Online travel marketers need to start talking to the Conversationalists — a subset of 53.8 million leisure travelers who are very vocal and influential on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
That advice comes from a new report, How Travel eBusiness Can Engage Conversationalists, the New Social Media Group, by Henry Harteveldt of Forrester Research.
“Members of the group that travel eBusiness professionals need to pay attention to for their social commerce potential are the 53.8 million U.S. online leisure travelers who are Conversationalists — travelers who participate in the social media conversation at least weekly on sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn,” the report says. “Members of this youthful, mobile-focused audience have the potential to drive sales thanks to their vocal nature, influence, and high engagement with online travel activities.”
The report recommends five ways to engage the talkative ones:
1. Publish your company’s promotions on its fan pages and tweet them, as well.
2. Place a booking engine and/or add apps to your company’s social networking pages. This will become easier for companies to do because vendors such SynXis, Open Hospitality and Axses are offering such booking engines.
Read the full story at:http://www.tnooz.com/2010/07/29/mobile/forrester-5-ways-online-travel-marketers-can-engage-social-media-conversationalists/
