Follow the leaders!

Abstract

Purpose – To describe the marketing opportunities available through online digital social media and evaluate their use by leading destination marketing projects. Design/methodology/approach – Analyzes the content of messages sent over the course of a year by five leading US destination marketing projects using the microblogging and social networking website Twitter. Evaluates their effectiveness in terms of the Kavaratzis model of city branding. Findings – People have always gossiped, sharing information, thoughts and opinions they think will interest others. Once this was just face-to-face; then they wrote letters and pamphlets; and after that newspapers, radio and television reached bigger audiences and made it possible to advertise to a wide target group. But then along came the world wide web – and soon afterwards, social media went digital. On the internet, people can share their views with everyone else, no matter where they are. Web sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube make it easy for anyone to comment on postings. And it did not take long for commercial organizations to take notice: digital social media offer low costs per message, unlimited geographical reach and instant access. Best of all, you can tailor the message to the audience and engage in a two-way interaction with individuals who – if they like what you say – will tell others about it. What a marketing opportunity! Practical implications – Points out ways that marketers can use social media to extend their reach, tailor messages to individual recipients and benefit from word-of-mouth recommendations online. Originality/value – Shows how destination marketing organizations can use social media platforms to increase their reach and enhance the relevance of their communications.