Travel companies urged to get tweeting
Travel companies are being urged to make sure they have a visible and active presence on social media to communicate better with their clients.
According to a survey of 2,000 consumers by eDigitalResearch, social media is currently the quickest and most reliable form of customer contact.
Around 80% of consumers who have recently contacted a brand through social media platforms heard back from the company within 12 hours, compared to just over one third (37%) who heard back within the same time frame when contacting via email.
The survey also found that social media is currently the only customer contact channel that guarantees a response from a brand.
Of those consumers surveyed who have used social media to get in touch with a company, all of them received a response to their post, comment or tweet.
"Whilst there are still a limited number of consumers using social media channels to contact brands (our survey showed that just 2% have recently used their Facebook, Twitter or other social media accounts to get with a brand), it is currently the only channel that ensures that all consumers receive a response following their contact," said Derek Eccleston, commercial director at eDigitalResearch.
"As more and more consumers turn to social media to get in touch with their favourite brands, the favourable response rate is likely going to attract more enquiries through the channel
"Given the open and public nature of social media the results are hardly surprising but brands need to remember that social media never sleeps and it’s therefore important to manage customer expectations.
"Social media is also increasingly becoming a means of staying in touch with friends and family whilst away and therefore travel brands more than most need to make sure that the right measures and steps have been taken to ensure that customers who want to contact a company via this means whilst away can.
"Social media is becoming part of the overall customer experience and therefore needs to be managed like any other part of the customer journey."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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