Social media is a necessity for any modern tour business, and there are many ways to leverage this tool to increase online bookings.

Not only does it increase your brand awareness, but it can also become a powerful ally in achieving specific company goals.

Let’s take a look at what goes into planning social media campaigns, as well as measuring their success. 

Plan It: Establish clear objectives to choose the right media

What do you want your campaign to achieve? The campaign’s objective should be as specific as possible. For example, do you want to build an online community, drive more leads to your site, or help promote your blog?

Be as specific as possible so that the parameters of your campaign are laser-focused and you can measure the effectiveness of the campaign and improve for the future. 

Next, determine which social media platforms have been receiving the most engagement from your target audience, then synchronize and execute the campaign across all of them.

Your campaign might focus on a primary platform like Facebook or Twitter, but don’t hesitate to implement it on other channels to increase reach and engagement.

Broadcasting your content in both organic and paid posts across platforms is an opportunity for crossover promotion while keeping your brand tone consistent. Learn more about paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram.

Do It: Create your content and establish a posting schedule

People need a compelling reason to pay attention to what you’re doing and stay engaged throughout the entire campaign. Make it worth their while by offering social media-specific discounts, contests that reward shares, sign-ups, and so on.

Record exactly what you are going to do and when by mapping out a content and social media calendar. This will greatly increase the chances that you follow through and will give you a record to evaluate the success of your social media campaign.

For instance, suppose you are selling ATV tours targeting solo travelers to fill holes in your availability calendar. Here’s a possible campaign plan:

• Create content that caters to the solo traveler in a way that tells a story of adventure.
• Promote discount codes for solo travelers on your social platforms.
• Research areas where solo travel is growing in popularity and geo-target with ad placements in those areas.
• Find a solo travel blogger to come give your tour a try in exchange for a blog post, which you can then share on your own social platforms.
• Offer a contest advising single bookers to: 
  •  Follow you on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. (This is another great way to cross-promote your other social media accounts.)
  • “Like” the post. (This increases engagement.)
  • Tag three friends in the comments section of your post. (This also increases the engagement AND creates the opportunity for those friends to follow your page.)

Pro Tip: Hashtags are a powerful way to track the success of a campaign on Instagram and Twitter while also driving engagement. By creating a unique, branded hashtag for your brand and specific campaigns, you can more easily track engagement and user-generated content.

Review It: Measure the results of your campaign

When the campaign is over, it’s time to measure its success.

How many ATV tours did you sell per week or month pre-campaign? How many are you selling post-campaign? If your marketing objective was to increase tour sales by 25% percent over four months, compare May, June, July, August, and September sales figures.

These metrics are important because, once you know the results of your marketing campaign, you can improve your marketing strategies. Suppose that your ATV tour marketing campaign increased sales by 30%—you would want to repeat this campaign next year.

Metrics provide the information you need to tweak your campaign accordingly. If the data showed that only 3% of increased sales came from your Twitter and Facebook strategies, you might decide to eliminate them from your campaign the next time you decide to run it.

Some might argue that any marketing campaign is better than none because you are directing your business marketing efforts, but if you’re looking to get the most bang for your buck, planning and using metrics is the best strategy.

Pro Tip: As with any form of measuring, using the right tools will help determine the most accurate results. Most social media platforms provide ways to measure engagement and reach, but there are also other methods using marketing campaign software that can help you plan and measure your efforts. Check out and compare your options here.

A social media campaign can be a great way to reach the right audiences and achieve your marketing goals. They provide a lot of flexibility to tailor your campaign depending on your budget, target audience, and more. As you play around with social posts and campaigns, you’ll develop a style and strategy that works well for your business.