Sometimes we can do a bunch of things right and miss our sales targets.  With the economy in the tank and tourism sales in our region on the decline, sometimes a small pull back (amidst wider business atrophy) is a good performance.

Social Media Measures and CRM

At times like these I find it helpful to focus on smaller targets and measurable outcomes of our marketing and customer relationship management (CRM) activities as part of our Social Media Strategy.  These things can have a positive impact on the bottom line down the road.   Thinking about the sales ladder I focus on the areas that are not on the sales step, but the step below and above.  Because if social media relations are good there, the sales will come.

While sales are focused on the Guest stage of the CRM ladder, paying attention to developing relationships with Prospects and Fans can help grow the Guests step on the ladder.  Prospects are one step from being a customer, Fans have been guests before and if engaged, will come again.  The enthusiasm of you fans will encourage your prospects to take the next step and become your guest.

Social Media efforts pay off by growing your Prospect base and ensuring FAN loyalty

Here are a few social media measures to move beyond disappointment to possibility.

Prospects:

• number of email newsletter sign ups
• number of check availability forms filled out
• number of facebook fans and twitter followers (primarly Facebook fans)

If these are growing, I know business will follow, because these folks are interested in what we offer.

FANS:

• engagement on Facebook – how many comments are we getting on our posts?
• Flickr comments on event photos, Youtube video comments
• new reviews on TripAdvisor and business review sites

The content Fans share becomes important elements that encourage Prospects to take the next step and become guests.

Remember, if you measure  Social Media / CRM results, you will improve these numbers, which down the road will lead to more guests and therefore more sales.

What aspects of your Social Media / CRM process do you measure?  Do they help the bottom line?

Leaders in the Tourism Industry are gaining control of their online communications by establishing a solid CRM plan.

I had a brief chat this week with Gary at the Algonquin Inn, who was asking a question about their tourism Web presence. Refreshingly, he fully understands that what he needs is a communication plan!

Indeed, the Internet is a collection of tools for communication. What every tourism business needs to do is understand what their ideal guests’ preferred methods of communication are, and develop a plan for Web communications.

Gary has done the work identifying who his ideal guest is, now he just needs a plan for communicating with them on a regular basis.

CRM – Customer Relationship Management is the traditional way this acronym is explained. I’m suggesting we change our description of this acronym to Communications & Relationship Management. What is needed is a CRM plan that focuses on using Web 2.0 tools for effective communications with our ideal guests.

Swim in the Stream, not the Lake: Don’t think about content, think about being creative – as often as you can.

Another important consideration is that communication is a two way street. Not only do tourism regions and businesses need to put together a plan for outgoing communications, they also have to develop a strategy for keeping tuned to incoming communications from prospective travelers, guests and fans. More than just reputation management, tuning to the conversations that are already happening across a variety of platforms can give your region or business a leg up on the competition, by providing an opportunity to engage with folks in an online dialogue.

I use http://www.google.com/alerts to keep track of Web discussions that matter. I also monitor keywords in Twitter with Tweetscan and get incoming email from each of these whenever our organization or brand-related news hits the Web. Backtype has a great search tool for tracking Blog comments for people or keywords.

You’ll never run out of creative communications ideas if you think about the opportunities:

• Real Time, Scheduled, Posted ideas on your blog and in the comments on the blogs of others
• Both Private & Public messaging
• MultiMedia – video, audio, photos, text
• A combination of Personal vs. Corporate (informal / formal) information exchange
• Follow vs Lead – Do a bit of both, on your own blog posts & the comments sections of others’ blogs.
• Scheduled Communication: Commenting on videos, blog posts, photos, podcasts is a great way to get exposure for your tourism business.
• Instant Communication: tools like Skype , Google Video Chat, Seesmic and others enable your clients to exchange ideas by live video. Got a video cam on your computer, add your comment on my video above?
• Communication can also occur in real time or near real time using print and video (as we saw in Davos, Switzerland this week).

What are your thoughts on CRM? Do you have the time to develop a plan, or are you doing something more important with your time?

Getting your Guests to the top of the Customer Relationship Management Ladder is easier if you know that you get them there one step at a time.

Podcast Links:

• Understanding Keywords Lesson at Tourism Keys
  
• SEO Lesson
• How (as a fan) I raved about my Halifax Java