Social media is all about connecting with each other. We can share ideas, inspiration, adventures, our hobbies and our interests. Over 2 billion people globally use social media to connect with their friends, family, brands, and creators. As a tourism business social media enables you to entice potential visitors in and showcase your business to others, but is it still relevant to your business today?
In October 2024 I attended a local tourism conference and listened in on the marketing seminar. Listening to other marketers perspectives is always interesting, and quite often new ideas come up during their talks. Whilst the majority of the talk was good and helpful, the speaker made a comment which I firmly disagree with.
During the Q&A a business owner asked about social media and whether it’s still an asset for tourism based businesses. The speaker responded that social media isn’t really necessary for tourism based businesses, especially with Booking.com and other agents in existence. Now I will forgive this marketer as they don’t specialise in travel/tourism marketing, but the data shows us their opinion is very much off track. The data clearly shows that users who view content on social media, save it and then take action more than ever before.
At the world tourism market 2024 TikTok ran a TikTok and tourism seminar to give us the latest data and insights. The information they shared was very interesting and very much contradicts the opinion that social media is no longer necessary. They shared that 72% of traveltok users save and then visit the places they discover on TikTok. At present TikTok has over 2 billion active, daily, users across the world, whilst not all of those users are into travel a large number do use TikTok to research trips.
1.Reach new visitors
When it comes to travel there’s three main platforms to focus on. TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest have the highest conversions of users researching and booking tourism and travel based content. Pinterest has over 450 million active users and 82% of users say they’ve purchased a product they’ve seen on the app. Instagram has 1.2 billion users and 86% use the app to research travel and tourism destinations. Meanwhile TikTok has 1.5 billion monthly active users if which 72% use the app for travel and tourism. Content on these apps draws new visitors in, showcases your product, and increases bookings.
2.Increase revisits and recommendations
Social media brings visitors in but it’s also key in retaining those visitors and turning them into repeat customers. When visitors enjoy their time at your destination or venue they’re likely to tag you on social media and follow you to be kept in the loop.
Engaging with those customers by sharing the content they tag you in, replying to comments and responding to DMs establishes you as a business that values it’s customers. People who feel valued will recommend you to others and visit you time and time again.
3.Build LKT
Marketing psychology shows us that customers who like, know, and trust a business are more likely to buy from them. Social media plays a key role in LKT as you’re able to share content which visitors will like, increase their knowledge of your business, and start to trust you. Social media allows you to build relationships with visitors through engaging content, comments, and conversations in messages.
The bottom line is that social media is very much an important part of your tourism business marketing strategy. A good social media presence builds credibility and, if done well, can grow your business too.