Monday, December 06, 2010

Thumbs-Down to Facebook-Only Travel Promos

And now, here's my Monday morning rant: I hate Facebook-only travel promotions!

I don't use Facebook and as much as my friends all tell me it's a great way to keep in touch with family and colleagues, I just don't seem to have the bandwidth to add yet one more social network to my daily routine. I tried it last spring and I pulled the plug after only a few days.

Fast-forward to Fall 2010: many, many travel companies seem to forget that not everyone is on Facebook. I've been disappointed a lot lately when I click on a link from a Twitter message expecting to see a cruise photo gallery or information about a trip to only get the loathed Facebook sign-in page. I don't want to join in order to access this information. Can't these companies also post it to their websites or blogs?

I know, I know. They're trying to leverage all types of social media and communications methods, but I feel that us Facebook-free individuals are losing out. Of course I can simply sign up for a FB account so I can take part in travel contests and other promos. I just don't want to. Bah, humbug!

For those of you who have adopted Facebook, any tips for how to minimize the message explosion from those you're connected to? Am I really missing the boat here? I'd love to hear from those who feel they can't live without Facebook. I need to be convinced!

—Andrea M. Rotondo for LuxuryCruiseBible.com

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hear, hear! I agree wholeheartedly. A company must be doing quite well who can get by on Facebook-only advertising. They will apparently do quite well without my business, then. But I really cannot imagine any savvy marketing person limiting him or herself in this way. And I cannot imagine one of the luxury lines being so short-sighted. That's not where their market spends their internet time. Please identify who's doing this.