Category Archive: Social Media

Cool brand new app for the tourism industry – TourWrist

Posted by Milena Regos on November 30, 2011

This brand new shiny object got our attention. It’s called TourWrist and we see a lot of marketing and social media potential for travel and tourism brands, ski resorts, real estate, hotels, photographers and any other company in need of a 360 virtual tour to showcase their product or service.

What are some of the reviews this app is getting:

• Featured by Apple! Winner of the 2011 Communication Arts Interactive Annual!
• Experience what some are calling the #1 Free App of All Time.
• “One of the most spectacular virtual-tour user experiences I’ve seen” – Fast Company Design

What we like:

App: It comes with an app for iPhone or iPad so to fully utilize it, get the app.

Ease: Snap a panoramic or 360 degree photo with your iPhone and using the platform turn it into an amazing visual that will really make your property, resort, hotel or shop pop up on the Internet. Professional photography will look great on this tour. Imagine the possibilities for marketing your venue.

Augmented Reality: Using this app on your iPad is super cool. Check it out today for a glimpse of the future.

Example of a tour: Don’t try to click on the image. Unfortunately, TourWrist doesn’t allow to embed tours in WordPress sites. If you wan to see a tour in action, click here. It’s a cool photo from Sand Harbor that Jen Schmidt took last summer.

Marketing tools: You can share your tour on social media, embed it on your site (except for WordPress and Posterous sites) and even create a QR code for it.

Price: So far, it looks like it’s free so that’s AWESOME. Hope it stays this way.

We are planning on spending some more time with this tool and really putting it to work for marketing purposes with travel and tourism brands. If you have used it already, let us know your feedback or just check it out.

Special thanks goes to Mike Henderson who posted it on Facebook.

Categories: Blog Brands I like Business Golf industry Marketing Ski industry Social Media Social Media Marketing Technology Video Web 2.0 tools | 6 Comments »

Problems with Facebook custom domain name? Check your settings.

Posted by Milena Regos on November 14, 2011

I recently discovered a Facebook bug that may not be allowing your Facebook page to display properly. If you have registered your custom domain name on Facebook, i.e Facebook.com/companyname you should be able to type it in and go directly to your page when you are logged out of Facebook. However, some Facebook pages will direct you automatically to Facebook.com. How to fix this issue?

Check your page settings. Go to Manage Permissions on your Facebook page. Make sure no country is selected and your age restrictions is set up to 13+.

This should do the trick and now your custom domain name will work properly. I hope this is helpful. Have you checked your Facebook page when you are logged out to see if it’s visible to people? Does it work properly?

Categories: Blog Business Facebook Small Businesses Social Media Technology Web 2.0 tools | No Comments »

Google+ Launches Pages

Posted by Milena Regos on November 7, 2011

Ever since the launch of Google+ businesses have been expecting this moment – the launch of branded pages. Today, Google finally released  this option for companies. So, should you jump right in and get your Google+ branded page today?

To see what Mashable has to say about this, click here.

I did some research to find out what are the main differences between a Google+ profile and a page. Check it out below:

Companies are jumping on Google+ today to get their pages reserved. My opinion is that if you are a big brand and many of your followers are on Google+,  you would want to do the same. For the smaller brands, Google+ needs more traction, i.e. more people to start using it. Yet, this doesn’t mean you should wait. Reserve your page today even if you are not currently using Google+ in your social media. Why? The video below explains it very well. In short, businesses don’t make people happy. People do.

To help you get your Google+ page I went through the process myself. It’s really easy and it takes 10 min to complete.

Here’s what you need to do:

Once you sign in with your profile, and click on Create a Google+ page you will see this screen. Choose a category that matches your company.

Follow the step by step form and your page will be live in minutes. Below is Out&About Marketing page. Go ahead and connect with us there too.

What do you think? Is Google+ going to be the next Facebook? Leave a comment in the comments below and let us know.

Categories: Blog Business Social Media Web 2.0 tools | 2 Comments »

Should I hire an intern to run my social media?

Posted by Milena Regos on November 4, 2011

Marketing people wear many hats today and recently they have a new one – the social media hat. With added responsibilities and the same amount of time in the day (not to talk about compensation) some marketing folks are turning to interns to help out in the social space. They are after all more internet savvy and have hundreds of Facebook friends so they should be able to run the social media for the company. Right? For companies in the travel&tourism space, interns are fairly easy to find as the perks are better – free lift tickets, free access to places, and bragging rights to friends.

Proceed with caution. Some interns will make a great addition to your marketing staff and some may lead to a disaster on social media. Ultimately, it’s your company’s reputation that is at risk.

Below are some guidelines and considerations to follow.

1. Your social media intern will represent your travel brand online. Their personality will inter-vine with yours. They will become the voice for your tourism brand online. Make sure they understand your business, your market and your industry and can speak on your behalf.
2. Make sure they understand marketing. Yes, being authentic and real online is fantastic but the reason to be on social media is to extend your reach, creating new relationships while forging existing ones. It’s all Marketing 101. Does your intern get this? I’m not talking about blasting your community with the latest sale and promotion. I’m talking about how you provide value to your customers.
3. Make sure they have at least the basics of social media. The fact they have a personal Facebook page and watch YouTube videos doesn’t qualify them for being a social media guru (ninja, expert, fill in the blank here). Good communication skills and writing skills are essential for social media.  Do they have a basic understanding of running a Facebook business page? Do they know how to start creating an online community? And if they don’t, do they know where to go to find the answers.
4. Protect your brand by asking them to sign a social media policy. Mistakes happen but sometimes an intern or an employee can knowingly do something really damaging to your reputation. Make sure they sign your social media policy. If you don’t have one, at least go over some general rules and guidelines as to what’s acceptable on social media for your travel brand.
5. Create a plan for them to follow. Most interns need a lot of supervision and direction. Just spending time on Twitter and Facebook won’t be too beneficial to your company. What would be your social media strategy? It’s probably best if you spend the time to develop a plan and then go over it with your intern to make sure they understand it and can follow it. Develop a 6 months plan with KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Establish benchmarks. Create an editorial calendar. Come up with some contests. Look at your brand across different social networks and decide how to engage with your followers at each one. Then, once a month sit down with your intern and review where you stand. Learn from the experience online and improve your plan. Hold them accountable if your measurements allow.

Interns can be a great addition to your marketing team – from developing content like videos and blog posts to monitoring your brand reputation online and your social media presence daily. For brands in the travel&tourism space it may be easier to find social media interns that are passionate about the company. It also helps if you can pay them. Who wants to work for free these days? At the same time, who doesn’t want to ski powder all day long and take videos or stay at a nice hotel, go kitesurfing and write a blog post about the experience? Interns can be very enthusiastic about what they do and they can bring lots of energy to your marketing team.

Capitalize on the good and minimize the dangers by having a good plan before you go out seeking interns. For more information on what to look for, I found this post on Mashable.

What is your experience with interns? For the most part, I have to say mine was favorable under the right expectations. And yours? Leave a comment in the space below and let us know. Would you hire an intern? Why or why not? Interns, what do you look for in an internship? What companies would you like to work for?

Categories: Blog Golf industry Marketing Ski industry Social Media | 2 Comments »

Does your Travel&Tourism brand know how to engage on Facebook?

Posted by Milena Regos on October 13, 2011

I had the pleasure to present at SMG Tahoe Technology & Marketing 2011 on Facebook for Business with focus on the Travel&Tourism industry. I like the event as it gathers many local and regional folks involved in the travel, tourism, outdoor and recreation industries. I’ve worked with many of them over the years and the event has the feel of a family gathering.

I truly enjoyed the presentations I saw, starting with Troy Thompson from Travel2.0 setting the stage for the day, Mike Henderson from Arborglyph talking about destination marketing videos, Rob Gadtke from KPS3 n mapping media and technology to the buying process and Eric Bengston on Developing an Interactive Strategy.

Below you will find my presentation on how to engage with your fans on Facebook and create a culture and vibrant online community with lots of examples from local and national properties doing it right. I covered custom landing pages, affordable apps, best business practices and measurements. In addition to my presentation, feel free to use my handout on 10 Facebook tips to improve engagement. Some of these tips you can implement today in your Facebook marketing.

Facebook for Business – Travel&Tourism by Milena Regos, Out&About Marketing

View more presentations from Milena Regos

For the 10 Facebook tips for businesses, click here. Enjoy! What have you found that works for your on Facebook? Share some stories with us.

Categories: Blog Business Events Facebook Lake Tahoe Marketing Measurements Social Media Social Media Marketing Technology | No Comments »