Mind the social gap
Almost every session at the TIA Marketing Outlook Forum in Portland talked about social media. Luxury, millennial travelers, hotels, attractions, DMOs – it was mentioned in almost all presentations or panel discussions (and there were close to 30). This was not surprising given the fact that the conference deals with marketing trends and few would argue that social media is THE thing happening at the moment.
But another thing was very surprising: there seems to be a quickly widening gap between those that are involved in social media and those who are now trying to get on the train before it pulls out of the station.
When asked what they had the biggest success with in the last 12 months and what they would focus more on in the next 12 months those being already involved in social media said they would do even more. Those who are just getting started or have not even started to dabble in this space said they would focus on various other things.
The session about online marketing / social media for attractions was very interesting in that regard as well. While the presenters showed great examples for pretty sophisticated social media campaigns, the Q&A session revealed that many in the audience where feeling overwhelmed and close to panic. And who would not feel for them?
Imagine being a destination, attraction, hotel or organization that has no experience whatsoever in social media. No Facebook account, no photos on Flickr, no blog, no Twitter account. And at the same time you competitors have already thousands of followers, fans or subscribers. But even worse: they have already made their mistakes and (hopefully) learned from them. You still have this ahead of you while your “social” competitors are setting new benchmarks.
At Marketing Outlook Forum I saw a “social gap”. On the one side those who are already using social media to their advantage, on the other side those who look in awe and try to figure out a way into the game. The problem is that in social media there are no shortcuts. It takes time to build meaningful engagement. The longer you wait, the bigger this social gap will get.
Are you seeing this social gap too? Are there any good examples of organizations that started late and yet were quickly very successful? What should those do that are just getting started?
(Thanks to mwichary for the photo).
November 10th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
EXCELLENT POST AND INSIGHTS. Thanks Martin for sharing them.
Best,
Shelli
November 10th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Great post. I agree most that with social media it takes a dedicated effort to build engagement. Quantity will eventually get there (hopefully), but it’s quality of contacts, followers, etc. etc. that’s the key. Most DMOs and CVBs are still working in the traditional marketing mindset with social media as an after thought or an add-on.
I think those who aren’t on top of social media probably weren’t on top of Web 2.0 to begin with…not necessarily a bad thing since they do have the opportunity to completely revamp. I think we’ll see more companies out there offering 3rd party social media services so DMOs and CVBs don’t have to take the long road and learn from their mistakes.
But currently, I think there’s still time. I see a handful of DMOs and CVBs that have “mastered” social media — and there’s still time to jump into the social media sphere without getting left behind.
November 12th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Keith,
You mentioned that you have “seen a handful of DMO’s and CVB’s that have mastered social media”. Would you be willing to share who you think these are so others reviewing this post could learn from them?