Conversations and content shared on social media can play a crucial role in inspiring would-be visitors to finally book a trip, especially to an aspirational destination from their bucket list.

Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) knows exactly how this works, as a destination that continues to build consumer-led, experience-focused campaigns. Kylie Smith, TEQ’s Marketing Manager – Americas, gave a presentation called “Connecting with our Audience” as part of Destination Think’s track at Simpleview Summit 2016. Smith shared insights from TEQ’s recent “Connect for Life” campaign, a partnership with Qantas Airways that shared authentic stories to make an emotional connection with potential visitors.

Read three strategic insights from Smith’s talk, or watch her full presentation below.

1. Actively participate in the conversation

It’s not enough to create beautiful social media content and then adopt a hands-off approach. TEQ’s “Connect for Life” campaign owes a good deal of its early success to the amount of time the destination spent engaging directly with its online audience. The TEQ team asked and answered questions, returning to the same conversations multiple times to keep up the momentum.

2. Address consumer pain points

Most destinations know there are deterrents that keep potential visitors from making the trip. A major pain point for TEQ’s potential visitors is the perceived hassle of travel from the United States. Creating content that addresses these concerns in a direct, genuine way is essential to finally moving consumers down the sales funnel.

3. Create and encourage authentic content

“Authenticity is everything,” as Smith points out. TEQ spotlighted authentic, engaging visitor stories in the campaign’s videos to make an emotional connection with on-the-fence consumers. Furthermore, the unscripted conversations on social media turned former visitors into advocates as they openly shared their happy memories from previous trips.

Related reading: Why destination marketing organizations need to become experts at consumer engagement

Featured image credit: Gwydion M Williams, Flickr