The travel and tourism industry wasn’t traditionally considered an innovative industry when it came to social media marketing, but Tourism Australia has changed all of that. Despite launching in the midst of economically uncertain times, Australia.com was able to reach out to millions of people through a carefully constructed social media strategy.
Australia.com is now one of the world’s most popular destination pages on Facebook, with more than six million followers. They have adopted a number of interesting techniques that have boosted their appeal and drawn in millions of followers from across the globe.
Listed below are 3 of the social media techniques they adopted to get there:
1. Hire a stellar social media marketing team
The core Australia.com social media team is made up of just three individuals, but these individuals are knowledgeable, proficient, passionate and creative when it comes to reaching out to their followers. They know what words and images are most likely to strike a chord with followers and trigger a strong emotional response. This skill and in-depth audience knowledge has enabled the company to massively expand its following and gain immense international appeal.
If you want a stellar social media marketing strategy, you need to have the right team of individuals on board who know what they are doing and are truly passionate about doing it. This passion will shine through in everything that they do, thus automatically and naturally boosting your brand's image and attracting a larger audience over the course of time.
2. Rely on your followers for content
Another strategy adopted by Australia.com is to publish photos sent in by Australians who currently live there and tourists who have visited Australia. Followers are encouraged to send in their photos, and every Friday those photos are added to the company’s Facebook page. Then, the best images are republished and submitted to the company’s Instagram page.
By interacting with your audience, you automatically encourage them to become heavily engaged with your brand, which contributes positively to brand loyalty. Though you don’t necessarily have to get them to send in photos, you could simply respond to every comment, question or query in a useful and interesting tone. Studies have found that when you interact with your followers on a deep level, they come to know and love your brand to the point that they are happy to speak positively about it and become ambassadors of it.
3. Understand that every platform is different
After the success of the Australia.com Facebook page, the company decided to use the same approach on Google+, but it didn’t work. Instead, they realised that posting interesting facts on the Google+ page boosted engagement levels. This gave them insight into just how different each social media platform is.
Treating all platforms the same is the perfect way to disconnect your brand from your followers. Instead, understand that each platform has its own unique intricacies, and users engage differently with each platform. National Geographic is another example of a brand using each platform in a different way.
In summary, Tourism Australia is the perfect example of a brand that has tested different approaches to see what works best. It’s essential to experiment with different approaches to see what works best for your brand and what generates the greatest levels of engagement. Over time, you will realise what your audience loves and what they are less interested in; this will enable you to tweak what didn’t work and repeat what did.
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