1. Aligning Social Media Strategies with
Revenue Management Goals
Part 2
Kate Varini
EyeforTravel, Amsterdam, Nov. 2010

2. MARKETING
In with the new, out with the old!
OLD  NEW 
Interruption & Coercion:
Getting prospects to STOP and
pay attention
Thinking like a journalist and
thought leader, making buyers
want to consume
Advertising to me. Expensive 1
way messages: Ink & Air. Media
chosen to target segment
Developing a relationship with
me
Wide & broad, ineffective
unless product has wide
appeal/mass distribution
options
Provide the means for
customers to solve their
problems

3. MARKETING
In with the new, out with the old!
OLD  NEW 
Advertising & Branding
Trust in advertising – low
Exclusively about selling
Centered on interaction.
Combination of marketing &
P.R.
Great creative work, winning
awards
Information, Education, Choice!
Rules that cannot be
transferred to the Web.
Separate from P.R.
Delivers useful content at the
precise moment that a buyer
needs it

4. PR: In with the new, out with the old!
OLD  NEW 
Exclusively about media & non-
targeted emails to reporters
containing unsolicited press
releases. Mostly ignored today.
Reporters research online &
writes a story which PR people
should be proactive in finding.
Mysterious, lots of training
needed. Time spent writing
press releases (jargon) &
schmoozing with the press.
OK for very large companies,
famous and governments.
CONTENT makes firm visible
online so can communicate
directly with buyer. Tells
compelling stories, educates,
engages, entertains.
Valuable, authentic CONTENT.
Separate from Marketing.
Clip books as a measure of
success.
Fact not fluff. Pro-amateurs
Promotes site traffic, lowers
SEO costs

5. A recent survey of 2100 companies
– 75 percent of companies surveyed did not know
where their most valuable customers were talking
about them.
– 31 percent do not measure effectiveness of social
media.
– Only 23 percent use social media analytic tools.
– A mere seven percent are integrating social media
into marketing activities
– http://www.eyefortravel.com/news/marketing/how-many-travel-companies-are-integrating-social-media-marketing-activities

6. Another Study – 36 Respondents
• How often do you interact with social media?
– Regular User 38.9%
– Occasional user 41.7%
• Time spent online per day
– Less than 1 hour 16.7%
– 1-5 hours 61.%
– More than 5 hours 22.2%

7. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Zero % Less than 10% 10-20% 21-40% 41-60% More than
60%
According to your best estimate, approximately what
percentage of the time spent online is spent
engaging in social media activities?
Level 1- Blogs/Wiki’s
Level 2 - Facebook,
Youtube, twitter
Level 3- Secondlife,
virtual game world

8. 0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
Personal use For networking Work related I don’t use social media
Why do you use of social media?

9. How often do you purchase products online?
Never
A few times a year
Approximately once
a month
More than once a
month

10. How often do you give feedback on the products you
purchase online?
Always
Usually
Often
Sometimes
Seldom
Never

11. Do social websites help you make travel decisions?
Yes
No

12. Do you discuss travel options within social network
sites?
Yes No

13. 0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50
Who the reviewer is
Has the information been updated recently
Is the content of the review relevant
How many reviews are there?
Does it match with what I thought?
Does it include positive and negatives?
Are there a good recommendations, high ratings?
Are the comments interesting/entertaining to read?
When reviewing travel information posted by other
consumers, how much would the following influence
you ?

14. How does your firm use social media
Listens to the customer (passive) 71.4%
Uses customer feedback to identify new
needs/product (active)
62.9%
To apply fast corrective action to issues arising e.g
complaints (active)
42.9%
Taps consumer voice/allows users to interact with the
firm
45.7%
Allows users to interact with each other 34.3%
Provide consumers with the means to create their
own stuff to personalize/improve experiences
(personalised map, page/preferences etc.)
20.0%
As a PR tool to generate viral marketing
opportunities.
51.4%

15. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Facebook Twitter Linkedin Foursquare Official
website
What is the main purpose behind the use of different
social media?
Promotions
Build awareness
Public relations
Get customer input on
new products
Use customers to
promote the firm

16. Which ways does your firm aim to leverage
social media?
Uses well known bloggers that are widely followed
on twitter.com or on their own blogs
25.8%
Allowing users to interact with the firm and site
visitors
77.4%
Asks users to participate in focus groups to provide
feedback
41.9%
Asks users to provide advertising/product ideas (as
part of a game)
22.6%
Develops new roles and have users compete for
them (best job in the world)
16.1%
Lets the consumers decide on price, product etc. 12.9%

17. My firm has NOT yet devised a way to
measure the financial impact of good/bad
reviews
77.1%
My firm does NOT evaluate the value of
customer co-production
82.9%

18. 0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
Generate ancillary
revenues
Uses consumer
creativity to create
new products
Uses social media
to assess
willingness to pay
To stimulate
demand with
diluting revenue
To assess
consumer
perception of price-
value
How do any of the firms social media actions
contribution to its revenue optimization strategies

19. Does your firm assess return of
investment in social media?
Yes
No
• Build brand awareness
– time-limited campaigns
– free services
• Tracking of average total spend
per guest that comes
from/through a social media
sight.
• Track how that spend impacts
profitability. Some guests are
may spend less, but are more
profitable to the property.
• Amount of ancillary revenues
generated.
• Number of fans, and usage of
site using click-through and
resulting bookings/revenue
• 3rd party tool

20. Is there a plan to foray further into social media
in the near future?
Yes
No

21. Does your firm have people assigned with
managing social media?
Yes
No

22. Who is in charge of Social media
management?
• Marketing (6)
• e-commerce manager and customer service staff
• sales manager
• We have created the position to specifically look after social media
• VP of Pursue The Passion Marketing
• Executive Head of Digital PR
• Manager Distribution and PR
• PR / Marketing
• PR specialist
• PR Marketing Brand management (online)
• Marketing PR Direct
• Creative Services Team Communication Manager

23. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being least and 10 being most),
rate how knowledgeable the staff assigned to managing
social media are about it.
• Average 6.7
• Most common answer: 8

24. Who should be in charge to ensure alignment of
social media strategies with marketing, revenue
management and pricing strategies?
• Marketing sales manager and general manager
• A dedicated, serious, clever and hardworking professional that comprehends the
company's goals very well.
• Marketing manager
• Director of Revenue - It is all about identifying what is being measures and how it
is being used.
• The marketing team are usually the ones with the creative ideas and Social media
is a great way to try the more unusual marketing ideas.
• CEO Head of Digital and Social Media
• Director of Sales & Marketing Business development executive
• The (Assistant) Hotel Manager Commercial Director Commercial Team
• The Director of Revenue Management
• Marketing Distribution Marketing & RM Head of Commercial Department
• Marketing Head of Social Media (within Marketing) DOSM/Revenue Mgr/GM/
• Marketing Communication Input needed from several departments
• Marketing Manager + GM

25. 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.80 2.00
No established KPIs to
measure ROI
Organisational Resistance
Lack of funding
Lack of knowledge/skills
Please rank the challenges your firm is facing with
foray into social media

26. Does your firm have a single repository for all consumer data
Yes
No

27. How easy is it to manipulate the data for alignment of social media strategies (with
marketing, revenue management and pricing strategies) purposes?
Very easy
Time consuming
Impossible

28. • Average age : 36
• 0.7 children
• Ages of children: 1-30
• Male 58%
• Female 42%
• Respondent
information
How would you best describe your firms
business?
Air
Car
Train
Hotel
Tour Operator

29. References
• Constantinides, E., Romero, C. & Boria, M. (2009), Social Media: A New Frontier for
Retailers? in European Retail Research, Gabler, pp. 1-28.
• Drury, G., (2008), Opinion piece: Social media: Should marketers engage and how
can it be done effectively? Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice,
9(3), pp. 274-7.
• FreshMinds Research (2010) Turning conversations into insights: A comparison of
Social Media Monitoring Tools. www.freshminds.co.uk accessed August 10th,
2010.
• Kaplan, A.M. & Haenlein, M., (2010), Users of the world, unite! The challenges and
opportunities of Social Media, Business Horizons, 53(1), pp. 59-68.
• Mendes-Filho, L., Tan, F. & Milne, S. (2010), Backpacker Use of User-Generated
Content: A Consumer Empowerment Study, in Gretzel, U., Law, R., (ed),
Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2010, Springer, pp. 455-
66.
• Scott Meerman, D. (2010) The New Rules of Marketing & PR. John Wiley, New
Jersey
• Thackery, R. Neiger, B.L., Hanson, C.L. & McKenzie, J.F., (2008), Enhancing
promotional strategies within social marketing programs: use of Web 2.0 social
media, Health Promotion Practice, 9(4), pp. 338-43.
• Xiang, Z. & Gretzel, U., 2010, Role of social media in online travel information
search, Tourism Management, 31(2), pp. 179 - 188.