How to use Social Analytics to Engage your Customers!
The Way of The Future
According to Statist’s 2017 survey there were around 2.46 billion social media users around the globe with an increase to 2.77 billion projected for 2019. Considering that the Earth’s population sits at around 7.5304 billion ("Number of social media users worldwide 2010-2021", 2018), that's almost a third of us little people, running around posting, sharing, tweeting and streaming. The impact social media has had on modern life is understandably quite big. It has transformed many industries, for better or worse but today we will be concentrating on the tourism sector and how operators can take advantage of these platforms to engage current and future customers, using analytics or consumer feedback.
The vast majority of consumers share their travel experience on social media and understanding and tracking their feedback through things like likes, shares and retweets is important. Social media is communicative and unlike traditional marketing communication occurs from both the consumer and the business and so traditional means of advertising aren’t necessarily appropriate. By delving deeper into social media analytics operators can better understand the current market how to tailor their business to meet these trends.
Social media adds another dimension to word-of-mouth marketing, it’s increased channels, rate of consumer interaction and communicative speed give operators the opportunity to engage new and current customers at a rate not previously available for smaller scale operations.
Why You Need it
Consumers no longer only have access to biased review websites instead social media has become a key instrument when consumers research different travel destinations. The ease with which they can find traveller’s visiting locations, seeing their photos, check-ins and reviews can give them a more personal understanding of what a trip can be like.
Social Sharing
Social media has enabled users to share experiences with a wide, global audience. This peer-to-peer content appears authentic and users can generally relate to the experience if someone they follow posts about it. These posts can also allow businesses to gauge changes in consumer conversation and leverage this data for future campaigns.
Customer Service
Customer service has also been transformed by the rise of global communication courtesy of these apps. Consumers are more cautious than ever when trusting a brand so when most of your feedback is public (and on social media it generally is) brands must respond sincerely and genuine lest they develop a negative reputation in the minds of the public. Additionally, when handled appropriately consumers can develop a positive reputation by attracting potential customers in the future.
Social media has completely changed the traditional travel industry. The ease at which consumers can gather information and understanding of both businesses within the sector and destinations has both positively and negatively affected companies. Companies cannot simply avoid these platforms because by not addressing conversations and queries from customers can a negative reputation will build in the public eye. A positive reputation however is easily be created and nourished by maintaining a responsive profile and replying with the appropriate responses tailored to your intended demographic.
Channel Surfing
There is not one right channel, most businesses utilise multiple channels. Below, I’ll touch on the main platforms.
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Facebook
Facebook must always be considered in any social media marketing analysis as it is the most widely used and understood platform on the planet (Pearlman & Abram 2010). As we all know it allows for communication between friends, family and peers but it also combines components of blogs, forums and photo-sharing apps, all these features can provide businesses with opportunities to reach new new audiences or better engage their current one.
Twitter
Twitter’s general user age is about 18-29 although not that popular in Australia it is one of the top 10 most visited sites in the United States (Business News Daily, 2018). The platform is a great for launching campaigns, quickly addressing issues or providing customers with information quickly due to its wide reach and text-based model.
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Instagram
Instagram is a visual social media platform focusing on photo/images and short form video. Owned by Facebook the network has around 8 billion active users (Omnicoreagency.com, 2018) who post about anything and everything you can think of. Due to its image-centric approach some sectors excel a lot more than others when using this platform as a marketing tool, luckily for us travelling is very ‘Instgrammable’ (photogenic) which makes it the perfect fit to entice potential customers.
Return on Investment
Social media ROI is a heavily debated topic in the world of marketing. It’s measurement isn’t as clear as other marketing tools so it’s hard to tell exactly how much revenue a social media campaign is actually making you. However, there are many different ways to figure out your ROI for your social media efforts.
But one thing you should also keep in mind is that social media gives intangible benefits too like brand building. Or even earning natural backlinks from people who find your site through a Tweet, and deciding to link to it on their own site. That might not add up to a measurable monetary value, but it’s definitely something that you have to factor in when determining whether social media marketing is helping your company all of which have easy to understand guides to follow.
Facebook Analytics – How to Analyze Your Facebook Performance
How to Use Facebook Analytics for Your Website
The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Analytics
Twitter Analytics
In conclusion one of the biggest pay-offs of your social media efforts are the intangible benefits, like cultural reputation, brand-building and consumer made content. So, not everything can be effectively measured however it’s definitely something to factor into your ROI.
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