Which social media platforms work best for hotel and travel PR firms to recommend their clients? You might be surprised that it’s Instagram and Pinterest. driven by eye-catching photos that capture the visitor’s attention. Those sites provide the greatest referral, according to a recent study, “Shareaholic’s Social Media Traffic.”
What’s more intriguing about the study is the rising popularity of the pinning platform because Pinterest brought in more than three times the traffic of Twitter, Google Plus, YouTube, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn and Reddit combined, while Facebook is actually shrinking.
Active engagement is the most valuable way to mine these channels. I’ll explain why, in this post, but you should note that Twitter has been losing market share and followers. And while Facebook is still important, it is losing its appeal for travel marketers as it is blanketed by advertisements and tends to be on the personal side of interactions.
But all too often I see Instagram and Pinterest by hotel and travel entities simply as “brochure-ware” rather than ways to pique interest and involvement. Engagement and interaction is key to your program’s success. Frequently re-pin, and add lively comments and your program will be a success. You want to mine these platforms with successful referrals to your site. Take advantage of this valuable function, and they will drive more traffic to your site.
Here are some pointers for Pinterest, many of which apply to Instagram too. These are social communities where interaction and engagement is essential to make your activities on these channels a success:
1. High quality and captivating images are vital. They’re a magnet for visitor’s attention and that’s what will draw eyes to your posts. There is a lot of competition to make your pictures as juicy as possible.
2. Your posts should capture the mood of your destination and its features.
3. Vary your pictures with details and angles. Take a look at other boards of competitors for inspiration.
4. Capture people and the surroundings in natural looking poses in your pictures, not just cliché shots of the destination.
5. Make the posts personable and friendly; these are people you are communicating with, so emotions rather than facts should be your guidelines.
6. Actively seek like-minded pinners, and re-pin onto your boards. This is the very essence of Pinterest, and builds that friendly community of followers you’re seeking.
7. Post frequently – three times a week is a good goal.
8. Organize your Pinterest boards around subjects that will garner interest while providing ample potential for posting.