If you’re in the marketing industry, you already know your brand needs a social media presence.
And you probably already know being active on social media and getting results through social media are two very different things.
Let’s look at this familiar scenario: You spend hours working on a blog post to engage your customers, or maybe you think up a tweet that’s too clever not to share. Full of excitement, you send your message into the social media world and then…
…nothing. No retweets, no shares, no comments. Maybe a like or two, if you’re lucky.
And certainly no new bookings or business.
Trying to crack the mystery behind social media success is enough to drive any marketer mad.
So how do you increase social media engagement through your tourism marketing efforts?
Keep reading…
The simple trick to increasing social media engagement in marketing
If you only use your brand’s Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and blog to cross-promote content, share stock photos or ask your audience to book, STOP.
You’re doing it wrong.
Your stock photos aren’t starting a conversation. Cross-promoting your links and content isn’t getting anyone to talk to you, either. And asking for the sale? Depending on the offer, you may get results, but you won’t get engagement.
But there is a simple way you can engage your social media audience. You can even start using it today.
The simple trick?
If you want to engage your social media audience, it’s time to be mysterious.
If you tell your followers the entire message in a social media update, there’s really no incentive to interact with you, is there? You’ve already given them all the information they need, and your followers are free to move on.
But when you give your posts a sense of mystery by withholding a bit of information, your audience will want to fill in that gap. By our very human nature, we need to fill in that gap.
We’re too curious for our own good.
Don’t believe me? Just look at Apple, the masters of curiosity marketing. The company is infamous for keeping most everything under wraps, from product features and specs to release dates.
And because they won’t tell us anything, we have to know that much more. We follow Apple rumor sites. Bloggers give Apple plenty of publicity. And we help build the buzz as anxious consumers.
And with all of the mystery and anticipation, Apple sees their new iPhones and iPads sell out within hours.
All because they put a little mystery into their marketing.
So how can you apply this mystery marketing principle to your social media efforts?
Here are two examples:
- Instead of simply announcing you’re having a promotion at the end of the month, use social media to generate buzz. Keep your audience engaged by letting them know a big promotion is coming up–but don’t tell them what it is. Encourage guesses, give hints and explain benefits to your audience before the big reveal.
- Scrap the stock photos of hotel rooms and restaurants. Instead, snap a photo that will keep your audience guessing. See if your followers can guess what it is.
- Using Twitter to promote an article or blog post? Don’t waste your 140 characters on tweeting the headline alone. Craft a tweet that peaks your followers’ curiosity, and they’ll have to click.
Your Challenge
Take a look at your social media calendar for this week. Choose one item, like a Facebook post, tweet or blog entry, and inject a little mystery. Brainstorm a way to get your audience curious about your message, and they’ll be engaged.
If it works for you, let me know in the comments. And if it doesn’t work, let me know, too.
Also, if you could share this challenge on Twitter, I’d really appreciate it. Just click the link below to tweet:
Marketers, take the challenge: Make your social media outreach more engaging this week. –ClicktoTweet