Travel brands today are using social media to reach fans but they must do more than engage in a general way. In Asia this is particularly true for mobile which today is the mainstream way to reach an audience.

Travel brands must see Facebook engagement as marketing in a social world. Their marketing messages must change and they must put in place a serious content and publishing strategy.  In Asia it is imperative that brands work on their Facebook mobile news feed content and promote their mobile apps to ensure that global competitors do not lead the way. 

Pamela Whitby hears Asian insights from Myungjo Choi, Facebook’s Head of APAC eCommerce who will be speaking at the Travel Distribution Summit Asia, 2013 in Singapore (May 28-29).

EFT: Many travel brands are already using Facebook to engage with users.
How do you see this relationship evolving over the next 12 months particularly in the Asian market?

MC: Facebook is not designed to be a one-way broadcast mechanism, but a conversation between the brand and its fans. With the right social media strategy, brands can effectively establish a social media presence on Facebook to help them create dialogue with the community, which will eventually help increase awareness and drive business outcomes.

In Asia, we have seen travel brands like Scoot Airlines, Air New Zealand, Gecko’s travel adventures and Cathay Pacific invest in and leverage social media, and predominantly building lots of connections (fans) and using those connections to influence the friends of their fans.   That’s worked well because of ‘word of mouth’. These influencers are real people and their stories drive more connections.  A report by Emarketers, for example, shows that 83% of TripAdvisor respondents said that they trust a travel recommendation from friends & family.

More recently, we are also seeing that travel brands are making good use of the capabilities of social media to build loyalty and drive conversions. Companies from other regions like MGM, Aria Resorts and Westin Abu Dhabi have seen returns on the campaigns that they have run.  For example, these brands have been particularly effective in using customised audiences to target their most loyal customers on Facebook wherever they are (desktop, tablet or mobile), expanded their customer base using look-alike targetingand used retargeting through Facebook Exchange.

TripAdvisor for example integrated with the Facebook platform to customise the user experience. This means that you will be able to see posts from friends who have been to and have written reviews on various regions, hotels, restaurants and so on that you are interested in. You can also look at friends’ maps to see where they’ve been and request info on places you’re interested in. It will enable travel brands to make the trip planning experience a lot more personalised.

The proliferation of mobile devices is expanding the market of people who can use Facebook and simultaneously driving content creation and leading to deeper engagement across Facebook. There are so many things we can do on a mobile device that simply aren’t possible on a desktop computer, from location services like our recently launched ‘Nearby’ feature, to photo capabilities like Instagram to mobile messaging, mobile app discovery and so much more.

EFT: What makes the Asian market interesting and what are your top recommendations for brands using Facebook to engage with users?

MC: Mobile is big in Asia. People are using Facebook on their mobile to engage with their friends and brands. Brands need to work on their presence in the Newsfeed for mobile as it is the ‘mainstream’ way to reach their audience in Asia. Mobile drives higher engagement than desktop based on rate of likes and comments per story in the news feed. 

It’s important for brands to not just think that they need to engage in social media generally or on Facebook to keep users interested. They should think about it asmarketing, in a social world.

The way people consume information is changing considerably.  This means the way we reach them with our marketing messages has to change. 

EFT: Travel is highly visual which is why Facebook works well. In particular how will the new look News Feed affect brands? 

MC: It's a fresh new look on the homepage.  It's asimpler design that declutters Facebook, adds global navigation and makes more room for your news.For example, users now have twice as much room devoted to your news. Users now can see big, beautiful stories no matter where they go. From News Feed, to Groups and Timeline, now posts across Facebook are bigger, and more beautiful.Brands now can make use of the new layout with new photos and promotions with more visuals. The whole experience on Facebook is a lot more visual and simpler.  This is even truer for mobile.

EFT: Are there any new developments or consumer trends at play that require a specific focus for the Asian market?

MC: More and more travel brands are developing apps to increase reach and booking on mobile. Asian brands need to promote their mobile app to make sure that global competitors are not leading the mobile activity in Asia. Facebook can help those brands to reach the right audience thanks to the targeting options and increase app download at a very competitive cost per install.

Travel brands need to rethink their attribution model. Travel booking is not a one-click journey. People are looking for information, comparing different websites, asking for friend's recommendations and taking the time to assess all this before making any decision. Brands need to track this journey and implement conversion tracking on Facebook.  Tools within Facebook, such as conversion tracking, Facebook Exchange and customised audience targeting can help.

Myungjo Choi, Facebook’s Head of APAC eCommerce will be speaking at the Travel Distribution Summit Asia, 2013 in Singapore (May 28-29)