What should I post to my social media channels? We get this question frequently from clients trying to come up with ideas and content for their social media. When advising our clients, we always remind themof the name of the medium; social media. The very best content will always remain true to this aspect meaning your content will entertain, inspire, invoke a memory, generate a ‘wish I was there’ response, and inform your audience. If your content ticks one or more of the these boxes, your audience will then want to share that content with their friends.

Social media is best served in small portions that deliver a lot of impact. You want to evoke, inspire and deliver that information in short posts that will cause your audience not only to share it but also remember you, meaning they will come back for more. The very best way to do this is with pictures. And of course working in travel affords us the opportunity for stunning pictures from all over the world. A well chosen photograph with a few key chosen words about a destination or subject is guaranteed to be more viral than a simple text post. Memes are quite popular these days and are especially effective in mediums such as Facebook and Instagram.

Travel pictures are plentiful from various sources and suppliers on the Internet, just make sure you have permission to use them. For instance, at Compass Media, we purchase the usage rights to any imagery that we post for our clients. In many ways the very best pictures you can use are the ones you take yourself. Why? Simple, you are emotionally connected to those photos and that will play out in the words you write as part of the post. It will also make it that much easier to respond to a comment, tweet or private message.

Your audience loves to see people having fun or exploring. If you have pictures of yourself having fun on vacation or travelling, use them. Remember the keywords are fun and interesting:  a regular old picture of you and your partner posing like statues in front of a resort entrance will attract a lot less interest than you and your partner buried  up to your neck in sand while your waiter tries to figure out where to put the Bahama Mamas. Have fun with it, be interesting, people will remember you  and that’s what you want.

Another question we often hear, “is it okay to sell on social media?” Absolutely it is, but remember this is “social” media. Sale-based or promotional posts should be made in moderation. We recommend one promotional post for every three social posts. As with all other social content if you want to attract attention use great imagery, original if possible, and use minimal text. Sometimes promotional posts require more information than is acceptable for a social post. The best tool to accomplish that is using backlinks. A backlink is simply a link in your post that friends or followers can click on to direct them to a website (ideally your website) where they can learn more. Backlinks from social media are an excellent method to drive traffic to your website and increase search engine optimization (SEO).

So remember your social media posts should entertain, inspire, invoke memories and inform. As the old saying goes a picture is worth 1000 words! For more information on travel marketing tips check out the rest of our blog or drop us a line, we love to talk to travel agents!