Online Marketing in Travel SpecialThe adoption of social media strategy is gradually gaining momentum among the travel suppliers but they are quite a few companies which are leading the pack with their proactive approach.

Published: 27 Jun 2008

Online Marketing in Travel Special

The adoption of social media strategy is gradually gaining momentum among the travel suppliers but they are quite a few companies which are leading the pack with their proactive approach.

Suppliers are inviting visitors to share stories, tips and photos about their best travel finds, destination favourites and passion for travel.

As companies increase their social media marketing budgets, they are also looking at ways to measure their return on investment.

So which is the best way to measure the ROI of advertising campaigns in a social media environment? Should it be revenue (traditional ROI tracking from CPM or integrations on a historic booking level) or tracking `Talkabilty' or audience spending time on the advertisers site?

Interestingly, there are several ways (the conversions, story uploads, guest comments and PR) in which suppliers assess the success of such initiatives.

For InterContinental Hotels Group, its social marketing efforts must be tied to generating revenue, says Cassandra Imfeld Jeyaram, PhD, Social Marketing Manager, Global Consumer Marketing, InterContinental Hotels Group.

Jeyaram said, "For IHG, we've been tasked to measure and understand how our social marketing efforts relate back to an increase in room nights. This approach is different than many – if not most – organisations today who measure engagement."

Travel industry is using social media monitoring solutions, which track and analyse all forms of social media, including blog sites, top video-sharing sites, and opinion review forums. As such solutions gain traction in the marketplace, which is the best way to approach social search marketing from a suppliers' perspective?

Jeyaram says, "Listening to your consumers – wherever they may be – is critical. Organisations that are currently deploying software or agencies to help them monitor the conversations about their brands are ahead of the game."

Jeyaram, a speaker during EyeforTravel's Online Marketing in Travel 2008 conference in Chicago, said travel suppliers are beginning to tap into the power and momentum of web 2.0 sites and technologies.

"But most companies are still in the infancy of social marketing," she said.

As social networking sites aggregate and rank trusted reviews from other travelers, and as the semantic Web becomes a reality, travel suppliers are participating in such conversations and using the medium to address issues head on and to serve the needs of customers.

"Each organisation will need to develop their own strategy of how to best engage with their customers. Right now, I think a lot of companies are listening and watching before jumping into the conversation," said Jeyaram. "At this time I think organisations are just beginning to realise the potential and the impact of social marketing on their communications and engagements with their guests."

Jeyaram added that to avoid confusion, organisations should invite the conversations to their official websites. She said each company should develop a social marketing strategy that meets their objectives.

"We're developing social marketing best practices – but we're not going to police our employees per se," she said.