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Late last week The Huffington Post, one of the most widely-read sites in the English-speaking world, posted an article about the most talked about travel destinations on Facebook. I’ve lost track of how many times the article, read it here, has been shared on Facebook by just my network – more than 100 shares the last time I did some fancy counting – nevermind how many times it’s been tweeted. Why? Penticton, my home base, made the list, the only Canadian destination to do so.

The data for this list was collated by Uptake, a website — rather, it looks to be a new social network in beta form — that bills itself as helping you “uncover your social travel network on Facebook, identifying those friends that have been to the destination you are researching and allowing you to ask for recommendations and tips from those you trust…the largest independent travel research site, helping more than 30 million travelers research their trips in 2011.” I’ve now joined.

So how does a small town in the middle of British Columbia, far from urbanity, with a largely non-social media-savvy population, get so much traffic on Facebook? Here are some handy dandy tips if you’d like to get your destination noticed.

TIP NUMBER ONE: Be a honey badger. Badger, badger, badger people and businesses who may not be enthused about social media, or who are afraid of it, to not just start accounts, but educate themselves on best practices and how to use social media to engage users outside of your local circle.

TIP NUMBER TWO: Ignore people who roll their eyes and tell you to stop badgering them (see step one) about social media.

TIP NUMBER THREE: Demystify social media by offering educational opportunities (see Eat.Drink.Tweet.) at a variety of levels for both individuals and businesses, from learning the basics of setting up accounts and managing privacy, to developing strategies and measuring reach.

TIP NUMBER FOUR: Take advantage of big things like worldwide Cabernet Day from big thinkers like Rick Bakas. This photo of a wine glass taken at a Cabernet Day tweetup in Penticton (the view is from Poplar Grove Winery), was viewed 700 times. In five minutes. An upcoming big social media thing in Penticton:  the 2013 North American Wine Bloggers Conference.

TIP NUMBER FIVE: Like Amway or Katy Perry’s parents … recruit converts. Penticton is on this list not merely because it’s a fabulous destination, but because social media put it there. Because organizations like Penticton & Wine Country Tourism, the Downtown Penticton Association, the Naramata Bench Wineries Association (full disclosure, all clients) and fellow marketers like DogLeg Marketing — who encourages its clients Cannery Brewing, the Similkameen Wineries Association and a number of other businesses in Penticton to get on Facebook and Twitter — recognize the value of social media, maintain their accounts, run contests, keep up the Facebook chatter and bring in expert help to move forward when needed.

The title of a social media panel I’ll be on at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival says it all:  “You’ll tell two friends…”.