Twitter is rapidly becoming one of the most popular social networking platforms. It is continuously being the chosen forum to broadcast breaking news, host online competitions, advertisements as well as being an obvious choice for friends to interact. Twitter is not just a social networking device for consumers; it has proven to be a highly successful tool for resorts.
A successful Twitter marketing strategy involves a few simple steps:
Define your demographic:
Firstly you must pinpoint who you want to reach on Twitter. This includes defining your demographic – potential guests, past guests, guests who stay at competitors resorts. Trying to reach everyone is not an effective strategy, defining your demographic will ensure that you are focusing on a select groups or groups of people as opposed to the world at large. This focus allows your message to be received by people who are interested in your resort.
Know you demographic:
It’s one thing to aim your information to a certain demographic, but you need to ensure that you know how to speak to them in a way that will engage them, rather than annoying, or boring them. A great way to know your demographic is to research them. Check out the Twitter pages of friends to find out who is saying what to them. Use other social networking sites such as Facebook to compare. Find out what they are saying about your resort and incorporate these ideas into your Tweets and profiles. You have to speak to them at a level they understand. If your audiences are formal, then speak to them in a manner that corresponds with this. If they are informal you need to speak the same. People only want to listen if they can understand and relate. It is also equally as important to find out what interests your audience. What do they re-tweet on Twitter? What kinds of information are they sharing with their online friends? These insights allow you to see the best possible ways to engage with your audience.
Know what you want out of Twitter:
As a business your resort is not on Twitter merely to say hi to people. You are there for a few key reasons, to increase your online community, to engage with this community and to see a return on your Twitter investment. When looking at Twitter as an investment it is important to gage how much a Twitter lead is worth to your resort and its time. What this step entails is setting targets for your resort and tracking these targets with metrics. These targets and twitter lead worth amounts will vary depending on the size of your resort and its marketing facilities. One good way to get a basic gauge of your targets is by observing your followers count. Although this is not always accurate, it is a good way to get a basic idea of who is paying attention to your account.
There are many different approaches to track your goals and investment opportunities, however these all depend on the size of your resort and fan base. Regardless of the means you have, setting goals and tracking their progress is an integral aspect of a successful Twitter business strategy.
When tracking your leads and followers you should consider using metrics such as sales, conversions, email sign-ups, direct messages and @messages.
Know Your Brand:
It is one thing to know your resort, your demographic and track the progress, but you also have to know what kind of public persona your resort is going to take on. This entails the language you use to tweet, the information you share with your audience, and the tone in which you choose to use. This is a two step process. You want to ensure the manner in which you communicate with your audience is tailored to your current audience, but also contains the possibility to draw in new consumers. One thing that is essential is that you remain constant in the approach your resort plans to take. Consistency is the key to gaining consumer trust and online community.
A Twitter marketing strategy is one that takes significant time and effort. A well effected marketing strategy is one that has the potential to bring great dividends to you resort. The key is to be consistent, know your approach and know your target demographic. If you closely align your strategy with these key pointers, your resort will be on its way to a successful Twitter marketing strategy.
