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2. GET REVIEWS AND TESTIMONIALS. Encourage people to share positive reviews about your park, and take advantage of sites like TripAdvisor, Facebook, and Google reviews. One recent study suggests that more than 90 percent of people trust user reviews more than advertising.
Make it easy for people to not only find you on all the pertinent sites, but also to leave a review of your company. (How to accomplish that? Google it, of course.) Follow up with a personalized email right after their trip with links to your reviews online. Use testimonials on your website and in marketing communications.
Finally, monitor your online presence regularly, and respond to all reviews—negative and positive. Try to respond within 24 hours, and keep it upbeat. Make the response public so that other people can see it.
3. USE SOCIAL ADVERTISING. Facebook has introduced clever ways to reach your existing audience. The Power Editor lets you create custom audiences in Facebook, such as your email database, your website visitors, past customers, and other groups. You can also create look-a-like audiences so you can reach your competition’s customers as well! Twitter has also introduced new ad formats that help you reach the right people and generate leads.
4. BE MOBILE-OPTIMIZED. Make sure your website is mobile-optimized. Travelers research their trips via a smartphone or mobile device 45 percent of the time, according to a 2014 Google Travel Study. Make sure it’s easy for guests to find you and be able to access the information they seeking via their phones, including the ability to make a reservation.
5. FOCUS ON MULTI-CHANNEL PROMOTION. Ninety-one percent of consumers say access to content any way they want is important, according to the 2014 Mobile Behavior Report. On any given day, we all use different screens, platforms and networks. You can’t be everywhere, though, so choose channels that your customers are most likely to access.
Be consistent in your message across all channels, but create a strategy specific to each. Use mobile-optimized images, and modify the image and text to the specific channel. Then, stay on top of engagement. Too many brands still have not figured out that social is a two-way street.
Connect with Milena at [email protected].
