Socialising travel brands
Travel consumer behaviour is undergoing what looks to be a permanent shift, and the way consumers react to and interact with businesses may never be the same. Social media is the hub of this new relationship, says eMarketer, and, as a result, travel marketers are looking to be more social in 2012. “Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all social media marketing strategy for engaging these conversation-ready consumers, especially for travel companies,” says Dan Marcec, eMarketer analyst and author of a new report, Social Media For Travel Marketers: Cultivating Conversation To Capture Customer Sentiment.
eMarketer cites an ROI Research survey – S-Net: A Study in Social Media Usage & Behaviour – which found that more than half of US fans of travel brands and companies ‘like’ or follow such brands because they want something in return – specifically deals or information on deals.
“Offering incentives like coupons and discounts certainly works to build a fan base,” says Marcec. “But while a high number of fans and followers was widely considered the measure of success in the early days of social media, simply seeking to gain them for numbers’ sake may not be the best strategy in 2012, as the economy continues to limp back from recession.”
