Ep. 36: Level Up Your Social Strategy, with Austen Tosone

TravelHotels

Jan 26

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Today, I’m chatting with Austen Tosone, a writer, editor, blogger, YouTuber, and consultant based in New York City. If that sounds like a lot, it’s because it is…such is the life of a digital content creator, as you’ll soon find out.

I first discovered Austen through her newsletter which profiles female entrepreneurs, but then it was Austen’s profile that really stood out at me.

In Austen, I found a person in a parallel industry who moves at the same pace I do, a person who is equal parts creative and analytical, and a person who pours all of that energy into everything she touches (including some swoon-worthy outfit choices).

I want Austen to share her story with you today, because whether you’re new to the travel space, or an industry vet still searching for your purpose, the path isn’t always straight and narrow—Austen’s story is a great example of that.

Today, Austen oversees travel for Jumprope, a video content creation tool and platform. Unless you’ve been living life completely disconnected from tech (and if you are, how in the world are you listening to this?), then you’ve witnessed the power of short form video.

The way I see it, it’s time for we—the hospitality people—to up our game.

Thankfully, Austen is here to guide us. Today, you’ll hear Austen’s story, and then we’ll dive into video, including tips for creating dynamic video content for hotels and travel.

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I really enjoyed my conversation with Austen Tosone. My key takeaways were:

1. As hotel marketers, we need think like an editor, and not an editor that’s refusing to budge on adopting new technologies either. Thinking like an editor requires you to start with the story, and then put the pieces together to make that story impactful. Whether that means hiring people, influencers, or journalists to share your story, or creating that content yourself. When it comes to content creation focus on stories that are inspiring, entertaining, or educational.

2. When it comes to how you’ll share your story, we have three options: written word for readers, visual storytelling for viewers, and audio storytelling for listeners. Think about how your ideal customers are consuming information, and how you might be able to get in front of them by sharing your story in new ways on new platforms.

3. If a picture is worth 1000 words—I think Austen’s with me on this—a video is worth 10,000. So get on there, be adventurous, try new things, like Reels and TikTok, so that you’re meeting your customers, and future customers, where they’re hanging out online. Consider partnering with others who do this better than you can, like travel influencers, who have a built-in audience. You can start creating your own content by experimenting on these new apps with your existing assets library, and agile thumbs—right on your iPhone. As Austen points out, adding music or voiceover to your short form videos is next on the horizon as short form video continues to evolve. Start doing it now to stay ahead of the curve.

What a cool episode. There was a lot there, and I’ve already kicked off some of what Austen prescribed for the hotels I work with. One big win: we got our first client up on TikTok this month. We’ve also started to supplement our static image posts on Instagram with Reels content. Those Reels? They’re performing five to ten times better than feed posts right off the bat. As marketers we have to weigh the effort and the impact, and it seems like the extra effort is worth getting that winning engagement.

Oh, and then there’s Clubhouse. We’ve only just touched on this app. To be honest, I’m still navigating these waters, too. Expect more from me on this new audio-only app, that feels like LinkedIn’s cooler cousin, on future episodes.

As always, keep sharing your stories.