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social media




I would add to that list that ‘traditional’ agencies often lack the culture necessary to really make social media (or digital for that matter) work.

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And at Think! Social Media we can add a specialized focus on the travel, tourism and hospitality industry as well. This industry isn’t easy to figure out and you need to understand the specifics in order to deliver real value to your clients.

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Jeremiah also identifies some weaknesses boutique agencies can have:

Despite their strengths, Social Media Boutiques have weakenesses. They are often unable to scale as engagement is difficult to roll out to all product units and around the globe, are quickly finding that traditional agencies are catching up by training staff (see how Edelman has an internal black belt education program) and often lack the ability to achieve an integrated marketing approach.

At Think! we’re already rapidly expanding to offer full digital services with integrated social media. We’re achieving this though great partnerships (including ‘traditional’ agencies) and by acquiring new talent, here in Vancouver, but also around the world.

It’s safe to say that 2011 will be very exciting.

  • personal, social media, tourism bc, Travel & Tourism

    Leaving Tourism BC, joining Think!

    10.15.10 | Permalink | 15 Comments

    My passion is to bring innovative marketing to the tourism industry so that travelers are happy and operators benefit.

    The world has changed. Social media, online marketing and technology continues to disrupt traditional marketing methods and success will be defined by understanding new emerging principles, creating sound strategies with a nimble execution of tactics.

    We need to bring 21st century marketing to the tourism industry. From the smallest operator to the largest DMO. I love sharing what I know and also learn from others. I want to do more of it.

    So after 11 great years at Tourism British Columbia I’ve decided it is time for a change. Effective November 12, I will be joining the team at Think! Social Media. Rodney and Ben have built an impressive team of brilliant people who bring smart marketing to an exciting and growing list of clients in the travel and tourism industry.

    Think! has a different approach. We live the principles of social media. The result is some impressive work and strong client relationships. Clients are now asking to build out the services beyond social media. We will do this while staying true to our values.

    I’m sad to leave the organization who have given me so many great opportunities and especially the incredibly talented people I work with every day, around the world. People at Tourism BC, but also at our partners. I’m going to miss them a lot. But in a networked world, we’re only one tweet or status update away.

  • Internet, social media, Travel & Tourism

    You’re already in social media; ignore or engage

    09.19.10 | Permalink | Comment?

    I still get questions from tourism businesses who aren’t sure if and how they should engage in social media. The answer is that you already are part of social media.

    • People write reviews about your business on Tripadvisor
    • People tweet about your experience on Twitter
    • People check-in with your business on Foursquare
    • People talk about your business on Facebook and post pictures
    • etc

    So the question is “to ignore” or “to engage”. Answer these questions:

    • If a customer has a question or feedback at your front desk, do you ignore or engage?
    • If somebody calls you with a question or feedback over the phone, do you ignore or engage?

    How is social media any different?

  • Internet, social media, Travel & Tourism

    First look at Facebook Questions – Lots of potential

    07.28.10 | Permalink | 8 Comments

    Today Facebook launched Facebook Questions, “a beta product that lets you pose questions like these to the Facebook community. With this new feature, you can get a broader set of answers and learn valuable information from people knowledgeable on a range of topics.”

    The new feature is slowly being rolled out. It’s extremely buggy for me at the moment. Searching for questions about specific topics or keywords doesn’t work at all for example.

    But the concept is becoming clear.

    Facebook is making clever use of the social graph (friend networks) and user profiles. Questions asked by my friends and topics I’ve have listed as interests where listed first for me. You can also send a question to a friend. Inside Facebook as more details about the product and how the social graph is used.

    What’s great for fanpage owners is that you ask and answer questions as the fanpage.

    For DMO’s and travel operators, monitoring questions and answering them can be a powerful way to built relationships with potential customers. Besides it’s incredible userbase, its use of the social graph and ability for fanpages to participate makes it a great tool for engagement.

    [Tnooz has a step-by-step guide overview]

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