The imperative prospects of social media for various travel sectors were quite evident in the last couple of years. The airline industry is probably the most profusely marketed sector on the social media platforms. However, the decline of organic reach is witnessed in the recent times and most of the travel industry brands are literally forced to invest in targeting their audiences on the social media platforms.
The term ‘social connection’ is often misunderstood by marketing professionals and they describe things like Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest as social connection. However, the real significance of social connection is somewhat different. For example, if you have a friend, he is your connection, his friend is not your friend but you three form a social network. Thus a social network is a sum of all connections between individuals.
Consequently, Facebook or Twitter is not a social network; they are technically termed as “social networking service” or SNS. Unfortunately, this clarification was often misunderstood or misinterpreted and thus many campaigns based on this incorrect interpretation failed.
It is quite imperative to understand the power of social networks and then go ahead with marketing campaigns. A message spread through social connections naturally becomes more reliable for consumers as they come from their social network.
On the other hand, mass marketing, on the other hand, focuses on delivering a message directly to each individual with little regard for its subsequent distribution. As such, mass marketing requires greater investment in pushing the message to consumers and suffers from lower impact on the individuals it reaches. However, the advantage is that its message does not require the same level of consistency that is needed in social marketing.
The difference in using mass marketing versus social marketing also reflects how a company perceives/positions its own product. Brands based on a sustained product differentiation are best marketed by building a long-term, loyal relationship with the customer.
If substantial thinking builds up the base of a marketing campaign, it will be observed that positioning your brand and building a loyal customer base is of perennial importance. If your travel business is looking to make it big, make sure your social media marketing strategy is up to the mark.
