How can you now make the difference on social medias as a travel company.

The importance of social medias in the marketing strategy of a travel company such as a tour operator or a travel agency is not to prove anymore. Steve Pike, author of “Destination Marketing”, underlines the fact that 81% of the travelers use internet to plan their vacation and that includes social media. A recent survey of April 2014 from the website Statista about travel planning show that 44% of the 18-34 year-old in the USA consulted social media when travel planning. People communicate online about everything: hotels, restaurants, activities, airlines and they review, report and rate all these services. On the contrary it can also be a B to C communication enabling the companies to establish a useful communication with the people. The company can build a good customer relationship, create brand awareness, improve their image and get loyal customers.

Travel companies can interact with the people in many different ways and travel is the most popular category on Facebook. Even without investing any money on these social medias you can use them as an important pillar in your marketing strategy. It is important to be active on not one but all social medias and make them inter-connected. Of course having your facebook page is important but the company must also be present and active on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, create a Google+ page and if possible also a blog. After creating your pages you must generate content in order to improve your SEO (visibility on Google) and you must create news and make people interact each other. A good way to make them communicate together is to create communities online.

Social medias are also a good way for travel companies to get more clients or more bookings with good promotions. But despite of the traditional last-minute offers and so on, Facebook or Twitter for example can provide you with unique opportunities to expand your brand awareness and get people involved on your company life. A new trend has appeared with the Facebook and Twitter online contests that you can start with a hundred of your followers which will spread it by re-tweeting or sharing it on Facebook to thousands of other people willing to be part of the competition. The type of contest promising you an ipad if you like or share the page is now old-fashioned. Companies  are innovating and you can now see very insolite contests that get popular fast. Promoting your contest is also very important and you can do it via cross channel promotion and email marketing, some Facebook advertising and by contacting directly some partners. It is a perfect way to get brand awareness and many followers.

References

Dewey, J. (2011, November 22). The Importance Of Social Media In The Travel Industry. Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.bluemagnetinteractive.com/blog/2011/11/22/81-importance-of-social-media-in-travel-industry.html

Inversini, A., & Masiero, L. (2014.). Selling Rooms Online: The Use of Social Media and Online Travel Agents. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 26(2), pp.272 – 292. Retrieved February 23, 2015, from http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/21436/1/eDistribution_SocialMedia_OpenAccess.pdf

Pemberton, J. (2014). 2014 Top Social Media Trends for Travel Marketers. Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.adventuretravelnews.com/2014-top-social-media-trends-for-travel-marketers

Schaal, D. (2009, March 17). Importance of social marketing grows for travel companies: Travel Weekly. Retrieved February 27, 2015, from http://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Online-Travel/Importance-of-social-marketing-grows-for-travel-companies/

Travel Industry News & Conferences - EyeforTravel. (2015, February 11). Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.eyefortravel.com/social-media-and-marketing/forget-social-metrics-and-get-down-mobile-business-says-facebook

Unknown. Digital Trends Travellers and Social Media | ETC Digital. (2013). Retrieved February 23, 2015, from http://etc-digital.org/digital-trends/social-networking-and-ugc/travellers-and-social-media/

Unknown. Growing importance of social media to tourism industry | Statistic. (n.d.). Retrieved February 27, 2015, from http://www.statista.com/statistics/207049/future-importance-of-social-media-to-travel-industry/

Unknown. Social media | Digital Tourism Think Tank. (n.d.). Retrieved February 27, 2015, from http://thinkdigital.travel/tag/social-media-2

Unknown. The 9 Best Facebook Contests of 2014 and How They Can Inspire You. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.agorapulse.com/blog/best-facebook-contests-2014

Unknown. 10 Amazing Examples of Branded Facebook Contests Done Right. (n.d.). Retrieved February 27, 2015, from https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/10-amazing-examples-branded-facebook-contests-done-005238849.html

The psychological scope of social media for events

The event manager blog is a reference for event professionals on such topics as Event Technology Trends, Innovative Event Concepts and Social Media applied to the Event Industry. We chose an article about the psychology behind social media for event. We are all connected in our personal as well as professional lives. Social media are essential in our private life, it is only logical that it becomes so in our professional ones too. So one future event planner may ask why we are all so found of social media.

Source: www.upandundergroup.com/2014/03/maslow-pyramid/

 

 Human are quintessentially different from animals by their compelling need to compete and connect to one another. In order to do so, our brains are like computers monitoring social signals and intelligence to keep track of where one stands compared to others.

 

In a professional event context, this desire to connect, be heard and to contribute does not disappear, all the opposite actually. One future attendee will wonder about “who do I already know is attending?”, “who else and who do I want to meet? How?”. Those can be answered by a proper use of social media: once registered they can see who is attending and try to first connect through it. This might lead to avoid the awkwardness that can happen on first encounters.

Social media is a fast way of communication with hundreds of people at once. One might remember more about one single handshake than a whole conversation online. We also have to care for the value exchange through it.

Source : www.freedigitalphotos.net

The article also reminds us that social media is only one way to communicate, there are others. Event planner should take it into account by adapting their hosting, marketing and planning of events without underestimating face-to-face meetings and handwritten messages for ones.

 In our opinion, this article is an interesting first source of information about social media. It introduces the topic through a usually forgotten scope: its psychological aspect. It gives hints of the reasons we spend so many hours scrolling social media websites or apps. Doing so, the article suggests a panel of opportunities in using effectively the social media tool when organising an event.

But the reader remains unsatisfied after this article, we would appreciate to deepen the subject and learn more about it. Even though the arguments in the article are relevant, it only skimmed over the subject.

Source:

http://www.eventmanagerblog.com/social-attendee

What about Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and iBeacon in the event industry ?

audienceview.com

The event industry, and especially the Meetings & Conference industry, is always using more technology to better embrace its objectives. Nevertheless indoor spaces often block cell signals, making it nearly impossible to use GPS to locate devices. A new solution is Beacon. What is Beacon ? How does it work ? What would it bring to the event industry ? Those are questions we are going to answer in this paper.

               

Beacons, according to the Business Insider (BI), are low-cost pieces of hardware that use battery-friendly, low-energy Bluetooth connections to transmit messages or prompt directly to a smartphone or tablet. It is also commonly called Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) or iBeacon, for Apple devices.

Since now, we have mainly heard of those devices in the retail sector, as stores are starting to use them to share offers, send alerts, advertisings, etc... let's say to better communicate with their customers. The first studies done on consumer attitudes towards this new technology show that they seem receptive, and enjoy it as a way to enhance their in-store shopping experience. This is an encouraging sign to start implementing it in conferences and exhibitions.

According to Corbin Ball, Beacons holds great promises and a wealth of new options for meetings planners and participants. For instance it can provide:

-Location information, thus enabling navigation assistance, local area information & deals, location-based alert notifications

-Social media networking and information exchange

-Automated demonstrations

-Measurements, such as attendee action metrics, Continuing Education Units (CEU), and also exhibit booth dwell time measurement

pinterest.com

ABI estimates that by 2019, BLE shipments that have location/proximity capabilities will amount to 60 million.

Obviously Beacon must be used in such a way that participants see a significant value added, without feeling invaded in their privacy. All the privacy issues raised by this new technology could be dealt with in another paper.

SOURCES

Perez, S. (2014). In Five Years, iBeacon/Bluetooth Low Energy Device Market To Reach 60 Million Devices, Retrieved from http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/08/in-five-years-ibeaconbluetooth-low-energy-device-market-to-reach-60-million-devices/

Danova, T., (2014). BEACONS: What They Are, How They Work, And Why Apple's iBeacon Technology Is Ahead Of The Pack, Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/beacons-and-ibeacons-create-a-new-market-2013-12?IR=T

Ball, C. (2015). Ten Transformative Meetings Technology Trends for 2015, Retrieved from http://www.corbinball.com/articles_future/index.cfm?fuseaction=cor_av&artID=9207

Event Mobile APP Become a Necessity

As we all know, technology moves quickly and it can be a challenge keeping up with all the latest trends. In today's MICE industry, technology has played an increasingly important role. Conference online registration platform, event mobile APP, website and conference management system are all new ways to help the organisers saving more time and money.

According to a new survey through surveying over 300 planners and 160 attendees, AMEX (American Express Meetings & Events) compiled data to uncover the most important aspects of the event technology experience. Not surprisingly, 90% of smartphone owners say they use it for business at meetings and events demonstrating the opportunity planners have to add value to their attendees’ experience. Thus, a good APP user experience also can become a major bright spot of the event.

The event app’s main objectives included better attendee engagement, enhanced branding, and a better way to measure success. Besides, event app is a convenient way to disseminate information, updates, and other materials to all attendees, regardless of device, and to keep them engaged throughout the event. What’s more, an event app would provide a reprieve from the costly and cumbersome printed materials that her attendees had been saddled with in previous years. So that’s why event app becomes a necessity in events.

                        (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zHcaCoBB4w)

There’s no doubt that technology has dramatically changed the attendees’ experience over the past 5 years. With the rapid adoption of mobile devices and the expectation of always staying connected, each and every conference app has its own look, own feel, and own characteristic. As the event planner in charge, we need to decide exactly what are our attendees’ experience, how we are designing modern experiences. 

All the event essentials covered

                             (Source: http://doubledutch.me/event-app.html)

According to AMEX research, a gap exists between what planners and attendees want in meeting technology. So what is it that attendees really want in an event APP?

(Source:  http://www.eventmobi.com/blog/2015/01/13/best-custom-mobile-event-and-conference-apps/)

For the most part, planners have effectively gauged what’s most important to their attendees. Both attendees and planners agree these are the top 5 features or capabilities in an event app:

1. Access to Event Schedule

2. Access to Session Descriptions

3. Ability to Receive Updates from Organizer

4. Ability to Create a Personalized Schedule

5. Access to Maps

Event mobile APP is a way to provide meeting agenda, guest speakers’ overview information. Participants can use it both on the trip and during the event. From the perspective of the participants, the key success to attend events is finding new cooperation. Event organizers have realized the social network has huge potential of the events. Social media platform allows participants to communicate with their customers or potential customers, and collect valuable feedback. Event mobile APP provides a channel to attendees having the chance to communicate with others anytime, anywhere and master meeting dynamic. Free and stable wireless can not only make the participants understand the related conference contents, but also can share the meeting experience.

All in all, digital technology opened up a new possibility for the events. It can improve participants meeting experience, which is organizers looking for. 

Sources:

http://doubledutch.me/event-app.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zHcaCoBB4w

http://www.eventmobi.com/blog/2015/01/13/best-custom-mobile-event-and-conference-apps/

http://www.eventmobi.com/blog/2014/10/09/research-do-you-know-what-your-attendees-really-want-in-an-event-app/

Honyin ZHANG & Bao WANG