Make some noise!
Social media doesn’t work in isolation. It is often seen as an individual pastime but you just have to think about the latest twitter storm to see how powerful the collective voice can be online. When many voices come together, social media is a powerful, loud medium that can really make a difference to your business.
The Isle of Man’s tourism industry is a sector that can benefit from a collective social media campaign. And it all begins with an online shout-out for the Isle of Man! By using simple hashtags# that make reference the Isle of Man; our Island will be viewed by a wider audience. The more times the Isle of Man is viewed by a social media audience as an attractive destination, the more it will start to impact and influence an even greater number of social media users.
What is a hashtag#?
A hashtag on social media is just a clickable content filter. It allows us to find conversations based around the same hashtag. When you click on the hashtag in any social platform it will search for posts with that specific hashtag as a reference and bring all those posts into one feed. The most effective place to use hashtags is on Instagram and Twitter. You can also use them on LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube but they don’t have as big a relevance.
What is ‘trending’?
Trending means that a high percentage of people on social media are talking about the same subject and using the same word or hashtag. Often, words trend on popular subjects, news items or events for example #Brexit #Glastonbury #Britain’sGotTalent but the brilliant thing is, raising our voices with hashtags works even if you don’t actually ever trend! Using specific hashtags consistently to showcase the best visual images of the Isle of Man and getting as many people involved as possible will, over time, influence the social media audience.
#IOMstory – how we can all boost the Isle of Man as a destination:
- Every time you post a stunning image of the Isle of Man, add these three simple hashtags: #IOMstory #IOM #IsleOfMan
- Tage people using the @mention (their page profile). This alerts them that they've been mentioned and they can share your content. Tag profiles that are relevant to your image and use @visitisleofman @BiosphereIOM @ourislandim
- Take images on your camera or your mobile phone that you feel represents our wonderful Island. Images could be landscapes, wildlife, wildflowers, adventures, heritage sites, activities, amazing food and beautiful dishes. When you post your images on social media, just remember to add the Isle of Man hashtags.
- Follow the Isle of Man hashtags on Instagram and share their images, re-tweet them on Twitter, share them to your stories on Instagram, share them in the newsfeed on Facebook.
- Encourage visitors to use Isle of Man hashtags on their social media images and to add a little message to your guestbook, which suggests what hashtags they should use during their visit
- Many well-known tourism destinations use hashtags to increase visibility and attract more visitors. We can do the same for the Isle of Man by using positive messages and images.
- The right image really matters! All mobile phones are now capable of taking really cracking pictures so get snapping. It doesn't always need to be a landscape; it might be the sun streaming in on a lovely breakfast room or a wood burner and a glass of wine in the winter.
What benefit does it bring for me?
- It's good to be heard. Raising our voice as a nation has an impact for everyone. If collectively we can talk to and influence more visitors, the knock-on effect is more enquiries and, potentially, customers.
- Experience counts. If you post about accommodation, a meal out or a day-trip and it catches the eye of a perspective visitor, they will click on the image and follow you directly.
- Think big. You may have a small following now but if your pictures are shared by Visit Isle of Man or a page with a larger audience, you can get in front of that audience - for Visit Isle of Man this is a Facebook audience of 50K followers!
- Picture this. If, by chance you capture a really special picture, these are often picked up by journalists and could get you noticed by millions!
Alison Teare - Simply Marketing
