Madison and Huntsville are driving the social media generation
Leigh Thigpen with the Madison Chamber of Commerce updates the chamber’s Facebook page. The chamber utilizes many social media tools to interact with their members. (RECORD PHOTO/ALDO AMATO)
By Aldo Amato
Staff Reporter
MADISON — Social media has forever changed the way businesses and cities connect with each other and both the cities of Madison and Huntsville have now adapted to using various social media tools to help build better relationships.
As Huntsville/Madison County prepares to go head-to-head with Cleveland, OH for the 2013 Social Media Tourism Symposium, the focus on social media has expanded throughout the Tennessee Valley.
Jessica Carlton, Marketing Manager with the Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said that tools like Twitter and Facebook have been vital tools to promoting tourism and events throughout the county.
“We use it to get the word out of all the great events there is to do in Huntsville and Madison County,” she said. “We use tools like Twitter, Facebook and are trying to expand so we just recently created a Tumbler account. Tumbler is a great visual tool to get pictures out there.”
Carlton said that both Facebook and Twitter along with other social media tools can go hand-in-hand when promoting upcoming events and attractions.
“A part of any social media plan includes both of those,” she said. “It depends on the market and the audience and many people have their favorite. It also depends on how you want to get the message out there. On Twitter, you are limited to only 140 characters while on Facebook, you have much more room to expand your message.”
Leigh Thigpen, Events, Marketing & Communications Coordinator, said that the chamber uses tools like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and blogging tools to send out notices of upcoming ribbon cuttings, grand openings and special chamber events.
Thigpen is in charge of all the social media tools at the Madison Chamber of Commerce. (RECORD PHOTO/ALDO AMATO)
“Those tools are fantastic in promoting events and getting the word out,” she said. “Twitter is growing by the day and we use that to follow all of our chamber members. We recently started using Constant Contact to send out email reminders also. So there are many tools we use at the chamber to help create a more effective atmosphere.”
Kelly Schrimsher, Director of Communications for Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, said that the city recently implemented Imagine Huntsville, a social media tool used to engage residents in a conversation to improve the city landscape.
“We are partnering with other organizations throughout Huntsville and all of them are realizing the connectivity,” she said. “We know that the public wants to engage in a conversation and be more alert. What’s fascinating is that research has found that on the lower end of the economic scale, people are buying a smartphone. So we’re looking at these alert systems on smartphones to get the word out quicker. ”
Schrimsher said the city has had a Facebook account for six years and has it’s own Twitter account. Mayor Tommy Battle has his own personal Twitter account and Schrimsher said he “tweets all the time and posts pictures live from events.”
“We have embraced all of the social media tools and in order to do social media well, you have to be fully committed to updating it,” she said. “That is what the City of Huntsville is committed to do.”
For more information, follow the Madison Chamber of Commerce at @madisonALcc, the Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau at @Go2HuntsvilleAL and the City of Huntsville at @huntsvillecity on Twitter.
