ОНЛАЙН-КОММУНИКАЦИИ В ПРОДВИЖЕНИИ ТЕРРИТОРИАЛЬНОГО БРЕНДА

Communication is the process of transferring information from one person or group of people to another, with the aim of conveying a certain meaning and influencing the interlocutor.

In the modern world, with the development of information technology and the Internet, a new concept has emerged - online communication. Online communication is the process of information exchange between people via the Internet. It allows people to communicate over long distances and also provides an opportunity for faster and more efficient exchange of information.

One of the key aspects of online communication is the ability to create and maintain a territorial identity. Territorial identity is a sense of belonging to a particular territory, which can be linked to feelings of patriotism, national pride or simply love of one's home.

Today, consumers are spending more and more time online. They actively use online platforms to search for information, compare products and services, read reviews and communicate with other users. At this point, a brand presence in the online space is essential to get noticed and stay competitive.

‘Salt Lake is a territorial health tourism brand.

The brand was named in honor of a monument of regional significance - Lake Solenoye, located in the Berdyuzhsky District of the Tyumen Region. This lake is a significant natural heritage site and has a special ecological and tourist potential.

The tourist potential of Solyonogo Lake is quite great. Here you can spend time in nature, go fishing, organise a picnic on the shore or simply enjoy the beauty of the surrounding nature. In summer, up to 700 tourists come to the lake per day. This is connected, first of all, with the trend that is developing everywhere - tourist's orientation towards recovery.

The brand concept is built on four ‘waves’: wellness, glamping, hilling and conscious consumption. The brand not only offers a variety of entertainment and recreational opportunities, but also supports the values of a healthy lifestyle, respect for nature and careful consumption of resources.

The use of online communication is of great importance for the development of a tourism brand. Tourists are increasingly turning to the internet to find information about places of interest to them. Online channels provide them with a quick and convenient way to access information about destinations, entertainment, hotels, restaurants, etc.

In addition, social media plays a key role in building the image of a tourism brand. Users actively share reviews, photos and recommendations about their travelling experiences on social media, which creates a powerful effect of influencing other users. Online communications provide an opportunity for prompt interaction with customers, solving their questions and problems, which helps to improve the level of service and customer satisfaction, and contributes to the formation of loyalty to the brand.

Thus, the use of online communications is a necessary element of a successful strategy for the development of a tourism brand in today's digital world.

The natural monument of regional significance is known not only in the Tyumen Oblast, tourists from all over Russia are interested in it, often visited by guests from the Central, Siberian, Ural and Volga Federal Districts, Krasnodar, Altai Krai, Moscow, St. Petersburg.

Thus, in the course of content analysis of queries related to the recreational brand ‘Lake Solenoe’, important trends have been identified, which are of great importance for the formation of an effective marketing strategy and the development of online brand communications. The analysis of queries has shown that interest in the lake and its recreational opportunities is maintained in different seasons of the year, but the peak of user activity is noted in the warm months. This confirms the need to adapt marketing campaigns and online communications depending on the time of year, focusing on seasonal offers and events. Also, the target audience is wide, covering tourists from all over Russia. This certainly opens up new opportunities to promote the brand and attract tourists from different regions of the country.

At the moment, the organisation limits its online presence to the VKontakte platform only. VKontakte is the largest social network in Russia, founded in 2006. It allows users to share messages, news, photos, videos and music, as well as to create and join various communities.

The organisation runs a community dedicated to Lake Solenoye in VKontakte, which has 1,661 subscribers. The community was created on 6 June 2021. Detailed information about the organisation and the lake is not provided in the community description, as well as contact details. The main content of the community on the VKontakte platform is represented by various posts, such as renting houses and gazebos, information about the beginning of the season, congratulations on holidays, searching for employees, rules of behavior on the territory, forwarding posts from groups related to Berdyuzhsky district and similar announcements. Photo and video content is represented by stock images, clippings from news reports about the lake, raw photos of the lake itself and the surrounding area. There are no thematic menus, discussions, articles, clips, reports, photo and video albums, or visual design of the community.

A positive aspect of this approach is the ability to provide up-to-date information on offers, events and services, which helps to inform subscribers quickly. In addition, this approach helps to establish a transparent relationship with consumers by providing information about the terms and conditions of services. Holiday greetings and other informative messages can help strengthen the connection with the audience and build a positive image, which can influence visitor loyalty in the long run.

However, this approach to content can have many negative aspects. For example, lack of variety: constant posting of adverts can lead to monotonous content, which does not encourage users to return to the brand page and does not attract new subscribers. Lack of engagement - adverts about renting or looking for employees may be useful to a limited audience, but they rarely drive user engagement. As a result, this leads to low engagement on the page and reduced organic visibility in users' feeds. Lack of entertaining content: social media users are often looking for entertaining content that can be a source of inspiration, humor or positive vibes. The lack of such content often results in a loss of interest from the audience. The organisation's page lacks tools to attract new followers. Announcements about internal processes may be of little interest to current and new subscribers, who are not looking for information about the company, but for an opportunity for quality relaxation and entertainment.

The organisation's online feedback to visitors is also ineffective for a number of reasons. The organisation does not provide enough convenient avenues for feedback, which makes it difficult to communicate with visitors. For example, the lack of separate forms for feedback in the VKontakte group, which prevents visitors from expressing their opinions or asking questions. Also, lack of response to feedback in comments under posts in the group, which contributes to loss of motivation for visitors to communicate with the organisation and share opinions and suggestions. For feedback to work effectively, it is necessary to provide convenient ways of communication, quick and constructive feedback from the organisation, as well as transparency and openness in dialogue with visitors.

Having analysed the current online communications of the Salt Lake brand, recommendations have been developed to improve the brand's online communication strategy with the target audience.

Recommendations include:

• Collaborations with Influencers as they have significant influence with the target audience. Collaboration with them will allow to convey the unique features of Solenoye Lake through authentic experiences and recommendations, attracting the attention of new tourists. Influencers include: Yana Dobrovolskaya, Miss Russia 2016, leads an active lifestyle, travels around Russia and the world, does sports, Svetlana Zakharova, a popular Tyumen blogger, personal brand and Instagram account management coach. Loves the Tyumen Region and is actively involved in its development.
• Cooperation with tourism organisations: partnership with organisations specialising in tourism will create an additional channel for attracting attention to the lake. Exchange of information and packages will expand Solenoye Lake as a popular holiday destination. There is an information centre ‘Visit Tyumen’, which tells and shows the most interesting and topical events in the Tyumen region. Seeks to co-operate with companies and brands developing tourism in the region.
• Co-operation with online media: as part of the recommendations, partnership with such publications as Tyumenskaya Oblast Segodnya, Moi Portal, Tyumenskoye Vremya. These media have a wide audience, some of whom are interested in events and activities taking place in the Tyumen Oblast. Within the framework of cooperation, it is possible to conduct special projects, write joint articles, organise events. Reports about Solenom Lake in mass media can help to attract tourists and locals if they emphasise the uniqueness and importance of this place.
• Adding the place to geolocation maps: Adding Salt Lake to geolocation maps can greatly increase the visibility of the place and attract more tourists. Tourists will be able to find the lake on maps and read its features, photos and reviews from other tourists, plan their trips considering the location of the lake in their itinerary. It is important that the information on the geolocation maps is up to date and complete. It is recommended to add information about the lake being a natural monument, as well as its history and therapeutic properties. It is also possible to indicate the presence of environmental and energy saving measures taken at the lake.

The study of the theoretical foundations of communications and territorial identity of the brand ‘Solenoe Lake’ allowed to get a deep understanding of the brand features and values necessary for the development of an effective online communications strategy. Analysing the current online communications of the brand, revealed the strengths and weaknesses of the existing approach. The recommendations developed for creating an effective online communication strategy include expanding the brand's presence on various platforms, defining a clear and compelling identity, and most importantly, continuously engaging with the audience to determine their needs and interests. The research paper proposes specific steps to create an effective online communication strategy to strengthen the position of the Salt Lake brand and increase its visibility and appeal to the target audience.

The development of a comprehensive online communication strategy, including the use of various online platforms, the implementation of PR campaigns and special projects, is a key aspect of successful promotion of the Lake Solenoe brand. A properly planned and implemented strategy will help to increase brand awareness, attract new customers and strengthen relationships with existing audiences.