In Spring 2012, BCF, a full-service marketing agency, and I surveyed members of the Mountain Travel Symposium to determine their level of social maturity. We captured results from 36 respondents across hotels, destinations, ski areas, and travel-related vendors. The slide deck summarizes our findings.

1. BCF | MTS
Social Media Survey

2. Obsessed
with travel.

3. John Runberg
Partner, Director of Digital Strategy
(757) 497-4811
jrunberg@boomyourbrand.com

4. Kathy Herrmann
Measurement & Insight
(757) 497-4811
kherrmann@boomyourbrand.com

5. Why
create the survey?

6. The purpose of business is to
drive revenue | increase profitability.

7. The purpose of marketing
(including social media)
is to support these efforts.

8. We wanted to know how the
mountain travel industry was
performing in social media.

9. What
is the survey?

10. 13 questions designed to uncover
social media sophistication.

11. The Social Assessment curve.
• OPTIMIZE
• ANALYZE
• ENGAGE
• LEARN
• LISTEN

12. 36+ respondents:
16 hotels
5 destinations
10 ski areas
5 vendors

13. Budgets large and small:
11 less than $100k
6 $100-250k
5 $250-500k
8 $500k+

14. What
we’re about to present…

15. Social assessment:
insights that drive performance.

16. We’re going to share our findings
and provide best practices.

17. Detailed findings will
be published after MTS at
www.boomyourbrand.com

18. Target
Brand
Audience
Measurement
Content
and Monitoring

19. A brand, pure and simple, is a
consumer’s perception of a
product or service.

20. Over 30% have just begun to
develop a brand persona.

21. Over 30% have just begun to
develop a brand persona.
Another 30% have a well
articulated brand.

22. Over 30% have just begun to
develop a brand persona.
Another 30% have a well
articulated brand.
Just 8 respondents feel their brand
is meaningful and well known.

23. Your brand should be the core of
every marketing initiative.

24. Your brand should be the core of
every marketing initiative.
Including Social Media.

25. Target
Audience

26. 44% use two or more metrics
to define target audiences.

27. 44% use two or more metrics
to define target audiences.
17% use just one.

28. Over half don’t know who their
social media target audiences
are.

29. Social Target Audience:
Customers, prospects…

30. Social Target Audience:
Customers, prospects…
and those who influence purchase.

31. Identify your social target audience:
• know the top 5 audiences.
• know the top 15 influencers.
• know their behaviors.
• know where + when they
interact.

32. Content

33. 44% create “general” content.

34. General = information = ”push”

35. General = information = ”push”
Segmented = engagement = ”pull”

36. 46% - content is read and/or shared.

37. 46% - content is read and/or shared.
22% - engaged enough to comment.

38. 46% - content is read and/or shared.
22% - engaged enough to comment.
Just a few are engaged enough to
create content on their own.

39. Social Media.

40. Social Media.

41. Engagement reinforces
relationships and leads to sales.

42. Measurement
and Monitoring

43. There’s a dichotomy.

44. 80% say they measure the
sentiment of their brand.
74% say they only use
free monitoring tools.

45. Free tools cannot provide in-depth
insights such as sentiment.

46. It’s true. Premium tools cost
money.

47. It’s true. Premium tools cost
money.
You have to balance the cost
against the value of the insights
received.

48. The purpose of measurement
is not “to measure.”

49. The purpose of measurement
is not “to measure.”
It’s to gain actionable insights that
drive business performance.

50. A few last
thoughts:

51. Key finding: the industry is low on
the Social Assessment curve.

53. Good News: Most companies
are in a very similar place.

54. A distinct competitive advantage
comes from committing
to being social.

55. John Runberg
jrunberg@boomyourbrand.com
Kathy Herrmann
kherrmann@boomyourbrand.com
(757) 497-4811