Carnival Cruise Line Introduces New Funderstruck Marketing Campaign

Carnival Cruise Line will launch a new marketing campaign, “Funderstruck,” that invites people to choose fun again by booking and taking a vacation, according to a press statement. 

Built upon Carnival’s brand platform Choose Fun, the company introduces an entirely new word – Funderstruck – to "describe the unmistakable feeling uniquely experienced when choosing fun on Carnival."

Funderstruck will celebrate what travellers want right now and something that Carnival is precision-engineered to deliver – unapologetic fun together with those you enjoy spending time with the most, the company said. 

Carnival will introduce Funderstruck first through CRM and owned social followed by a series of back-to-back campaign activations during two pivotal Holiday cultural moments.

The first Funderstruck spots will air on ESPN and ABC during the NBA on Christmas Day games, in addition to the game and pre-game sponsorships.

Funderstruck will then be featured with Carnival sponsoring the iconic Times Square New Year’s Eve Celebration, through a collaboration with ABC and the New York Times Square Alliance.

In addition to the Christmas and NYE integrations, the Funderstruck message will be used across all Carnival owned channels, OOH placements in key port and feeder markets, :15 and :30 National TV commercials, and digitally led efforts highlighted by streaming video, streaming audio, podcasts, unique high impact display and video efforts, and social presence across TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook.

In several spots, guests enjoy the many Funderstruck experiences that Carnival has to offer, from riding BOLT, the first roller coaster at sea, to simply enjoying a delicious chocolate ice cream, most notably with other passengers who share an unabashed sense of euphoria and delight in being together again.

Click the image above to view Carnivals Funderstruck

“Funderstruck is the unmistakable feeling when you choose fun on Carnival, and the kind of joyful experience essential to people’s health and happiness,” said Pete Callaro, senior vice president of brand and product marketing for Carnival Cruise Line. “Carnival cruises are the perfect vacation to enjoy with those you’ve missed having fun with over the past year.”

The campaign, created by Anomaly, is an extension of the brand’s Choose Fun campaign that launched in 2018. All paid media and integration elements were created by the Initiative and supported by the public relations consultancy LDWW.

For additional information on Carnival Cruise Line and to book a cruise vacation, call 1-800-CARNIVAL, visit www.carnival.com, or contact your favourite travel advisor or online travel site.

How to Create an Off-The-Beaten-Path Experience on a Cruise

PHOTO: A classic car drives past the Norwegian Sky in Havana, Cuba (photo by Lauren Bowman)

If it’s not on Instagram, did your vacation actually happen?

The authentic, off-the-beaten-path, Instagrammable vacation is what vacationers want today, according to recent studies.

In cruising terms, this translates to small ports, far-flung locals and activities they won’t find on every single mega-ship.

Cruises are obliging.

They’re taking travellers to destinations that include the Galapagos Islands, French Polynesia, Cuba and even Antarctica.

“There is a special allure for Americans due to Cuba being a forbidden travel destination for so many decades,” says Laura Carlson, principal travel advisor in Houston. “The Galapagos Islands are amazing because the animals have no fear of humans, so you are standing about 5 feet away from them while they pose for your photos. Additionally, Antarctica is a popular destination and books up fast.”

Formerly, a Caribbean cruise—which is an easy, accessible vacation for anyone and everyone —was the go-to for cruisers. But today, new and seasoned cruisers are taking on the complicated spots, craving the previously inaccessible locations.

According to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, visitor numbers making shore landings in Antarctica reached close to 52,000 during the 2017/2018 season, an increase of 17 per cent from the previous year.

This is despite of—or because of—the fact that the ships may only carry a maximum of 500 visitors at a time, and only one ship can visit each site. There is a maximum number of ship visits daily, with no more than 100 passengers onshore at a time.

And then there’s the journey itself.

“Accessing the Antarctic Peninsula involves two days at sea crossing the infamous Drake Passage—this is a notoriously unpredictable stretch of ocean,” says Frances Armitage, senior PR executive at Chimu Adventures in Sydney. “We are living in an increasingly experiential society, and Antarctica has ultimate bragging rights, yet is still a safe and accessible thing to do if you have the money and time.”

Even the ships travelling to more popular destinations like Mexico or the Caribbean are working hard to create the off-the-beaten-path experiences on and off the water to attract vacationers.

Dominica is famous for its waterfalls and natural beauty.

For example, Seabourn and Holland America are some of the ships that stop at Dominica, where visitors can tour the volcanic mountains, rainforests and geothermal springs. Princess cruises stop at Bequia, which is a 7-mile island where you can visit the open-air food market to try the local cuisine or check out the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary.

Many people are opting to extend their trip with a land-based tour for a few days either before or after the trip, says Jenni Fielding, marketing manager at Cruise 118 in the UK. More than half—or 57 per cent—of cruisers extend their vacations in the port cities, and 68 per cent of millennials do this, according to the Cruise Lines International Association study.

“Seasoned cruisers are looking for something new. Not just new port of call, but also new land-based experiences when they get there,” Fielding says.

They’re also choosing ships that offer onboard experiences that can’t be found elsewhere.

Carnival Vista (© Carnival)

Carnival Vista just added the RedFrog Pub and Brewery, which creates beer out of desalinated seawater. And on Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas, former Olympians perform in its water acrobat show.

Now that is something you can brag about on Instagram.

Royal Caribbean begins search for first 'Instagram intern'

Royal Caribbean begins search for first 'Instagram intern'

The search for an explorer to fulfill Royal Caribbean International’s first Instagram ‘Intern-ship of the Seas’ is launched today.

This comes as new research by the line confirms that social media is a key source of inspiration in consumer holiday booking habits.

The study of 2,000 UK and Ireland consumers was commissioned to determine the role that social media plays in inspiring holidaymakers.

The results show nearly half (48%) of holidaymakers rely on platforms like Instagram for inspiration. More than a third (34%) claim they would not consider visiting a destination without first consulting social media.

A third (37%) say that seeing their friends’ bragging posts from abroad has encouraged them to plan their own holiday.

‘Fear of missing out’ after seeing holiday images has triggered a fifth of travellers to go as far as to book the same holiday as friends.

As a result, the line is seeking applications via Instagram to find an ‘extraordinary explorer’ who will sail the seas and capture the unique stories, destinations and experiences of a cruise holiday.

As part of the role, the candidate will travel three oceans, on three ships, for three weeks, this summer with food, drink, accommodation, flights and expenses covered by Royal Caribbean and will also be rewarded with £3,000.

Applicants who think they have what it takes to capture pictures that stand out and inspire holidaymakers can apply for the role by sharing their most extraordinary travel photo on Instagram, tagging @RoyalCaribbeanUK and #ExtraordinaryExplorer. Agents can apply too.

Travel blogger Johnny Ward, who next month is set to become the youngest person to visit every country in the world, will select the winning candidate alongside a panel of judges including Travel Weekly editor-in-chief Lucy Huxley and Royal Caribbean UK and Ireland managing director Ben Bouldin.

The judges will mark applications against strict criteria to select the successful candidate. Submissions will be judged on a number of elements including visual appeal, storytelling ability, originality and inspirational qualities.

Bouldin said: “Royal Caribbean has a fleet of 25 ships visiting over 250 destinations around the world, meaning our holidays are positively teeming with extraordinary moments. In a first for the cruise industry, we’re looking for a talented storyteller to capture those moments and bring them to the world via Instagram.

“When it comes to choosing a holiday, we know social media plays a crucial role in the decision making process for consumers. Knowledge and personalisation are then key to convert that idea into an actual cruise holiday, which is the crucial role our agents play. ”

Ward added: “This research proves that social media is integral to how we live our lives and book our holidays.

“Royal Caribbean has cleverly used this insight in their new Intern-Ship role and is hunting for a storyteller extraordinaire that can use Instagram to inspire others to explore the world.

“I have created a living out of my travel stories but social media is positively teeming with budding storytellers out there looking for a big break.”

Put a clear data plan in place

By Carrie Finley-Bajak

As the American author, salesperson and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar said, "Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have 24-hour days." 

I talk with a lot of business professionals who tell me they want to devote more time to social media marketing tasks to improve their brand presence, attract new customers or engage with clients. Many social media managers feel that social media moves at a fast pace, which makes it hard to keep up. 

Also, if a business does not have a clear plan in place, then competing priorities will most likely bump social media marketing tasks off the to-do list. If this sounds familiar, keep reading to discover five action items to keep social media marketing tasks on track. 

Action item No. 1: Use data to set goals and establish priorities.

At the cornerstone of any social-media marketing strategy is data. Analyzing data can provide valuable insights to help guide decisions. Every three months, travel agents should be taking a deep dive into social media metrics to make decisions about where to spend time and money on this form of marketing. 

There are many ways to analyze data. For example, does video, text or imagery generate comments, shares and likes? How about other engagement performance statistics that track reach or interactions by social channel? And don't forget about website traffic reports that reveal acquisition and conversion stats. Travel professionals need to know how visitors are coming to a website and also how many of those visitors are responding to calls to action on specific landing pages. 

There are free metric reports available on each social media channel for business owners. You can combine those reports with website data details via Google Analytics for a complete picture. 

To learn more about metrics and how to create a social media marketing plan you should read:

• "61 Key Social Media Metrics, Defined" 
• "How to Create a Social Media Marketing Plan in 6 Steps"

Action item No. 2: Tidy up social media profiles.

Making sure that consistent branding meets your online audience is necessary for public relations and for presenting a professional image online. 

If you don't have time to devote to posting regularly on social media, at least the online audience can find out more about your company.

Some people set up social media accounts and forget to check back with the descriptions to make sure the information is accurate and full of keywords. Make sure there is an address and that details about your travel niche and images are consistent and up to date. 

Consider making a spreadsheet that lists all your company's social media handles and stats. Not only will a spreadsheet of all the social media channels with links to the websites be a time-saver; it can also serve as a file to keep track of growth numbers for setting goals.  

Do a search for your business name on all social media channels to see if there are orphan accounts, which someone at your company or you set up and then forgot to use (this does happen). 

In fact, a Facebook search on your business name might show results for competitors or spammers who are using the name of your business. 

Facebook Search is also helpful to glean information about suppliers. Pay attention to other travel agents who are ranked on Facebook search along with your suppliers because of keywords in their business descriptions.

Action item No. 3: Use social media tools for better time management.

To combat the frustration caused by not knowing what to post or not having enough time to post on numerous social media channels, consider using tools to help curate content and to post messages on multiple accounts at the same time. Here are some tools to help accomplish more with less time.

• Find content to share with online audiences with tools such as Google Alerts,Feedly, Scoop.it or Storify.
• Use a tool such as Hootsuite to manage multiple social media accounts in one location.

Action item No. 4: Develop an asset library of sharable content.

Can you relate? It is Wave season, and your competitor seems to have sponsored ads all over Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You have a budget set aside for social media advertising (in fact, your preferred suppliers are even willing to co-op some of the expense), but you don't have the time it takes to edit photos and to create compelling paid-ad campaigns.

Why not create a content action plan to anticipate the needs of consumers looking for travel products?

The following are suggestions for planning ad campaigns that increase brand awareness and engagement (remember engagement means access to more people who will become familiar with your brand; social selling is all about relationships).

• Collect and save photos from suppliers or recent site visits to use for ad campaigns. Use a photo-editing app on your smartphone or a program such as Canva.com or PicMonkey.com to compare two vacation destinations side by side and ask the audience to pick their favorite. The image can be used on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter with a call to action asking the audience to pick the best one. 
  
• Generate small videos to share online. Next time you are on vacation or on a fam trip, start recording video. These can be edited quickly with Google Photos or with iMovie on an iPhone. Add music and narration later.
  
• Have a list of popular hashtags at the ready. Hashtags are very versatile and can be used for building one's audience, promote an event or develop a sweepstakes campaign.

Action item No. 5.: Research the competition and use your suppliers to help with social media tasks.

Travel agents are competing for screen time for consumers who are on information overload. 

Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to finding generic content to share with the online audience, it makes more sense to get inspiration from your competition and suppliers.

Because social media is a public forum, there is no harm in exploring how the competition is using it. Perhaps there was a new product launch that you forgot to mention online; maybe there was a press release about a new cruise line, hotel or promotion that you did not read. 

All these scenarios are realistic ways that travel agents can miss the boat when it comes to opportunities to share usable information with a target audience.

Instead of trying to develop original ideas, get inspired by the competition and use your suppliers to help with social media marketing tasks.

The following tools help find useable content to repurpose and keep an eye on the competition:

• Research with Tagboard. Use hashtags to search for and collect public social media within seconds to streamline work flows.
• Use DrumUp to explore keyword searches and curate trending content.
• Discover hot topics with Google Trends.  

Let me know how your quest for the information presented will inspire travel professionals to re-evaluate their approach to social media marketing tasks to save time and generate maximum results.

Focus on Social Media:

Focus on Social Media:Missing the big picture

By Jamie Biesiada

Although travel is among the most visual of products, a surprisingly small number of agents are engaging with social media platforms built for photos and videos.

Facebook has become a place where many travel agents have successfully built a personal brand through posting photos of their travels and in many cases themselves. It has turned into a lead generator, often creating business or sparking a desire to travel in a past client, thanks to a well-placed destination photo or video.

But while their Facebook presence has grown, agents have largely been underutilizing other social media platforms, such as Instagram and YouTube, which because of their inherently visual nature lend themselves to travel products and could be powerful lead-generation tools.

Earlier this year, the travel search website Hipmunk released a study touching upon where millennials get their travel ideas. The data shows the potential of social media platforms other than Facebook: The study found that 44% of millennials get their travel inspiration from YouTube videos, 28% from Instagram.

"Overall, social media within the marketing media landscaping has officially arrived as a major opportunity for our industry for a few reasons," said Sam McCully, vice president of marketing at Avoya Travel.

Moreover, McCully said that potential opportunities are not limited to millennials, as more and more travelers in a wide range of ages are taking to social media throughout their entire vacation process, from the planning stage right through their return home.

"Is there an untapped opportunity?" McCully said. "I would say absolutely."

MSC rolls out new faster internet and social media packages

MSC Cruises has worked with business communications provider Marlink to develop new faster, more reliable and cost-effective internet and social media packages for guests.

Now live onboard MSC Preziosa and MSC Divina, the high bandwidth internet packages are available via the Marlink Sealink Cloud and will be rolled out across all 12 MSC ships over the coming months. The packages will also be available on the line’s next-generation ships that are currently under construction, including MSC Meraviglia and MSC Seaside.

“We are constantly seeking new ways to innovate and enhance the guest experience aboard what is already the most modern fleet at sea,” said Gianni Onorato, MSC’s CEO. “We know that staying connected while on holiday is increasingly more important to our guests hence we are rolling out state-of-the-art technology to allow them to stay connected whether they are looking to share experiences and memorable moments, stay in touch with friends and family, need to stay on top of work e-mails or simply catch up with daily news.”

Aimed at those who want to be connected 24/7 to social media, the Social Package allows guests to post pictures and chat with friends via popular social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Snapchat, WeChat and Pinterest. Prices start from €3.90 per day or €14.90 for a seven-day cruise.

The Surfer Package is designed for moderate internet users who want to read news, sports scores and catch up on e-mails. It also includes access to social media platforms as per the Social Package. Prices start from €9.90 per day or €29.90 for a seven-day itinerary.

Meanwhile, the Streamer Package has been created for heavy internet users who need access either for work or for personal use and enables full internet and social media access, including audio and video. Prices from €19.90 per day or €59.90 for a full seven-day voyage.

Guests will be able to select their package prior to embarkation and will be easy to upgrade or top up.

Smartphone the most essential travel item, survey finds

Worldwide, smartphones are travelers’ most indispensable items when they travel, even ahead of their toothbrush and driver’s license, according to the Expedia/Egencia Mobile Index.

The index, commissioned by Expedia.com and Egencia (Expedia’s business travel brand), was conducted by consulting firm It was based on input from 9,642 travelers from 19 countries.

Among U.S. respondents, one-fifth considered their smartphone to be their most essential travel item, on par with the number of respondents who said their driver’s license was the most important item to travel with. In the United States, those items tied for the most essential item for travelers.

Worldwide, 66% of respondents said smartphones are the most essential item, while 74% considered it an important travel item.

China, Taiwan and Thailand topped the charts on the countries where respondents placed the most priority on having smartphones while traveling; in China, 94% of respondents said they consider their mobile phone an important travel companion. Taiwan saw the same percentage, and in Thailand, it was 91%.

The study also found that worldwide, 84% of travelers said they want to access information from anywhere. Over half, 60%, said they do not “unplug” on leisure trips, and 35% said they use their smartphones more on vacation than at home.

Globally, 60% of travelers said they wouldn’t go on vacation without a mobile phone, and 63% sleep with their phone next to their bed on vacation.

“We have found that travelers are using mobile devices at every stage of the travel process, from researching and booking trips to capturing and sharing the travel experience,” said Aman Bhutani, president of Brand Expedia Group.

A guide to social media advertising

Social Media By Carrie Finley-Bajak

Finding leads online, either by ranking in organic search results or from social media interactions, can yield results. However, it is often necessary to supplement marketing efforts by deploying social media ad campaigns to remain competitive. 

The quest to stay relevant online takes effort. One way to keep a pulse on trends is to explore advertising options available on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn.

Getting started: plan, buy, optimize

Social media ad campaigns don't require long-term contracts, enabling travel professionals to stop ads at any time. Most channels will offer an option to pay for clicks or impressions. 

Prior to spending money on paid or targeted advertising campaigns, make sure to have a keyword strategy. In general, try to stick with a list of three to five keywords to remain consistent. Search on Google for "keyword generator" to get ideas. 

Buy targeted ads based on location, demographics and/or device type. 

Optimize and analyze ad campaigns on a regular basis. Make sure to stay agile, making adjustments as necessary. 

Social media ad channels

After a travel professional makes the decision to allocate time and resources to finding leads through paid advertisements, the next step is to figure out where to deploy ad campaigns.

• Facebook: According to Facebook, there are more than 1.4 billion people who use Facebook to connect with what matters to them, and more than 900 million visit every day. At the end of July, Facebook reported that ads brought in $3.8 billion in advertising revenue for the three-month reporting period that ended in July. As far as social networking sites go, Facebook is a great option for travel agents looking to get started with a social ad strategy. Ads can appear in news feed on a desktop, news feed on a mobile device and in the right column of Facebook on a desktop. 

Facebook does a great job collecting information about people. Take advantage of this data and target ads according to location and interests. 

With Facebook Ads, travel sellers can create targeted ads to reach different audiences while meeting business goals. Among the things you can do are: build ads that promote clicks to your website, create ads that increase video views, create offers for prospects to claim and increase attendance at a special event, product launch or cruise night.

To learn about Facebook Ads, visithttps://www.facebook.com/business/products/ads.

• Instagram: Although still in its infancy, Instagram recently opened up its ad platform to all companies in 30 countries. 

The service is evolving, and the company recently announced it was launching more ad products to use on Instagram. One thing definitely worth trying on Instagram are carousel ads, which are a compelling way to tell a brand's story. 

Create and target advanced Instagram ads based on custom audiences, look-alike audiences, Facebook categories and partner categories. Facebook's Ads Manager is the easiest way for small businesses to start running ads on Instagram.

To learn more about Instagram for business, visithttps://business.instagram.com/advertising.

• Twitter: Whether you're looking for more followers or website traffic, Twitter ads might be a good option. 

To make the most of Twitter ads, make sure to understand where potential leads spend their time on the service. For example, one way travel agents can generate leads is by using promoted tweets during travel-related Twitter chats. (For a list of weekly chats, visit www.travelogx.com/chat.) Another way is running ads on popular hashtags. 

There are three kinds of Twitter Ads. 1) Promoted tweets (with or without an image or video) are messages like an announcement of an upcoming product release, a sale or an event you're hosting; 2) A promoted account is an ad that invites targeted Twitter users to follow your brand; and 3) Promoted trends are leverage time-, context- and event-sensitive trends promoted by Twitter's advertising partners. These paid, promoted trends appear at the top of the trending topics list on Twitter and are clearly marked as "promoted." 

Like most platforms, Twitter enables you to target your ads based on location, gender, languages, interests and devices. 

To learn more about Twitter ads for business, visit https://biz.twitter.com/ad-products.

• Pinterest: Ads on Pinterest consist of "promoted pins," which refer to content that will appear in search results. As with other pay-for-click models, a travel professional will only pay for promoted pins when a viewer clicks on or otherwise engages with an ad. There is no minimum cost to run an ad campaign. Instead, it varies based on targeting audience and bid amount.

Pinterest wants promoted pins to be among some of the best pins members see on the social network. According to Pinterest, ads should contain "beautiful, actionable and interesting" content. Before getting started, make sure to review Pinterest'sadvertising principles and rules. 

In May, Pinterest offered a new motion-based mobile ad format called cinematic pins, which are a nice way to enhance storytelling for a brand.

To learn more about advertising on Pinterest, visit https://ads.pinterest.com.

• LinkedIn: For B2B networking and to access affinity groups, advertising on LinkedIn can raise brand awareness, build relationships and drive quality leads. 

 LinkedIn Ads enable travel advisers to create and place ads on prominent pages on LinkedIn.com. Target which LinkedIn members view ads by selecting a target audience according to job title, job function, industry, geography, age, gender, company name, company size or LinkedIn group. Advertising costs are controlled by setting a budget (paying only for clicks or impressions). LinkedIn ad formats include text and image ads, video ads or text-only ads. 

To learn more about advertising on LinkedIn, visit www.linkedin.com/advertising.

Best practice tips

• Set your advertising goals first. Create both daily and lifetime budgets for your campaigns. Ask suppliers for co-op money to help offset the costs associated with running ad campaigns.
• Understand the types of actions available from social ads. Are you looking for an increase in reach, followers, engagement or website traffic?
• Choose targeting keywords that make sense for ads while adhering to an agency's brand standards and travel niche.
• Use A/B testing to see what ads perform best. A good rule of thumb for independent contractors is to use variations of popular posts from individual accounts to reduce costs associated with market testing.
• Analyze data to determine what time of day consumers are engaging with ads, then target leads when they are most active online.
• Don't be shy. Interact and engage with leads who respond to ads.
• Think global, but deploy local. Take advantage of ZIP code-targeted ads to promote travel products to niche communities. 

German cruise line introduces social media access fee

German line AIDA Cruises is introducing a flat fee for internet access to social media networks on board its ships.

Passengers will be able to share their experiences on board with friends on social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or WhatsApp for €4 a day or €19 a week.

AIDA claims to be “dramatically increasing” the bandwidth and speed of internet connections in addition to the new social media flat rate.

New internet packages to be introduced soon will allow unlimited access rather than be based on minutes of use.

Three options will be available with packages costing €25 for 250MB, €39 for 500MB and €99 for 3 GB of access.

Thomas Pfitzer, chief technical officer at the Carnival Corporation-owned line, said: “The use of mobile devices is continuously growing. We want to accommodate this trend and are offering our guests an additional service with the flat rate.

“With these package offers, we help keep the costs of satellite-based internet connections at sea reasonable and calculable for our guests.”

Six ships in the fleet will be equipped with enhanced internet access by next month, with completion due by November.

The new internet packages and fees will be part of the standard offering on new flagship AIDAprima (pictured).

Passengers who book internet packages in advance through the MyAIDA portal will receive a 5% discount.

Avoiding common social media mistakes

By Carrie Finley-Bajak

 

Are common mistakes keeping you from social media marketing success? While word-of-mouth and email marketing are effective ways to reach your target audience, most travel agents agree that social media can also yield results. 

When it comes to attracting attention on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Google+, Tumblr or LinkedIn, competition is fierce. Avoiding common mistakes can result in more brand exposure and leads. 

Here are some social media mistakes to avoid, plus a few quick-fix tips:

1) Irrelevant or cumbersome user names and handles. It might seem fundamental, but social media user names, handles and personal URLs need to be user-friendly. Make sure the name reflects branding, is easy to read and is short.

Even expert social media users have challenges with handles. For example, Jean Newman Glock, consultant at JNG Worldwide and Signature Travel Network, admits that one of her biggest social media mistakes was creating a long Twitter handle. Jean learned the hard way about the importance of choosing handles carefully. 

"My first and ongoing mistake is obvious: creating a user name with too many characters," said Jean, whose Twitter handle is @JeanNewmanGlock. "What was I thinking? I only figured this out after setting up the same name across all social media platforms." 

Although Jean has done a good job branding herself online, she said long user names can pose a character-limit problem, especially for people who want to repost her Twitter updates. 

Tips:

• Before selecting a investigate character limitations across all social media channels.
• Pick short social media user names and handles to make it easy for customers to mention your brand.
• Be willing to change your user name if necessary. Facebook page administrators can change their page's user name once. To learn how to customize the Web address for your profile or your page, visit www.facebook.com/username.

2) Posting about topics not related to your business. Unlike using social media for personal accounts, travel agents need to stay disciplined to comment on, share or post only content that is relevant to their business. Posting actionable content that is relevant to your audience is an art. The best way to make sure you are on target is to rely on social listening to determine what your customers want while staying true to your brand.

Your social media goal should be to maintain a steady stream of posts that reflect your branding, as President Obama has done.

A common mistake that dilutes brand messaging is posting updates that are not related to your business. Jean mentioned that when she started on Twitter and Instagram she "shared everything, on any topic." But the expertise she has to share is about travel, not politics, etc. Jean now "keeps a laser focus on travel and tourism with a few family, personal shares to keep it grounded."

Tips:

• Your goal should be to post regular social media updates to help keep you top of mind. Maintain a steady stream of travel-related posts that reflect your branding. Mix up your messaging with a combination of text, images, infographics and videos.
• Try combining a quote with an image to generate visually appealing graphics. UsePicMonkey for a quick way to generate shareable graphics.
• Utilize Facebook's Milestone feature to celebrate events. To add a Milestone to your Facebook page, click Offer, Event + at the top of your page's Timeline.
• Expand your technology toolkit and experiment with Haiku Deck, a presentation program that offers access to free images that can be used to tell your brand's story in a unique way.

3) Failing to use marketing materials provided by suppliers. Travel agents who do not take advantage of marketing materials available to them from suppliers, tourism boards and public relations firms are making a big mistake. 

Let's face it, unless you have marketing budgets for large ad buys to reach your target audience, social media updates will have to be delivered manually. On Facebook, that means attempting to get engagement from your friends while fighting for coveted newsfeed positioning. 

Tips:

• In order to save time recreating marketing messages, use supplier content. Use existing marketing materials from suppliers to help showcase expertise. Use images and text from collateral materials to entice your prospects and leads. Most suppliers have large repositories of marketing materials available for agents to use for promotion.
• Ask your sales reps to show you where you can find the supplier's press/media assets online. Don't be shy about sharing posts from your preferred providers on social media; just add your own take to personalize messaging.
• Use Twitter lists and Facebook Interests for quick access to information posted by your favorite suppliers. Most likely new offers, products, services, and news will be streamed on their social media accounts, which you can repurpose.

4) Failing to use social media monitoring and management tools. Insights from data can positively impact your business by helping you create content strategies that will deliver your message to the right people. Active monitoring of social media channels by using tracking programs can help you streamline efforts while saving valuable time and resources. 

The following free programs are worth exploring to gain insight and to fine tune your strategy:

• Facebook administrators can access the Facebook Insights dashboard to review analytics data to track growth and to learn about what resonates with followers.
• Check out Twitalyzer to access metrics for Twitter accounts.
• Use PeerIndex to help determine online authority and brand advocates.
• Manage, collaborate and monitor multiple social media channels with Hootsuite.

5) Failing to put the social in social media. If social media streams are not capturing the audience's attention, make sure you are not just broadcasting information about deals. Over broadcasting links to deals and offers is one sure way to get unfollowed or cited as a spammer. Instead, build relationships with your audience and provide value to ongoing conversations. Put the social into social media and watch engagement levels rise. 

Remember to follow up on leads. Keep in mind too, that some people might be watching, reading, listening or interested in what you have to say online but prefer to call you instead. 

Tips:

• The way to get people to engage is to ask open-ended questions and feel free to like, share or leave comments for strengthening relationships with your existing fan base.
• Poll your clients on Facebook to see what is important to them. Get the input from the community to determine what interests the group, and then create a content strategy from the results.
• Use analytics to determine where engagement spikes occur, and craft social media posts around pertinent topics. Make an content calendar to keep track of seasonal topics that are relevant to your fans and followers.
• Use Topsy to search and analyze your competition to see what type of content is getting the most play; then use this data to craft your own personalized posts.
• Go back to the basics. Create new ways to present popular topics such as travel tips, packing lists and expertise about your travel niche.
• Using screencasting software, make videos that explain a hotel, destination, cruise ship, port or unique experience.

Social media marketing can have a positive effect on your business. When executing your strategy, make sure to avoid common mistakes to take your business to the next level.