Ritz Carlton, Hyatt and American Airlines all perform well on social, at least according to the latest rankings by social media performance indexer eValue Analytics.
The company provides a ranking algorithm that measures brand performance on social and then benchmarks it against a competitive set. The specifics on how the ranking is delivered is, of course, the secret sauce; in broad strokes, the company builds the score rankings according to the engagement with the audience, impact of the content at large and responsiveness of the brand.
Top hotel chains
Hotels were ranked according to the above metrics on both Facebook and Twitter, which revealed that the top performer was the Ritz-Carlton. The hotel brand was number one on Facebook and number two on Twitter, mirroring its core brand commitment to a responsive and personalized experience. The brand's Twitter is a colorful stream of inspiring photos alongside fast response times.
Hyatt Hotels took the top spot on Twitter but was much further down the line on Facebook, coming in at number eight. This could indicate a lack of commitment to the platform in the way that the brand uses Twitter and is definitely a place for improvement. On Twitter, the brand has seen success with its #HyattAllIn promotion that encourages users to publish more about their brand experience.
As would be expected, the top ten is populated mostly by hotels with a strong commitment to customer service and a reputation for providing a certain level of excellence. One big surprise was Drury Hotels rounding out the top ten on Facebook. This value chain is performing exceptionally well on social, especially given its core brand position.
Top airlines
Airlines have a vital customer service tool on social media, one that allows it to respond quickly to developing issues before they steamroll out of control. Social also offers an additional channel to alleviate pressure on gate agents and call centers during travel exceptions.
American Airlines wins across the board by focusing on its heritage and using visual multimedia to sell its story on both Facebook and Twitter. The Twitter page also features a fast response time to issues, although sometimes the tone is a bit scrubbed and sanitized, such as this slightly passive aggressive tweet from a flyer which was responded to in a way that doesn't quite create satisfaction:
https://twitter.com/elizhoyt/status/580764778475462657/photo/1
The proper response here when succeeding at social would have been for the Twitter account manager to contact FlightOps and relay the issue directly to the plane. With JetBlue's new flight attendant app, this could actually be a reality. It will be interesting to watch if JetBlue rising in the rankings as its flight attendants become directly connected to the full flight operations system.
Top OTAs
This category is especially interesting, as travel aggregators have an enormous imperative to continually engage customers on social media: they want to be top-of-mind during the booking phase of that next trip. And as the OTAs push travelers off to the customer service structures of the brands it sells, the social media marketing component is a pure-play inspiration game.
Travelocity and Orbitz are both new members of the Expedia family, meaning that Expedia is now dominating the top ten across both platforms with the solid performance of other company brands such as Hotels. Priceline
Priceline posts a mediocre overall performance in this particular ranking, which means it has plenty of room to improve its approach to engagement, impact and responsiveness on social.
Airbnb is also included in this survey and fares well on Twitter while not showing up at all on Facebook's top ten.
RELATED: Why airlines must rethink their social media strategies
NB: Bullhorn image courtesy Shutterstock.