Welcome to the
ITB Academy Webinar “Engaging Content,
Engaging Customers
- Storytelling, Social
Media and Blogger
Cooperation”
Daniel Noll & Audrey Scott, Uncornered Market
UncorneredMarket.com
facebook.com/UncorneredMarket
@umarket
Roadmap
Storytelling: philosophy and
approach
Social Media storytelling
techniques and tools
Bloggers as storytelling agents
Finding the right blogger
Effective blogger cooperation
Tweetable? @uMarket #ITBBerlin
What Business Are We In?
Travel business?
Experience business?
Inspiration business?
Differentiation business?
Backdrop: Too many messages
Prospect, 6000 messages. Japan photo Too many messages…! Your average prospective customer is enduring more than 6000 advertising messages every day
Storytelling: Why?
Cuts through noise helps customers retain message
Impressions Depth of impression
Commodity Differentiator
Goals:
Plant the seed
Change minds/Shift perception
Story Trust Take action
Storytelling: What it is NOT
A bullet list of sites, activites,
amenities, statistics
A mass distribution press
release
Fiction, making things up
What is Story?
Story:
An account, a telling of an
experience
Does not need to be long form
If experience is the new currency in
travel….
then storytelling is your bank
Storytelling Components &
Techniques Show, don’t tell
Involve characters
Crux and conflict
Emotional connection
Back story
Multi-dimensional, taps multiple senses
Communicates: what, but how and why
Why use social media?
Social Media:
Changing Minds
Social Media Toolbox
Do not link your Twitter & Facebook feeds!!
Managing Twitter feeds: Tweetdeck / Hootsuite
Following keywords/hashtags: Hashtracking.com or
Tweetreach.com
Set up Twitter searches for your company & website
Leveraging Social Media Content
Storytelling Agents
You can tell your own story…
Or, you can enlist the help of agents
Customers
Traditional print
Travel bloggers
Ask Customers to Tell Your Story
Why: People trust people
Make it easy.
Make it fun.
Make it interactive.
Make customers part of
your story.
Bloggers: Who, What, Why
Storytellers
Content creators
Social media mavens
Marketers
Advocates
Business people
Travel Lifecycle
Where do bloggers fit?
Why Are Bloggers Effective?
Personal voice and tone
Real experiences
Independent
High trust
Exposure: Immediate & Long Term
Multi-platform, versatile
Authority
“People don’t trust entities.
People trust people.”
- Tim Ferriss, author of
The 4-Hour Workweek
Your Goals, Finding the Right Blogger
What are you are looking for to promote
your brand/product/service?
Target audience/demographics
Travel style
Content style and tone
Niche
Qualitative Factors
Quality of content
Engagement quality
Trust of audience
Other media outlets
Professional footprint
A Look at Numbers:
Where to Find Them
Unique Visitors
Pageviews & time on page
Demographics (country, gender,
age)
RSS/newsletter
Twitter/Facebook community
“Not everything that can be
counted counts, and not
everything that counts can be
counted.” - Albert Einstein
A Dose of Skepticism
A pageview does not necessarily
equal an impression. Take a look at
amount of time spent on site.
Beware of echo chambers. Are you
really reaching your target
audience?
Professional Travel Bloggers
Association
http://travelbloggersassociation.com
Face to Face
Working with Bloggers: Pre-Trip
Itinerary and input
Dimensions and experiences
Plan early: excitement & audience involvement
Set expectations of both parties
Working with Bloggers: During
Tools: Internet, mobile data plan
Give time/flexibility
Two-way feedback/communication
Co-promotion
Have fun!
Co-Promotion of Content: Best
Practices
Short-term / Immediate Benefits
Digital storytelling
Immediate exposure via social media
Real-time interaction
Continue communications, develop relationship
Offer information or help, if needed for stories
Ask for report of activities and metrics
Invite blogger to events – real and virtual
Let blogger know of new campaigns that blogger can
participate in (e.g., photo competition, giveaways)
Working with Bloggers: After
Long Term Benefits of Working with
Travel Bloggers
Content: long life, SEO
Varied: photo essays, videos, panoramas
Other outlet coverage (articles, interviews)
Destination ambassadors, evangelists
Relationship!
Case Study: Additional
Exposure
Measuring Results: Metrics
Blog analytics
Engagement
Reach of Tweets
Promo codes
Click-throughs
NO BLUEPRINT FOR
BLOGGER
COOPERATION
EXPERIMENT!
Upshot & Take-aways Story is a differentiator, go beyond the lists
Build depth of impression
Use social media as a storytelling platform
Partner with bloggers as storytelling agents
Select bloggers based on qualitative, not just quantitative data
Build content with multiple lives
This is a human exercise
Have fun!
Thank You!
Let’s continue the conversation. Connect with us on:
UncorneredMarket.com
Twitter: @UMarket
Facebook: /UncorneredMarket
Instagram: Instagram.com/uncornered_market
Google + Uncornered Market
Uncornered Market on Pinterest
ITB Academy:
Jessica Varga
Product Manager
Tel.: +49 30 – 30 38 25 28
Email: varga@messe-
berlin.de