Interesting (and refreshingly not self-serving) study by media planning and buying agency Total Media paints a good and very concise picture of how the travel sector is being affected by social media.
The report's author and joint managing director at TM, Nick Oram, selected six key trends to demonstrate the impact on research, search and booking behaviour as a result of changes in the sociability of consumers, driven primarily - and understandably - by the web.
Drive word-of-mouth and capture experience: Travel marketing used to be essentially about running advertising campaigns and then driving bookings. Now, your customer experience is the most important and influential asset you have. This trend demands change from the industry. Marketing should now seek to engage customers right through the process, encouraging travellers to talk about their experience online and share it through review sites and other platforms. This might be done through a social network or community for travellers, a direct mail, or a competition that encourages travellers to share. It might be as simple as emailing them and asking. This kind of information can even be incorporated on your site for a really honest approach.
Channel the massive demand: There is so much consumer-driven demand, it’s possible to drive significant business by just channelling this demand into bookings. Prior to the web and search, consumer demand and their ideas and inspiration were untracked and unrecorded. Now, we can see the whole purchase journey, providing an unparalleled opportunity for travel companies of every size.
Traditional advertising inspires: Far from being an irrelevance in this demand-driven landscape, advertising can inspire. It also helps signpost and re-direct demand into bookings. It’s just not the final decisionmaker it used to be.
Active search strategy is critical: Search is the number one place for travel inspiration, ideas and information. If you are not visible on search you will be missing out on business. Think of all search access points including maps, mobile and location based.
You must be active in the reviews ecosystem: And this doesn’t mean “faking it”. It means being active on review sites, to thank customers, or to deal with complaints promptly. It means tracking commentary online and reaching out to people that have talked about your product. It means encouraging customers to review and share their experiences online.
Think again about the concept of the influencer: The influencer has been redefined. The older, more mainstream consumer is key. This means redefining targeting when looking for people to talk about your products. The fact is that young, very socially engaged consumers who are active on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are too busy networking to actively review all their experiences.
- Drive word-of-mouth and capture experience: Travel marketing used to be essentially about running advertising campaigns and then driving bookings. Now, your customer experience is the most important and influential asset you have. This trend demands change from the industry. Marketing should now seek to engage customers right through the process, encouraging travellers to talk about their experience online and share it through review sites and other platforms. This might be done through a social network or community for travellers, a direct mail, or a competition that encourages travellers to share. It might be as simple as emailing them and asking. This kind of information can even be incorporated on your site for a really honest approach.
- Channel the massive demand: There is so much consumer-driven demand, it’s possible to drive significant business by just channelling this demand into bookings. Prior to the web and search, consumer demand and their ideas and inspiration were untracked and unrecorded. Now, we can see the whole purchase journey, providing an unparalleled opportunity for travel companies of every size.
- Traditional advertising inspires: Far from being an irrelevance in this demand-driven landscape, advertising can inspire. It also helps signpost and re-direct demand into bookings. It’s just not the final decisionmaker it used to be.
- Active search strategy is critical: Search is the number one place for travel inspiration, ideas and information. If you are not visible on search you will be missing out on business. Think of all search access points including maps, mobile and location based.
- You must be active in the reviews ecosystem: And this doesn’t mean “faking it”. It means being active on review sites, to thank customers, or to deal with complaints promptly. It means tracking commentary online and reaching out to people that have talked about your product. It means encouraging customers to review and share their experiences online.
- Think again about the concept of the influencer: The influencer has been redefined. The older, more mainstream consumer is key. This means redefining targeting when looking for people to talk about your products. The fact is that young, very socially engaged consumers who are active on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are too busy networking to actively review all their experiences.
Understandably - given the agency authorship - the report does indicate what marketers in particular should consider doing as part of their wider media strategy, using a five-stage process:
Create Inspiration:
- Mass media advertising
- Mass media PR
- Social content (video, blogs)
Capture Demand:
- Sign posting - online advertising
- SEO/SEM
- Social media outreach
- Social content
Channel Demand:
- Sign posting - online advertising
- SEO/SEM
- Social media outreach
- Social content
Channel Demand II:
- Sign posting - online advertising
- SEO/SEM
- Social media outreach
- Review site engagement
Collect Experience:
- Pop-up - social networks
- Mechanics to encourage consumer sharing (competition)
- Mechanics to encourage reviews
Good report overall. A consumer survey ahead of the report was carried out among 1,400 people in the UK. The results of the survey were not earth-shattering.