ARDA Social Media Forum at ARDA World 2012

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“Call to Action: The Pay Off for Reputation Building through Social Media”

At this year’s American Resort Development Association annual convention, ARDA World 2012, one of the forums that generated the  most buzz (appropriately) was the Social Media Forum, of which I was privileged to be a part.

The forum leaders discussed a great deal about what their companies are doing to utilize the tools of social media but some of the most important concepts that I personally felt came out of the session were:

  • You don’t have to have the biggest presence on the web or have the most followers or friends to benefit from the messaging power of social media.
  • Social media is one of the simplest, most readily accessible and least expensive ways to communicate with your timeshare owners, buyers, renters, sellers and prospects.
  • You don’t need an outside agency to make this work, but you do need to be consistent in your approach and your efforts.
  • The timeshare industry could benefit tremendously from the positive messaging power of social media.
  • And most importantly of all... social media only works if you use it.
Social media is an important tool in business today. But many companies miss the most important reason for using it. Yes, it is an effect way to reach your market. For Sell My Timeshare NOW and VacationOwnership.com social media marketing affords us a way to communicate not only with timeshare buyers, sellers, renters, and current owners, but also with a vast community of vacationers who previously have not considered timeshare vacations. But even more importantly, social media is a way to “listen” to what consumers are telling you about your product and services.
Using the different platforms of social media, you open up new avenues of communication for friends, fans, and followers to share their feedback with you and with each other. And if you are paying attention, you can learn from and make critical adjustments to your business that enable you to better serve your current and future clients.

My takeaway from the ARDA World 2012 Social Media Forum: