…
Airlines are increasingly looking at developing their resources in order to take initiatives related to social media marketing. Virgin Atlantic Airways is one such airline, which has been quite pro-active in this arena.
The airline has a cross-functional Social Spaces Forum group. It comprises personnel from eCommerce, PR, customer relations, product and service, marketing etc. The team works closely to understand the social marketplace, shape the direction for activity in social spaces and develop a framework for the business in this area, according to Allison Wightman, Head of Marketing Systems, Virgin Atlantic Airways.
“For consumers, social media is the perfect medium for sharing ideas when planning a travel trip as above all else they trust their friends viewpoint and experiences the most,” says Allison, who is scheduled to speak at Sales and Marketing in Travel Europe Summit 2009 to be held in Prague (October 13-14) this year.
Allison spoke to EyeforTravel.com’s Ritesh Gupta about trends and issues. Excerpts:
Most travel sites are directly tied to a purchase decision, but there is also the opportunity for paid membership based communities; research and feedback communities; loyalty programme communities and of course the media property model based on advertising revenues or value of the database. As with so much else, it comes down to developing UGC sites not because they are voguish, but because they specifically address a business need, customer need or a market opportunity. What’s your viewpoint?
Coupling strong content with useful services in an environment where customers can easily access relevant recommendations and views from their friends is an extremely powerful proposition, its not possible to build a successful community without a strong underlying customer need and desire for it and travel presents an ideal subject matter for this medium especially given the importance of mobile as a tool when travelling.
However, I don’t agree with a subscription-based model for a fee unless you are prepared to offer significant added value for a premium service. The power of social relies on unlimited networks and fees inevitably become a blocker unless the service is especially niche.
Till last year, travel companies were assessing how to develop their own strategy of how to best engage with their customers on the web. How do you assess the approach as of today?
For brands, social media is primarily about test and learn at the moment. It is better for a brand to be in these spaces listening, engaging and responding than to underestimate the power of this platform as a new outlet for customers. It is vital to understand clearly why/who/how/what your brand and your people will do in Social Spaces and to balance sales versus service messaging. It is not possible for brands to opt out of the medium as customers are more powerful than ever before.
Last year, Orbitz shared that UGC tools, travel widgets, dialogue platforms or data, which can help with research and customer care are the most attractive to older online Americans. How should one approach planning and execute such initiatives/ campaigns from demographics perspective?
It is relatively easy to draw demographic information from each of the social spaces in which you operate so as with any advertising or marketing activity you should plan social media activity as part of an integrated marketing plan and not treat it as a separate ‘campaign’.
What resources should one allocate to social media? And how should it be managed for optimal results?
It is possible to engage in social media without allocating specific resources to it as existing roles and departments within a business still stand. The medium may be different and more powerful than ever before but the concepts are not all new. Equally, there is a huge opportunity in this arena to engage your current customers to become part of your virtual team if managed carefully.
What should one avoid to make sure social media marketing initiatives dont fail? And how should an organisation be involved for such initiatives (for instance avoiding criticism by own employees)?
It’s early days in social media and therefore test and learn is key. Being open and honest as a brand and listening and engaging with customers in a fair and transparent way should avoid failure. There is a need to be clear on a framework for engagement in social spaces that all staff is aware of. Brands come across as more human in social spaces and consequently they can be more fallible, too, so it’s vital that everyone within the organisation knows the guidelines.
As companies increase their social media marketing budgets, they are also looking at ways to measure their return on investment. Which is the best way to measure the ROI of advertising campaigns in a social media environment?
It is complex but possible to measure revenue from social media activity but this one measure alone underestimates the benefits that interaction with consumers in social spaces can bring.
A basket of measures in line with site or campaign objectives is a much better indicator of success such as contributions, interactions, comments, video/photo uploads, fans etc as the overarching objective of any social media activity should be around encouraging customers to engage with your brand.
Allison Wightman is scheduled to speak at Sales and Marketing in Travel Europe Summit 2009 to be held in Prague (October 13-14) this year.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
