4 Strategies To Uncover Where Your Clients Are On Social Media
Trying to be everywhere with your social media plan will result in not being anywhere with substance. We must narrow our focus if we want to see greater results.
In order to do that effectively, it makes sense to first understand where our audience is online. We want to be where they are. If you already have a good idea of who your ideal client is, but aren't sure where they are online, take a look at these four strategies and start working on ways to be certain you are showing up in the right space.
1. Go old school and just ask
This might seem entirely obvious, to the point you might not even bother to do it. But asking is the easiest way to get real information straight from the horses mouth.
If you are a travel professional with clients who have used your services, why not ask them what platforms they spend their time on? If you utilize an email list, this is a simple question you can tack on at the end as a way to get information, and also a way for your list to engage with you. That’s a win/win. Consider even making it a quick 3 question survey that’s embedded right into the email.
Another thing I like to do is ask where to find them on social media before they travel and after they’ve booked with me. This allows me to engage with them (heavily while they are traveling), and also will let me know where they spend their time on social media and a ton of additional insight as well.
2. Use the Search Function on the platforms themselves
If you aren’t into asking, you can also utilize the search function. This is easier on some platforms than others, but can definitely be a useful tool. On Facebook, I will often search by email to make sure I’m locating the right John Smith without clicking on 38972 profiles.
This is a great strategy if you already utilizing a platform and want to know if your clients are hanging out there too.
3. Look at the Demographics
When you know general demographic information about your clients, or your ideal clients, it’s not too hard to match that with the right platform. This is an easy way to get started if you are unsure of where to begin.
The Pew Research Center website will give you the breakdown of all the top social media sites to get an understanding of the usage and demographics on each social media platform.
4. Use Google Alerts to do Market Research
This could be a simple way to monitor what’s going on in your industry and find where your customers are online.
Think of a specific phrase or topic that is relevant to your specific travel niche. For example, if I was a Romance Travel Specialist I might set up a google alert for “Best Honeymoon Destinations”. Once I set up a google alert, I will be notified on all relevant results for that topic, and can then see what platforms it pops up on frequently. If my results continue to show a high amount of Pinterest Boards that seem to be relevant to my business niche, then I might have learned something valuable, and Pinterest may be where I want to focus my time.
How to set up your Google Alerts:
•Go to Google Alerts.
•Enter the phrase you want to monitor in the search field
•Choose the results you want to get (start with “everything”)
•Choose how often you want to receive the results and an email to receive them.
It’s not necessary to utilize all of these, but commit to starting with one and see what you uncover! I hope you learned something new today, and you begin to see how social media can help your travel business grow!