The Travel Marketer's Guide to Social Media and Social Networks - (Page 1) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY wo-thirds of your online customers are using social media. They like to meet, interact and have dialogue online while they shop and purchase travel products and services. Are you talking to them yet? Social media and social networking it's all about customer engagement. While consumer reviews have certainly captured the attention of travel marketers, it's not just about consumers spouting the good and bad of their travel tales and travails. There is a much bigger story to tell. The highest and best use of social media – and the way in which a travel marketer can most effectively respond to consumer commentary on the well known review sites is to engage customers and prospects in conversations to understand their needs, to develop relationships and to interact with them before a purchase, during the purchase process, and after a purchase is made. This conversation may begin with customer reviews but a savvy marketer will take it well past this point. Such conversations can serve to develop and deepen relationships (with customers, intermediaries, influencers) and can be a primary vehicle to create, project, and burnish a brand image. There are powerful tools in the new social media driven environment. The cost to use these tools is relatively low and the impact is high. The tools and approach are accessible to a small hotel or destination, as well as to international brands and global organizations. And the use of social media is not limited in any way to just upscale travelers or to those twenty-something Gen Yers (or Millennials). The same expectations and methods apply to all generational groups and to those traveling on a limited budget. The needs of various customer groups are indeed different, and the methods of execution may vary widely, but the tools available are very similar. Now is the time for the travel industry to dive in, engage its customers and reap the benefits of these relationships. T The Travel Marketer’s Guide to Social Media and Social Networks 1
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