Using Facebook for your Tourism Business:

Step 1 – Set goals:

What you trying to achieve? It’s much easier to achieve your goals if they are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timebound.

eg. “Increase average organic reach of my Facebook business posts by 20% by end of July” or “Increase page likes to 1000 by November”.

Step 2 – Improve your page:

Ensure profile and cover photo are up to date and ‘About’ section complete.

Step 3 – Promote your page:

In your email signature, on your website, on other social networks, in your business, in printed communications with customers etc.

Step 4 – Publish content that people want to read:

According to the psychology of sharing, people share content on Facebook that:

• Brings valuable and entertaining content to others
• Helps define ourselves to others
• Grow and nourishes our relationships
• Makes us feel good
• Helps get the word out about causes or brands

This post by Innocent was liked by over 24,000 people and shared 1,784 times – why?

It’s topical, funny, light-hearted, visual and doesn’t sell anything – but it does position Innocent as an entertaining brand that you’d like to keep in touch with (and possibly might buy from in the future).

7 types of post that engage:

1. Questions:

Ask questions that are open – invite your audience to fill in the blank: I really know my holiday has begun when……. and ask opinions (What’s your favourite beach in Cornwall?) rather than absolute answers (What’s the best beach in Cornwall?”

2. Humour:

3. Opinion for debate:

4. Images:

5. Videos:

Dove video on Facebook:

Why it works:

• The message is simple
• The video is uploaded straight to Facebook so auto-plays on scroll
• It promotes a cause people that want to be seen to support, which encourages shares
• No volume is needed to understand the message

Tipsy Bartender video on Facebook:

Why it works:

• It makes it look easy
• The video is uploaded straight to Facebook so auto-plays on scroll
• It’s immediately eye-catching
• It includes sub-titles so no volume is needed to watch and enjoy

Lego video on Facebook:

Why it works:

• If you love Lego (or have a young child who does!), this will immediately jump out from your newsfeed
• The video is uploaded straight to Facebook so auto-plays on scroll
• It’s funny
• No volume is needed to watch and enjoy

Diply video on Facebook:

Why it works:

• It’s a cat

As well as uploading videos straight to Facebook, Facebook is currently rolling out ‘Facebook live’ which streams your videos live as you’re recording them – these have been shown to have a much greater reach than other videos in recent tests:

Check out this handy post for using ‘Facebook live’ including getting started, what to say, best practice, etc.

6. Personal appreciative:

7. Motivational quotes:

You may also like to use themed posts, such as:

• #MotivationalMonday
• #WinningWednesday
• #ThrowbackThursday

Step 5 – Plan campaigns by week that contribute to your goals:

Be aware of monthly marketing themes that you could tap into and plan test posts, videos, questions and images that will resonate with your audience and drive engagement.

Things to consider:

• What’s your goal?
• Who will schedule posts?
• How much time can you commit?
• What else is happening?

Use Facebook scheduling to write your posts in advance and schedule to publish over the week or month.

Step 6 – Respond to comments:

Facebook is a social network so you need to approach it as yourself – no stuffy corporate replies – but real personality and conversation.

Step 7 – Measure your progress:

Facebook insights provides a lot of information about your page, including whether people are liking (or loving) what you’re saying, which posts they share the most, whether they click your links, and who is visiting your page the most.

Use what you learn to continuously improve your marketing to get the results you want for your business.

Download the slides from today’s session by clicking the image below – save to your computer to refer to at any time:

And remember to request your weekly email, giving tips, inspiration, cheat sheets and templates you can use to continuously improve your online marketing:

Extra resources:

How to run a competition on Facebook (without breaking its rules)

Canva – an excellent free tool for creating Facebook cover photos and other social media posts

Typorama – a free app for creating motivational quotes to use on Facebook and other social networks