Things the Incredible India Campaign Can Learn from Discover Australia

Riding high on the social media wave, the Indian government has decided to embrace social media platforms in many a sphere, tourism being just one of those.

The Incredible India campaign which began with the single minded resolve to position India as a preferred tourist destination for Indians as well as people across the globe took the plunge in to the social media sphere earlier this year.

Let me start by saying, that my objective with this post is not to criticize the Incredible India campaign but to make a case for better engagement for the campaign through ideas, insights and inspiration from the Discover Australia campaign, the latter being a more social media savvy campaign.

The Incredible India Campaign on Social Media right now…

Facebook: The Incredible India Campaign has a Facebook page since April this year.  The campaign itself has two sub-campaigns which are currently on going, Atithidevo Bhava and Clean India campaign. Both campaigns have launched their websites and have some social media presence. The Incredible India Facebook page has linked the websites of Atithidevo Bhava and Clean India to its Facebook page.

The Facebook pages of Atithidevo Bhava and Clean India are also functional.  The Atithidevo Bhava Facebook page mainly has pictures and short descriptions of the destinations shown in the pictures.  While the Clean India Facebook page had some images and videos of activities being conducted for Clean India.

Twitter: Coming to Twitter, when last checked at IST 17.30 hours the @incredibleindia, the official Twitter handle of the of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India’s Incredible India Campaign, there were no Tweets.

 YouTube: The advertising campaigns and short videos of the three campaigns have been uploaded on You Tube.  An example of the state campaigns under the aegis of Incredible India ">can be viewed here.

Together with other major campaigns like ">Incredible India 2012 video, there's the Atithi Devo Bhava Campaign " target="_blank">featuring Aamir Khan Video and the " target="_blank">Clean India Campaign video on You Tube.

What We Can Learn From Discover Australia

Though the campaign has made its social media foray there is still a lot that can be done to make the campaigns more interesting, impactful and engaging.  Here are some ideas and insights from the Discover Australia social media campaigns:

Involvement: 

Powered by the ‘Discover Australia through Your Friends’ app is the first in the world to blend Google Maps and Facebook technology, a valuable tool for involvement whereby regular Aussies are set to become virtual travel agents thanks to the app.

How does it work?  The app provides a location-specific picture of where friends have previously checked-in, the app allows users to tap into travelling insights of their peers through the photos and can send messages to ask more about the destination and get their recommendations.

Involvement is the key to successfully engaging with fans on social media and through this app, Discover Australia is harnessing the power of its Facebook fans in a unique way.

The Power of Pictures:

Instead of simply posting pictures with descriptions, Discover Australia on Facebook uses pictures to engage and involve fans.  Its Friday Fan picture albums showcases pictures taken by fans every Friday instead of simply sharing pictures from the campaign is one example.

I also came across an interesting photo contest on their page inviting people to send in an amazing Australian travel pictures to win a $10,000 holiday.

Using Multiple Platforms :   

The Discover Australia makes full use of multiple social media platforms and widens its reach and impact through this move. …Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google +, Pintrest, YouTube, Weibo, QQ, Sina and Tudou.

They are either there or plan to be there soon.  This endeavor will be supported with targeted advertisements on Facebook.  Tourism Australia plans to measure the quantitative effectiveness of the social media activity through the level of engagement and reposts by other fans and branded pages and qualitatively through comments, feedback and fan posts.

Innovative Tab Application:  

With apps making waves everywhere, the There’s nothing like Australia appwhich iscompatible with iPad and Android™ platforms and is presented in the form of a rich interactive coffee table book about Australia is another great tool for engagement.

Launched in June this year, the app presents travel stories based on key locations in each State and Territory highlighted in the campaign.  Developed by PadWorx Digital Media Inc with inspiring multimedia content and intuitive functionality, the app showcases the locations featured in the new broadcast film for the campaign.

Success with a social media campaign comes from the ability to involve people, generate curiosity, partnering and using technology to get out there and make a mark.

While the incredible India campaign and its secondary campaigns on social media are still just a few months old, they can get so much better with time and inspiration!