TBEX Business: Why Conversations are the Most Important Metric in Travel

2. Why Conversations are the Most
Important Metric in Travel
Scott Eddy
@MrScottEddy

3. Who am I?
• 678K Twitter Followers
• 21K Facebook Followers
• 108K Instagram Followers
@MrScottEddy

5. Social media is the #2 source of
travel ideas and recommendations
According to more than 10,000 social media users :
• Social media ranks second to friends and family as a
source of travel ideas and recommendations
• 76% of social media users have a dream trip list,
however only 8% have been everywhere on that list
• Holidays and vacations are the third-most reported
topic that users consume
http://www.tnooz.com/article/travelers-love-social-media-heres-travel-brands-must-keep/

7. What we’ll be talking about
• Quick background
• Social media platforms
• Travel + Social
• 3 most important things
• Investing in time and compelling content
• Providing travelers with a personalized experience
• Keeping conversations at the core of your social media strategy and
presence in all interactions
• 6 things to avoid
• 6 conversation tips
• Measuring ROI

8. A little about me

10. Travel + Social Media
How can travel brands take advantage of
their unique position and capitalize on it?

11. Different platforms for different audiences

12. FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM PINTEREST
1.44 billion users
• 87% of adults 18 – 29
• 77% of adult women /
66% of adult men
Swiss Army knife of social
media platforms
316 million users
• 37% of adults 18–29
• 25% of adults 30–49
• 24% of adult men / 21%
of adult women
• Mostly used in urban &
suburban areas
Immediate, real-time
information – especially
for news & industries
300 million users
• 53% of adults 18–29
• 29% of online females /
22% of online males
• 70 million photos per
day; 810 per second
Highly visual and
inspirational
70 million users
• 34% of adults 18–29
• 28% of adults 30–49.
• 27% of adults 50–64
• 42% of online women
use Pinterest / 13% of
online men
Highly visual and
inspirational + a huge
traffic driver
http://www.pewinternet.org/files/2015/01/PI_SocialMediaUpdate20144.pdf

13. Millennials
• Travelers who were born between the early 1980s and
early 2000s
• 20% of international travelers
• Expected to make 320 million international trips each
year by 2020
• A 47% increase from 2013

14. Customer Service & Crisis Communications
In Q1 of 2015 customers asked companies almost 8 million
questions through Twitter and Facebook.
The average response rate was only 18% on Twitter and
59% on Facebook.

15. How do we do this?
1. Investing in time and compelling content
2. Providing personalized, relevant
experiences
3. Keeping conversations at the center of
all interactions

16. 1. Invest in time and compelling content

17. 2. Provide a personalized, relevant experience
https://twitter.com/JetBlue

18. 3. Keep conversations at the
center of all interactions

19. 1. Don’t simply pump out content
2. Don’t avoid or ignore tough questions or situations
3. Don’t try to reach everyone at once
4. Don’t expect one person to be able to handle it all
5. Don’t always go for the hard sell
6. Don’t be scared of trying something new
Conversations - 6 things to avoid

20. 1. Listen
Conversations – 6 tips to keep in mind
“The art of conversation lies in listening.”
-Malcom Forbes

21. 2. Sound human
⏎
⏎Big company
Human

22. 3. Jump in

23. 4. Ask Questions

24. 5. Be transparent

25. 6. Have fun!

26. ROI – The “R” stands for “Relationships”
Determining your ROI

27. Total engagement ÷ Total content = Content effectiveness
Total followers ÷ Unique followers who interact = The strength and
quality of your community
Determining your ROI

28. • What is a retweet worth for you?
• What was the reach of your tweets during a
campaign?
• How often did people use your hashtag?
• How many times did people click through from
your URL?
Twitter ROI

29. 1. Did you successfully reach your target audience?
2. How many shares did your posts receive?
3. How many people clicked through to your
website?
Facebook ROI

30. 25 million euros in revenue to social media

31. What does this mean for your company?

32. Question Time