7 Most Important Themes from Social Media Strategies for Travel 2010

I livetweeted this week’s Social Media Strategies for Travel event, and posted summaries of day 1 and day 2. But what were the big takeaways?

1) Everyone is experimenting.

I was pleased to see the conversation move beyond social media basics into examples of how people are trying this stuff out. Right now everyone is trying everything. In the testing phase there tends to be less dogmatism…which I find refreshing.

2) Fail quickly, fail fast

The Silicon Valley mantra is being adopted by many hotel marketing professionals. Many prominent hospitality organizations are simultaneously trying a number of very different social networking experiments. They are trying to keep each tests’ cost as low as possible, and then plan to expand with the winners.

3) Create multiple accounts for multiple messages

Several organizations are using different Twitter accounts, for example, to publish promotions and to conduct conversations. Multiple Twitter accounts enable multiple “host” voices, and can provide more authentic messaging.

4) Older marketing tactics are just as powerful as ever.

I found it slightly ironic that when I asked dozens of people what their most productive internet marketing tactics were, many of them answered email, blogging, and search optimization.  It’s interesting to note that email seemed to be the top sales performer, even as social media gets most of the attention. It seems the best results are coming when these channels are integrated.

5) Social media represents a mindset

It’s not about a set of tools.

Rather, it is about how people interact with the web today. Good social media campaigns are really just attentive customer service happening online.

6) Think holistically

There are 3 stages a person goes through in travel: planning, the trip itself, and then looking back at the trip. As marketers we may be too focused on the “planning” stage – and need to think about reaching people at other times. Virginia Suliman asked us to think about the complete guest experience – and who we need to partner with to ensure excellence.

When we look at some of the most effective marketing organizations online right now, you’ll see this is the case. They go far beyond only communicating with their customers in the “planning” stage.

7) Involve your employees

Everyone needs to get involved. Social media cannot be delegated to a single person or department. Empower your entire team to take part.

“Employees can take brand message, localize it, and put their personality behind it.” – Claire Elias/STA Travel