Bulletproof Strategy for Tourism Destinations
Perhaps you already know that basically all Western social media platforms are blocked in China. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, for example, are all blocked.
So, if you're a tourism destination and want to promote yourself in China, you need to start from scratch on the Chinese platforms. You have different options where to open accounts; the best option is probably going to be a combination of a few different platforms. We will talk more about the differences between the platforms and recommendations for where to open an account another time.
Let's assume that you already have the accounts and need to grow the followers. How do you do it? At Shanghai Jungle, we manage Chinese social media accounts for tourism destinations from all over the world. We work with customers like 'Visit Europe' or 'Frankfurt Tourism', working with platforms like Weibo, Red, and Douyin. Over the past 10 years, we've developed strategies to grow followers on these accounts. Here, we're going to share a really bulletproof strategy anyone can replicate if you're willing to put in the time and effort.
🧐 Step 1 - Getting Ready
Start by writing good and exciting stories. Put a lot of focus on pictures. Great pictures are very important. The story should be interesting also. For example, write about how to travel places and share fun bits about local food. The Chinese love to talk about food.
🏃 Step 2 - Choose Where to Share Your Stories
Platforms like Weibo, Red, Douyin, and WeChat Channels are good to reach a lot of people. They have a way of showing your stories to people who don't follow you also.
👋 Step 3 - Make Friends with People Who Make Travel Stories
Many people share their own travel stories on Weibo, RED, or Mafengwo. Ask them if you can share their stories.Also, ask them to share your stories. You don't need people with hundreds of thousands of followers that you would need to pay lots of money to. Work with Key Opinion Consumers.You can also talk with other travel destinations near you to see if you can work together.
😫 Step 4 - Don't Stop Making Stories
Making good stories and sharing with people needs a lot of work and time. Don't stop doing it. Keep doing it until you have lots of good and fun stories in your accounts. You might not see many much follower grwoth first, but don't stop doing it.
👍 Step 5 - Plan a Giveaway
Think of a simple giveaway idea. For example, on days like Valentine's Day or Chinese New Year, give away some popular brands from your country. Don't give away just one big gift. Instead, give many small gifts so people feel everyone can win.
💪 Step 6 - Campaign Day
Post content on all of your platforms and use ads to inform people about your giveaway! The number one mistake people make is to organize great little campaigns but people never even see them because they are only shown to current followers, which are few. Using paid ads is crucial here. People will start following you for the gifts and stay for the good content you have. Let the campaign run for a week and share some of your best stories during the week of the campaign so your new followers see it. This way, they might stay and not just unfollow after the giveaway ends.
🥴 Step 7 - Do It Over and Over
You can control how much you spend on ads and gifts based on what you can afford. If you have more money, you can invite bloggers and let them make good content, ideally video content. But if you don't, following this guide will let you gain followers little by little over time. If you hire someone else to manage your accounts, check how much they are spending on ads and how your followers are increasing. This is to make sure they are not adding fake followers.
That's how you can grow your followers. If you want more tips, please send us a message. We manage dozens of tourism accounts and would be happy to help.