Social Media Phenomenon And Monitoring

Social Media Phenomenon and Monitoring
Social Eyes Consultancy

Overview
Social Media Phenomenon
Online Reviews and Bookings
New Zealand Context
Social Media Monitoring
Freely Available Tools
Automated Media Monitoring
Conclusion/Questions

Social Media is everywhere!
Brand Ownership
Durable trends
Hospitality and Tourism Sectors most effected by Social Media

Social Media is game changing
Social Media is not just another form of media
Social Media is more than just blogs
Social media is decentralised and real time
Social components drive business results

Interpersonal influence and WOM most influential
Guests and visitors are increasingly going online
Reality of public involvement in traveller reviews
Web reviews credibility

Social Network Popularity

Use of Social Network Sites

Blogging Software Popularity

Twitter Use

WOM most important influencer
Closed loop system no longer viable
88% of those reading reviews affected their decision
Review higher credibility than brand
Tripadvisor
32 million unique visitors per month
10 million members
20 million reviews

New Zealand Context
Regional Visitor Monitor
Travellers increasingly using the internet to book
Online accommodation up from 42% to 57% since 2007
Online activity and attraction booking up from 55% to 62% since 2007.
Pre-trip research increased by 39% since 2007
Mr Bassett - “these findings show that tourism operators in all areas of the industry needed to get their inventory web-ready and keep their web content fresh and relevant”.

New Zealand Context
Yield-Relevant Tourist Decision Making
LEAP, Lincoln University – Tourism Yield Research
Identified social networks as having a vital role in tourism marketing in New Zealand, and should be an important focus for tourism operators
International tourists leave many decisions ‘open’, which are best influenced through social mediums

PhD Research findings to date
90% visited review sites before travelling to NZ
67% searched microblogging sites before visiting NZ
73% post comments on a regular basis on a at least one social network site as they travel
67% stated that they were more likely to complain about a negative aspect of their trip via online mediums vs. directly with the business
78% used review and social network sites while travelling in NZ to either investigate there activity and accommodation options or to reduce their decision set.

Social Media Monitoring
Media monitoring in its infancy while user generated content is well established
Failure to monitor is a disadvantage that loses YOU business
No more closed loop systems
Are you listening?
Are you responding?

Free Software
Google Alerts and Blog Alerts
Tweet Deck/Ping FM
Yahoo Pipes
Social Mention
Technorati
Blogpulse
RSS feeds – general
RSS feeds – OTA’s

Issues with Free Software
Hidden costs
Spam
Subscription
Data Overload
Utilisation of this new information stream
Identification of key sites, users, geographic and demographic data
No analysis

Automated Monitoring
Radian6
Techrigy
Brandseye
Viralheat
Symosos
Brandwatch

Automated Monitoring – must pass a few key tests
Is it timely?
Is the solution affordable?
Are the essential points of sale sites delivered?
Is your performance measured against competitors?
Enabling and supportive tools?
Effective filtering?
Analysis features?

Conclusions
Era when businesses controlled what was said about them is over.
Social mediums are changing the way information gets reported online
Tourism businesses utilising this new information are experiencing increasing and new revenue streams while reducing costs
Need your finger on the pulse

Conclusions
Free software solutions a good place to start
YOU require the latest and best information to base your marketing and business decisions, strategies and evaluative tools.
Automated monitoring becoming a necessity

Thank You
Social Eyes Consultancy
www.socialeyes.co.nz
steve@socialeyes.co.nz
steve.wilson@lincoln.ac.nz
www.twitter.com/_socialeyes