The Future of Social Media and Destination Marketing

THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA & DESTINATION MARKETING AN EXTENSIVE LOOK AT TOURISM MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA Social media and tourism has forever gone together like peanut butter and jelly. It's proven wildy influential as it relates to driving customer buying decisions and has been on the tip of everyones tongue in the marketing meetings for resorts, amusement parks, cruise ships and tourism operations. In this graphic, we'll explore the true power of social media while highlighting some of the opportunities that the tourism industry is missing out on. SOCIAL MEDIA HAS GROWN AS THE GOTO SOURCE FOR TRAVELERS 52% USE SOCIAL MEDIA FOR SUMMER VACATION INSPIRATION YEAR OVER YEAR SINCE 2010 We used the LeadSift platform to scan millions of Tweets from Twitter to help tourism operators and destination marketers better understand the social media landscape. We combined that with our own research to answer... HOW DO YOU INFLUENCE POTENTIAL VISITORS & TOURISTS? THE BUYING PROCESS FOR VACATIONS CONSIST OF THREE KEY STEPS 1 PLANNING PHASE 2 VACATION PHASE 3 HONEYMOON PHASE 1. PLANNING PHASE 92% 59% of consumers express that they More and more trust the reccomendations of their "friends", family and followers people are using social media to plan over ads. their vacations. of consumers express that they have posted about an upcoming vacation on social media. WHO'S USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO PLAN VACATIONS? WE LOOKED AT PEOPLE PLANNING VACATIONS TO: WELC TO Fabulous LAS VEGAS NEVADA THE CARIBBEAN LAS VEGAS DISNEY Over five days, LeadSift found more than 5000 relevant, timely and actionable conversations that demonstrated travel intent for each of these three destinations. 60% 30%: of those using of people using social media to social media to plan their plan their vacations vacations were identified were women. as having families. BUT SOMETIMES IT DEPENDS ON THE DESTINATION.. DADS LOVE VEGAS. MOMS LOVE DISNEY. WELCOME TO Fabulous LAS VEGAS NEVADA Moms were 2.5X more likely to express interest in Disney vacations than Dads. LEADSIFT IDENTIFIED TWEETS LIKE THESE: @EgoMcregor @LisaMcanoi @Threadz2010 wanna go to vegas for the fight but those hotel rates about to be through Hopefully booking our trip to Mexico tomorrow:) Jamaica or Disney in February?! I can't decide. the roof! HOW CAN BUSINESSES AND DMO'S TAP INTO THIS? SOCIAL SELLING ENGAGEMENT BUILD RAPPORT Social media can influence Consumers are looking for Using Twitter to "favourite" travel plans. Only 47% of suggestions, reccommendations or reply to relevant and those who used social media and insight from social media. timely tweets gives destina- said they stuck with their Destinations who engage are tions an opportunity to build original plans. destinations who win. trust and rapport. OPPORTUNITY IDENTIFICATION IN 5 DAYS LEADSIFT FOUND 1.1 MILLION TRAVEL CONVERSATIONS OUT OF THOSE 1.1 MILLION COVERSATIONS IT IDENTIFIED: 19,100 RELEVANT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES 98% OF THE TRAVEL CONVERSATIONS ON TWITTER WAS NOISE. 2. VACATION PHASE 85% of leisure travelers use their smartphone while abroad. 74% 48% of people use social media while on vacation. Identifying these people talking about your destination while there gives you a chance to enhance their experience. Furthermore, it increases of people use it to share videos & pictures. the chances of them sharing more positive stories about your destination or business. 3. HONEYMOON PHASE 76% of users share content about their vacations on social media when they get back from vacation. of people have "liked" Facebook pages or followed Twitter accounts @mary33 Had the best time ever at Dinsey! 11 70 related to a recent vacation. Post-vacation, 46% of travelers post hotel reviews and 40% post restaurant reviews. ENCOURAGING REVIEWS AND GIVING THANKS FOR REVIEWS WILL INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF GENERATING MORE IN THE FUTURE. LeadSift Sources: The World Travel Market (WTM) Industry Report and Global Trends Report Nielsen: Global Consumers' Trust in 'Earned' Advertising Grows in Importance LeadSift cuts through the noise of social media to find relevant, timely and actionable opportunities for targeted engagement with customers and prospects in social channels. Visit LeadSift.com for more information. Lab 42: Techie Traveler Facebook Key Facts TripAdvisor Fact Sheet LeadSift Travel Opportunities Report - (July 29 - Aug 2, 2013)