As I am sure you are all aware of, at this point, I am doing a couple “in the trenches” interviews with those people who are implementing & suceeding with the complex & changing world of social media. In my previous interviews with
Shana from Tourism Queensland, and
Susan Black from Black & Wright, we have tended to notice some dominant trends within successful social media, and my interview with Gregg was no different. It’s reassuring that we are finding results and case studies to gel our operations and create success, across the board, for the travel industry. A successful social media programs should have a plan, a direction, and should be about metrics, results, and goals. As has been said before, you wouldn’t randomly use marketing or PR, why would use social media in such a random way?
Another trend that seems obvious is that most successful social media programs are not operated by these fabled “gurus”, but by industry veterans who have worked incredibly hard and somewhat tirelessly garnering the knowledge and connections that they now have at their disposal. Gregg is in this category as well – orchestrating countless bloggers and travel industry experts / agents from all over the world, all from an office in Canada.
FLIGHT CENTRE
First, before we jump into the interview, let’s give a background to those unfamiliar with Flight Centre. Andre Sammartino said it most concise:
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