Top ten stories for strategic and savvy marketers and social media buffs

All travel brands need to market their products effectively in order to be top of the customer’s mind. In today’s digital world, social media increasingly plays an important role in the marketing process. We look back at some recently featured relevant and important stories.

This is a mere handful of the in depth interviews and articles we have featured on EyeforTravel.com over the past few months. Signup to our weekly newsletter to be sure not to miss any insightful tips and tricks from top travel brands in the future.

1.  Twitter talks travel advertisers and-marketers-watch-space

It isn’t hard to see why the travel industry and Twitter are a natural fit, we write in this exclusive interview with Dan Greene, Director of US Online Sales & Operations at Twitter. As Greene points out, we all travel and love to talk about it and Twitter is immediate so it can be used while on the go. Little wonder then that this social network is looking to expand its footprint into one of the world’s biggest sectors with innovative marketing and advertising solutions. 

2.  Email is not dead: why a 40-year-old marketing tool is still relevant

Social media may be more fashionable but does it actually deliver more than traditional marketing tools like email? In this in depth article regular contributor Andrew Hennigan takes a look at how travel brands are still using email successfully. He talks to Viktor van der Wijk, director of E-acquisition at KLM who says the email channel is very effective and brings a great contribution to online sales – although of course it must be used carefully so as not to annoy people. Catherine L’Olivier, Thalys’ Commercial Actions & Partnerships Manager also shares her insights - very much worth a read!

3.  How to use TripAdvisor to win guests and grow your business

You only have to look at the success of review site TripAdvisor to understand why the likes of Twitter are trying to up their game in travel. But getting a top ranking on TripAdvisor takes hard work and strategic thinking. New York-based Library Hotel Collection is one of those and over the last three years it has made the top seven hotels in New York on TripAdvisor, and is always in the top 10. In addition, its Casablanca Hotel has been #1 for over three years. In this piece we take a detailed look at how they have achieved this.

4.  Mamma Mia! Look what happens when a tourist attraction harnesses social

Well whatever next! A new museum in Stockholm has found a way to allow visitors to create media clips of their experiences and share them to their social media pages. And guess who is the focus – Abba. We got the story ahead of Abba the Museum opening in May and we would like to know if any other museums are following in its footsteps. Read this to find out about the interactive technology the museum is using and exactly how and why guests like to share the experience.

5.  The bottom line: social media should drive sales

When talking about social media people often want to hear about return on investment, but quite often it doesn’t deliver. Social media is used successfully for customer service, for brand and relationship building. It is also used, less successfully, to drive sales. For EyeforTravel.com guest columnist Tom Bacon a successful social media strategy has first and foremost to be built around sales.

6.  Cutting through noise: is LinkedIn the missing link in your social strategy?

We hear loads about Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus, but sometime how travel brands can use LinkedIn is overlooked. That shouldn’t happen, says Hari Krishnan, LinkedIn’s managing director, Asia Pacific & Japan, who points out that LinkedIn has 200 million professional users worldwide, it is the world’s largest online professional network and is constantly developing and expanding its content ecosystem to ensure the widest possible reach. In this piece we consider the benefits of a business social network for travel brands.

7.  Sharpening your member communication strategies: it’s time to get personal

Personalisation is a big buzz word in marketing and in this article we talk to Choice Hotels’senior director, loyalty marketing, Ryan Draude about how loyalty and customer relationship management are shaping up. Both really important areas to get right.

8.  Beware Google and 9 things for OTAs to look out for in 2013

With the rise of Google Hotel Finder, OTAs need to go that much further with their offerings and in this piece we consider what some of those things could be. No more mundane information such as transactional data, destination, price and so on. Instead they should be inspiring people with ideas that are personalised and relevant as well as delivered via the screen (PC, smartphone or tablet) that consumers prefer. Watch out for an upcoming story on Google Hotel Finder in the coming weeks.

9.  The human touch: hiring social staff is a tactical business

If you thought hiring staff to manage your Facebook or Twitter platforms was as simple as getting them in from a traditional sales and marketing role, think again. In this article we talked to Jonathan Pierce, Director, Social Communications at American Airlines who says the skillset required to deal with people on a social platform are quite different to those you will need on the telephone. American, which is across just about every social platform, is in a good position to share its insights and this piece is packed full of them.

10.  A holistic approach: don’t put all your digital marketing eggs in one basket

It is always good to hear what some of the big hotel chains are tackling marketing strategy and Ritz-Carlton is no exception. In this exclusive interview we talk to Clayton Ruebensaal, VP Global Marketing at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company who shares his insights into this group is addressing the ongoing fragmentation of the industry. 

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