Category Archive: Travel & Recreation

Content that goes viral – one Lake Tahoe ski resort creates a viral effect on social media

Posted by Milena Regos on February 28, 2012

The lack of snow this year has created plenty of challenges for ski resorts including coming up with engaging content to share on their social networks. I really enjoyed seeing all the posts from all Lake Tahoe ski resorts during and after the last snow storm – from videos and photos to simple updates. After seeing many of my friends reposting one photo from a ski resort to their own Facebook pages, I have to admit the photo had gone viral.

The winner is………….. Mt Rose Ski Resort! With close to 200 likes, 19 comments and most importantly 49 shares, this photo posted by Mt Rose Ski Resort went viral on Facebook and got a lot of traction. And best of all – there were no sales or promotions attached with it. Just two words: POW DAY written in the snow. Short and to the point – but also very needed visual this winter.

Mt Rose pow day goes viral

Mt Rose realized they had created a small viral effect with the photo and used it again the next day with a clever bottle measurement stick. Once again, people loved it. The content works for their audience too – skiers and apres ski fans. The perfect combination for this photo. At the time of this blog post, the picture had generated over 259 likes, 29 comments and 62 shares.

What makes content go viral on the web? The info graphic below contains excellent tips and ideas as to what will help your content take off on the social web regardless of the type of business you are in. As far as ski resorts go, a good snow storm always helps engagement.

Have you seen any content lately that has gone viral?

Categories: Blog Business Facebook Lake Tahoe Marketing Photosharing Ski industry Social Media Success Stories Travel & Recreation Web 2.0 tools | 3 Comments »

How to use Pinterest for your travel brand

Posted by Milena Regos on January 31, 2012

 

Do we need any more social networks in our daily lives? We are stretched so thin trying to stay connected 24/7 on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs that adding one more social network to our lives seems like a crazy idea. But I really like this one. And I think it has a big potential for travel destinations and companies. Meet Pinterest.

What is Pinterest?

It’s an online pinboard where you can pin things of interest to you. You can have different boards based on your interests. For example, I have a board called Places I want to visit where I have pinned various destinations, cities and natural landmarks I want to visit one day. It’s a visual board with beautiful images. Do you see how travel destinations can benefit from this?

 

Who’s using Pinterest? 

Pinterest has been around for 2 years but only recently it gained a lot of traction to where it’s now ranking in the top 10 social networks. “Time magazine called Pinterest — a website where users post collections of images of their favorite food, clothes, places and everything else — one of the five best social media sites of 2011, along with Google-Plus and Klout. The company has raised $27 million in venture capital led by the firm Andreessen Horowitz, which several tech news outlets have reported as valuing Pinterest at $200 million” states this story in the USA Today on Pinterest standing out in a crowded social media space.

At this time, you still need to receive an invite to join Pinterest but if you submit a request, you will receive your invite within a day or so.

Retailers, like Real Simple, Land’s End, Nordstrom and Etsy are using Pinterest and for some of them Pinterest is driving more traffic than Facebook.

Demographics

80% of Pinterest’s users are women making it a very appealing place to showcase your destination, ski resort, city, hotel accommodation.  Below are the detailed demographics from HotelMarketing.com.

- Largely women (a 80% to 20% ratio). So there’s some truth to Matt Buchanan’s post on Gizmodo yesterday that proclaims Pinterest as “a Tumblr for ladies”.
- Aged mainly between 25 and 44 (accounting for 55% of the group, 30% are 25-34, 25% are 35 – 44)
- Just 25% of users have a bachelors degree or higher
- The majority live off a household income of $25-75k

An attractive demographics group if you are in the travel&tourism industry.

To take advantage of Pinterest start compiling good photography that shows your spa, your destination, your ski resort, your town. People can pin photos from your website as well so having good photography on your website as always helps travelers make a decision faster.

Do you use Pinterest personally or for business? Let me know in the comments below. If you need a beginner guide to start using Pinterest, Mashable put one together. It’s very easy to use. Go on and try it.

 

 

Categories: Blog Creativity Photosharing Social Media Social Media Marketing Technology Travel & Recreation Web 2.0 Web 2.0 tools | 4 Comments »

How to use TripAdvisor to your advantage

Posted by Milena Regos on November 7, 2010

Two sides to this post are 1) using TripAdvisor as a consumer and 2) using TripAdvisor as a travel brand. According to AllFacebook.com there are over 9.5 mil monthly users of TripAdvisor. I love the site as it gives me real reviews about a place I’d like to visit. Just be a little cautious when you read the reviews as sometimes only the most passionate and the really unhappy people will go through the trouble of posting a review. In an effort to get good reviews, TripAdvisor actually makes the review process fairly lengthy.

1. If you are a consumer make sure to read the reviews on TripAdvisor prior to booking your trip. You may find insightful information about a place you would like to visit. I usually glance at the reviews before pulling out my credit card and committing to a reservation. You may not always see positive reviews about a place, but sometimes people just like to complain. Personally, if most reviews are good and there are a few bad reviews I would take them into account but put more emphasis on the positive. I like to think the glass is half full. Big points go to the property that has responded to a negative review. Seeing a response usually makes me smile as this means the property is actually monitoring their reviews and responding to complaints. When I see negative reviews and no response, this usually is enough for me to look elsewhere.
2. If you represent a travel brand (think hotels, restaurants, cruises, vacation properties and even airlines) you can use TripAdvisor to gather feedback and correspond with your customers who are reviewing your place while you are reading this. Here are a few tips for travel companies on how to use TripAdvisor to their advantage:

• Get your business listed on TripAdvisor and make sure you give as much information as possible about your property. Photos are KEY!
• Sign up to receive reviews by email and every time someone posts a new review you will be notified.
• Read the reviews and respond if necessary with a thank you or a comment. If the review is negative, proceed with caution. Sometimes an acknowledgment and stating the facts may be sufficient but be careful not to make an already angry person even angrier. It’s a very fine line what you say and how you say it.
• Encourage your guests to spread the word for you with signs at your property, links on your website and in your email newsletters.
• Track your performance and see how you rank against your competitors (this service is offered to accommodations only)

TripAdvisor offers excellent and free business owners resources online to help with getting more reviews, best practices including how to respond to reviews, links and badges for your website/email newsletter, and content ideas.

They recently added user generated lists and tours to their mobile application which will continue to increase TripAdvisor’s popularity with travelers.

Don’t ignore online reviews as part of your social media strategy. With a huge audience, TripAdvisor is a popular place for people to turn to when researching their trip. I know I do.

Do you use TripAdvisor as a consumer? Have you implemented it in your social media efforts for your company?

Categories: Blog Business Customer Loyalty Customer service eMarketing Marketing Social Media Social Media Marketing Travel & Recreation Web 2.0 Web 2.0 tools Word of Mouth | 5 Comments »

Adrift Tahoe Paddleboarding and Social Media

Posted by Milena Regos on August 22, 2010

Photo credit: PeterSpain.com

This is one of two posts on how small businesses can use social media to their advantage. I got particularly interested in paddleboarding and decided to track the entire process of how social media is affecting the bottom line of a small business.

Adrift Tahoe is located in Kings Beach, Lake Tahoe, CA and they offer rentals, sales, fun special events and merchandise. It’s all about paddleboarding and surfing with very friendly staff.

My interest in paddleboarding started with a Facebook post by a friend – sharing her excitement about this addictive and fun sport. I decided to check it out for myself. It is a great sport, an excellent full body work out and a phenomenal way to spend summer time on the water in Tahoe.

I offered to create a short video about the shop and the sport and post it on YouTube. See it below.

So far, I know that I have hooked a few friends and family members on the sport. They are interested in getting more involved, would like to purchase paddleboards and continue to spread their passion about paddleboarding in Lake Tahoe.

The second blog post will tell you how a Facebook update and a You Tube video delivered real dollars for this business. Interested? Stay tuned. Whether you are a small business or a big one, are you able to identify dollars from your social media efforts?

Have you tried paddleboarding yet?

Categories: Blog Brands I like Business Lake Tahoe Life Marketing Measurements Outdoors Small Businesses Social Media Social Media Marketing Success Stories Travel & Recreation Video Web 2.0 tools Word of Mouth | No Comments »

Follow up on my Lufthansa travel story

Posted by Milena Regos on July 27, 2010

I want to close the loop on the Lufthansa travel nightmares blog post I wrote back in May during my trip to Europe for those of you who followed my trip and have been asking me for the result.

In summary, I had to deal with a delayed plane, a sick passenger, a well deserved and expensive  shower, new clothes and a long delay at the airport, a lost bag for 7 days, a damaged suitcase and missing items from the bag and COUNTLESS hours emailing, talking to and collecting paperwork for Lufthansa.

Today I received a check from them for $1,732. This is the maximum amount they will issue for a lost bag. (Policy)

All and all, I’m OK with this. It certainly didn’t make up for the lost hours dealing with the company. It can’t make up for the inconvenience, the hassle, my niece’s disappointment when her new iPod was missing, etc.  At least, I feel like I have been somewhat compensated for the expenses.

Ultimately the question is – Did Lufthansa keep me as a customer?

Most likely they did. At the bottom of the pyramid.

During the entire process, I was contacted only once on this blog from someone in their “social media” department.

The worst part about Lufthansa as I discovered is that you cannot contact their customer department by phone. Only by email and by fax.  I suppose you can visit them personally in their office on the East Coast. It felt too much to me like they didn’t want to deal with customers.

Again, did they keep me as a customer? Probably so. Can they work on improving their customer service? Absolutely. Can they start to move people up the pyramid?Definitely so. It would have taken them very little to move me up. Maybe next time.

This concludes my Lufthansa story. Now, I’m ready for new travel adventures with happier experiences and better airline service.  Oh, and anyone from the customer service department of Lufthansa reading this blog, I can consult you on how to improve your customer service. Call me for a free conversation.

Categories: Blog Customer Loyalty Customer service Life Travel Travel & Recreation | No Comments »