Five ways to improve your social media presence this wave season

Antonia Simpson, senior social media manager at P&O Cruises, recommended setting KPIs to interpret and keep track of your analytics. These could include impressions, reach, or how much traffic paid ads delivered to your website.  

She explained: “Measures like this can really help you build a picture of, quantity-wise, the performance that your social activity is driving, but also quality, so you can ensure you have a balance of both.”

2. Customise your content

Social media platforms are not identical. Each offers distinct opportunities for engagement with your audience. Different types of content perform more successfully on different platforms, and each platform requires a separate tone of voice and visual content. 

Instagram Reels are a powerful way of conveying the experience of a cruise holiday to viewers, the panel agreed. Instagram doesn’t let you put links in your caption, though, so consider using LinkTree in your bio to direct your customers to different facets of your online presence. 

Video content is less successful on X, formerly known as Twitter, than Instagram or Facebook, with many agents seeing little interaction on the platform. To combat this, Simpson recommended trying text-only content, or making use of the in-post poll function. 

Be sure to maintain functionality across platforms. Aspect ratios for visual content varies across apps, and for your video content, bear in mind that 80% of users are more likely to watch your content if captions are available. 

P&O Cruises offers agents the opportunity to craft their own social media assets using the Shine Rewards Club asset bank, which includes destination images and templates. When creating your own content, be sure to run it past your business manager before posting. 

3. Keep it varied

Keeping your content diverse is important for driving up engagement. Consider a blend of educational material, such as how-to guides or explainers, with entertaining content such as memes, graphics or interactive polls and quizzes. 

User-generated content is a vital tool for building and connecting with your community, the panel stressed. If users tag you in their content, request their permission to repost it to show customers what other people’s experiences are like. Showcase your own story and the stories of your employees to make your feed more personal. 

“Make sure you’re getting as much content as you can if you’re on a ship visit or on your own cruise,” said Holly Lee, trade communications executive at P&O Cruises. “Really creating that content, capturing it, and bringing it to life for your audience will help you stand out from the crowd.” 

4. Stay informed of the conversation 

Social media is such a powerful marketing tool because it provides customers with a huge variety of constantly updating industry information. What this means, however, is that you have to make an effort to stay up to date with the online travel landscape. 

The panel recommended agents monitor competitor accounts: what themes are working for other people, and what are they speaking out about? On Instagram, you can save posts that strike you as particularly successful, then revisit to see what trends emerge. Specifically, Lee suggested, check out the Arvia Insiders – a group of six agents who have been sharing their experiences of Arvia – for examples of authentic audience engagement. 

The best way to insert yourself into the travel conversation is using hashtags and tagging brands in your content. P&O Cruises use #CruiseTravel, #ShineRewardsClub and #PandoCruises to reach their audience. By doing the same, you can make sure those consumers are being introduced to your content, too. 

In order to stay on top of technological updates, consider using Meta Blueprint for social media upskilling, and Social Media Today for email updates on the latest trends and features.  

5. Be proactive

If you want to drive engagement, you have to be engaged. Be sure to promote your profile in conversations with your clients, add links to your online presence to email footers and insert live update feeds onto your website. 

Your social media can be a customer service tool, so ensure that your reply times to customer enquiries are prompt. 

Simpson said: “Users want and expect social media to be an available channel of choice if they have a query or booking enquires, so making sure you’re equipped to deliver than as quickly and seamlessly as possible to people is key.”

When planning your social media strategy, consider a content calendar. This allows you to draft posts for certain awareness days, keep track of your KPIs, and ensure you’re dedicating time each day to staying afloat of the socials landscape.