Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
benefi t-based rather than emotional. Understanding what drives consumers to connect with
marketers is critical in being able to provide value.
The strategic need for social media monitoring has led to the emergence of social media
monitoring tools, which are applications that facilitate monitoring across multiple social media
channels by indexing relevant information, providing mechanisms for marketers to search the
information (e.g. by keyword, date, etc.) and allowing for further analysis and data visualisation
(Stevenson and Hamill 2012). Stevenson and Hamill (2012) have identifi ed over 200 of such
tools currently available. Their main uses lie in supporting active listening to consumer-driven
conversations and measuring the effectiveness of social media marketing campaigns. Social media
monitoring tools are supported by general Web analytics tool.
In summary, new marketing assumptions demand new ways to measure performance. The
above suggests that social media monitoring is an emerging fi eld that has yet to establish sound
measures and measurement approaches but at the same time relies heavily on the ability to
determine success beyond established marketing effectiveness measures such as impressions and
conversion. Thus, it can be assumed that social media monitoring will continue to receive
increased attention from researchers and practitioners.
Challenges and opportunities for social media marketing in tourism
Conversations are fundamental elements of tourism information search and decision-making.
The sharing of experiences through personal narratives, pictures, etc. is also an integral part of
tourism experiences (Gretzel
et al
. 2011). The personal experience accounts of others serve as
input for those planning vacations or as inspiration for the future. Therefore, it is not surprising
that social media have become heavily used by travellers to document and communicate their
experiences and to inform their decisions (Yoo and Gretzel 2008; Fotis, Buhalis and Rossides
2012). Tourism content is inherently experiential and very engaging and, therefore, a seemingly
natural fi t for social media. There is also often a strong feeling of solidarity among fellow travellers
and an acknowledgement that experiential tourism information should be shared with others to
help improve their tourism experiences and promote those providers that offer exceptional
service. Some of the early virtual communities were actually tourism-related (e.g. the Lonelyplanet
thorn tree forum) and simply mimicked the sharing behaviours that were already occurring
through other media (e.g. comments left on bulletin boards in hostels). This can make one
assume that tourism is a perfect match for social media marketing endeavours. However,
marketers have to recognize that many of the platforms emerged for the very purpose of avoiding
conversations with marketers and a clear distrust in information coming from travel companies.
Couchsurfi ng.com is the ultimate negation of the commercial travel industry, trying to cut
companies completely out of the picture. On the other hand, tourism products are often seen as
status symbols and important elements of identity construction (Lee
et al
. 2009). Associating with
a travel company or destination through social media can be an important part of establishing a
social traveller identity. Yet, travellers will probably be very careful in choosing companies and
destinations they want to openly associate with.
Another aspect of tourism that needs to be recognized is variety seeking and low purchase
incidences. The main question is whether tourists want to commit to long-term relationships
with travel companies or destinations if they really only consume their products once in a while
or actually only once in a lifetime. While a deep relationship might be useful in the planning
phases, during the trip and immediately after a vacation, the value of a relationship beyond that
has to be questioned. While there is a lot of focus on the 'rules of engagement' in social media,
there is clearly also a need to discuss 'rules of disengagement', especially in tourism. The need for
