Stay active on Social Media!
It is a crisis, yes it really is. And even after more than 40 years in the travel industry, involved on almost all continents, I cannot remember a crisis of such a depth. And we all are shocked; and it is justified that we are shocked. In comparison, Lehman Bros. in 2008 as well as 9/11 in 2001 did not have such an impact on the world economy and on our travel industry like the 2020 Corona crisis. Not to mention all the personal impact on so many of us.
But I think it is high-time to talk about the current situation, to try to spread positive messages and give advice to my colleagues and customers. We have to restart thinking positive, refocus on what needs to be done, see how we can work on the pre-corona problems and to find ways to drive the industry in the times, everybody calls now the “new normal”. And, furthermore, try to identify the potential problems of the post-corona era.
This is why I started this blog here.
Part 2: Social Media!
Last time I penned about telling your customers you are alive and you care, to make sure your business is seen as a broker – at the moment for valid information, and later for the best deal, because your customer will never get the best deal on an airline’s webpage. That’s just a fact.
The main point is: Don’t be passive! You have to make sure you stay present in minds of past or future customers. And all potential customers! Stay active on Social Media!A good way to share your positive motivation and “customer empathy” is to use Social Media channels.
Here are the rules:
- Connections will turn into conversions when things get better, so improving your Social Media appearance is an important investment into your business’ future. And in the beginning your invest is simply just your time. Focus on connections just now. Conversions will automatically follow on a later stage.
- Explain your customers how reliable you are and that they can count on you and your business! Let me here at this pint kindly refer to my last blog entry.
- Be creative! Use pictures or videos to turn your social media posts into articles people want to react on. And if it is only the flowers on your office desk or a certificate you or your staff have achieved attending a recent online training.
- Ask questions! Encourage your audience to be part of your social media activities; allow user-generated contentand drive the inter-action around it!
It is quite a job to maintain all important channels, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and (not to forget) Linked-in, which is to focus a bit more on your relations to corporates and their key staff.
My advice: write a short story book separate for each channel. This story book should create a kind of “red line” for your stories, in a row, giving sense to read them all and to keep the interest high. If you sit to create the story book first, you will not need to think-up something to publish when the time of publishing has come.
I did the same with this blog: Table of content (=story book) first, then the rest is quite easy.
Please do not just copy and paste you posts for all the social media channels; it makes limited sense to publish i.e. your business travel related post apart of Linked-In also on Instagram.
However, all your target groups have one thing in common: They will need to have confidence into the products. Tell them what the airlines are doing in regards to social distancing and health protocols, go into detail and explain what hotels are doing concrete to stick to the new rules, and of course all other market participants or suppliers as well. Having said this, your own social media channels should be part of the strategy to create customers confidence into our industries’ health protocols.
For Facebook, you need to open a personal account to be able to open a related business page. Same apply for Linked-In, whereas on Twitter and Instagram you can set-up a stand-alone account for your company.
Read next week: Focus on Technology – Service Center
Author
Peter HALLEBACH
