Online media allied to traditional marketing tools has become the new paradigm and according to social media expert Mindy Joyce of Sugarfly there are ways for destinations to maximize the power of these tools. “If Facebook was a country,” she said, “It would be the world’s third largest.”
The power of the medium is in its sharing of experiences through videos and photos, while destinations, hotels or tourism entities can instantly see what people think and react appropriately. According to a Nielsen survey, 70 per cent of people turn to friends and family for advice when making purchasing decisions, and 72 per cent of online travellers participated in social media. Therefore, it was crucial to be familiar with the options available.
Sites such as Jetsetter are a closed community of members of affluent travellers, while deal sites are going very niche, for example Lot 18, a wine sales site, she said. Ms Joyce pointed out that in the case of the latter it was comprised of wine lovers who had the income to afford Caribbean holidays. TripAdvisor was increasingly important and trusted as a source for hotels and destinations and Youtube is now a big part of campaign launches and creation of viral videos. Because technology is always on, brands are now more transparent and although the way people get information has changed, the power of word of mouth as a top marketing tool remains unchanged.
“People are still talking, but just in a different place,” she said. Because such media has levelled the field, the only cost is time. It was not about selling travel per se because everyone is in the business of creating experiences, making memories and being seen as part of a luxury lifestyle.
Return on investment, concluded Ms. Joyce, could be calculated by taking the cost as time taken. The returns included Hashtag followers and growth rate on Twitter, engagement and comments on social media sites, how much certain media elements were subsequently shared and clickthrough tracking.
Related Videos
