Effective use of the social network is probably the best tool for raising awareness about one tourist destination or another. It is an effective tool, but one that requires time, careful planning, good strategy and innovation.

Social networks are redesigning the world we live in. Better communication with friends and family gives the term "word of mouth" a whole new meaning, advises on the products you should buy and which brands you should avoid, all within one click of the mouse.  Social networks are assimilated into our routines, affecting our lives.

How Does It Work?

In the global era in which we live and as a result of extensive technological development, especially in the Internet industry, marketing campaigns can be leveraged more efficiently and at low costs. The ability of social networks to bring large numbers of people together under one idea is extraordinary and groundbreaking. Using interactive communications that use traditional media such as television and written journalism, alongside the Internet and social networks, is now considered a key element in achieving the desired results of one campaign or another.

You can see that there are a number of key principles for the success of a marketing campaign and making it viral: 

Reliability- The organization must show its customers that the "promise" that heads the campaign can indeed come to fruition, and that it is as attractive as it actually sounds.

Low financial investment – One of the main advantages of public relations activity and managing social networks in a sophisticated way is that there is no need to pay more to achieve more.

Focusing on content rather thanmovement – combining the number of posts about the campaign, the quality content that will be uploaded in them, are the ones that will lead the campaign to great success among the target audiences.

Encouraging the target audience to share the information independently– the organization must produce a campaign in which users will be involved in distributing the contentnaturally (e.g., uploading personal videos to a dedicated website and sharing them), when doing so will expand the virality of the campaign and encourage organic promotion.

To give the promotion efforts a shelflife – the organization must create a situation in which the campaign will stimulate public and media discourse, beyond its allotted time in the first place, when it is the real secret to successover time.

Network stars - they influence the mindset, which we all want to emulate and follow. Let them have the tourist experience and write about it, through their eyes.  Reach out to network stars that suit your target audiences. Define with them precisely the scope and nature of the publication. Let the public see you through them.

Branding cities is a long and professional process. This is a courageous process by authorities, who choose to emphasize certain qualities at the expense of other qualities.

Today, most local authorities provide services of a similar nature of differentquality.

City differentiation allows:

• Attract better populations to the city.
• Obtain government budgets to promote various projects.
• Strengthen the locality - patriotism of the inhabitants.
• Strengthen domestic tourism and foreign tourism.
• Make strategic decisions based on a long-term overall view that allows the city to be clearly positioned.

 Branding of local authorities is done through:

• Building strong anchors and significant activities that support branding
• Emphasizing environmental development
• Create a sense of pride- unit-sharing residents
• Change negative stigma if present
• Building a stable and positive image
• Embossing benefits 
• Exposure of action, local and national level
• Highlighting the key areas in which the Authority wants to brand itself

 Urban branding is reflected on 5 main levels:

• Visual symbols – logo, slogan, stationery, municipal signage, website, managing pages on social networks, etc.
• The physical field – the authority building, signage in the authority, the contours, TPS, dedicated projects.
• The social sphere – emphasis on curation programs, holding events, relevant festivals and conferences, cultural and artistic institutions, cooperation with the third sector.
• Contact with business entities – promoting and emphasizing cooperation with business entities that represent the city's values and strengthen the brand.
• Marketing and public relations – exposure in leading media, with significant reference to social networks.

 Five criteria for evaluating the success of the branding process:

• Ambitious and realistic – Quality branding presents a snapshot that reflects the city's vision as translated into prominent physical and social projects, and sharpens values that exist to some extent in the Authority
• Creative and innovative – underlying branding original and realistic view of brand values and marketing process
• Relevant over time – branding will be relevant and effective even in the next decade
• Translated into measuring projects – underlying the branding process at least 5 significant projects supporting it
• Well-connected in and out – branding is well connected on all levels of the organization as part of its marketing to the external environment

And important tips!!

Not every authority or regional council should brand itself with one particular emphasis. Like sports city, health city, etc.  Not all cities are fit and proper. 

Proper branding is a branding that takes into account the entire population of the city. Watch out for a move that concentrates on only one central population.

Don't forget, who chooses you!! It is true that the image of the city is extremely important and significant to its development and to the residents. However, put the residents first and foremost.

Switching is one of the significant moves for the authority. Don't do this without professionals and strategists and certainly without resident sharing.

Following an internship we have accumulated in donor recruitment and the establishment and maintenance of friend associations for dozens of research bodies, academia, medicine and the third sector, we have formulated a number of rules for producing a profitable donation event for nonprofits:

Times: The decision to hold an event should take into account major events that will take place such as holidays, exchanges of government and special days when the possibility of participation in the eventdecreases.

Location : A central location will result in higher participation in the event.

Artists: The more well-known artists you can recruit for the event, the greater its attractiveness.

It's right to use a public relations firm to recruit artists. Many artisans are identified with helping victims of terrorism, cancer patients or helping refugees. A public relations firm knew how to map the artists you would contact – according to the nature of the association.

Communications - Try to build an event that is in the first place, in cooperation with central media.

Production: Evening production is a significant stage in the event.

Important: Try to close ticket sales through a professional body – which the audience turns to independently, try to use the mailing and the address of the hall where the event takes place – tothe subscription club for fishing.

Refreshments: It is not mandatory to offer refreshmentsto participants.

Pricing: It is right to sell the expensive tickets earlier andonly then sell the cheaper tickets.

Panic: There is no need to panic if there is a lot of time left until the event and thetickets are not kidnapped.

Centralized buying: Offeremployees, high-tech companies and other commercial companies to buy tickets for the event.

Advertising: In many leading media, slots are left available and they are given to nonprofits as donations or at verylow prices – take advantage of this!

Spirit ofthe Association: Set up a small booth with stewards at the entrance to the event and recruit newsupporters to the association.

Public Relations: If you do not have a permanent public relations office- try to send independently to thenewspaper, internet, television and radio systems - informing the event and the association.

The speakers: During the event- we organized the order of the speakers at the beginning of the event – no more than two or three – the public's memorydeserves to enjoy the event and not hear speeches.

Thepersona: The object of the donation should come up and say a few short and exciting words.

Preparing ahead for a crisis situation and preparing an effective crisis procedure will enable the company to respond quickly and properly, to act well and prevent possible collapse and image crushing.

Proper preparation for crisis situations in many organizations will also help prevent the next crisis. During the staging phase, you need to check vulnerabilities in your organization, prepare all teams of employees for possible scenarios, analyze previous crises, and learn from them. Refresh security practices, report faults and more.

With the outbreak of a significant media crisis, a public interest, during which many companies , even during this period, are conducted incorrectly. The same companies are in no hurry to keep the public informed on time and do not reveal the whole truth about why it led to the crisis (hopefully it may all pass, without being discovered), some struggle with the media, ignore initial media turns and hide behind vague legal arguments. They also show no transparency, prefer to accept the advice of legal advisors over media consultants, and generally show no leadership and responsibility.

The outgoing verb: ignoring the most important factor – severely damaging the company's image in the eyes of consumers and massive, sometimes irreversible, harm to their trust.

It is important to understand that much of the handling of the crisis is done in front of the media. The real crisis and Tybo was set, in fact, in the media. Therefore, it is important to take into account that the best strategic weapons in the company's hands proper conduct will prevent the "resonance effect" and the out-of-control "domino effect."

You can see three key stages when managing the crisis:

First hours

Continued handling of the crisis

Restoration of the company's image (in this article, I will refer to the first two stages)

Each stage has different characteristics, critical response times, and each of these stages must be treated with seriousness, according to a pre-prepared procedure.

Here are some ironclad rules for a company in crisis:

Always true: There is a high importance in early readiness for a crisis outbreak

Preparation inadvance – In order to prevent panic and dysfunction, a crisis must be prepared in advance.

A spokesperson for the company must be decided in advance to stand up to the media in a time of crisis: a CEO/subject of a relevant role, with high expression abilities who will provide a uniform response, a figure identified with the brand.

Act quickly – an initial and immediate response is of crucial significance.

Take responsibility!!! - After the outbreak of the crisis, you must take responsibility and make a sincere apology.

Empathize with customers– If you do not want your customers to 'abandon ship' in the wake of the crisis, you must show them thatyou understand their hearts and that there is someone behind the product/service.

Offer compensation as needed - mistakes happen, even the public is willing to absorb mistakes, if they feel that the apology is sincere, and that an effort is made to repair the damage done.

Appoint factors in the company to directly link with employees and all significant external suppliers.

A neutral external body packet for examining the affair - even in personal life, we cannot at any given moment judge our steps, which is also not an objective opinion.

Formulating a plan to raisethe company's image after the crisis – after the damage has been done, it is time toconsolidate the pieces.

All steps must be taken with the close guidance of the communications consultant, who is familiar with the various issues that may arise as a result of a possible crisis and knows the media map about Boria.