Do chicks tweet? Heck yeah, they do.
Mandi Engram, Theresa Overby and as a last minute replacement for Amy Brock, Jeremy Fairley spoke about how they use Twitter for their destination locations. They also answered several questions sent to them via Twitter, which is only appropriate.
Mandi told us that @ColumbiaSC was chosen as Columbia's Twitter handle in 2007 because it was easy to incorporate in to sentences. They have also been using the hashtag #FamouslyHot, since it is the brand for Columbia.
Theresa, who runs the @VisitBatonRouge Twitter account, said that the Baton Rouge CVB has been utilizing the social media site to amplify Baton Rouge's message since 2008.
Jeremy appreciates Twitter because it allows his account, @VisitTampaBay, to get information out in an efficient fashion. He just celebrated the 10,000 follower mark a few weeks ago. Well done, sir.
If there is one thing all three of the speakers agreed on, it was their love for Hootsuite. I'm pretty sure Hootsuite owes them some serious props for all the free advertisment. They all boasted that the program was great for handling multiple accounts and scheduling tweets.
They all admitted to being plugged in for the majority of time they are awake (or if you're Jeremy, even when your asleep).
"Visitors are visitors in my town around the clock, so I check periodically to make sure they aren't starving somewhere and searching for a good po-boy," said Theresa.
They also covered subjects such as trying to answer your followers in real time, embracing randomness in your tweets and sharing photos as a way for followers to "experience" your destination.
Finally, they began answering the questions sent to them from several conference attendees.
Question: How do you balance your personal voice with your destination/business voice?
Answer: We try to talk to people on twitter/facebook as if we were face to face with them. It’s the friendly, warm engaging tone that resonates with our followers.
Question: Do any of you create lists and how to you promote them?
Answer: It’s helpful in order to keep her up-to-date with what’s going on in your city.
Question: How do you determine who an influencer may be and how do you handle them?
Answer: We want to make sure that we are giving shout-outs to our brand advocates. Tweet Stats is a good way to find out who your influencers are; they will be engaging with you. There are so many tools to find out who they are but the most important thing is being on twitter and aware of who is talking about your brand.
They ended the session with these little tidbits:
They believe that content is key. Don't automate your content. Don’t link it to Facebook.
They kept it short and sweet - just like Twitter!
Follow them on Twitter: @TheresaOverby, @MandieEngram and @JeremyFairley