Seven secrets for getting attention online
Got a travel problem?
Just tweet about your troubles, and the airline, car rental company or hotel will fix it. At least that’s the conventional wisdom. And while it’s true that travel companies are spending a lot of time online listening to their customers, they’re not necessarily paying attention to all of us.
“Travel companies pick and choose who to respond to in social media,” says social media expert Ryan Goff of the advertising firm MGH Inc. “You better believe that a Web celebrity with 100,000 Twitter followers is going to catch a company’s attention over the casual tweeter with only 10 friends.”
Even online, some travelers are more equal than others. Question is, how to become a somebody?
You should care, because even today, as social networking applications like Twitter and Facebook have come of age, being online can be the most effective shortcut to getting great customer service.
I see it every day on Twitter, as customers with questions are sent to the front of the line (sometimes literally) because they had a respectable social-media profile. Online travel agencies such as Orbitz have an entire team of employees dedicated to monitoring online chatter and helping customers.
I asked several social media experts about how to boost your online profile. Here’s what they told me:
1. Be interesting. Boring people don’t get a lot of followers. “Be engaging,” says Lyn Mettler, the founder of Step Ahead Inc., which manages social media campaigns. “Don’t just talk, talk, talk about yourself all day long. Read what other people are posting and respond to them. Ask questions, answer questions. Truly interacting with people will help build your followers.”
2. Get a blog. Being an active participant in online forums can help too. “If you go the extra mile, posting photos, helping others understand the amenities of hotels, and providing insider information that a typical tourist would overlook, you will earn your reputation and be an influencer in the travel industry,” says Tim Massie, an adjunct professor of communication at Marist College.
3. Join the conversation. “Post and tweet frequently about your experiences,” says Rick Gardinier, the chief digital officer for the advertising agency Brunner. How often? I try to tweet and post a few times a day, but you should be able to keep a respectable profile by publishing something a few times a week.
4. Offer good information. Building trust — and followers — takes time and work. Chris Harrington, the technology director for the communications firm Luquire George Andrews, likes to follow users who have positive things to say. “Negative comments can hurt the traveler’s social capital as much or more than the company in question,” he says. That way, when you must go negative — when something happens that you need resolved — your followers will pay attention.
5. Check your motives. If people think you’re trying to sell something, they may be less likely to include you in the network. Being in it for all the right reasons is one way of building your online credibility.
6. Speak up. The best way to get noticed by any company is to openly discuss your experiences. Be sure to use proper shout-out etiquette by linking to the travel company’s blog (which is monitored by the company) or using their Twitter handle —@Jetblue or @Marriottintl — when you tweet about them.
7. Make a personal connection. Travelers tend to follow people they can relate to. Often, that’s as simple as posting a picture and a brief biography on your blog or Facebook profile.
Even if you only have a few followers, you can still make a difference. “The squeaky Twitterer still gets the grease,” says Dallas Lawrence, chair of the digital and social media practice group at Levick Strategic Communications.
These strategies really can work for you. I’ve used them myself. (You can follow me on Twitter at elliottdotorg, on Facebook, on Google Buzz or on my blog, elliott.org).
Along the way, I’ve made some terrific friends — people I’ve never actually met, but that’s beside the point — and had lots of interesting conversations.
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