Tourism Australia has just been announced as the most popular tourism destination page in the world with over two million Facebook fans, 2,085,978 to be exact, an incredible feat.
Andrew McEvoy, Tourism Australia managing director, says in the article (linked above) that he believes the milestone is evidence not just of Australia’s appeal to international travellers, but also of the impact digital marketing has in the successful promotion of the country.
This is evident across the country and with many different tourism operators taking on the social media realm and putting it at the forefront of their PR and marketing strategies.
Working in lifestyle PR Brisbane and Sydney, Red PR looks after many different tourism clients including Moreton Island Adventures, Naisoso Island in Fiji, Albatross Tours and Quickbeds.com – many of which have Facebook pages, which our Gen Red team are constantly strategising new ideas for ways to engage new fans.
Our job is to stay on top of the most up-to-date and out-of-the-box ideas which can be challenging in the constantly changing digital world. However, here are my five top tips on how to engage fans on your Facebook page.
1. When it comes to social media simple is best – we have had major brainstorm sessions where we come up with detailed, elaborate ideas that sound brilliant at the time – but in reality the campaigns that will always work best are the simple giveaways or posts that engage your reader and give them something they truly want to read and be a part of. For example the ‘Happy Hour’ daily quiz is a great way to engage fans on a daily basis.
2. Images and videos are always an excellent way to engage fans. Particularly when you are promoting a destination. Posting images on Facebook particularly on a beautiful day or video footage of some of the amazing activities are a great way to promote your brand, as well as make your fans on Facebook pick up the phone and make a booking because they want to be there!
3. Constantly monitor your account for questions, feedback, suggestions or even negative comments. There is nothing worse than having a customer or fan ask a question that goes unanswered. A good way of protecting your page against negative feedback is creating ‘House Rules’ which outline the type of content that is and isn’t suitable for your Facebook community. You can see an example of this here.
4. FREE STUFF! Giveaways, competitions and more free stuff. This is one of the best ways to make your fans feel like part of your special online community and continuing to interact with your page. Who doesn’t love free stuff? And when you have a product or destination you are trying to promote giving away free trips or product is also a good way of getting honest customer reviews and feedback. Competitions also encourage fans to share the competition or page with their networks – which is the ultimate goal!
5. Talk as though you are speaking with friends. It is very important that you use language on your client’s Facebook page that makes your fans feel as though you are having a conversation rather than trying to sell them something. With the amount of advertising these days people are more aware of selling techniques and your fans will always be more receptive when they think they are getting involved in an online ‘social community’ rather than just adding more advertising to their news feed.
In short, there is no exact method on how to get two million Facebook fans, ultimately it’s the mix of a lot of different techniques, strategies and team work that will draw fans to your page, but I hope these pointers can get you starting to engage with your customers and friends.
And finally, here’s another interesting article on the ‘five types of people who post on brand pages’ – good to note for any PR’s looking after their clients social media.
