It’s official: Google loves South Africa, or at least, users on the search giant’s social platform, Google+, certainly do. South African Tourism’s Google+ page, Love South Africa, has topped 150 000 followers.
The page, which was started in April 2013, has grown rapidly over the past year (it reached 100 000 in July), to become one of the fastest growing South African pages on Google+, with one of the biggest followings in South Africa. In fact, the number of followers on the page has grown so much that Google verified the page in September, a great piece of recognition for South African Tourism.
While nearly a third of the page’s followers are in South Africa (some 49 000), it also enjoys a strong following in the United States (37 000 followers).
The page is managed by Flow Communications, which recently picked up four New Generation Social and Digital Media awards for its work for South African Tourism – among them, the award for best use of social media loyalty for the #MeetSouthAfrica campaign, in which international bloggers travelled the country, sharing their experiences on social media.
Project manager, Gail Cameron says the page’s popularity has been driven by great content. “The Love South Africa Google+ page has seen phenomenal growth due to fresh, relevant, engaging and always beautiful content. Regular updates, creating conversations and curating existing content are a key part of our Google+ strategy,” she says.
The head of Flow’s content studio, Melanie Feris, says working with the Google+ content has been a remarkable experience. “I love Google+ and get lost in there for hours. It’s such a great destination marketing tool, more people should be using it as a tool to market their travel and tourism products,” she says.
South African Tourism decided to celebrate reaching the 150 000 mark by popping the cork on some bubbly with the help of Simonsig. The celebrated winemaker is giving away a case of its sparkling wine, Kaapse Vonkel, to one of Love South Africa’s Google+ followers as part of a social media activation soon. Follow the page to take part.
