Social Mediain the Travel Industry

Carla Gates, Guest SpeakerVP, Search Marketing & Social Media

SNHUCOM-310-03528

Spring 2013

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Who Am I? And Why Should You Listen to Me Today?

•VP, Search Marketing & Social Media, Grand Circle Travel & OverseasAdventure Travel

•15 years experience in Digital Marketing, specializing in Social Media, Video Marketing, Search Marketing, and Email Marketing.

•Launched 2 blogs, 10 Facebook brand pages, 5 brand Twitter accounts, 2 brand YouTube channels, and 2 brand Pinterest accounts. I’ve grown brand Facebook pages from 1,000 followers to over 30,000 followers in 6 months.

•Personally, I’m on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, Google+ and SlideShare.

• Find me at @CarlaGates247 & linkedin.com/in/carlagates

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WHAT HAPPENED TO CONSUMERS DURING THE PAST

FEW YEARS?WHAT’S DIFFERENT?

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PULL VS. PUSH MARKETING

The New Way: Consumer asks for information; when, where and how he/she wants it.

The Old Way: Brand tells customer when where, and how to spend their money.

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“FINANCIAL CRISES CREATE PARADIGM SHIFTS” (Rachel Botsman, Collaborative Consumption)

“CONSUMERS ARE INCREASINGLY POWERFUL

AND UNPREDICTABLE”( John Gerzema, Spend Shift)

“BRANDS, WHICH FOR SO LONG TOLD THEIR STORY WITH THE MASSIVE VOICE OF ONE-WAY ADVERTISING, NOW FIND CONSUMER CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THEIR PRODUCTS ARE HAPPENING IN BIG, PUBLIC, UNCONTROLLED WAYS”(Steven Rosenbaum, Curation Nation)

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What Will We Talk About Today?

• Why social media in the travel industry ?• How and when do travelers use social media?• Why should travel companies invest in social media?• Which social media platforms are being used in the

travel industry?– Why? What’s the objective?– Who’s doing it well?

• How do review sites like TripAdvisor come into play? • What happens when you get a bad review?• 14 social media best practices for companies in the

travel industry• What’s next?• Resources• Questions

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Why Social Media?1) Social has an impact on search:

a) Google incorporates social data into its results algorithm.

b) “Facebook is processing a billion search queries a day. Because search is evolving, Facebook is perfectly positioned to dominate social search in the future” (Graph Search) - Mark Zuckerberg

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Why Social Media in the Travel Industry?

2) Social Proof (what do you think that means?)

3) Your customers are there.• When it comes to planning, 62% of travelers use the

Internet to research their trip.• 43% read reviews from other travelers.• Post-vacation, 46% of travelers post hotel reviews.• There are > 60 million travel reviews & opinions on

TripAdvisor.• 23% watched travel-related videos.• 24% read travel-related blogs.

Source: PEW Internet & American Life Project

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Social Media Has a Huge Influence on Travel Bookings

• Of those who used social media to research travel plans, only 48% stuck with their original travel plans:– 33% changed their hotel– 10% switched resorts– 10% changed agent/operator/website– 7% holidayed in a different country– 5% switched airlines

Source: World Travel Market 2012 Industry Report

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Why Should Travel Companies Invest in Social Media?[Hint: this is what you tell your boss when he/she asks why your company should have a Facebook page,

or Twitter account, etc.]

1. Awareness– Let travelers know: 1) your company exists and 2)

why it is the best.

2. Sales– Drive prospects and customers to your website to

purchase

3. Retention– Engage your customers constantly so they refer your

company to friends, and reconsider you next time they take a trip.

4. Customer Service

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How do you use Social Media before, during, and after a

trip?

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What’s Going On Here?

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Remember?

1. Awareness– Let travelers know: 1) your company exists and

2) why it is the best.

2. Sales– Drive prospects and customers to your website

to purchase

3. Retention– Engage your customers constantly so they refer your

company to friends, and reconsider you next time they take a trip.

4. Customer Service

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What Social Media Platforms Are Being Used in the Travel Industry?

Why?• Its aspirational and inspirational.• Its demographic is majority women; women book more trips than men.

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Who is Doing Pinterest Well?

What do you like about this?

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What Social Media Platforms Are Being Used in the Travel Industry?

Why?• Its engaging and interactive! You can use it for product promotions; videos; travel photos; traveler stories; quizzes; trivia; historical facts; and contests.• One of the most shared items on Facebook are photos from your recent trip.•Behavioral targeting

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Who is Doing Facebook Well?

What do you like

about this?

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What Social Media Platforms Are Being Used in the Travel Industry?

Why?• Connect with volume of customers• Offer deals• Instant feedback; customer service• Twitter is a search engine (use hashtags!)

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Who is Doing Twitter Well?

What do you like about this?

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What Social Media Platforms Are Being Used in the Travel Industry?

Why?• It helps Google search results. It helps Google search results. It helps Google search results.

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How Do Review Sites Like TripAdvisor Come Into Play?

• There are > 60 million travel reviews on TripAdvisor.– 69 million monthly visitors.

• That means the vacation spot you want is likely on there, AND it’s likely to have a lot of reviews = safety in numbers.

• Remember slide #3 (w/ the ketchup)? Customers WILL write reviews, no matter what you do… so, encourage transparency!

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What happens when you get a bad review? What should a company do?

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How to get good reviews: Listen and respond to your

customers.What keeps them up at night?

What makes them happy?What information is valuable to them?

What’s on their wish lists?

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14 Social Media Best Practices for Companies in the Travel Industry

1. Listen all the time. – Monitoring tools like

Radian6, Adobe Social, Wildfire, Google Alerts

– Watch for hashtags, Facebook tagging, mentions of your brand.

• Are you listening? Did anyone catch my tweet last night?

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14 Social Media Best Practices for Companies in the Travel Industry

2. It’s a conversation (not a one-way message). Listen and respond quickly.

3. Be relevant.4. Be approachable in tone of voice, and usability.5. Be authentic.6. Be generous. (Reward your customers for loyalty.)7. Make it easy to find you in social media. (Integrate your

marketing channels.)8. Be brief. 300 chars will show before FB collapses the remaining

part of the post.9. Be portable. (Mobile-optimized)10. Be committed.11. Be remarkable.12. Be visual = Lots of photos and videos13. Use hashtags14. Use keywords

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What’s Next?• Right now, social media travel interaction is taking place pre-visit for research and post-visit as recommendations.

• Real-time travel social media is the goal. Get travelers to post during their trips.• Issues: Internet access

and data roaming costs

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One more time:Why Should Travel Companies Invest in Social Media?[Hint: this is what you tell your boss when he/she asks why your company should have a Facebook page, or

Twitter account, etc.]

1. Awareness– Let travelers know: 1) your company exists and 2)

why it is the best.

2. Sales– Drive prospects and customers to your website to

purchase

3. Retention– Engage your customers constantly so they refer your

company to friends, and reconsider you next time they take a trip.

4. Customer Service

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Travel Industry Resources

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Questions?What’s your point of

view?

• Find this presentation at slideshare.net/CarlaGates• Follow me on Twitter at

twitter.com/CarlaGates247