3 Things Tourism Malaysia Can Do To Maximize their RM1.8Million Investment In Social Media

Today, it was announced that the Malaysian government (*cough* taxpayers) will be spending RM1.8million on social media branding for tourism.

I figured if it was RM1.8 million, their Facebook page should be pretty damn spectacular, right?

Well, I have to say I was horribly disappointed.

So, in my humble opinion, here are 3 basic things the ad agency in charge of this campaign, can do to maximize that RM1.8million Malaysian citizens are paying them.

1. Have A More Welcoming Welcome Tab

This was what greeted me when I first landed on the page:

No welcome tab / Like gate is much better than this!

This is what an awesome welcome tab looks like.

And many more. For more resources, you can go check here: http://blog.ewaydirect.com/10-companies-with-amazing-facebook-welcome-tabs/

2. Give people a reason to “Like” you

The current Landing Page says – “Click Like to read the content”. It would work if you HAD exclusive content to begin with.

But when you click “Like”, all you see is this:

So if you aren’t going to offer exclusive content (e.g. a discount for all hotels in Malaysia), stick to basic stuff like…

• Stuff about Malaysia you’re not gonna find on your Lonely Planet guide.
• The most up to date and comprehensive list of events happening ALL OVER MALAYSIA.
• Learn about the best experiences in Malaysia
• The best deals in Malaysia.

Or whatever else really. But a really good reason. Something better than…

1 Destination. So many activities.
1 Experience. So much to treasure
1 Malaysia. So much to discover.

3. Share content that’s relevant to your target audience.

One of the first few things I see when I finally hit the Cuti-Cuti 1Malaysia (it’s a damn long name) wall is this.

Then I see this.

B-B-B-B-B-O-R-I-N-G.

Already, there are 3700+ people who “Like” the page. And so far, none of the content is compelling. If your target audience are tourists who you want to introduce to Malaysia, then…

1. Give me touristy content. Pictures of Malaysia. Events. The top 5 places in Malaysia YOU HAVE TO VISIT. Not “The launch of the fanpage by YB Dato Bla Bla Bla. As a tourist. I don’t give a shit about who the Minister of Tourism is. Or even connecting with the ministry of tourism. I just want to know what I can do there. Why Malaysia is AWESOME.
2. Update in English, at least. Malaysia might not want to admit it, but we’re the only country in the world that uses Bahasa Melayu. If people swing by the Page and see, “Oh foreign language. How will I ever benefit?” and leave. What’s the point?

Have to say, the Georgetown, Penang Facebook Page understands this much better than Tourism Malaysia does. In fact, Tourism Selangor’s Twitter is pretty awesome at providing relevant content as well.

Bonus: A more interesting About Page.

Nuff said.

What do you think? How can Tourism Malaysia spend our RM1.8mil better aside from a Facebook Page & App?