1. THE ADVENTURER 2.0
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA OPTIONS FOR
TOUR OPERATORS rness
Cleve e!
insid
Author: Marc-Oliver Gern© March 29th, 2010, http://blog.flip-digital.com
TAGS: Social Media, Engagement Plan, Creative Excellence, Digital Marketing, Business Intelligence, Business Analytics, Adaptive Marketing, Tourism
Industry, Tour Operators, Outdoor Adventures, Branding, Art Direction, Web Design, Interactive Storytelling, Destination Marketing Organizations

2. INTRODUCTION In holiday resorts all over the
world, social media is introducing powerful new
potential for outdoor tour companies. For those able
to engage it best, social media will bring a bright
future!
Following research, monitoring of process and
analysis of the adventure tourism industry - its
digital potential and best practices, this document
outlines a sample of top opportunities* now
available.
What others say:
“An excellent template to outline and present
creative social media ideas and options to a
specific industry.” Social Media Today
* Besides customized social media actions you should also engage new clients and customers with the basic SM
strategies; Set up measuring tools, start a blogger outreach program, maintain a blog, connect with industry
influencers, update your own web site, be present on the most common community platforms like tripadvisor,
yelp, locly, Google Local/Map and such.

3. “67 % complain there is too much advertising:
Forget messages, create experiences and conversation.”

4. POINTS OF INFLUENCE within on your customer
lifecycle as a tour operator, there are several
pressure points where you can launch customized
social media activities and harness individual tools.
ce
Influen
Influence
Influence
Engage
Inspire, Surprise, Invite
Play, Offer, Enter, Share etc.

5. “Context and timing are two important factors for
success. Be aware of the fact, that the customer
nowadays is unpredictable. They jump back and forth, up
and down within the marketing funnel like a wild
mountain goat on a hot lava field”

6. CUSTOMER WALK THROUGH
3rd tp: Customer 6th tp: Customer
signs up for checks in for tour or
newsletter, fan gathers more
page or twitter. information. Time
again to invite him
The following chart provides a visual impression of
1st touchpoint: 4rth tp: Customer
9th tp: End of tour
again to follow you
and check out:
on twitter or fb.
11th tp: Guest left
destination. Time to
with Google some important questions:
Customer starts trip starts trip with car,
plane, train etc.
Invite guest via
Offer specials for
incentive, gift to
fans and followers
interact and
engage your former
Search. Make sure Great chance to review your guide, customers with
online.
he finds your sites invite him to learn product etc. Open a specials and news
• When do customers use which tools? What apps &
and reviews. more about your „gate“ for more or other products.
brand. interaction online Keep up the
relationship.
content do they havetour. Depending onto?
access
7th tp: Guest is on via your online
specials. Give them
a reason to return.
• Throughout the various pressure points of the
the lenght of the
trip – chance for life
updates on fb and
marketing funnel, how do your customers interact
twitter.
with the brand? (based on user bahaviour)
Start trip
• When is the right time to interact with the End trip
customer? 5th tp: Arrives at
the destination.
2nd touchpoint:
Now you can offer
Google leads 10th tp: Manage
him additional links
customer to your picts and
to different booking 8th tp: Time for
website, reviews, videos effectively
hubs and offer guides to interact
facebook page. and invite guest to
specials. (Group with the customer,
check them out
bookings, Holiday tell stories and
again. or- to share
Specials etc.) catch their interest
his own impression
for other things
on your social
your company is
media hub
doing.
Customer has Using home/office Equipped with Gathered additional Discovered Equipped with Equipped with Equipped with info
access to the computer, talking to smartphones, information from posters, chatted smartphone, twitter, smartphone, twitter, to access other
following tools via friends brochures, prints channels on the with locals, asked foursquare, web foursquare, web social media hubs
his trip: from the web plane, local info concierge for best access access and stay connected
centers etc. adventures in town

7. CUSTOMER WALK THROUGH
3rd tp: Customer 6th tp: Customer
signs up for checks in for tour or
newsletter, fan gathers more
page or twitter. information. Time
again to invite him
9th tp: End of tour 11th tp: Guest left
again to follow you
1st touchpoint: 4rth tp: Customer and check out: destination. Time to
on twitter or fb.
Customer starts trip starts trip with car, Invite guest via interact and
Offer specials for
with Google plane, train etc. incentive, gift to engage your former
fans and followers
Search. Make sure Great chance to review your guide, customers with
online.
he finds your sites invite him to learn product etc. Open a specials and news
and reviews. more about your „gate“ for more or other products.
brand. interaction online Keep up the
7th tp: Guest is on via your online relationship.
tour. Depending on specials. Give them
the lenght of the a reason to return.
trip – chance for life
updates on fb and
twitter.
Start trip End trip
5th tp: Arrives at
the destination.
2nd touchpoint:
Now you can offer
Google leads 10th tp: Manage
him additional links
customer to your picts and
to different booking 8th tp: Time for
website, reviews, videos effectively
hubs and offer guides to interact
facebook page. and invite guest to
specials. (Group with the customer,
check them out
bookings, Holiday tell stories and
again. or- to share
Specials etc.) catch their interest
his own impression
for other things
on your social
your company is
media hub
doing.
Customer has Using home/office Equipped with Gathered additional Discovered Equipped with Equipped with Equipped with info
access to the computer, talking to smartphones, information from posters, chatted smartphone, twitter, smartphone, twitter, to access other
following tools via friends brochures, prints channels on the with locals, asked foursquare, web foursquare, web social media hubs
his trip: from the web plane, local info concierge for best access access and stay connected
centers etc. adventures in town

8. THE BASICS A list of basic digital marketing
strategies every tour operator could start with.
Create a cause on Facebook – to build up awareness, increase loyalty and affinity
Host a fun online contest – to create attention to connect employees/customers
Initiate a fun offline event – to strengthen your brand & attract new clients
Use Twitter and offer tweetfares– to sell more tours, increase sales
Take lots of pictures/movies – to extend memories and improve service
Sign up for lots of online directories – to maximize recognition
Provide knowledge via WIKIS – to strengthen the brand values
YouTube your work – to strengthen local grassroots visibility

9. SOCIAL MEDIA & STORYTELLING Now it’s going to get
interesting. Pimp your social media activities with
individual stories to get your customers maximum
engaged with your brand and product. The next slides
will give you some inspiration. Use it wisely.

10. STORYTELLING - DO’S & DONT’S Social Media is
about great storytelling. See the most promising &
engaging stories & elements for you as a tour
operators.
YES
• Photos
NO
• Politics
• Stories about wildlife & environment • Environmental issues
• Stories about people (Guides, locals, etc.) • Be careful with addressing social issues
• Stories about green living and doing good • Fictionary stories (don’t try to pimp!)
• Unique facts about the tours itself • Local Disasters if its just messages and notes
• Charity & donations – when set up proberly
• Construction (How we build ...)
• Cool records (highest bungee, etc.)
• Stories about special guests you had on tour
• Celebrities on tour

11. CONCEPT OF THE NEXT SLIDES
Take the design
drafts as an
inspiration. Names
are fictitious.
Opportunity
I discoverd your
needs and identified
business and
communication
Solution: This
goals.
section gives you an
idea of a sample
option, based on
best practices.
Tools: A list of some
tools that work best
Example Call-to-
in combination with
Actions give you
your idea/goal.
always a good idea
on how you should
Filters: Help you to
write the copy and
adjust and prioritize
layout the site.
your ideas.

12. LET’S GO Enjoy your opportunities.

13. Design & Idea Marc-Oliver®
USE CASE 1:
Tour Cancellation
OPPORTUNITY People cancel their
booked tours spontaneously, just hours
ahead of time. That opens up free spots
that could be filled to make the tour
more profitable. SOLUTION Make the canceled spots available to the
public (with discounts, due to the last minute factor)
and tweet about it as soon as possible. Provide sales
and service staff with the right tools and message
templates, so that they can act fast. Powder
>
Mountain Catskiing in Whistler is a good example.
TOOLS 44% of consumers who follow a
brand on Twitter do so for (last minute)
deals. The real-time messaging tool
helps you to spread the word with speed Strategic Impact: narrow Call-to-Actions
and efficiency.
Anticipated revenue impact: moderate
ENTER TO WIN
Brand Authenticity: Far
Social Experience:  PARTICIPATE
Works best with:
REGISTER NOW
>

14. Design & Idea Marc-Oliver®
USE CASE 2:
Reward Loyalty
OPPORTUNITY With the increasing use
of smartphones check-in gameplays are
getting more and more popular. Such
gadgets make it incredibly simple to
identify loyal, returning customers and SOLUTION Use your ads, brochures, posters to
reward them with special customized invite people to check in with foursquare and such.
deals. Reward the foursquare mayors, followers and fans
of your organization with special incentives like
“Your best friend zips for free”. Be creative – there
>
is no limit.
TOOLS Foursquare, Yelp and Gowalla are
the status quo right now. They have
already a large community you can build
on and are easy to use, customize and Strategic Impact: narrow Call-to-Actions
maintain.
Anticipated revenue impact: moderate
CHECK-IN
Brand Authenticity: Far
Social Experience:  SEND REVIEW
Works best with:
>

15. Design & Idea Marc-Oliver®
USE CASE 3:
National Holidays
& Personal Gifts
OPPORTUNITY Special Holidays, such as
Valentines Day, Christmas, National
Breaks and so on present a great time to
offer special tours, discounts, create
contests and - most importantly; offer SOLUTION The Facebook app FBML offers the
gifts. Create a unique experience for an chance to customize your fan page with a few clicks.
unique moment. Make it easy for your fans to send gifts to their best
friends. Spread the word through Facebook Ads and
use Twitter to increase traffic. Gear up your website
>
as well. WildfireAPP or Sweepstakes offer free or
cheap tools which may help.
TOOLS 70% of customers have
participated in a brand sponsored
contest online on Facebook. Every 2nd
user on Facebook sent personal gifts to Strategic Impact: narrow Call-to-Actions
their friends. With a large community Anticipated revenue impact: high
already familiar with using basic gift and Brand Authenticity: Close
SEND AS A GIFT
reward tools on Facebook, there is Social Experience:  ENTER
something for sure you can build on Works best with:
here! CLAIM COUPON
>

16. Design & Idea Marc-Oliver®
USE CASE 4:
Shoulder Season &
Local Events
OPPORTUNITY Offline events are an
awesome chance to establish your brand
within your community. Bring back
customers and view your organization in
a new light. Use this in the the shoulder SOLUTION Always conforming to your brand, make
seasons to boost your business with the event fun & unique then integrate a competitive
local visitors. element. Tweet, snap and post videos about it all the
time. Create winner lists, and send out invitations to
the follow up similar events. Every year Tourism
>
Whistler launch up some pretty good events for
their guests. Partner up with your local tourism
TOOLS When it comes to organizing and office.
bringing together lots of people for an
event - yet again, Facebook is the
number one player. Eventbrite is as Strategic Impact: narrow Call-to-Actions
simple to use, but due to the lack of Anticipated revenue impact: high
community not an option I would Brand Authenticity: Close
PARTICIPATE
recommend. Social Experience:  ENTER
Works best with:
NOTIFY ME
>

17. Design & Idea Marc-Oliver®
USE CASE 5:
Doing Good &
Being Green
OPPORTUNITY Nature is your partner.
Give back something to the community
and to your environment, and you can
use that activity/cause to talk about it on
your tours. People will love it. SOLUTION Initiate monthly fundraising activities,
raising money for a local charity - something you
believe in. Give it a name, so people can remember
it and associate it with your brand. Create a
connection between what you do and what the
>
fundraising is about. Personal thought: the more local,
the better it is. Gap Adventures for example does an
TOOLS Twitter has proven to be an incredible good job.
incredible way to raise money. Facebook
Causes is another excellent tool for
launching a cause online (be sure to Strategic Impact: narrow Call-to-Actions
connect it to your fan page!). Another Anticipated revenue impact: moderate
great idea is to build a special tool like a Brand Authenticity: Close
PARTICIPATE
Donator-O-Meter. Give your activities a Social Experience:  EXPLORE NOW
visual people can remember with ease. Works best with:
DONATE NOW
>

18. Design & Idea Marc-Oliver®
USE CASE 6:
Eco Education
OPPORTUNITY Do you provide distinctive
knowledge on your tours? Do so. Think
of a story your guides can share. There
is always something to talk about;
whether its nature, local insights - or
SOLUTION Encourage your guests to test their
facts and stats about your best
knowledge on Facebook, let them participate in a
adventures. Natural way to engage kids.
fun contest, give away cool prizes. Close the
customer lifecycle. You can also offer customized
deals, because you know who are your visitors. In
>
this case; returning customers.
TOOLS Use your website to provide
unique knowledge and stories about the
area you are operating in. Use free wiki-
tools like Twiki to train your staff. Again, Strategic Impact: narrow Call-to-Actions
harness Facebook to launch contests Anticipated revenue impact: moderate
and microsites where people can come Brand Authenticity: Close
PARTICIPATE
back and check thier knowledge. Social Experience:  ENTER
Works best with:
DONATE NOW
>

19. Design & Idea Marc-Oliver®
USE CASE 7:
Photos & Videos
OPPORTUNITY Travellers take tons of
pictures and videos while they're on tour.
You probably have your own staff who
take pictures as well. Offer them to your
guests after their tour. Make them
SOLUTION (Geo)-Tag your pictures & videos. You can
available online at all times - use them
also use watermarks. If you have more financial
to continually drive people back on your
resources build your own site so people can view
website.
and purchase them online. The best thing is, when
people start to rate and comment on your files. You
>
can use those opinions to improve your product.
Vallarta Adventures doing a good job on that.
TOOLS Facebook, Youtube, Vimeo, flickr
and your own website are all useful
tools for uploading large numbers of
pictures and videos. Some of them Strategic Impact: wide Call-to-Actions
already have a large community, where Anticipated revenue impact: moderate
you can create groups and invite people Brand Authenticity: Far
SHARE
to check out what you post, and share Social Experience:  UPLOAD
their impressions. Great Tip: Link maps Works best with:
to your pictures. RATE NOW
>

20. Design & Idea Marc-Oliver®
USE CASE 8:
Product Testing
OPPORTUNITY You are new and nobody
knows you. Let people test your product
for free. Tell them to share their
experience with others online. Promote
your product, a new destination, create
SOLUTION Invite people to come with you on the
buzz online, hire great staff. Awesome
greatest adventure of their life. You give something
opportunity to increase your online
away for free, now you can ask for something in
community as well.
return - pics, videos and personal thoughts. Let
them write a diary. Use the material and share it
>
with the online community. Give the whole thing a
catchy name. Tourism Queensland did a super job
TOOLS Use YouTube to tell your story in with their event “The best job in the world.”
motion pictures. This tool makes it easy
for you to track the comments and
reactions from the viewers. Facebook as Strategic Impact: wide Call-to-Actions
well is a good tool to share videos and Anticipated revenue impact: high
launch such an “online event”. Brand Authenticity: Close
BE PART OF IT
Social Experience:  ENTER&PARTICIPATE
Works best with:
SIGN UP
>

21. Design & Idea Marc-Oliver®
USE CASE 9:
Award Programs
OPPORTUNITY Do you have ongoing
award programs for staff or customers?
Not yet? Uh oh - time to launch some!
They're a great way of securing a stream
of returning guests. You can use the
SOLUTION Collect emails and send an invitation to
rating and comments they generate to
your customers to rate your tours, guides, whatever.
improve your product and customer
Let them participate in a monthly award show. Make
service.
it fun and engaging so that people are more likely to
give you a good review. Extend memories. Thank
>
guests for coming back – offer deals/specials. Link
to tripadvisor and yelp for general reviews.
TOOLS Start with your own website and
launch a microsite where people can
come back and rate your product quickly
and with ease – just a click. Strategic Impact: narrow Call-to-Actions
Anticipated revenue impact: Far
BE PART OF IT
Brand Authenticity: Close
Social Experience:     ENTER
Works best with: custom
SIGN UP
>

22. Design & Idea Marc-Oliver®
USE CASE 10:
Celebrities &
Media Tours
OPPORTUNITY If someone famous signs
up for a tour and asks for something
special... why not? Ask for permission to
write and share photos about it. Stories
about celebs are always a hot thing and
SOLUTION Talk, write, snap and tweet about it. You
it creates lots of buzz online. If media is
can also announce the special tour in advance and
on tour, ask for permission to publish
document it online in real-time. Just make it
their stuff later on your own websites.
personal. Bigger than life is an absolute no go in
this case. Use experienced staff on this tour – train
>
them to talk and deal with media people. Looks
much better on camera.
TOOLS Spread the word with twitter,
Facebook and document it on your own
website. But remember: Its gonna be
online forever. Check legal permissions. Strategic Impact: narrow Call-to-Actions
Anticipated revenue impact: moderate
FOLLOW UPDATES
Brand Authenticity: Far
Social Experience:  RETWEET THIS
Works best with:
SHARE THIS
>

23. Design & Idea Marc-Oliver®
USE CASE 11:
Superlatives
OPPORTUNITY You own the longest
bungee jump in the world. You tame the
wildest rivers with your white water
rafting boats. The fastest zipline is in
your backyard? Use those superlatives
SOLUTION Always listen closely to your guests and
and create a question around it. Answer
take note of their questions. What are they asking?:
that question online. What? Just keep on
“How fast can you ...” or “How long is ...” or “Whats
reading...
the deepest...” Grab that question and answer it
with a movie. You don’t need much just a couple of
>
your funniest guides and your own superlative.
Check out Blend-Tec (Will it blend) or get inspired
TOOLS This is great storytelling and you with MYTHBUSTERS.
do that best via a video on YouTube. Its
probably also great to know that people
spend more hours watching YouTube Strategic Impact: wide Call-to-Actions
videos than watching TV. One or the Anticipated revenue impact: high
other way: Launching an event online is Brand Authenticity: Close
WATCH THIS
getting more and more popular. Social Experience:  DOWNLOAD NOW
Works best with:
SHARE THIS
>

24. Design & Idea Marc-Oliver®
USE CASE 12:
Personal Fears,
barriers
OPPORTUNITY Some adventures are
quite challenging for people and often
bring them to the very end of their
personal limits (fear of heights etc.). Flip
that around and use your experience as
SOLUTION Play with taking away peoples fear of
a way or chance for them to get over this
heights (works for any tours that deal with great
fear.
heights like bungee, zipping, canopy walks, etc.)
Give the event a name like “Face the Heights”:
Create a monthly event. Invite/bring one person in
>
who is afraid of heights and let them do your
adventure for free. Film it and put it on YouTube. Let
TOOLS Use tools enabling people to people bet online – if she/he can do it or not.
interact with each other and encourage
those people on your tour to push their
limits. Strategic Impact: wide Call-to-Actions
Anticipated revenue impact: moderate
VOTE NOW
Brand Authenticity: Close
Social Experience:  BET & WIN
Works best with:
SHARE THIS
>

25. Design & Idea Marc-Oliver®
USE CASE 13:
Life Messaging
OPPORTUNITY Outdoor tours differ in
length. Some take just a couple of hours
and some take days. While you are on
tour for a 1-2-3 day trip use your
smartphone to update and document
SOLUTION Share pictures pictures pictures. Tag
your experience. Engage your guests to
your pictures and post them immediately on
do so as well. Invite people at home to
Facebook or flickr. Share it with your followers and
follow your updates in real time.
fans and get them hooked in to do the next tour with
you. Always let them know what your plans are.
>
TOOLS Use your smartphine/iPhone.
Many apps allow updates via eMail like
Tumblr, blogger, Facebook and even
Twitter is a nice tool to use again. Its fast Strategic Impact: narrow Call-to-Actions
and simple. Anticipated revenue impact: moderate
FOLLOW UPDATES
Brand Authenticity: Close
Social Experience:  GET NOTIFIED
Works best with:
SHARE THIS
>

26. Design & Idea Marc-Oliver®
USE CASE 14:
Partnerships
OPPORTUNITY Team up with other
organizations like DMOs and you can
launch way more engaging social media
campaigns online. Make it valuable for
both of your customers.
SOLUTION 1) Develop customized booking widgets
and buttons and ask tourism partners to integrate
them on their sites. 2) Partner up with other
marketing departments and create campaigns for
both of your customers. Help customers to find and
>
easily book your tours.
TOOLS Start with linking to each others
sites and campaigns. Customize your
facebook and landing pages. Integrate
“Book Now” buttons and smart widgets Strategic Impact: wide Call-to-Actions
whenever it makes sense. Let people Anticipated revenue impact: moderate
check the availability of a tour on other Brand Authenticity: Far
FOLLOW UPDATES
sites as well. Social Experience:  GET NOTIFIED
Works best with:
SHARE THIS
>

27. Design & Idea Marc-Oliver®
USE CASE 15:
YOUR FRONT DESK
OPPORTUNITY Your front desk is an
island for engagement. A hub where you
can invite your guest to write reviews,
participate in fun contests or just stay in
contact with you. Offer at least
SOLUTION Link to your social media hubs. Invite
something. People won’t ask you for
people to write a review about your tour and thank
your business card, they will ask: Are
them with a contest or prize.
you on facebook or twitter?
>
TOOLS Many tools are available: Start
with a poster or message boards.
Something that creates attention and
looks interesting and nice, not loveless. Strategic Impact: narrow Call-to-Actions
Anticipated revenue impact: moderate
FOLLOW UPDATES
Brand Authenticity: Close
Social Experience:  VOTE
Works best with:
WRITE REVIEWS
>

28. THAT’S IT!
SO, LET’S
GO AND
PLAY Intelligence and analytics will drive
everything: make it part of your strategy
before and after creative development.

29. THANK YOU for taking the time. Fill your senses
with more highlights of my work, read the juicy bits
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30. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Marc-Oliver is an award-
winning independent digital brand designer and
social media strategist. He spent the last 10 years
working with advertising agencies, Fortune 500
brands, and start-ups to create design and strategy
for engaging, effective, and elegant digital
experiences. On his blog he writes about highly
creative social media strategies & posts inspiring
prototypes for the future web. He lives and skis in
the Ski Resort Whistler, BC, Canada.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License. 1