Social Media Usage Approach in Travel

Summary

Social commerce’s star continues to rise, with plenty of market share yet left to be captured. Marketers have flocked to social media, fiercely strategizing to pull prospective and existing customers into their funnel. Various consumer-oriented industries have found tremendous success in their social marketing. For travel, the waters remain murky. On the one hand, engagement with social content has played a clear role in driving destination growth – sometimes even directly propagating overtourism. But in many cases, companies struggle to measure the true impact of their social strategies and fail to comprehensively capture consumer interactions with their content.

Phocuswright’s Social Media Usage Approach in Travel is part of a comprehensive consumer research study delving into the specifics of how social media platforms are used for travel. Key questions addressed include:

• What platforms are being used for specific components of the trip and how do travelers think about which account types and platforms offer them the best information?
• What are travelers seeking when they follow branded accounts, “like” content, post their own experiences, or even give formal tags and mentions to travel brands?
• Do distinct demographic groups engage differently with the platforms? If so, how, and what may drive that separation?