Seth Godin, a marketing strategist, has a short and effective book called The Purple Cow. I highly recommend reading the book, and I am going to use his concept in this article about standing out in your niche.
Say you were driving down the road, and you know, driving past farms, you see cows. You see them all the time, but if you saw a purple cow, you would remember that cow. You would probably pull over and take a picture and then, you know, post it to social media.
You want your content to stand out, just like a purple cow in a field of regular cows would. Here is what happens in the social media marketing world: people are busy and distracted; they are scrolling social media and may or may not take in what you post, even if they see it. It is more likely that your marketing will be effective if you stand out.
If you're using social media to try and get new clients, your content needs to be uniquely you, interesting and not the same as everyone else. Here are a few ways to make your posts “the purple cow”:
Show Yourself in Destination
Include pictures of yourself in destination as much as possible. Of YOU, not your kids not your family — YOU. People are booking with you. A family photo is fine every once in a while, but you want the majority of content to showcase you in destination. I hate taking pictures of just me. This strategy works; so I’ve gotten over the awkwardness of selfies and asking people to snap a picture of me while touring resorts during site inspections and during my own travels.
Include Your Audience in the Conversation
I did a post once from a beach town where our hotel was in between the ocean and the bay. And so was a busy street. I booked a water view room, and I could see the water, but I also saw traffic. It was not water front or ocean front.
I took a picture of my view as I was sitting, and I made a post that said, “Pop quiz: This is a water view room, true or false?”
Most of my followers said true, some said false. After a good number of responses, I gave the answer in one of the comments. I explained the difference between our view, ocean view, water front and ocean front rooms.
That post took off. The engagement was high because people are curious; they want to know the answer. They have to click to find out. The algorithms like when people click; then it shows it to more people.
Skip the Generic Posts
If there is one thing that I have noticed and learned to do with my own social media, it’s to be specific in my post: one room tour, all the pictures from Garden Grill breakfast, a tour around one country in Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival. The more specific I am, the more reach it gets.
Instead of saying, “I make dining reservations for my clients.”
Say…
“One of the meals clients enjoy at Epcot is Chip and Dale’s Feast at Epcot’s Garden Grill Restaurant…” Be very specific about the experience they will have there in your post. Your pictures should be from that meal, and better if there is a picture of you with Mickey there.
I am a huge believer in organic engagement. You get this engagement from your authentic experiences. Take your content and turn it into a scroll-stopping post.
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