"Social media is not a trend, it's a whole new way of understanding markets"
Published: 25 Mar 2008
Social Media Strategies Travel 2008 Special
How is social media being perceived by those who are integral part of travel industry?
According to VibeAgent Inc.'s Co-founder & CEO Adam Healey, "Social media is not a trend, it's a whole new way of understanding markets. Markets are conversations. It's imperative companies embrace this paradigm shift in how markets work. UGC and social networking will permanently sideline command and control marketing tactics and enable authenticity and transparency to prevail. Social media democratises consumer participation in the capitalist economy and makes them the most important stakeholder in the process."
It is being felt that loyalty has everything to do with why UGC sites succeed.
Significantly, Healey acknowledges this and says of course loyalty exists.
"However, companies can't take brand or product loyalty for granted - the switching costs for consumers to change brands is practically zero. This puts a premium on products that engage and provide significant value to consumers as opposed to products that have massive marketing budgets behind them. Startup travel companies like VibeAgent can gain significant market share at the expense of big consumer brands by providing a more compelling product and continuing to deliver something customers want. This adds increasing efficiency to the marketplace and in the end consumers are the winners," he told EyeforTravel.com's Ritesh Gupta.
So how can travel suppliers and intermediaries partner with social networking sites? Do he foresee integration of relevant content from top social networking sites to suppliers and intermediaries websites (for example, a section of hotel brand on social networking site getting linked with the same hotel brand's website)?
On this he said, "VibeAgent is a perfect marketing partner for OTAs and hotel suppliers. We provide the social networking and review platform, and then drive very qualified leads to our partners' websites. So yes, travel suppliers and OTAs can partner with VibeAgent or sites like ours, and continue to focus on their core competencies, while VibeAgent is focused on social travel search, user-generated content, and social networking as our core competencies. Our partners only pay us for successful transactions, so it's a total win-win - our incentives are directly aligned with our transaction partners."
From consumer's perspective, Healey said, "With the "always on" evolution of media, the world is a much more transparent place today than it was even five years ago. Technology is rapidly changing the way consumers access, process, and act upon information. Consumers are increasingly putting a premium on authenticity and convenience. The wisdom of crowds approach to social media is increasingly trumping the command and control perspective of broadcast media. Today it's all about participation. Users want to be a part of the process. This means that companies need to join the conversation and engage their customers and potential customers in a more democratic and authentic fashion."
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Kilgore said on 25 Mar 08:
This is worth repeating. Mr Healey said: "UGC and social networking will permanently sideline command and control marketing tactics and enable authenticity and transparency to prevail."