracking a user's online activity, he said, the agency "knows that person is interested in Africa."

The Social Media ROI Cycle

Turner developed a concept called the Social Media ROI Cycle, which helps people understand the three stages companies go through when they launch a campaign. Tracking ROI, he said, depends on the particular campaign and its level of sophistication.

Stage 1: Launch -- During this stage, 100% of a company's focus is on launching on the "Big Four" social media sites -- LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube -- simply to have a social media presence. Turner said about half of all businesses plateau at this stage.

"They get set up on the Big Four, and then they say, 'Wait, we forgot how to figure out how to track this stuff. We don't even know if it's working or not.'"

Stage 2: Management -- This is when companies track hits to their websites, inbound links, Facebook likes, etc.

"At this stage you are trying to engage prospects to connect with your brand by downloading a white paper or liking a Facebook page ... something that shows they are connecting with your brand."

Stage 3: Optimization -- The more sophisticated part of the equation. In this stage companies often hire outside firms to track inbound leads and traffic across social media platforms and target those leads to turn into customers. They also test their social media campaigns, maybe by having two different landing pages and seeing which one is more successful.

By tracking people as they navigate the Web, companies can start targeting ads to people based on their behavior.

"So if someone is interested in travel to South America or cruising, or wine tours, we can start serving up ads to them specifically based on their behavior on social media sites." -- J.J. 

This is the second of a two-part report on social networking for travel agents. Click to read part one. 

So, like most businesses today, you have embraced social media to some extent, or at least dipped your toe in it, probably by establishing a presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or YouTube. But are you ready to step up to the most sophisticated levels of social media deployment?

In part one of this two-part look at social media as a travel seller's tool, we reported that to be effective with social media platforms, you have to first accept that content is king.

But even once a business aims the right message at its audience, it faces sundry challenges in harnessing the power of social media at a higher level. Taking it to the next level will mean different things for different businesses, depending on their audiences, their messages and their resources.

Go fish

Jamie Turner, chief content officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine for BKV Digital and Direct Response, described social media as "a great way to fish more efficiently."

"If you are a fisherman with one hook in the water, and social media allows you to put up to 10 hooks in the water, the likelihood of bringing home a boat full of fish goes up," Turner said.

He observed that when it comes to buying travel, the first thing customers do when they want to go somewhere is to search for that destination or cruise on Google or Bing.

So, clearly, he said, "You want to show up in that search. If you don't get into social media, your company will not show up on that Google search as high."

A business that has effectively used social media tools will not only show up on the search but will probably "reel in and keep" those customers, Turner said.

For example, he said, a user might get hooked on an agency's YouTube videos about safaris. "And if you have another section about travel to Europe, they will come back to you when they are thinking about that trip," he said.

Choosing the right tools

Not all social media tools will suit every business, and some might not be worth your time.

This is especially important to keep in mind because social media is commonly misperceived to be free. While it's true that many of the tools themselves are free, the time and effort it takes for a business to engage customers properly with social media has a cost.

Turner said that businesses expecting to make an impact with social media have to anticipate that 25% to 50% of one full-time employee's time will be spent on a company's social media campaigns.

"Can you go into social media with less time than that? Yes, but you won't have much impact," Turner said. "It's like putting out a house fire and all you have is a garden hose."

Erica Swallow, an associate editor of partner content at Mashable.com, a blog that covers social networks, recommended that businesses use their resources carefully.

This might, for example, mean paying attention to whether the efforts you are making on Facebook are getting the same results that they are getting on YouTube.

"If you have time constraints, you have to limit [your efforts] to the platforms that are going to have the biggest return for your business," Swallow said. "I don't recommend spreading your resources thin. Pick a few key platforms that could have high potential and see where those lead."

A first step, she recommended, is to inventory your strengths: "Do you produce a lot of videos? Photos? Go from there. If you are strong at photos, maybe use a social sharing program like Instagram. If it's video, obviously the biggest search engine is YouTube."

One of the conundrums many business owners come up against when deploying social media is that tracking its efficacy isn't always easy, and can be quite costly.

The biggest challenge is correlating cause and effect.

"There isn't a direct correlation in some cases," Swallow said. "Someone might be following you on Twitter for a month, and they purchase something, but you can't really [know for sure] that that's why."

Tracking programs exist, but they eat up time and money (see article at right). Web analytic programs determine how much traffic comes directly from Twitter and Facebook.

Larger companies often hire outside firms to craft their social media campaigns, which often include designing landing pages on Facebook and using sophisticated tracking programs.

Another potential source of advice are suppliers that are themselves adept with social media. Norwegian Cruise Line, for example, encourages agents to "join in the conversation" and provides them with advice on how to do it. The line has set up an email address (socialmedia@ncl.com) for agents to reach out to NCL if they want help in setting up accounts or tips and tricks on how to use social media channels.

The next level

After you feel you are a savvy user on the main social media platforms, there are ways to take it to the next level.

Foursquare, for example, is used by companies around the world to offer consumers discounts on meals and even hotel bookings for engaging with those properties on Foursquare.

Foursquare enables users to "check in" to places such as hotels, restaurants or even cities. In return, that check-in process gives those establishments the opportunity to engage directly with those consumers once they are on their property.

A 2010 article on Mashable, "The Future of the Hotel Industry and Social Media," reported the various ways that the Wynn Las Vegas was using Foursquare to communicate directly with its guests. When Foursquare users checked in to the Wynn, they were sent a coupon for a complimentary glass of champagne at Blush Boutique, one of the hotel's nightclubs.

The hotel has a team that responds to every guest who checks in on Foursquare or tweets about being on the property.

Using Foursquare, those guests are then given facts about interesting areas of the hotel.

E-commerce experts advise that social media platforms are an increasingly important customer-service tool that companies still often overlook.

"Businesses should treat social media platforms like any other kind of communication with their customers," Swallow said. "If someone emailed you, would you respond? If they called on the phone?"

She pointed to airlines, which increasingly use Twitter to respond rapidly to passenger problems.

"They all respond to tons and tons of tweets every day, and treat it just like a regular customer-service line," she said.

Several studies have revealed that even when the issue is negative, issuing any response at all increases the positive perception people have of the company.

Swallow pointed to a survey of business owners done by the review site Yelp. Respondents said that in instances where a Yelp user posted a negative review of a business, if that business offered a response explaining the situation, the reviewer was more likely to go back and give that establishment a higher star rating.

Miami agency finds its online 'Groove'

In January, more than 2,000 dance music enthusiasts set sail on the Norwegian Sky for the sixth annual Groove Cruise out of Miami.

The three-day event was special because it was the first dance music-themed sailing that was a full-ship charter.

Even more special for its organizer, Jason Beukema, president and owner of Miami-based Whet Travel, was that the company didn't pay a penny to advertise the cruise.

Instead, Beukema, winner of ASTA's Young Professional Award in 2009, relied on the world of social media and email to get the word out and make sure it went viral.

Whet Travel has 4,000 followers on Twitter; the Groove Cruise page on Facebook has 21,000 fans. One of the many YouTube videos featuring the Groove Cruise has been viewed more than 2 million times, and two others have been seen more than a million times each.

"Social media is very effective in reaching our audience and building a community," Beukema said. "It's very viral, and we're all about creating a community around the music."

Besides its Groove Cruise fan page on Facebook, Whet Travel started several Facebook groups that only Groove Cruise alum can be part of. For example, there is a Groove Cruise girls group.

Beukema said he tried advertising in traditional ways on the radio in markets around the country. Among other things, Whet did a big promotion with Sirius and Clear Channel, which hit 200 markets around the country. But according to Beukema, "It didn't work at all."

"Radio doesn't work for us," he said. "For some agencies it does, but for us it hasn't. It's not as targeted. We tried print ads a long time ago, and those didn't work. We are completely focused on social media and email marketing. Social media is the main thing."

Beukema said the secret is a strategy that reaches consumers where and how they want to be reached.

"In today's world with marketing, the companies aren't in control," he said. "The client is in control. They should be able to communicate with the travel agent any way they want to."

But the savvy agent has to plan a social media strategy.

"You can't just go on Facebook and fill a ship with 2,000 people," he said. "We communicate with the people through email, Facebook, Twitter. Some people call us, some people just text us questions."

Besides the big social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, Beukema said Whet is active in all sorts of online channels, including LinkedIn, Plaxo and A Small World.

"The No. 1 way travel agents get referrals is word of mouth," he said. "Social media is just that: It's word of mouth."

He said that news and information spreads much faster online and to many more people than traditional word-of-mouth networking: "People spread information and your videos and things they want to talk about."

Beukema offered advice to other agents wanting to go viral, the first being, "Never be too sales-y."

"Always be engaging, and treat people like you want to be treated," he said. "When you think of companies that shove deals down your throat, that's not the way to do it. ... Engage and talk to your audience like they are your friends. Build a tribe and community around whatever you are promoting."

Travel sellers, he said, are in the position of selling experiences that are well designed for social media platforms.

"Travel agents should give inside tips, put up pictures and videos," he said. "If they go on a ship inspection, post videos and pictures of the people they are meeting."

Beukema also stressed the importance of being consistent.

"Some people might post one or two things a week," he said. "We do it every day. We are not promoting on our Facebook fan page. We got 83 comments on one post this week, and it had nothing to do with the Groove Cruise or anything. It was about music and something controversial.

"We posted something about Charlie Sheen on the Groove Cruise [Facebook page] because it's funny. It has nothing to do with selling, but it's engaging, and once someone sees that, they might start spreading it." -- J.J.