Erika Wiggins, The Active Explorer, hikes Mount Van Cott, Salt Lake City, Utah (courtesy The Active Explorer on Facebook)

Whether we’re speaking with our destination marketing hat, or from our blogger hat, we say pretty much the same thing: connecting with locals who are social media savvy is an important step in growing your online reach, influence and impact.

Think of it as the stone thrown into the pond – your locals who have extensive social media networks can ripple your news outward. They can help you find and connect with other online media experts, and through their blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, etc. they have audiences that might not discover you any other way.

That strong relationship with locals gives you credibility when you reach out to host non-local bloggers for an event or familiarization tour, because one of the first things such visitors want to know (besides where to find WiFi) is, “Who are your local bloggers? Instagrammers? Twitter folks?”

Hey, it’s social media!

Rather than always thinking about bringing outsiders into town, set out to find, meet and get to know your online locals. It’s very similar to the offline local ambassador programs you’ve spent years building for your destination, but instead of one-to-one, it will be one-to-many.

Since the TBEX travel blogging conference is kicking off in Toronto May 31 – as event Media Partners we’re thrilled to see over 1000 attendees registered and the #TBEX Twitter hashtag is hopping – we thought we’d share a travel blogger’s perspective on connecting with local tourism organizations, and how it’s been helpful to her.

Please welcome Erika Wiggins who blogs at The Active Explorer; we met her while Leslie and Sheila were in Mexico covering the WTTC (World Travel & Tourism Council) Americas Summit.

How local tourism connections help Erika ….

“I learned a few lessons during my transition from Orlando to Salt Lake City; the primary one was to reach out to local boards and businesses where I live. In Orlando, I depended on my connection to local blogger groups, which were great, but neglected to make my own contacts with local tourism boards and the hospitality industry. I did okay, but never reached my potential.

While visiting Salt Lake before deciding to move here, I arranged a meeting with Visit Salt Lake. They connected me to local resorts and Ski Salt Lake. I also made a point of doing what I had done in the past – reaching out to local blogger groups. The experience has been great and I now realize I could have done so much more to connect in Orlando.

Most individual businesses either reach out to me directly though my website or meet me through local blogger groups and personal introductions; the key to this is to make contact easy by having an easy-to-use form on your website.

I also make a point of attending industry functions related to my topic. For example, I am a member of the Outdoor Industries Women’s Coalition, which gives me opportunities to learn from industry leaders and network with them as well (not to mention it’s a group of dynamic women and I need to make friends in my new hometown.)

To summarize, I strongly advise bloggers to meet with their local boards and businesses, and not just focus on destinations away from home. Additionally, network, network, network. Get involved in local blogger and industry groups, especially those related to your niche.

Who better to write about your hometown than a local?”

Now, flip Erika’s experiences and think about how you can reach out to your locals, who may not even know you exist (“What does ‘CVB’ stand for, again?”) or they may know very little about what you do to market your destination, attraction or lodging.

Also consider a possible business relationship with the local blogging community when you develop your budget; and yes, we mean paying them. Someone who is just getting started might be willing to work for free or for “exposure,” but an online publisher with established expertise will expect to be paid to create quality content for you.

Bloggers can work as an extension of the DMO staff, contributing to your DMO blog, newsletters, publicity releases and covering events. Bonus – there’s no real training time to get good bloggers up and publishing because they already know what to do and how to do it. They provide a unique perspective, they know what their audience/your audience is looking for and they can make sure their posts and updates focus on what the audience wants to know.

It’s a win for both entities as the DMO ends up with quality stories and access to new networks, and the blogger makes some money for his or her efforts, extends reach by connecting with a new audience via the DMO, and by working with the DMO they can build relationships throughout their community that will help them earn referrals and branch out to other areas.

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If your mind is swirling with all of the above discussion about online media and getting more online coverage….maybe you wish you could backtrack to about 2006 and get caught up a bit?….then step into our time machine!

Click here for our Time Travel Training package to learn about how to connect with bloggers and get more online media coverage.

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Have you connected with us in your favorite places? If you arrived here directly from a link, here’s the email signup for this newsletter. Say hi to Leslie, Sheila and Becky at Tourism Currents on….

• Our Facebook Page – we love your comments.
• Our Twitter stream – all day awesome.
• Our LinkedIn Company Page – follow us.
• Our Google+ Company Page – new but growing.
• Our Flickr Group Pool – we wanna see your tourism pics!
• Our Delicious bookmarks on tourism – great research tool.
• Our YouTube channel – video about and from the tourism industry.

Don’t miss these goodies, either:

• Our free Idea Book download.
• The testimonials – nice things that people have said about us and our work.
• ….And the online course in social media for tourism and hospitality that no one else can beat for quality and affordability.

Think about the big picture (courtesy krossbow at Flickr CC)

Let’s talk STRATEGY

That word has come up several times over the past few weeks. Our clients are asking for help with it, conference breakout sessions are devoted to it and we’ve been looking at our own marketing strategy for Tourism Currents. Since it seems to be top of mind at the moment, we thought we’d dive in and further the conversation.

When crafting a successful CVB/DMO/hotel marketing strategy, you should always ask:

• What makes sense for you, your market or your tourism/hospitality clients?
• How are you going to position yourself? In other words, who is your best market (another way to say “target market” because, well, why think of visitors and guests as targets?)
• Can you describe your ideal visitor and no, it is not “everyone”. It is someone very specific who ADORES what you have to offer.
• How are you going to integrate your marketing efforts across all of the ways that visitors talk about you today, and in the near future: online, offline, mobile, etc.
• What makes sense for you, your market or your tourism/hospitality clients? (Uh huh, we said that one a second time – it is so important!)

Recently we asked a group of tourism and hospitality professionals this question:

“If you were able to start over again for your destination or your business – we mean from scratch with a website, social media channels, etc. – what would you do differently?”

A great answer came from William Bakker at Think! Social Media:  “Put social at the core. Instead of building marketing programs and digital channels and using social to support them, start with social and build digital and other channels to support social.”

Voilà! A new twist on building a marketing strategy, based on the seismic changes happening right now in visitor research techniques, word of mouth communications and travel purchases.

William gave a presentation about this at the 2012 SoMeT (Social Media Tourism Symposium) and you can read about it here:  Putting Social at the Core: How Social Media is Driving the Evolution of Destination Marketing.

(If you like forward-thinking ideas like this, go here to see the 2013 SoMeT conference Twitter hashtags and consider attending this year’s SoMeT conferences in Wollongong, NSW, Australia in July or Huntsville, Alabama in November.)

Making social the starting core of what you do will change who you are as an organization. It flattens wire diagrams, it cuts across departments, it means that visitors and guests will often drive the message themselves despite your carefully-crafted brochure blurbs.

Jay Baer summed up social media integration this way:

“Companies should focus more on how to BE social, and less on how to DO social media.”

Here is a simple framework for creating a social-media centered destination marketing strategy. Note that the fundamental questions you ask are not any different than they’ve always been:

• Who is my market? Can I describe my ideal visitor or guest? Am I keeping up with current trends, because what I knew to be true five years ago may be different now – like the assumption that boomer travelers aren’t tech-savvy.
• Where is my market most active online, including primary social media platforms? If you are unsure about this, look at the current demographics for each social media platform and match them with your typical visitor. Do a survey. Listen for mentions of your town on social media (our Tourism Currents Lesson One is all about how to listen.) If your email provider is MailChimp, you can use their SocialPro feature to find out more about the social media profiles of each of your email list members.
• How can we best interact with them where they are to meet our overall marketing goals of awareness, increased interest and finally, whatever we define as a successful conversion into a happy visitor/guest?
• Before getting into the weeds of tactics like Facebook ads or how to plan blog posts, define what a successful marketing strategy looks like. What are our top overall goals, and what are we measuring to see if we’re getting there?

During the past few years we’ve all been going a bit crazy adding online channels, trying to stretch our marketing dollars in a tough economy and throughout it all, keeping our heads above water even as it feels like we’re going over Niagara every day.

It’s time now to step back and get back to basics.

When was the last time that you really looked at your strategy? Why not take some time now to consider if it is still a viable strategy or if it’s time to give your strategy a twist.

Sometimes you need an outside perspective; the Tourism Currents team is here to help. Here is more about our consulting and coaching services, in addition to our on-site training and online learning. To discuss pricing and set up some dates, please contact us here and let us know how we can help!

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Have you connected with us in your favorite places? If you arrived here directly from a link, here’s the email signup for this newsletter. Say hi to Leslie, Sheila and Becky at Tourism Currents on….

• Our Facebook Page – we love your comments.
• Our Twitter stream – all day awesome.
• Our LinkedIn Company Page – follow us.
• Our Google+ Company Page – new but growing.
• Our Flickr Group Pool – we wanna see your tourism pics!
• Our Delicious bookmarks on tourism – great research tool.
• Our YouTube channel – video about and from the tourism industry.

Don’t miss these goodies, either:

• Our free Idea Book download.
• The testimonials – nice things that people have said about us and our work.
• ….And the online course in social media for tourism and hospitality that no one else can beat for quality and affordability.

We all hear loud and clear about how people are tired of the “same old” tourism pitches. What can make your destination seem new, you might wonder?

There’s an easy answer to that – love your off-season! Give people a different reason to visit you.

For instance, Palm Springs, California used to close up shop in the summer because the average high temperature in July is a brutal 108 degrees F. Now, however, they’re a thriving year-round destination; when “June Gloom” hangs over Southern California, Palm Springs is beautiful and visitors flock there to enjoy the weather.

The city used a “Stay Cool in the Summer Months” program that gives people ideas for staying out of the heat via their dedicated seasonal website landing page “Come Play in Palm Springs” paired with a Facebook Page campaign.

Palm Springs off-season Facebook Page promotion

If you’re a destination that is difficult to get to in the off-season, think about doing things to entice your locals to get out and enjoy where they live. Check with your state and regional DMO’s for ideas. What can you take advantage of? What can you piggy-back on?

What about off-season media visits?

You might be surprised to learn that many writers, bloggers and photographers are very much interested in seeing a place during weather-challenged times of the year, as long as they can craft a good story out of your offerings.

Leaving Dawson during Yukon Quest 2013 (courtesy Nerd’s Eye View on Flickr.)

Scotland tourism organizations brought in a group of travel bloggers for Edinburgh’s Hogmanay festivities in December 2012; they called the campaign #blogmanay. A Visit Finland blogger press trip is going on right now, in the middle of February, with the hashtag #VisitFinland.

Writer and photographer Pam Mandel from Nerd’s Eye View just returned from the Yukon; she covered part of the Yukon Quest sled dog race through connections she made at the Alaska Media Road Show (that’s one of her race photos above.)

“I’m a BIG fan of the off-season trip,” she said in a Twitter DM (direct message) with us.

Why?

“I can give you [the answer in] under 140#. No crowds, unstressed locals/tourism operators.”

More Off-Season Ideas

Your midweek off-season target market might be different than your midweek high season one, so drill down your planning to that level of detail. Off-season is the time to entice people with lower prices and perhaps target those who live closer by and who might be interested in a less expensive short getaway.

It is a great time to gather your partners together and co-op your funding monies – either work together to build a campaign to enhance your high season during the off-season, or build special promotions together to strengthen the off-season with all sorts of destination incentives.

Above all, your off-season is the time to market, market and market some more!

It gives you some oh-so-valuable time to think, to gather your assets together and to get the love flowing not just for your off-season but for your destination year ‘round.

(Want some ideas for connecting with visitors and travel media in new places? Lesson 3 from our online course in social media for tourism covers Twitter – including a Starter Pack with ideas for two weeks of tweets – plus Flickr, YouTube and more. Grab our Lesson 6 to learn about new ways to do tours, including audio, video, and blogger fam trips.)

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Want to talk about getting more people to take your tours?

Our training team member Leslie McLellan will be part of a special live Trekksoft Google+ Hangout on Thursday, February 14 to discuss “How to Market Tours Online.” Times are 1.30pm EST (Eastern Standard Time), 10.30 am PSD (Pacific Standard Time), 7.30 pm CET (Central Europe Time)

More info and how to participate at this link: http://www.trekksoft.com/googlehangout

Brand New Training!

Are you a PR professional with tourism clients? Wish you could step into a time machine & catch up on how to get online and blogger coverage for your clients?  We’ve designed a special training program just for you!

Click here for info —-> Time Travel Training

(The best time to have started learning about this was 5 years ago. The second-best time is today. Let us be your time machine!)

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Have you connected with us in your favorite places? If you arrived here directly from a link, here’s the email signup for this newsletter. Say hi to Leslie, Sheila and Becky at Tourism Currents on….

• Our Facebook Page – we love your comments.
• Our Twitter stream – all day awesome.
• Our LinkedIn Company profile – follow us.
• Our Flickr Group Pool – we wanna see your tourism pics!
• Our Delicious bookmarks on tourism – great research tool.
• Our YouTube channel – video about and from the tourism industry.

Don’t miss these goodies, either:

• Our free Idea Book download.
• The testimonials – nice things that people have said about us and our work.
• ….And the online course in social media for tourism and hospitality that no one else can beat for quality and

Networking at NMX BlogWorld with travel and tourism folks (courtesy BJ McCray on Flickr)

Throughout the year we all spend time thinking about how to spend our limited resources.

While we worry about how to enhance our destination, our organization, our event or whatever our mission is, the one thing we should not forget is to spend some time and money on ourselves by furthering our professional education. This month’s newsletter focuses on some stellar social media and tech conferences that relate to tourism and hospitality.

And you know… it’s not a bad idea to put your boss and/or a board member or two into the budget for these conferences, too. We’re seeing that so many bosses and board members are not quite grasping the enormity of online destination marketing, so if you can, take them along with you so they can start to understand what you need to do to be successful!

With social communications changing so quickly, and the fact that speakers and topics are planned months in advance, don’t expect conferences alone to teach you everything you need to know. Keep yourself up to speed with training resources like ours, and use conferences to fill in the blank spots, network and discuss best practices with others.

Which Conference Is Best?

Which conference would be the best use of your time and money depends upon your goals for it. Don’t go because “everyone else” is going or just because you’ve gone every year.

Our recommendations (we’ve spoken at or attended all of them….)

Gimme The Hot Info On Social Media For Tourism

Need ideas and best practices for social media marketing in tourism, plus networking with fellow tourism geeks?

No question in our mind that the top pick is the Social Media Tourism Symposium, or SoMeT as everyone calls it.

There is a U.S. SoMeT November 6-8, 2013 but we don’t know where, because one unique feature of SoMeT is that everyone votes on which city will win the event. If your town wants to host, RFPs just opened.

There is an Australian SoMeT July 17-18, 2013. We don’t know where that one is either, but RFPs for a host city in Australia are open and voting starts soon!

This conference is where your communications person goes who is usually ahead of the rest of the office, and who needs to stay at his or her “A” game for the benefit of your destination. It’s not that the event does not welcome beginners – it certainly does – but that beginner needs to be ready to up her game FAST.

It’s also perfect for “Lone Ranger” destination marketers who work on a small staff and feel like they’re the only one within 100 square miles (or kilometers) who knows what a blog is or how to check in on Foursquare.

Conference hashtags are very good ways to keep up with both – follow #SoMeT13US for the U.S. event, and #SoMeT13AU for the Aussie one.

I Need The Big Picture On Digital Marketing

Craving an overall look at digital marketing in tourism that includes awesome networking? eTourism Summit.

There are lots of strategy and integration discussions at eTourism, looking at technology beyond social media. Recent conferences have also included side tours at the headquarters campuses for Google and Facebook.

Leslie recently wrote a post regarding this year’s eTourism Summit and why it is a “must attend” event. You can read her eTourism Summit review here.

eTourism Summit 2013 is in San Francisco at Hotel Kabuki, October 9-10.

I Want To Connect With Travel Media

Need to connect with travel bloggers and other online media in the travel world? Get to TBEX (which stands for Travel Blog Exchange and is owned by New Media Expo.)

What started a few years back as a bunch of bloggers hanging out in one room has become a full-blown multi-day event in both North America and Europe. The 2012 TBEX in Keystone, Colorado had 700+ registrants and included a very popular blogger speed-dating session that was jammed with CVBs and DMOs getting to know lots of travel bloggers.

TBEX North America 2013 is in Toronto, June 1-2. TBEX Europe 2013 is in Dublin in October.

I Want Perspectives Outside Tourism

Want to plug into the best and brightest of digital communications outside of tourism and hospitality? Need to pick up some fresh ideas from other industries that you can apply to destination marketing in new ways?

We like SXSWi (South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas every March) and New Media Expo/NMX (formerly BlogWorld, held in Las Vegas, Nevada every January.)

I Want to Hear About Travel Topics Across the Board

No luggage or money required to attend a new weekly Google+ Hangout on Air that we think is pretty cool (Hangouts are video teleconferencing hosted on Google+ for up to 10 people, and On Air ones are simulcast to YouTube, so anyone can watch.)

This one is called Travel Coffee Break, hashtag #tcbhoa. It is hosted by Alastair McKenzie, editor of Travelllll.com and Vice-Chair of the British Guild of Travel Writers. Topics have ranged from equestrian travel to weddings to skiing to rail travel. Travelers, travel media and tourism organizations are all welcome. Here is the #tcbhoa schedule.

Below is the recording of the session on Responsible Travel (here’s the direct link to the video on YouTube if you can’t see the embed box below. The man in the video thumbnail happens to be our long-time Tourism Currents newsletter subscriber Aivar Ruukel with the Soomaa National Park in Estonia.)

Finally, Sheila has a great tip for any budget – you can “attend” almost any conference by following its hashtag on Twitter. You’ll still come away with plenty of ideas and feel like you didn’t completely miss out. Read more in her 9 tips for following conference Twitter hashtags.

Becky has written a couple of really helpful Small Biz Survival posts about getting more out of conferences. Start with this one: Getting the most out of conferences before you go.

What other professional development events would you recommend for those in tourism and hospitality?  State tourism conferences, regional events?

Let everyone know what you like in the comments below!

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Have you connected with us in your favorite places? If you arrived here directly from a link, here’s the email signup for this newsletter. Say hi to Leslie, Sheila and Becky at Tourism Currents on….

• Our Facebook Page – we love your comments.
• Our Twitter stream – all day awesome.
• Our LinkedIn Company profile – follow us.
• Our Flickr Group Pool – we wanna see your tourism pics!
• Our Delicious bookmarks on tourism – great research tool.
• Our YouTube channel – video about and from the tourism industry.

Don’t miss these goodies, either:

• Our free Idea Book download.
• The testimonials – nice things that people have said about us and our work.
• ….And the online course in social media for tourism and hospitality that no one else can beat for quality and affordability.

Right off the bat we have to say, “eTourism Summit is one tourism conference you really should attend!”  While we all attend a variety of tourism conferences and educational events throughout the year, eTourism Summit is different.  It’s intimate, only 200 can attend. Because of the small number in attendance,  you are immersed in the stellar education offered and you get to really connect with others in tourism.

This year I was able to share my experience marketing the resort destination of Lake Arrowhead, CA. for 2 years with no budget, primarily via Twitter.  I shared the session with Melissa Barnes, Marketing Strategy, from Twitter and Ali Daniels, Director of Marketing, Seattle CVB and from all accounts our Twitter session rocked!

A special field trip was arranged for some eTourism Summit attendees!

Jake Steinman, founder of eTourism Summit, offered something very special to some of us the day before eTourism officially started and that was a trip to Facebook headquarters.  Approximately 60 people attended.  We were in 2 groups that  participated in a workshop and had time for lunch on the “campus” too.  It was really something getting a glimpse of what it’s like to actually work there.  And, by the way, according to an employee there, Mark Zuckerberg feels that Facebook is only “1% percent finished with its journey.”  How about that?

The two days of the actual conference had 3 separate tracks (you could choose any track at any time) filled with sessions such as:

How Facebook Has Evolved and What it Means to Tourism Marketers

Keri Hanson, Digital Marketing Manager, Brand USA and Chris Adams, VP Research, Miles present at eTourism Summit

The State of Mobile Marketing from a Tourism Marketer’s Perspective

The Changing Role of Travel Bloggers from Journalists to Paid “Wanderers-in-Residence”

Paid Advertising Programs on Digital Platforms. Options Coop/PPC vs CPM, which is more relevant?

The Super Panel: Experts from all four leading digital media brands – Google, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn – offered their insights and perspectives on how travel companies can best use their platforms.

eTourism Summit provides a great deal of content for attendees – all levels of experience learn here.  There is a speed-dating component where those in attendance can connect one on one with presenters as well as each morning you can take part in moderated roundtable discussions during breakfast.  The first morning I moderated the “Kissing Up to Bloggers” roundtable and brought those who participated up to speed regarding the TBEX travel blogging conferences and how to work with bloggers on their terms.

With the size of the conference limited (which means you must register early for this event each year) the opportunities for networking as well as the educational component are exceptional and once again let us say ~ This is a conference that you should put into your budget and plan on attending.  eTourism Summit is so worth it!

The genie looks ahead to 2013 (courtesy Asiatic League on Flickr Creative Commons)

Before we dive into any thoughts about what’s changing or trending in the future, let’s take a moment to suck in a bunch of head-clearing oxygen with a deep breath, and remember that basic goals for tourism marketing have not changed….

….Make people aware of your destination, spark magical thoughts in their brain of, “Hey, I’d like to go THERE,” convince them to actually visit, spend some money, spend the night and then go home and get their friends and family to visit, too.

We know; it is super-hard to keep the big picture as communications tools change and morph, people squawk about things like Instagram changing rules with Twitter, every day brings new Whack-A-Mole fun about whether anyone sees your Facebook updates and you’re still explaining to a skeptical boss or Board of Directors about Twitter or whether bloggers belong on your press trips.

As your guides and social media personal trainers here at Tourism Currents, let us help you look ahead and prep for the long game, not the quick one-time play.

4 Trends We See For 2013

In keeping with our theme from last month’s Black Friday Open Comments live chat, here are a few of “Our Favorite” trends that we think will play a big part in tourism looking ahead to 2013. Use them as a framework to help tweak your own destination marketing strategy.

1)  Pictures, pictures and more pictures – With Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Foodspotting and all the other sites that emphasize social photography, it is clear (#NoFilter) that visual content is what the public wants. Looks like 2013 will be a big year for images across all channels (including video) because they allow our visitors and customers to digest information quickly, emotionally and in a way that is easy to share.

Do not get caught up in the piles of photography apps and tools: if you don’t have time right now to do justice to, say, Pinterest, then do not do it. Focus efforts where your market is most active, and add more imagery there. Better to do one thing well then a mediocre job all over the place.

—->>  Your next step: Think through every element of your communications strategy; how can strong visuals be added or strengthened? Need some ideas? Our “Create Once….” two-page productivity download has 9 different ways to use one photo.

2)  Integration of social media – No one should still be looking at social media as a stand-alone channel or afterthought. For example, when you consider advertising spend, part of that discussion should cover whether you want to do Facebook advertising. Social media mentions, Likes, shares etc. are now part of search engine ranking algorithms, too. It all matters, so think holistically.

In 2013, social media must be integrated into your marketing mix for two reasons. First, social media can lead your visitors and customers to the “right” travel information just for them based on your real-time social posts. Second, when your data and analytics show you what is the “right” travel information that resonates for certain segments of your market, you can personalize messages and content directly to those segments. Social media is now an integral part of the path leading your visitors to find exactly what they are looking for, and making your destination a perfect fit.

Your markets are integrating social into their own activities in many ways. How about the “second screen” – did you know that more and more people are simultaneously watching TV programs and talking on social media with a smartphone or tablet about what they are seeing on the television? Does your search engine marketing support your TV marketing? Knitting all of the different elements together will get a lot more emphasis in 2013.

—->>  Your next step:  Always – always – consider digital, social and mobile communications when you strategize about reaching visitors. Do not assume that your market is “too old” for it, either.

3)  Storytelling will shine – Storytelling shows personality, and humans with a personality are what our visitors crave. Having that compelling story-telling voice builds strong relationships with your visitors and keeps them coming back for more.

Every destination marketing organization today is an online publisher, content creator and storyteller. Every one. They are all those things whether they are taking advantage of today’s extraordinary platforms and capabilities or not. Would you rather be the windshield, or the bug?

—->>  Your next step:  Review your marketing approach. How much of it is the usual “Eat. Stay. Play.” that does not tell visitors anything special? Use the multimedia publishing features of your blog, Facebook Page and other channels to show your destination or attraction’s true personality. A website is merely a starting point for your online presence.

4)  Your locals, visitors and partners are crowdsourcing content for you right now, and will continue to do so – They are tweeting, Facebooking, taking photos and blogging, but often are never acknowledged, and too rarely do they see the DMO commenting on and sharing their content. Why not build your content with those who love and support you? This plays right into Trend 2: being human.

LISTENING and RESPONDING will create content. Saying “Thank You” creates content. Sharing good stuff = content.

Crowdsourcing content creates engagement….which builds relationships….which makes people want to connect and visit….which is what your marketing strategy should be all about.

—->>  Your next step:  Let your visitors, your businesses, your locals play a part in your content strategy. For a wider reach and variety in your media coverage, adding bloggers to your outreach mix is now pretty standard and we’ll see even more of that in the months to come.

What are your thoughts about trends in 2013? Share them down in the comments where it says, “Speak Your Mind!”

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 Stay Up To Speed: Plan For Your 2013 Training

We know your plate is full. That’s why Tourism Currents is here. We’re your social media personal trainers and we’re ready to help you, your staff and your member businesses make the most of 2013.

In person or online, we offer customized programs for those starting out, to those who are more advanced and just need a little help in a certain area. Let us help you get your destination in shape for a profitable and successful new year.

Our online store of training services is always open, and we’re switch hitters: we train online and off!

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 Have you connected with us in your favorite places? If you arrived here directly from a link, here’s the email signup for this newsletter. Say hi to Leslie, Sheila and Becky at Tourism Currents on….

• Our Facebook Page – we love your comments.
• Our Twitter stream – all day awesome.
• Our LinkedIn Company profile – follow us.
• Our Flickr Group Pool – we wanna see your tourism pics!
• Our Delicious bookmarks on tourism – great research tool.
• Our YouTube channel – video about and from the tourism industry.

Don’t miss these goodies, either:

• Our free Idea Book download.
• The testimonials – nice things that people have said about us and our work.
• ….And the online course in social media for tourism and hospitality that no one else can beat for quality and affordability.

Washing with clean safe water (courtesy Passports with Purpose)

You know how we’ve talked a lot about outreach to bloggers? About how it makes a lot more sense to build relationships by finding out what interests them and supporting it, rather than firing away with email blasts and press releases?

It’s a “money where the mouth is” moment – we’re proud to announce that for the first time, we’re joining in as bloggers ourselves to support Passports with Purpose, the annual travel blogging community fundraiser.

Last year, Passports raised enough money (mostly in US$10 increments) to build two libraries in Zambia in partnership with Room to Read. This year, their partner is Water.org  to raise US$100,000 (yes, that’s six big ol’ figures, but we’ll get it done) to build five water wells in two communities – Boucan Carre and Mirebalais – in Haiti.

Many of us do not give much thought to the miracle of a clean, reliable water source. Turn the tap and the stuff’s just there, right? Wrong. For so much of the world it is never that easy, but we can help make the situation a little better.

We’re big fans of #PwP because fundraiser participants can see exactly where their money goes. Projects are clear, concrete and tangible. Even better, the PwP volunteer crew goes to see them when they’re done and reports back, giving a real sense of connection and satisfaction.

Joining in as a host blogger for Passports is our own small contribution to helping a good cause, to continuing to act as a bridge between tourism organizations and bloggers, and to helping shine a light on the special destination that has generously donated a prize for us to feature here.

How it works….

In addition to the great offer we’re showcasing below, you can browse through this full list of travel-related prizes and bid for chances to win whichever ones appeal to you.  At the end of the fundraiser – it runs through December 11, 2012 – one winner of each prize will be randomly selected from all of those who have bid for it.

A $10 donation per bid is suggested, but if you don’t want to make a donation, mail one self addressed stamped envelope to: Passports with Purpose, P.O. Box 16102, Seattle WA 98116.  Include the name of the prize you are entering to win.

A huge thank you to LARTA (Lake Arrowhead Resort and Tourism Association - our training team member Leslie McLellan is a founder) who sponsored the 2012 prize package featured here on Tourism Currents:  a fabulous getaway to Lake Arrowhead, California which includes all of these goodies:

**  One night stay in an Alpine Guestroom at the Four Diamond Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa, and 
**  Two tickets aboard the Lake Arrowhead Queen tour boat, and
**  A $25 gift certificate to Papagayos Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, and
**  A $25 gift certificate to Just Browsing Gifts and Gallery.

NOTE:   Good  Sunday through Thursday, not good over holidays, advance reservations required, expires Dec. 31, 2013.

Located 90 miles east of Los Angeles and a world away from the city bustle, Lake Arrowhead is a four-season vacation destination with spectacular scenery and gorgeous weather. Recreation and relaxation await you year-round!

Are you ready to buy a chance at this prize, or any other to help fund the construction of those wells?

For a chance to win, go here to the PwP Prize List/Donate page and follow the directions.

What happens in Haiti when a new well goes in? A celebration like this one….

We’d also like to thank the generous sponsors of Passports with Purpose 2012:

• Platinum: Expedia
• Gold: TripIt
• Silver: TBEX travel blogging conference
• Bronze: HomeAway, TravellersPoint, HostelBookers, Go with Oh

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Have you connected with us in your favorite places? If you arrived here directly from a link, here’s the email signup for this newsletter. Say hi to Leslie, Sheila and Becky at Tourism Currents on….

• Our Facebook Page – we love your comments.
• Our Twitter stream – all day awesome.
• Our LinkedIn Company profile – follow us.
• Our Flickr Group Pool – we wanna see your tourism pics!
• Our Delicious bookmarks on tourism – great research tool.
• Our YouTube channel – video about and from the tourism industry.

Don’t miss these goodies, either:

• Our free Idea Book download.
• The testimonials – nice things that people have said about us and our work.
• ….And the online course in social media for tourism and hospitality that no one else can beat for quality and affordability.

The social web is MADE for the little guy (courtesy foto3116 on Flickr Creative Commons)

(Yes, this is the blog post where we’re getting together for an Open Comments / “open mic” chat session on Friday, November 23 at 8 pm CST. Drop by, put your feet up after all the Thanksgiving activity and Black Friday running around, and let’s talk about our favorite things. Comments are open!)

A few years ago, we began to notice a lot of people hanging out on Twitter the night of Black Friday (a big after-Thanksgiving shopping day for many in the U.S.) We decided that it would be fun to host a casual get-together that night and occasionally throughout the year on our own website; we call it Open Comments.

It’s an opportunity for us to bring people right into our Tourism Currents “house”, enjoy good company and happily allow some free … yes, it’s true! …. brain-picking.

The topic on 23 November, 2012 is Favorite Things – our best tips, tricks and tools for social media geekery. Stuff like….

**  Camera settings, Instagram filters and phone camera techniques to take rocking photos.

**  Ideas for blog posts, tweets and Facebook updates even when your brain refuses to work.

**  A framework for fitting social media into everything else you have to do.

**  Some sample metrics for social media measurement (or we’ll serve ROI Pie – haven’t decided which one.)

**  Favorite resources for blogger outreach and building your army of online champions.

**  Favorite stats and data to convince the boss that, nope, the social media thing isn’t a fad.

Most importantly, though, we want to hear about your favorite things, so bring an idea or a link to share with everyone.

Here’s how it works: you add your comments right on this post down below (once we open them up on Friday) and hit Refresh in your browser to see updates. It’s a conversation held in the Comments section. If you like Twitter chats like #tourismchat, you’ll love this; it’s inspired by Liz Strauss’ pre-Twitter Open Mic and Open Comments nights on her Successful Blog.

Thanks as always for your support – we’re looking forward to hearing about your favorite nerdy things!

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Have you connected with us in your favorite places? If you arrived here directly from a link, here’s the email signup for this newsletter. Say hi to Leslie, Sheila and Becky at Tourism Currents on….

• Our Facebook Page – we love your comments.
• Our Twitter stream – all day awesome.
• Our LinkedIn Company profile – follow us.
• Our Flickr Group Pool – we wanna see your tourism pics!
• Our Delicious bookmarks on tourism – great research tool.
• Our YouTube channel – video about and from the tourism industry.

Don’t miss these goodies, either:

• Our free Idea Book download.
• The testimonials – nice things that people have said about us and our work.
• ….And the online course in social media for tourism and hospitality that no one else can beat for quality and affordability.

Who is the reporter of the future? They’re already here, and often it’s a blogger (photo courtesy Repórter do Futuro on Flickr CC)

Here’s the “secret” to finding bloggers and building relationships with them: be visible where they are, communicate with them in their language, support and sponsor what is important to them and be an honest and useful source of information.

You’ll notice, of course, that none of that is any different from how it was when there were only print and broadcast media reporters.

Nothing fundamental has changed except for the advent of powerful digital means to connect and communicate. Yes, those social media tools and channels each have their own culture and etiquette and even a bit of slang, but the underlying principles are the same….

• Understand the blogging community you wish to reach
• Understand what matters to them
• Always remember what Liz Strauss so eloquently says, “your ask or offer will get turned down if it’s bigger than the trust you’ve built in the relationship.”

It takes time and effort to understand a community, understand what matters to them and to build trust. Firing off pitches or press releases to people with certain Klout scores or whose names were bought for certain blogger lists is NOT building relationships or trust. The beauty of today’s social communication is that you can start weaving together a relationship online, then build on that by meeting face-to-face, or take a brief in-person meeting and grow it by connecting online, but you still have to do the work.

So, how DOES one go about developing relationships with bloggers and other online publishers?

We cover that in our online Lesson Four, Building Your Online Champions Network, and in our on-demand webinar, Finding Your Online Champions, but let’s hear more from some tourism “boots on the ground:”  Deb Brown, who runs a blogger Harvest Tour for the Franklin County, Iowa Chamber of Commerce.

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Small Town Winner: Blogger Harvest Tour

From Deb:

Greater Franklin County Tourism teamed up with Franklin County Farm Bureau and Latham Hi-Tech Seeds to host several bloggers and their spouses and kids for a weekend in Franklin County.  We asked them to make their way to us in Iowa and we would cover the rest; food, entertainment and lodging.  We’ve done this for the past two years (2011 and 2012) and plan to repeat it next year.

The first year we had 10 people and the second year we had 8 people attend our Harvest Tour as bloggers. Spouses were asked to attend so the blogger could have a nice weekend with their spouse.  Several brought children (we asked them to be well-behaved and not not to bring young babies).

What we found out:

1. Our community is thriving, and bloggers like to discover that.  Community can be a vital force that connects us all. We’re thriving, because we know how to work together.  The high school kids built the gazebo for Leahy Grove, ABCM provides a bus for organizations all over town, The Windsor is the home of the Franklin County Arts Council, Franklin County Farm Bureau found farmers to talk to bloggers and take them on combine rides, Joe Pitsor showed off the Historical Society and Joel Esslinger was available for the entire county to give tours.  Bankers, insurance companies, travel companies — businesses in Franklin County – donated to the gift bags given to our bloggers.

Dying communities don’t work together.  They have factions and fissions – and don’t look for ways to work it out.

Claire Celsi (first-year Harvest Tour blogger) said  ”people outside of your community don’t care about those kind of things.  They just see you fighting about stupid things, things that don’t really mean that much.”

2. We got national attention.  Because of the bloggers tour, CNN has found us and we’ve appeared on TV, conducted interviews, get called for opinions and are considered one of the voices for rural Iowa.  Local, state and national press wrote about us.  Our local Farm Bureau has earned big respect from their peers and are now regarded as experts in the field of social media.  We’ve set the bar high for other organizations and communities to follow in our footsteps.

3. It was an affordable venture in marketing with big payouts.  For less that $1500 (with the help of local donations as well) we received blog posts, pictures, videos and long tail marketing.  People are talking, and others are listening.

We choose to have bloggers come and enjoy our community and write about it.  We wanted live action, not a billboard.  We wanted to see how others saw our community, what they would say and how that would be reviewed.  We got our story told and the world has heard it.  The long tail is the world is still hearing it.  You can’t buy that, friends.

To see more stories about the Harvest Tour, visit my blog at http://needalittleadvice.com/category/harvest-tour/

(Thanks, Deb. By the way, we know Deb Brown because we met her on, yes, a blogger press trip in Hutchinson, Kansas in April 2009.)

Blogger Relations at eTourism Summit, the Small Yet So Very Mighty Conference

From our Leslie McLellan, who spoke on this topic at the 2012 eTourism Summit in San Francisco:

Right off the bat we have to say, “This is one conference you really should attend!” While we all participate in a variety of conferences and educational events throughout the year, eTourism Summit is different. It’s intimate, only 200 can attend, which is super as not only are you immersed in the stellar education offered, but you also get to really connect with others in tourism.

This year Leslie was able to share her experience marketing the resort destination of Lake Arrowhead, California for 2 years with no budget, primarily via Twitter. Leslie shared the session with Melissa Barnes, Marketing Strategy, from Twitter and Ali Daniels, Director of Marketing, Seattle CVB and from all accounts that session rocked!

The first morning Leslie moderated the “Kissing Up to Bloggers” roundtable and brought those who participated with her up to speed regarding TBEX and how to work with bloggers on their terms.

Looking to Connect with Bloggers?

Bloggers are now just as important to DMOs, CVBs and Chambers as mainstream media outlets. Connecting with the right bloggers for your destination can bring great publicity and new visitors to your area.

But just how do you connect with them?

First, check out TBEX, the Travel Blog Exchange conference which hosts a North American event (it will be in Toronto June 1-2, 2013) and a European event (in Dublin October 2013) each year. In June 2012 over there were over 600 registrants for TBEX Colorado and not that many of those were destinations or hotels, so it’s worth it to have a presence there (but why not connect with a few of your more likely contacts online before you go, via their Twitter account, on their blog or on Facebook?)

Bonus: TBEX offers blogger speed dating, which is wildly popular.

If you can’t make the conferences, at least get to know people on the very active #TBEX hashtag on Twitter and the TBEX Page on Facebook.

Secondly, look in your own backyard and take advantage of your local bloggers. They can play an integral part in your marketing and can help you network with other bloggers as well.

Many CVBs and DMOs have a Local Ambassador program; simply include local bloggers, Twitter hounds or even Instagrammers in that mix. The Austin, Texas CVB launched their Insider initiative this month – see the #TrueAustin Insiders on Facebook for more.

The blogging community and the role they can play in your destination marketing is huge, so be sure to include some sort of blogger marketing component in your 2013 marketing plan!

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Announcing Black Friday Open Mic: Our Favorite Things

Want to relax and kick your feet up after the US Thanksgiving holiday and Black Friday hullabaloo?

Join us for our next Open Mic chat!

On Friday, November 23, from 8 – 9 p.m. CST, we’ll have an Open Mic (open comments) discussion right here on Tourism Currents. All you have to do is show up to the Open Mic blog post and fire away in the Comments below it, then hit Refresh to see the discussion. It’s what a Twitter chat was before there was Twitter.

This session’s topic is Our Favorite Things – in the spirit of the holiday season, Becky, Sheila and Leslie will bring links and examples of our favorite online apps, blogs, tips and tricks – and all we ask is that you bring yours!

Confused?

Here’s the 2010 Open Mic post on various tourism topics (153 comments) and here’s the 2011 post on fixing your problems (132 comments.)

Hope to see you on Black Friday night!

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Have you connected with us in your favorite places? If you arrived here directly from a link, here’s the email signup for this newsletter. Say hi to Leslie, Sheila and Becky at Tourism Currents on….

• Our Facebook Page – we love your comments.
• Our Twitter stream – all day awesome.
• Our LinkedIn Company profile – follow us.
• Our Flickr Group Pool – we wanna see your tourism pics!
• Our Delicious bookmarks on tourism – great research tool.
• Our YouTube channel – video about and from the tourism industry.

Don’t miss these goodies, either:

• Our free Idea Book download.
• The testimonials – nice things that people have said about us and our work.
• ….And the online course in social media for tourism and hospitality that no one else can beat for quality and affordability.

Sometimes it seems that our lives are hurtling ahead so fast we miss what is going on around us, but seasonal changes are one thing that most of us do stop and acknowledge.

Maybe that’s why tourists seem to respond so well to seasonal marketing, and why destinations – as well as businesses that rely on tourism – need to make the most of the change of seasons.

The following are a few fun autumn ideas for the Northern Hemisphere that can help you change up and enhance your social media marketing efforts (Southern Hemisphere tourism pros, please share your spring ideas down in the comments!)

Online Publishers, Start Your Engines

Oktoberfest/Fall Harvest – Snap mouthwatering photos of those great seasonal dishes and post them up through your smartphone to the photo-sharing  Foodspotting site; they could appear on the Best Oktoberfest food and drink map or the Best Fall Harvest page.

Encourage visitors and locals alike to Foodspot and comment on the terrific food they are having at your events. You can also develop Foodspotting Guides around a seasonal food, like An Apple A Day in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Fall Foliage – The Instagram photo-sharing app is a perfect way to get the word out about the colors in your area, especially as they are peaking. Be sure to put out a call to action asking folks to show off their Instagram photos in any fall foliage marketing material that you produce (including putting that CTA on your website and in email newsletters.)

Here is a sample of current Instagram photos tagged #fallfoliage, from the Instagram desktop viewer Statigram.

Consider doing timely fall color updates by also including Twitter in your fall foliage campaigns.

An excellent example of this in action is the @ORFallFoliage Twitter account from the Travel Lane County DMO in the Eugene, Cascades and Coast region of Oregon.

Here are tweets about fall foliage using the #fallfoliage hashtag; notice that many are shared photos from Instagram.

Fall Festivals - In addition to grabbing last-minute travelers with Facebook or Twitter announcements, take advantage of the power of your DMO blog to highlight your fall offerings in a more substantive and SEO-friendly way.

Here’s a good example: the Phoenix, Arizona “Hot Sheet” blog post on fall festivals in Phoenix.

Monday Night Football/College Football – How about putting a flyer with a QR code in windows around town that leads to a special mobile-friendly football food promotion page on your website? Bring both visitors and locals into your restaurants!

You’re seeing a lot of photography examples, because they’re compelling and they work. How about seasonal Pinterest boards?  Alberta, Canada has some nice summer and winter Pinterest Board examples for tourism.

Crowdsource, crowdsource, crowdsource – invite and make it easy for your visitors to help spread your word via hashtags on Twitter, photos with links to your website on Facebook, asking them to share their blog posts about your area or event with you and publish them on your website and through your social media channels.

You can’t do it all, but your supporters out there are your very own army of online champions; let them help you publicize your fall offerings!

Connect With Us In Person

Here is where we plan to be this Fall:

—>  Fita 2012, Mexico City, Mexico 

Leslie enjoyed meeting with hundreds of tourism professionals at this international gathering in September. Here’s her report from the FITA / Feria Internacional de Turismo de las Américas conference in Mexico City.

—>  Texas Coastal Bend Regional Tourism Council, Port Aransas, Texas 

Sheila’s afternoon keynote will talk about social media marketing for festivals and special events.

—>  AMA (American Marketing Association) of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Becky will be talking about building stronger relationships and better businesses through connecting with locals, often via social media.

—>  eTourism Summit, San Francisco, California

Leslie will be speaking about how a DMO with $0 budget used Twitter to market the destination…with tangible results.

—>  State of Now 140 Conference SmallTown, Hutchinson, Kansas 

Becky, Sheila & Leslie will all attend this conference, which Becky founded and runs – it’s the only one in the world that’s all about small towns/rural areas and technology. The conference Twitter hashtag is #smalltown2012, if you want to follow the action.

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Have you connected with us in your favorite places? If you arrived here directly from a link, here’s the email signup for this newsletter. Say hi to Leslie, Sheila and Becky at Tourism Currents on….

• Our Facebook Page – we love your comments.
• Our Twitter stream – all day awesome.
• Our LinkedIn Company profile – follow us.
• Our Flickr Group Pool – we wanna see your tourism pics!
• Our Delicious bookmarks on tourism – great research tool.
• Our YouTube channel – video about and from the tourism industry.

Don’t miss these goodies, either:

• Our free Idea Book download.
• The testimonials – nice things that people have said about us and our work.
• ….And the online course in social media for tourism and hospitality that no one else can beat for quality and affordability.