Economic Development Forum:

Social Media

Shanna Smith SnyderAbilene Convention & Visitors Bureau

By participating, there was potential to make the visitor’s experience better than expected—and therefore, potentially increase visitors to the Abilene community. ◦ Messaging could influence visitors decision to visit◦ Once visitor comes to city, social media is a service – providing information.

Think virtual visitor’s center.

Start small and master one platform at a time◦ Two years ago, I started with a Facebook Fan Page, then grew from there

Figure out who was our Target Audience?◦ Leisure? Sports? Meeting planners? Locals?

Reach & connect with people/audiences we wouldn’t be able to otherwise ◦ I wanted to talk! (i.e. We have something to say!)◦ Overall goal for tourism Social Media strategy: Transparency/Authenticity

Initial Goals & Objectives

SoMe? Why are we doing all this?

Initial purpose? To increase exposure to Abilene and the ACVB and refer individuals (visitor or local) to the website & eventually blog.

We hoped to receive the following benefits: ◦ Increased SEO/rankings;◦ Increased brand awareness,

image and recognition;◦ Direct and real-time

communication with target audience

For us, social media has leveled the playing field – especially in the budget department. ◦ In the online “SoMe world” it’s no

longer pay to play.

Social Media Timeline◦ Asked ourselves questions: what platforms did we want to use? Copyright

issues?◦ What did we want our custom blog to look like? ◦ Names for vodcast series, blog, etc.

The One-Year Plan◦ Getting set up on all of our platforms◦ Who would be our Target Audience on each platform we selected

EX: Media/Travel Writers are our primary followers on Twitter. Locals, visitors, past residents on Facebook.

◦ Getting quality fans, followers, etc. EX: Fans that respond to negative content FOR us. Getting retail, attractions,

restaurants, etc. to send us their messages, versus me having to do all the writing for SoMe.

All policies enacted by certain deadline◦ Writing a SoMe policy for the Abilene CVB eased my boss’ fears & allowed me to

move forward!

Initial Strategy

Track, Track, Track – from Day 1

Consider email accounts tied to social media platforms

Fan Page versus a “Friend/ personal Page”

-We see this w/local businesses. DON’T make

that mistake!

Lessons Learned

Adapt a Social Media Policy◦ If pushing for SoMe is difficult w/

Community leaders, boss, etc. ◦ How to deal w/negative comments◦ Include purpose, objectives of SoMe

Blogger Policy◦ Assists w/outside writers from the community

Social Media “School” for staff

Update Content Often

Time Management ◦ Hootsuite, TweetDeck◦ Apps on SmartPhone

Helpful Tips

The One-Year Plan became the Two-Year Plan◦ Includes Social Media Campaigns & “In-Market” Work◦ We have allocated a small portion of our marketing budget for

social media (equipment, conferences, etc.)

We are on more platforms & have grown more than we ever thought we would.

We have a solid audience on different channels & know where to target different messages.

Social Media is now integrated into our ACVB Marketing Plan

Best advice: Be flexible. Be willing to CHANGE & adapt.

CH…CH…CH…Changes.

The Big Picture: Examples! The Abilene CVB has a

presence on:◦ Facebook◦ Twitter◦ YouTube◦ Flickr◦ Delicious◦ Foursquare◦ Gowalla◦ LinkedIn◦ Blog – The Abilene InSite

•Facebook/Flickr-Project 365

•Twitter-Twisitor Center

•Travel Matters

•Blog & Social Media Directory

Bottom Buttons link to printable/

online visitor coupons, playoff

schedule (updated weekly) & special

hotel rates for visitors in town for playoffs.

•FBML Tab – Football Playoffs

Shanna Smith SnyderDirector of Communication

Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau325.676.2556 (Office)

shanna@abilenevisitors.com @shannasmith

Contact Information