How to Create Compelling Content Via Social Media – 3 of a 4 Part Series - Twitter

The 140 characters or less micro-blogging site Twitter which is set reach 200 million users in Q1 of this year, provides an dynamic platform for travel companies to enter into two way conversations with their customers.

Like it or loathe it many travel brands are experimenting with Twitter, not just respond to customer queries but also to raise brand awareness and reach new customers.

In a recent interview with Nicola Lange, Director Marketing & Customer Relations
The Americas, Lufthansa and Linda Palermo, Chief Revenue Officer, Joie de Vivre, EyeforTravel explored how each brand uses Twitter.

EyeforTravel: What types of tweets do you find your customers find engaging? 

Lufthansa: Our customers respond most often when they feel as though they have been given an exclusive or insiders view.  We have also had success linking to influencers, media and bloggers who have written articles or made mention of Lufthansa.  It enables us to share relevant content more subtly with both new and existing customers.

Joie de Vivre:  Typically tweets about special offers going on at the hotels – or interesting information to them. Photos, news and event updates garner interest. We monitor the re-tweets to see what is resonating with our followers.  And in general, we’re finding more and more individual guests engaging with us over Twitter about their stays – pre, during and post.

EyeforTravel: What challenges do you face when it comes to Twitter content? 
        
Lufthansa: Finding a balancing between promoting our brand, core values, and strategic messages while meeting the needs and expectations of our customers.

Joie de Vivre:  The limited number of characters per message, and it’s moving so fast … very focused on “this moment.”  Sometimes there is a timing issue on our end because followers expect immediate replies. We’re constantly trying to monitor but it’s a 24-7 world.

EyeforTravel: Do you attach a value to your followers on Twitter? 
        
Lufthansa: Yes. One of our strategic goals for the US market is to increase brand awareness.  We know how influential word of mouth marketing is and recognize the value of support from our engaged followers. 

Joie de Vivre:  We don’t currently - however we do track revenue driven through Twitter promotions as well as the number of followers/growth.

EyeforTravel: How many people in your company work to deliver Twitter content? 
 
Lufthansa: For North America we have one representative responsible for coordinating our social media efforts and communicating via twitter and other social media platforms, supported by a social media team made up of Corporate Communications, Sales, and Marketing colleagues.

Joie de Vivre:  We have 1-2 people

In summary, despite the fact that Lufthansa and Joie de Vivre operate in distinctly different areas of the travel industry, their experiences with Twitter share many similarities. Their customers like to follow them on Twitter in the hope of receiving special treatment whether in the form of a sneak preview or special discount.

What’s also very interesting is the similarity in the number of resources allocated to deliver Twitter content for both brands despite their very different product and service offerings.

Both Linda Palermo and Nicola Lange will be sharing further social media best practices and case studies at EyeforTravel’s upcoming Social Media Strategies for Travel conference, March 2-3, San Francisco.

Further information on this topic will be presented during the 2 days.

To read the other two parts of the four part EyeforTravel series ‘How to create compelling content via social media’ see:

• How to create compelling content via social media - Part I: Blogs> – Read here


• How to create compelling content via social media - Part II: Facebook –Read here


• How to create compelling content via social media - Part III: Twitter


• Part IV will be released in early February –


• How to create compelling content via social media - Part IV: Niche Travel