After meeting him and discussing his expectation before and after visiting Egypt, It was very inspiring to me reading David Meerman Scott article Social media drove the Egyptian revolution but can it bring back the tourists?
See Also : Egypt Ranked 2nd Most Addicted Country on Facebook
From technical point of view, I loved David Meerman Scott question and how he raised the issue for all Egyptian experts in Digital Marketing as a challenge if we can use the digital channels to tell more about our beloved Egypt and help our economy by braining back tourist !
See Also : Egyptians are the most active on social networks
I think David Meerman Scott made his part of the homework when he decided to edit this video seeking a viral impact to say the word about how Egypt is safe and asking tourists from around the globe to come and enjoy Egypt beauty:
I notices David Meerman Scott tweet mentioning @LoveEgypt (The Official Twitter Account of Egypt Tourism Board on Twitter)
My video & blog for @loveegypt “Social media drove the Egyptian revolution but can it bring back the tourists?” webinknow.com/2013/01/social…
— David Meerman Scott (@dmscott) January 18, 2013
This tweets got faved 6 times and re-tweeted 16 times. But ! it got this reply :
While David Meerman Scott video last sentences was ” Its the right time to Come” a call for action to attract tourists back to Egypt, The Social Media officer for The Official Twitter Account of Egypt Tourism Board decided to reply back “Egyptian people must settle down first ”
When I saw this reply, I wanted to kill myself and decided to write this . A 7 minute analysis was enough to discover Shocking Social Media Mistakes by Egyptian Tourism Authority:
1- Website without link to Twitter account//
I visited the official website for the Egyptian Tourism Authority ( www.egypt.travel ) I found a link for facebook fan page, a link to youtube channel but! the twitter icon was missing !
2- Unify your digital identity//
Egyptian Tourism Authority Facebook fan page name : Experience Egypt
Egyptian Tourism Authority Twitter account name : Love Egypt
Egyptian Tourism Authority Youtube Channel name : Egypt
I can understand how hard is it to unify your digital presence name on all social media networks, but! when it come to representing a country image on the www arena it become critical and even some governments like Israel decided to buy its name on social media like Twitter.
3- Make sure all your links are functioning//
When you build a Social Media communication channels, its important to test if it works effectively, Its even astonishing when you find a non-functional link.
Go to www.youtube.com/Egypt and try to click on the highlighted link in the image above, It will lead you to Twitter ! In the first place I am not sure why the link is titled ( Youtube Egypt ) while it got Twitter logo !
You want to see how a super attractive Youtube branded channel look like ? visit the official channel for Spain (www.youtube.com/spain) and don’t wonder that 45 million tourists visit Spain each year.
4- It’s Facebook not Face Book//
Its always a looks unprofessional when you are caught with a spelling mistake, Egyptian Tourism Authority official Youtube channel got a link titled ( Face Book) !
While the Egyptian Tourism Authority target market is the globe and Egypt as a touristic destination should be marketed in at least 7 languages, Egyptian Tourism Authority twitter account cannot formulate a correct English sentences with 3 words !
5- Don’t Tweet like a Machine//
Social Media is all about creating interactive medium for conversations between people to people or, brands to customers. The more you are human , the more you will be loved.
No one would love to follow a re-tweeting machine.
Using too much automation in your Social Media management will fade the humanized touch for your conversation.
6- Don’t link Facebook & Twitter//
Marketing automation got its pros & cons, when it come to Social Media you should respect each channel features, Knowing that Facebook allows you up to 5000 character for each post while Twitter allow max 140 character, This means you should customize the communication via each network to get the most benefits out of it.
Communicating on Twitter using the same mindset you use on Facebook would decrease the affinity for gaining new followers and definitely will not increase your followers growth rate.
For success on Social Media you should develop content for each channel.
7- Don’t Go Digital Without Strategy//
Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. -Sun Tzu
The biggest challenge for Digital Marketers in 2013 is to measure the Social Media ROI, however crystallizing a clear objectives for your digital communication would help as a reference and/or, benchmark to measure your Social Media ROI .
A quick review for Egypt Tourism Authority posts on Facebook its nothing more than a photo posting machine with some quiz to guess the location where the photo is taken as a call for action. No historic information, No geo-targeted posts and missing a time zone fact that good morning in Egypt means good night in New York and good afternoon in Tokyo!
I think the content strategy for Egypt Tourism Authority should be enhanced and the step one to make it more impactful it to set goals and develop a tactical plan to achieve this goals. Also an ongoing measurement for the deployed tactics will be very helpful to sharpen the results.
With optimistic mindset I wish these mistakes will be handled soon and I fully trust that at the moment Egyptian marketeers will decide to use Social Media to invade the world to market Egypt, This will be unstoppable.
