social media expedia_media_solutions

www.advertising.expedia.com

©2013 Expedia, Inc. Media Solutions. All r ights reserved. | v.080913

WWW.ADVERTISING.EXPEDIA.COM PAGE 1

LIFTING YOUR TRAVEL BRAND

SOCIAL MEDIA The revolution in social media has created a powerful opportunity for businesses to promote their brands. Social platforms from Facebook to Twitter, Pinterest and Google+ have exploded in popularity among individual consumers—and social networking has become a field of dreams for marketers. The travel industry is especially well positioned to connect with users of social media. Social Media is particularly popular among travelers and travel consumers—who tend to share their experiences & photos before, during and after their trips and will rely on other consumer reviews to influence their decisions.

The SOCIAL NATURE of TRAVEL

83% of travelers are active on social networks

Almost half (49%) log on daily

31% of travelers are more likely to post about their trips while traveling than when they get home

77% of travelers are active Facebook users

More than one in five travelers (22%) cite using

networks and microblogs (e.g., Twitter) to search for travel deals from businesses

26% of travelers look for deals on social networks

19% of travelers source travel tips

and advice from friends

SOURCE: PhoCusWright Travel Technology Survey 2012

with

Clearly, travelers enjoy a strong connection with the most popular forms of social media. So how can travel marketers take advantage of social media? It may seem daunting, but with the right approach it can lead to MAJOR REWARDS.

TRAVELERS love to TWEETof tweets ask questions that are tourism-related (a place to visit, or an activity to do when they arrive) use Twitter to help with the logistics of their travel plans (choosing a hotel, calculating travel costs)

SOURCE: http://www.allianz-global-assistance.com/corporate/images/Helpme_synthesis.pdf | http://www.tnooz.com/2013/07/05/news/twitter-evolves-as-a-strong-platform-for-virtual-travel-concierge-services/#MAJTEBJ4Vfqtcojg.99

38%

26%



WWW.ADVERTISING.EXPEDIA.COM PAGE 1 PAGE 2

According to a 2013 Vizu report, there is a clear link between social media, amount of sales generated, and brand lift.1 A social media campaign is valuable because it provides an audience of fans or followers for a brand. When it comes to a successful social media approach, it’s about driving results through increased exposure to the brand and engaging with a relevant, qualified consumer audience. Yet this is only the first step in creating a long-term successful social strategy.

WHY USE SOCIAL MEDIA IN YOUR MARKETING EFFORTS?

1. Use social media as part of an integrated campaign. The use of social media is not merely a standalone tactic. Rather, it is an important part of an advertiser’s toolkit to influence brand awareness and engagement. Advertisers are increasingly viewing social media advertising as an integrated, cross-platform tactic to run in conjunction with other online and offline efforts.2

2. Use social media to drive long-term engagement with consumers. Brand success is tied to more than just “likes”. Getting fans to engage with your brand will do more to increase your ROI than simply having them “like” your brand. The core of social media is getting consumers to create content on behalf of your brand through engagement and conversation.

SOME RULES OF THE ROAD

LoyaltyMajor Facebook campaigns not only drive traffic to the respective pages on Facebook, but they also generate stronger cross-visitation between brand.com and the brand’s official Facebook pages.

• People who visit brand.com and that brand’s official Facebook pages exhibit stronger loyalty, allocating more of their category visits to that brand’s site.

• Generally, people who visit a brand’s official Facebook pages visit the respective brand.com site more often.

• 3 of every 4 surveyed respondents indicated a brand’s official Facebook pages had at least some influence on their purchase decision.

56% OF CONSUMERSsay that they are more likely to recommend a

brand after becoming a fan on Facebook.3

SOURCE: “Exploring the Value of a Facebook User”- Expedia Media Solutions & Compete (Nov. ‘11)

SOCIAL CAMPAIGNS THAT WORK

One of the most efficient and cost-effective ways to initiate a social media effort is to collaborate with major online players to reach a wider base of relevant customers.

Travel marketers can partner with an Online Travel Agency (OTA) like Expedia to leverage their scale, brand equity, and deep connection to loyal travel enthusiasts.

Expedia Media Solutions has had major success in leveraging social media to produce positive results for its clients. Many travel brands have discovered that, by partnering with Expedia Media Solutions, they can reach a large audience and raise

awareness of their destination while also driving real results in the amount of visitors and room nights booked.

By working with Expedia Media Solutions, travel marketers can build their own fan base by connecting with the Expedia audience. They also have access to more than 1,000 Expedia market managers who can work with suppliers to secure compelling deals for their fan base.

By telling a cohesive story across its social touch points, as well as on the site directly, Expedia serves as the ultimate engagement destination for fans and consumers dreaming about their next trip or researching a specific region—and can help destinations drive consideration with a targeted audience.




EXAMPLE 1: CINCO DE MAYO WEEK PROMOTION

EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP STRATEGIES

For its first-ever theme week, Expedia Media Solutions teamed up with five Mexico travel partners to launch a Cinco de Mayo Week campaign in 2012, which generated extremely positive results for all participants. Based on this success, these partners returned for an expanded campaign in 2013. The 2013 campaign included on-site, email and social exposure:

• Expedia’s Facebook page was re-branded with a “Find your Fiesta” cover photo for Cinco Week of Deals

• The Mexico Twitter Chat on May 1st drew over 12 million impressions

• The first-ever Expedia “Pin to Win” contest used Pinterest as a vehicle for 5 Mexico trip giveaways

• Giveaway hotels each featured pictures to “pin” and received 2 images in a Facebook photo gallery

• Engagement rates on Facebook jumped to 10.5% (benchmark is around 3.45%); image views for one album post alone exceeded 24,000 views

• YoY hotel bookings were up +76% on May 5

EXAMPLE 2:

SOUTH AMERICA WEEK PROMOTION

To increase tourism to South America—while driving transactions for each of the participating sponsors—several South American airlines and tourism boards partnered with Expedia Media Solutions. Dubbed “South America Week”, the campaign was featured prominently on Expedia during a week-long celebration of South America.

Individual Market results were:

Cancun

+53%Riviera Maya

+28%Los Cabos

+35%Vallarta

+65%Mexico City

+54%Cozumel

+36%

PARTNERSAerolineas Argentina, Avianca Airlines, LAN

Airlines, Chile Tourism, Peru Tourism

DESTINATIONSArgentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia,

Peru, Ecuador

continues on next page

ROOM NIGHTS BOOKED IN MEXICO (YOY increase)




By collaborating with Expedia Media Solutions in a large social campaign, these travel partners generated incredible results. This campaign ran across Expedia’s social media channels promoting “South America Week”—timed to correspond with Brazil’s Carnival in February 2013.

• Featured content from each of the partners on Expedia and across Expedia’s Facebook, Google+ and Twitter pages.

• Included merchandising deals from each of the featured destinations and drove users to a custom South America-themed landing page and destination store on the Expedia site.

• Amplified engagement with a Twitter chat discussing South America and a Buenos Aires hotel giveaway. A SOCIAL SUCCESS:Throughout “South America Week,” Expedia pushed out compelling content allowing some of the rich images promoted on Facebook to reach upwards of 5,000 views.

South America Week was well-received by Expedia Facebook fans; they actively engaged with the content and shared their own perspective or experiences related to a destination, and this halo effect benefitted the partner brands, driving business results and qualified fan acquisition. Avianca Airlines, which participated in two of the six days of the campaign (and further amplified the brand’s presence on social media by pushing out some of its own content), saw an increase of nearly 25,000 fans on their own Facebook page during the week of the promotion.

• Avianca (promoting Colombia and Ecuador): 6,700+ IMAGE VIEWS/25,000 NEW FACEBOOK FANS

• LAN Airlines (promoting South America): 6,500+ IMAGE VIEWS

• Chile Tourism: 4,000+ IMAGE VIEWS

Outside of Facebook, Peru sponsored the weekly Twitter Chat, #ExpediaChat, which resulted in:

• 330+ PARTICIPANTS and generating 2,000 TWEETS

• Nearly 15 MILLION IMPRESSIONS during a 90-minute period.

EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP STRATEGIES

Ecuador

+158%Peru

+145%Colombia

+87%Brazil

+84%Argentina

+8%Chile

+37%

ROOM NIGHTS BOOKED (YOY increase)

Combined South America

+62%

A BUSINESS SUCCESS:Aside from the strong engagement on social platforms, South America Week drove impressive business results for the partners—especially in Room Nights booked for each destination:




During the summer of 2013, Expedia developed a large-scale social campaign with the province of Alberta, Canada, called “Find Your Alberta.” This innovative campaign featured a webisode series across Expedia’s onsite and blog channels using travel bloggers—along with a variety of tactics including:

• Custom Landing page featuring: Blogger webisode videos, real time Twitter and Facebook feeds, Instagram feed and links to other relevant content

• Featured stories on Expedia’s new travel blog, Expedia Viewfinder™, with additional sharing across the social media channels of Expedia & Travel Alberta & by the visiting travel bloggers, who themselves have dedicated online followings.

• Prominent placement on Expedia’s You Tube channel

• Offline marketing integration as Platinum sponsor of the Viewfinder launch party at TBEX (Travel Bloggers Expo). Alberta had prominent exposure at the event as well as stage time to launch their own webisode series.

• Additional exposure across Facebook through Sponsored Stories (i.e. Facebook advertising) While the travel bloggers were in Alberta, both Expedia and Travel Alberta’s social audiences had the opportunity to follow along online and be part of their trip through the province—whether visiting a festival in Edmonton, hiking in the Canadian Rockies or prospecting for fossils in Dinosaur Provincial Park.

The first phase of the Find Your Alberta campaign on Expedia.com launched in May 2013 and ran through the summer. Later in the year, Travel Alberta will work with tourism industry partners throughout the province to host Expedia’s travel bloggers in the creation of additional content which will complement Travel Alberta’s fall and winter marketing campaigns.

EXAMPLE 3:

ALBERTA TOURISM

“At Expedia Media Solutions we’ve found that our most successful online campaigns

are driven not only by innovation, but also collaboration,” said Noah Tratt, global

Vice President, Expedia Media Solutions. “These campaigns show how partners can

leverage Expedia’s existing campaigns, such as Find Yours, to build an emotional

connection with travel audiences, and grow visibility for their own brand.”




Creating a successful social media campaign isn’t as hard as you may think. Travel marketers have a natural environment to jump right in because travel lends itself well to engaging with interested consumers. Plus, as research has shown, travelers rely heavily on reviews and social media sites to make travel purchase decisions. Keep the following in mind when thinking about how to implement a social campaign:

With careful planning and collaboration, an integrated social media partnership can be a highly effective way to reach new customers, engage with an interested audience, and spread favorable word of mouth.

HOW DO YOU KICK-START A SOCIAL MEDIA EFFORT?

1, 2 Paid Social Media Advertising: Industry Update and Best Practices 2013; ©2013 The Nielsen Company 3 AdAge, November 18, 20114 http://www.tnooz.com/2013/04/16/news/case-study-expedias-south-america-week/

To learn more about how Expedia Media Solutions can partner with you to create

a compelling social campaign, contact a Digital Sales Consultant today or visit:

WWW.ADVERTISING.EXPEDIA.COM

PARTNERSHIPTeam up with strong brands in the space to help you drive engagement and awareness of your brand or destination. Being able to offer quality content, reach an active, relevant audience, as well as create innovative approaches, can all be made easier by partnering with a leader in the space.

ENGAGEMENT Engagement is the right metric for social media. When you share quality content, you will get people to come back to your page again and again. Travel is an industry full of inspiration so find what your brand’s value or inspiration is and leverage it in new ways to get your target audience engaged.

TEST & LEARNSocial is moving at an unimaginable speed. Innovation is key to social media efforts because the space is changing so rapidly. Take chances and know that the world of social media is adaptable and fluid.