According to Pew Research, 74% of online adults use social media. Now, not all adults use social media, but if you’re looking to use the Internet to attract new customers, you want to be where 74% of your potential customers are when they’re online.
That’s why you and other travel businesses use social media. You want to be where your customers are, earn their attention and eventually earn their business.
Something I see some travel companies struggle with when it comes to social media is incorporating their websites with their social media efforts. The two strategies can become disconnected and that’s understandable. But it’s beneficial to get the two synced up as much as you can.
Here are some tips for incorporating social media into your travel website.
The Best Social Networks For Your Business Or Website
The first thing to figure out with your social media efforts is what one, two or maybe three social networks you’re going to focus on. It’s common to see travel businesses trying to cover all the bases with social media. So they’ll join five or more networks and spread themselves too thin.
If you’re like most small businesses, you don’t have a lot of extra time for social media. Maybe you have 30 minutes or a little more each day to commit. Maybe you can take a couple hours on the weekend to work on social media. That’s not a lot of time. That’s why I believe it’s better to focus on one network instead of five or more.
So what network is best for you?
I can’t speak for all travel businesses, but my guess would be that your priority list would look something like this:
- Others
That is based on my experience with each network and who the users are in general. It also takes into account the number of people using each network.
I would say it’s almost a draw between Facebook and Pinterest. It depends on who your exact target customer is at your travel business. If you have used a couple of the networks above you probably have a good feel for the one that has the most potential. If that’s the case, cut the cord on all but the top one.
And if you’re just starting, focus on Facebook or Pinterest.
Share Buttons vs. Follow/Like Buttons
Each site usually has two types of buttons that you can include on your website: 1. Follow Button and 2. Share Button. The Follow Button is one that a visitor to your website can click to follow you or your brand on social media. The Share Button is one that a visitor clicks on to share a page or to share specific content from a page on their social media profile or feed.
Sometimes I see share buttons on the homepage or follow buttons at the bottom of blog posts and things like that. In the next couple segments I’ll tell you where you can put each button.
Regular Website Pages (Homepage, Services Page, etc.)
These are the pages on your website that won’t change too much. When someone goes to your homepage they’re typically looking to learn about your company and what you have to offer them. So social media content isn’t usually at the top of their agenda.
However, some people will want to check out your social media profiles. And sometimes people come back to your homepage just to find your social media follow buttons. So it’s good to put follow buttons on your homepage. Don’t make them really stand out. The header, sidebar and footer are good places. They’re secondary calls-to-action.
Other regular pages on the site probably don’t need social media buttons. When someone gets to your services page or to an information page where they can buy something they’re focused on buying. You don’t want to distract them away from that to follow you on social media.
However, I would put follow buttons on your Contact page and on your About page. On your contact page, visitors are likely going to submit a form or email you. But they might also prefer to contact you via social media. So having a small follow button here is a good idea. On the About page, you’re providing a link to your social account where there might be more information about you or the visitor might be more comfortable learning about you on social media instead of on your website.
Confirmation Pages (Thanks For Contacting, Thanks For Signing Up, etc.)
These are pages most people don’t consider for social media, but I think they’re actually perfect pages for social media follow buttons and even share buttons in some instances.
When someone contacts you via a contact form, sometimes a message pops up confirming that the message was sent. Sometimes this is a new page. In either case, the visitor has performed the main item they wanted to perform. They’re now looking for a next step. Following you on social media is a great next step. It’s like saying, “Hey, thanks for contacting us! Check us out on Facebook!” Chances are good they’re going to Facebook anyway.
So for any type of confirmation page – email newsletter, contact, etc. – add those follow buttons.
The same goes if you have an ecommerce website. On the confirmation page for orders, add follow and/or share buttons. Let the person share what they just purchased on social media. Or ask them to follow you on social media.
And then if you send an email asking for a review, ask them to shoot you a message on social media. Say something like, “Hey, thanks for purchasing from us! We want to hear your feedback. You can leave us a message on Facebook if you like.”
You might get some bad ones, but if it’s a crazy person your followers will recognize it. And if there really is an issue you can fix it. Or it could be just a gushing review, which is great!
Blog Posts
I think social media share buttons work great at the end of blog posts. You could put them at the beginning too. People expect to see them both at the top and at the bottom of the post. This way if they really like the post they can share it on social media.
It’s also pretty common to include social media follow buttons in the sidebar of your blog. People expect to find them there so it’s good to include them. You don’t want them to jump off the page. That distracts from the post. But you want people to find them if they’re looking.
And one final note, I think your email newsletter is more important than social media when it comes to promoting them on your website. So make your newsletter signup stand out more than your social follow buttons.
Conclusion
I hope this article helps you with the social media information on your website. I would say the biggest thing to take away from this is that you don’t want to do too many social networks at once. Start with one and give yourself a chance to get some momentum with it. If you spread yourself too thin you won’t succeed with any of the networks. Focus on the one with the most potential. Build a following. Then if you have time move on to the next one!
Image: Jason Howie
