Tourism SEO.com

 The future of Tourism is here! 2012 and Beyond!

Gone are the days of past where families pack up the car and just drive down the highway to places unknown, collecting brochures along the way, stopping randomly at scenic sights, and sleeping at whatever convenient room they could find. These days tourists have become discerning and they expect tremendous value for their hard earned dollars with higher expectations then ever before.

How do I know this?

Well...

Tourists are the most vocal online users that I have been following along in social media. These people Tweet, Facebook share, Google and Tripadvisor review, photo and video capture everything along their path as they tour through the region. When it comes to traditional “word of mouth marketing,” it is alive and well on these primary, and many other online social channels. Regardless of all of our marketing methods through classic media, it is the tourists themselves that have the power to make or break a business these days. Their reviews are as diverse as each writer's own individuality with some rating fairly, and others rating businesses rather harshly. Fundamentally there have been trends that have been emerging through all of their online chatter and from theirclick patterns online. A great example of this can be seen with the Wiarton Willie Festival and how hundreds of smartphones captured and instantly shared the festival highlights across all of cyberspace,faster then regular media. We knew when, where, how, who, instantaneously.

So what does this mean to local businesses? It means that we should getting ready for this trend and we should be looking at using our online resources as a means of communicating back to the tourists that are posting, reviewing, and giving opinions. There is a conversation going on about us, but we have yet to respond. Remember, social media can fail if the conversation is one sided. It it time to immerse ourselves in the current technology of the times and to “act,” as opposed to“react,” to where this new media is taking us. The questions youshould be asking are “what is my businesses visibility online? How are people responding to it? Are my social media accounts bringing inmore sales? Have I responded to reviews? Is there other social medianetworks that I should be using? Where is web advertising going? Howcan I get there before the rules change again?

Give them great service, a fair price,and make turn that social media engagement into a relationship!

The personal approach of selling is here to stay, but you must keep that approach live and well in your online advertising. These customers expect to find your information quickly in internet searches and they respond better when it is eye catching, simple, and informative. This may require a skilled website builder, a social media enthusiast, and an SEO person(search engine optimizer) They want to have a quick response to their call or email, and for you to send them information quickly. This means that you should have photos, videos, descriptions of your services, and perhaps and offer, ready in an email form so that you can send them all what they need to choose your services over that of your competitors. They expect you to answer their review on Google, and for you to chat with them on Facebook. This is important, so I will say it once, “do not lurk and not engage those that “Liked” you, because they are potential clients so you should treat them as such.”

They expect wonderful service and a great cost when dealing with your business,and hey who wouldn't? Lastly, they want you to thank them online,and for you to show an interest in them as well. This can be done in email form, Facebook message or in an online forum. There are 2 key factors in all of this. One is content, in the form of professional copywriting, photography, and video and the use of this across all of your social channels so that you can brand your business the rightway, and the other is just great customer service.

Justin Skultety- Tourism SEO