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HowHow
Social Media is changing the Travel Industry?
Social Media, today, is redefining the way travel companies market to consumers and business
prospects. A large number of Travel Companies are increasingly using blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and
other social means to reach customers in a better, more cost-effective manner than traditional
advertising allows.
One thing that is common in the travel industry is how travel is such a personal experience, and how
the best travel experiences don t come from guidebooks. Instead, the best travel experiences are
gained from people you meet along the way that suggest places you would have never discovered
otherwise.
This makes recommendation services a perceptible way
HowHow
Social Media is changing the Travel Industry?
Social media, which includes social networking, user reviews, syndicated videos, and blogs, is expected
to grow the fastest and become the third-largest interactive marketing spend category in five years. The
following figure depicts Forrester s interactive marketing spend forecast.
Travel companies today actively use Twitter, the micro-blogging website, to communicate directly with
their target audience, bypassing traditional public relations vehicles. The immediacy and informality
of Twitter allow marketers to come across as real people, as opposed to faceless companies. More
importantly, however, Twitter allows marketers to listen better to their customers.
Similarly, Facebook has become the one-stop shop for large audience segments that wish to socialize
online. This offer companies to access to highly segmented customers and a natural stage to launch viral
campaigns and new forms of interactive advertising.
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HowHow
Social Media is changing the Travel Industry?
Marketing
Connect with passionate users:
As advertisers, travel companies no longer
need to disturb everyone with a message.
Instead, they can engage interested customer
through social media and give them good
reason to be our advocates. Apple is perhaps
the best example of a company whose users
take a personal interest in promoting the
brand they love.
Create higher levels of engagement:
Companies can/should invite discussions,
allow users to share experiences, and engage
them in improvements. The point here is not
how this is done, but the multitude of ways
through which we can extend and enhance
the brand experience that consumers
voluntarily choose to commit to.
Engage, not advertise:
The impression ads and click-through ads of
the portal/search paradigms don t work well with this channel. It is better to share things that would
interest them and personalize, whenever possible.
By the end of 2010, more than 80% of market growth in social applications will center on a business case for
improving external customer relationships, rather than improving internal collaboration.
Data from two Gartner reports, Predicts 2010: CRM Marketing Is Building Demand on a
Limited Budget and Predicts 2010: Customer Service Meets Social CRM.
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HowHow
Social Media is changing the Travel Industry?
Sales
Social networking also promises significant benefits for sales by providing the companies with new ways
to find, connect with, and understand their customers. Increasingly, companies are realizing the benefits
of incorporating social networking into their traditional sales processes.
Finding new prospects:
If done respectfully and in accordance with the terms of service for each social networking website used,
prospects will often be more receptive on a relevant subject when approached informally or through a
common contact than when approached through a cold call.
Engage in more meaningful conversations:
While they cannot replace the traditional relationship-building activities, social networks do provide
companies with a new tool to build and enhance relationships with potential prospects or customers.
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HowHow
Social Media is changing the Travel Industry?
Customer Service
Increasingly, customers are using social networks as an
important channel to find, receive, and communicate
information about the products and services they use and
Channel
58% of travelers are influenced by user reviews
when deciding which channel to use
Product
Price
99% additional amount people are willing to
pay after reading positive user reviews online **
Crossover
Better understand your customers:
Social networking websites can also provide a wealth of
Consistency
Conclusion
decisions.
cost of service.
* The PhoCusWright Consumer Travel Trends
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HowHow
Social Media is changing the Travel Industry?
Proactively monitoring social networks for keywords, complaints, and issues related to a product.
Seeing social networking conversation history right within the customer system of record.
Large companies such as Dell and General Motors as well as thousands of mid-size and small companies
use Twitter as a secondary customer care channel.
Through this social network, they respond to negative posts immediately, with empathy. Brands
complaints by customers, although unpleasant, become opportunities for them to improve and excel.
Responding to customers' opinions or feedback makes them appreciate you, whereas doing nothing at
all makes them wonder what happened and leaves a bad impression.
Provide efficient multi-channel service:
As customers are turning to social networking websites for help, organizations have the opportunity to
help them en masse, for example, by posting unbiased information or providing self-help capabilities
through the Web.
Identifying and tagging public online conversations about their product, brand, and industry.
Analyzing message effectiveness by measuring impressions, replies, and other key metrics
According to The Nielsen Company, global* consumers spent more than five and half hours on social
networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter in December 2009, an 82% increase from the same
time last year when users were spending just over three hours on social networking websites.
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HowHow
Social Media is changing the Travel Industry?
*Global data takes into account the following countries: U.S., U.K., Australia, Brazil, Japan, Switzerland, Germany,
France, Spain and Italy
Question: Indicate how influential each feature is to you when planning leisure travel?
PhoCusWright s Analysis report dated March 2010 Travel Innovation and Technology Trends: 2010 and Beyond by
Bob Offutt
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HowHow
Social Media is changing the Travel Industry?
In terms of how companies are using social media monitoring, brand-reputation management and
prospecting come out on top. The next most common use is identifying brand advocates.
The data from an informal poll clearly shows that although companies understand the importance of
social media and PR measurement, they are not there in terms of execution yet.
By the end of 2010, more than 80% of market growth in social applications will center on a business
case for improving external customer relationships, rather than improving internal collaboration.
Data from two Gartner reports, Predicts 2010: CRM Marketing Is Building Demand on a Limited Budget and
Predicts 2010: Customer Service Meets Social CRM.
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HowHow
Social Media is changing the Travel Industry?
travel shows and post upcoming topics. You can also create
Tips:
HowHow
Social Media is changing the Travel Industry?
Ask fans for input and comments about their vacationing experiences. What have been the most
exotic, the most kid-friendly, the most historic, the scariest, the most eco friendly?
Create contests and special offers. Announce your newest or best services
Even if you don't know much of the information yourself, link to the websites you could link to in
Twitter and on your Facebook Page.
Upload your videos and pictures of hot vacation spots, near and far. Encourage your Facebook
fans to upload their funniest vacation picture and have people vote on it.
Conclusion
The surging popularity of social networking websites is indisputable. Yet many travel companies still
struggle to translate it into real business benefits. By acquiring tools that let them manage their social
networking initiatives alongside traditional marketing, sales, and service activities, travel companies can
take advantage of social networking without losing focus on their core business.
Ultimate success will follow for businesses that can integrate social networking s wealth of customer
data, unfiltered feedback, and informal conversations into their existing customer management
initiatives and processes.
Travel Businesses must have a strategy for social media to be in the market and ahead in the competitive
environment. The main concerns of CMOs were;
Travel companies should have innovative tools to leverage on this immense scope for branding products
and better services.
They need tools that will weed out noise and provide the capability to listen to both customer attitudes
about the brands and competitors charts trends, as well as converse and interact with customers.
A social networking system typically integrates with social networking APIs to achieve a variety of
functionalities by extending and mapping newer features.
Cybage has been keenly involved in understanding this revolutionary medium and creating a cuttingedge technology. Having worked on implementation of APIs of leading social networking websites,
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HowHow
Social Media is changing the Travel Industry?
Cybage has gathered extensive experience in integrating rich and interactive social networking features
into any Web application by using available off-the-shelf social networking products.
About Cybage
Cybage is a leading name in the global IT industry with a proven track record of over 14 years. We are a SEI CMMI Level 5 and ISO
27001 certified company with a global team of over 3000 employees. Ranked as one of the top 100 Innovative Service Providers in
the 2009 Global Services 100 list and featured in Fortune at no. 4 in the 2008 Global Outsourcing 100, rising star category by IAOP,
we have been consistently adding value to the business bottom line of a crme-de-la-crme global clientele.
Leveraging our unique ExcelShore model of operational excellence, we not only help our clients to substantially bring down their
costs, but also improve their business processes to get the most out of the flat world dynamics. Our service offerings include
Software Development, Sustained Engineering, Re-engineering, QA &Testing, Technical Writing, Technical Support, User Interface
Design & establishing dedicated Offshore Development Centers (ODCs)
Cybage has a dedicated practice for Travel and Hospitality domain. We understand the dynamism in today s fast paced travel &
hospitality industry, its rapid growth, fierce competition and increasing customer expectations. We have extensive experience in
this industry through active offshore engagements and have served 40+ major customers in USA, UK & Europe.
To know more about Cybage s Travel & Hospitality expertise write to us at: travel@cybage.com
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