My life, like many others, has been taken over by an obsession with Twitter- I check it over 50 times a day from my phone and even more frequently from my computer. My list is full of some of the best in online travel and their tweets keep me up to date about their projects, competitors and most importantly, their companies. Of course, not everyone gets it right and some get it totally wrong. Inspired by some comments on previous posts, I’d like to look at how Twitter can work in the travel world.
If Twitter is going to be used as a communication medium between consumers and the travel industry, there are a few different ways to engage the masses:
“The man behind the curtain”- These companies choose a more impersonal style of Twitter account, usually with their logo as an avatar. They offer travel deals and snippets of information for their customers in the name of promoting brand awareness. Some companies that I think do this well are STA Travel and Flight Centre.
The “Head of state”- These Twitterers represent their companies in either an official capacity or on a more casual level. A really good example of this is Barack Obama’s Twitter account, although he has chosen his own name as the name of the account, he represents American government and to a larger degree, the American people. These “Heads of state” in the travel world make up the majority of my list; they are generally experienced professionals in their chosen field and can add huge value to anyone’s Twitter experience. From my perspective, a few Twitters that use this style and do a great job of it are: Alex Bainbridge, Stephen Joyce and Nick Bowditch.
So if it’s so easy, why don’t we see more companies jumping on the Twitter bandwagon? For one, every slip up is public- very public. We only need to look back to the Whole Foods incident to see how damaging it can be to use your company as a soapbox for your own agenda. In the Whole Foods case, the “Head of state” tweet style worked against Whole Foods and turned their following against the business, not just John Mackey (CEO). Taking the personality out of the picture doesn’t always solve the problem, either. The “Man behind the curtain” style can backfire just as easily. I have commented on this before in my post about Travelodge and their attempt to buy followers. Yes, Twitter is a great tool for getting your specials, sales and message out to a mass group, but if that’s all you do count me out!
So how is it done correctly? In the spirit of full disclosure, I don’t actually have a business to tweet about, I get to enjoy the luxury of hanging back and watching others. That being said, I think there are two parts to getting it right: the technical and the character. The same things that make someone a good, trustworthy person face to face apply to Twitter, maybe even more so. Is your message coming across manufactured and fake? If so, people will tune out just as they would over any other medium. In other words, tweet about what you know and love. Alex Bainbridge has an interesting theory called the, “Dead mouse sandwich”. If you haven’t heard of it, I suggest you check it out as it very much reinforces the idea that strong character is the foundation for success.
If you are looking to build strong relationships with others in the industry, strong character should carry you a long way. If, on the other hand, you are looking to expand your marketing and brand presence, there are a few pieces of technology that can help. Rather than targeting a huge audience with a vague message, Twitter allows us to target users in a specific location by specific keywords and, to be honest, it can be as simple as using “advanced search” on the twitter homepage (Click here for some different tools). For example, lets say I specialize in selling honeymoons, I search the Sydney area for any users mentioning honeymoons in their tweets and on the first page I have already found some very promising looking leads:
So there you have it, my very general take on Twitter in the travel industry. Some say it can’t be used to generate sales, others are saying it’s too much of a risk. Personally I think if it works use it, but I am very interested to hear some opinions on the matter, please comment below!
Twitter and travel, not as scary as it looks
If Twitter is going to be used as a communication medium between consumers and the travel industry, there are a few different ways to engage the masses:
“The man behind the curtain”- These companies choose a more impersonal style of Twitter account, usually with their logo as an avatar. They offer travel deals and snippets of information for their customers in the name of promoting brand awareness. Some companies that I think do this well are STA Travel and Flight Centre.
So if it’s so easy, why don’t we see more companies jumping on the Twitter bandwagon? For one, every slip up is public- very public. We only need to look back to the Whole Foods incident to see how damaging it can be to use your company as a soapbox for your own agenda. In the Whole Foods case, the “Head of state” tweet style worked against Whole Foods and turned their following against the business, not just John Mackey (CEO). Taking the personality out of the picture doesn’t always solve the problem, either. The “Man behind the curtain” style can backfire just as easily. I have commented on this before in my post about Travelodge and their attempt to buy followers. Yes, Twitter is a great tool for getting your specials, sales and message out to a mass group, but if that’s all you do count me out!
So how is it done correctly? In the spirit of full disclosure, I don’t actually have a business to tweet about, I get to enjoy the luxury of hanging back and watching others. That being said, I think there are two parts to getting it right: the technical and the character. The same things that make someone a good, trustworthy person face to face apply to Twitter, maybe even more so. Is your message coming across manufactured and fake? If so, people will tune out just as they would over any other medium. In other words, tweet about what you know and love. Alex Bainbridge has an interesting theory called the, “Dead mouse sandwich”. If you haven’t heard of it, I suggest you check it out as it very much reinforces the idea that strong character is the foundation for success.
If you are looking to build strong relationships with others in the industry, strong character should carry you a long way. If, on the other hand, you are looking to expand your marketing and brand presence, there are a few pieces of technology that can help. Rather than targeting a huge audience with a vague message, Twitter allows us to target users in a specific location by specific keywords and, to be honest, it can be as simple as using “advanced search” on the twitter homepage (Click here for some different tools). For example, lets say I specialize in selling honeymoons, I search the Sydney area for any users mentioning honeymoons in their tweets and on the first page I have already found some very promising looking leads:
So there you have it, my very general take on Twitter in the travel industry. Some say it can’t be used to generate sales, others are saying it’s too much of a risk. Personally I think if it works use it, but I am very interested to hear some opinions on the matter, please comment below!