SOCIAL NETWORKS

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SOCIAL NETWORKS

• Are you ready to
• bite the bullet?

Kim Lilly, Vice President of LVCVB Kenneth Chen,
Director of e-Marketing, VFCVB
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What is social networking?

• Social networking is the practice of expanding
  the number of one's business and/or social
  contacts by making connections through
  individuals.
• Source Whatis

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Who is using social networking?

• Currently 43 of the U.S. population uses some
  form of social networking
• By the end of 2008 it is predicted that 44.3 of
  the U.S. population will belong to a social
  network
• Source eMarketer

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Why Bite The Bullet?

• To reach the next generation of travelers and
  decision makers
• To improve organic search results (SEO)
• To establish your reputation as an expert of your
  destination
• To allow for more interactivity among users and
  more stickiness
• To be more visually oriented

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Discussion points

• How many of you are utilizing social media
  technology?
• What obstacles do you (or did you) face when
  implementing social media?

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Primary Obstacles

• Staffing constraints
• Fear of loss of control
• Inadequate metrics
• Organizational culture (membership)
• Difficulty with internal sell-through

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Types of social networking

• Personal networking

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Facebook
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The Who

• Facebook Users
• 2.6 million users identified in Rapleaf
• 63 female, 36 male
• 17 lt18 yrs, 52 18-25 yrs, 21 26-35 yrs, 5
  36-45 yrs, 5 gt45 yrs
• 2.9 major social networking sites used on average
  
• 62 are on MySpace, 5 are on LinkedIn, 9 are on
  Friendster, 10 are on Plaxo, 22 are on Hi5
• Source social-media-optimization.com

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CVBs with Facebook Pages

• Lexington CVB, Kentucky
• CVBs with profiles set as a person
• Ithaca Convention-Visitors Bureau
• Quito Visitors Bureau
• Cumberland Valley Visitors Bureau
• Muncie Visitors Bureau

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MySpace
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The Who

• MySpace Users
• 11.3 million users identified in Rapleaf
• 63 female, 36 male
• 20 lt18 yrs, 40 18-25 yrs, 27 26-35 yrs, 7
  36-45 yrs, 6 gt45 yrs
• 2.4 major social networking sites used on average
  
• 15 are on Facebook, 2 are on LinkedIn, 9 are
  on Friendster, 6 are on Plaxo, 17 are on Hi5
• Source social-media-optimization.com

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CVBs with MySpace Pages

• Greater Reading CVB
• Columbia Metropolitan CVB
• Visit Erie
• Hershey/Harrisburg CVB

Greater Reading CVB Columbia Metropolitan
CVB Visit Erie Hershey/Harrisburg CVB
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Discussion points

• How many of you have Myspace or Facebook pages
  (either personally or professionally)?
• How have you used this to promote your
  destination?
• What issues have you encountered?
• Or, why are you not on Myspace or Facebook?

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Types of social networking

• Professional networking

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LinkedIn
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The Who

• LinkedIn Users
• 0.8 million users identified in Rapleaf
• 38 female, 61 male
• 2 lt18 yrs, 9 18-25 yrs, 49 26-35 yrs, 24
  36-45 yrs, 16 gt45 yrs
• 3.2 major social networking sites used on average
  
• 16 are on Facebook, 25 are on MySpace, 12 are
  on Friendster, 16 are on Plaxo, 8 are on Hi5
• Source social-media-optimization.com

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DMAI Forums
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Discussion points

• How many of you are using professional tools?
• Has it proved beneficial in promoting your
  destination
• Is it worth the resources required to maintain
  and expand your network?

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Types of social networking

• Blogging

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Pocono Mountains VB Blog
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The Who

• 73 of people read blogs worldwide
• 184 million people blog worldwide
• 34 post opinions about brands
• 36 think more positively about companies that
  have blogs
• 22.5 worldwide read travel blogs
• Source The Intangibles

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Case Study Lehigh Valley CVB

• Situation
• Knew social networking was critical
• Staff resources
• Negative membership comments vs. credibility
• Approach
• Doing it in-house
• Looked at Typepad, Wordpress (both inexpensive)
• Process handled internally (editing, reviewing)
• Updated 5-7 days a week
• Establish policies (fairness to members)
• Covered everything (dining, attractions,
  shopping, events)
• Soft-sell marketing pitch
• Evaluation process

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Case Study Valley Forge CVB

• Situation
• Same as Lehigh Valley
• Was concerned about credibility of
  bureau-generated content
• Approach
• Did research on how much existing content about
  Valley Forge/Montgomery County was already out
  there
• Set up Google Alerts for keywords
• Linked to existing resources (YouTube, Flickr,
  blogs, trip reviews) rather than create its own
  content.

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12 Common Blogging Mistakes To Avoid

• Thinking people will actually read the post
• Using full paragraph format
• Not using or numbering lists
• Trying to sell something in a blog post (hard
  sell)
• Not including facts
• Using improper titles
• Writing for Phds (ie. Using big words)
• Making the post too long (over 800 words)
• Repackaging existing information
• No use of headings and subheadings
• Highlight or bold important terms and concepts
• Not using supporting images
• Source searchenginepeople.com

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Discussion points

• How many of you are involved with blogs?
• If not, why not?
• If so, is it worth the resources involved?
• How to handle negative comments regarding your
  members?
• Blog seeding what is it and do you do it?

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Types of social networking

• Trip reviews

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TripAdvisor
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TripAdvisor User Demographics

• Age Total household income
• 18-24 6.91 50K - 74.9K 21.35
• 25-34 25.93 75K-99.9K 19.72
• 35-44 24.64 Less than 25K 14.93
• 45-54 25.36
• 55-64 11.13 Male 51.37
• 65 6.02 Female 48.63

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Online Reviews Info

• According to a Opinion Research Corporation June
  2008 report 61 of people surveyed indicate they
  check online reviews, blogs and other online
  customer sources before buying a new product or
  service.
• That number is even higher for travel products at
  82.

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Discussion points

• Anyone using trip reviews on their website?
• What are your concerns with having trip reviews
  on your website?
• How many people are going to leave the trip
  review feature on Travelocity On? Why (or why
  not?)

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Types of social networking

• Podcasting/Video/Photo Sharing

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Lehigh Valley CVB Podcasts
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Demographic of a Podcast Downloader

• Total podcast audience (as of 2007) 18.5
  million
• Projected 2008 audience 28 million
• Projected 2009 audience 38 million
• By 2012 projected audience 65 million
• Age
• 18-29 27
• 30-49 20
• 50-64 15
• 65 8
• Source eMarketer

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Lehigh Valley CVB YouTube
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YouTube Statistics

• 100 million streamed videos viewed each day
• 65,000 new clips uploaded per day
• 13 million unique visitors per month
• Average user spends 30 minutes
• 58 of videos are watched on YouTube
• Largest demographic is 18-35 year olds
• Source Startup Review

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Flickr
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Flickr Statistics

• Over 2 billion images as of Nov. 2007
• 3 5 million photos are uploaded daily
• 53 Male Visitors
• 21 of audience earn over 100K
• Percentage of visitors having no college
  education 44
• Percentage of households with children aged 6-17
  66
• Average Age18-24 1825-34 2335-44
  2145-54 1955-64 1365 7

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Discussion points

• Is there anyone doing podcasts, video or photo
  sharing?
• Do you repackage existing content, or is it
  created for just the web?
• Something to think about do you want to use a
  formal or informal approach?

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Tracking Your Buzz Online

• Set up alerts
• Google Alerts
• Sign up for RSS Feeds

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Tracking Your Buzz Online

• 2. Keep Your Ear to the Ground
• Use a social media search engine such as Serph.com

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Tracking Your Buzz Online

• 3. Are They Tweeting About You?
• Twitter is a micro-blogging platform that allows
  users to share their thoughts in real time.

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Tracking Your Buzz Online

• 4. Whats the Blogosphere Saying?
• Find out what bloggers have to say about a topic
  by typing your keywords into Technorati.com

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Ten things to do when you get back to the office

• (or, ten things you can have an intern do for
  you!)
• Take inventory of your staffing - do you have the
  resources to invest in social networking, and, is
  it appropriate for your destination?
• Check your ZoomInfo.com information (or better
  yet, Google your own name). Log on to myDMAI
• Post your destination photos on Flickr
• Set up Google alerts for keywords that relate to
  your destination
• Check out what people are saying about your
  hotels on trip review sites (TripAdvisor,
  Expedia, Hotels.com). Are your hotels responding,
  or, are negative comments going unresponded?
• Sign up for a free blog and start keeping a
  journal (Blogger.com)
• Become friends with a 12-year old - they think
  differently, and they influence the buying
  process.
• Add social bookmark chicklets to your most
  important web pages and/or blog posts to improve
  sharing.
• Gather your current videos and place them on
  YouTube Its FREE!
• CREATE A SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN.

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Discussion points

• Do you feel comfortable with social networking?
• How can social networking benefit your
  organization?
• How can social networking hurt your destination's
  image?
• Do you subscribe to the notion that only younger
  generations are online and on social networking
  sites?
• Pick three sites you'd like to learn about
• What limitations does your bureau face as it
  relates to social networking? Budgetary,
  staffing, procedural, not enough time, outside
  the comfort zone, concerns about credibility,
  membership concerns?
• Membership vs. non-member and dealing with
  negative issues

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• Kim Lilly
• Vice President
• Lehigh Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau
• 840 Hamilton Street, Suite 200
• Allentown, PA 18101
• www.LehighValleyPA.org

Kenneth Chen Director of e-Marketing Valley Forge
Convention Visitors Bureau 600 West Germantown
Pike, Suite 130 Plymouth Meeting, PA
19462 www.ValleyForge.org