If you don’t know what social media is by now, you’re sorely missing out! It’s essential for every type of business, but especially attractions. It’s a saturated digital space, yes, and with so many options it can be hard to know which channels will suit you best. But, today we’ll explore the importance of organic social media and help you maximise its potential.
Why Social Media?
Social platforms are a great way to remind and get your existing audiences excited about you, whilst reaching and inspiring new ones. According to a survey of 25 top UK visitor attractions, Facebook drives an average of 46% of the traffic from social media sources to attraction websites. So, while the number of social media channels is continually evolving, Facebook should still be a critical part of your plans (despite what many of the younger generations might say).
How Can You Optimise Your Social Media?
The whole point is to reach the right people. So identifying which audience that is and where they are in the digital space is the really crucial part in deciding which channel you should use. For example, Facebook and Instagram are highly recommended as a standard for all visitor attractions, while TikTok is ideal for targeting younger audiences (this is not an excuse to try out the latest funky dance routine...).
Timing, sizing, cutting and pasting, and using relevant terms like hashtags are also essential factors in your social media success. And by that we mean: do not cut and paste the same content across different channels. Optimise each piece of content for each channel. That includes (but is certainly not limited to), the dimensions of your images, the hashtags that are trending on that channel at the point of upload and upload times where your channel is most engaged and online. These will all be different on each channel and it’s better you get one or two channels spot-on rather than spread yourself thin. If you have a social channel that is not active, it can do more harm than good.
Assuming you are set up with the right channels for reaching and engaging your audience, ask yourself: do you boost any posts or just rely on organic exposure for your content? Do you think about who the content is meant for when you create it? These things can make a big difference, because even if your content is viewed, it doesn't mean it has been truly seen.
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Why Can't You Just Upload?
Creating a content plan is essential. If you haven’t got one take a look at these steps you should be doing beforehand. Identify the unique selling points of your attraction, and define creative content themes around these for the quarter at least. It's important to have consistent themes and ideas to build up a picture of what you offer in the visitor's mind.
With the right approach to planning, your content plan will be your attraction's primary and most compelling reasons to visit, maximising the chances that your target audience will understand what you offer and why it's great for them. The additional benefit of your content plan is that this can feed your schedule for your long-form content. It can help identify themes for website articles, email content, and wider blog content.
Conclusion
In conclusion, organic social media is a critical part of any attraction's marketing strategy. With the right approach, you can reach and inspire new, relevant audiences while reminding and exciting your existing ones. By creating a content plan and optimising your social media activity, you can maximise your social media potential and drive traffic to your attraction website.
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