Hotels, airlines and other segments of the multibillion-dollar travel industry are aggressively tapping into social media, ramping up their use of online sites such as Facebook and Twitter to build loyalty to their brands.

Airlines are maintaining a presence on YouTube and offering deals through social-mapping networks such as Loopt. Hotels are promoting their properties through bloggers, and they’re using social-networking sites to gather feedback, monitor trends and provide concierge services.

“I definitely think that social media is about to change the way we do things entirely,” says Jill Fletcher, social media and communications manager for Virgin America. “We’re able to admit over social media if we’ve made a mistake or if there’s a weather delay. So we’re able to communicate much faster and more effectively.”

Social media are being incorporated at a rapid rate into every part of a journey, from making the reservation to finding out where to eat. For instance:

•As of August, Delta passengers can buy tickets on Delta’s Facebook page.

•Southwest has three members of staff dedicated to monitoring and responding to queries made through social-media channels.

•Marriott is launching its Marriott Courtyard Facebook page Tuesday to issue messages about the chain and related information that might interest customers.

•Hyatt Hotels launched a Twitter account last year to serve as a virtual concierge. Staffers, based in Omaha, Australia and Mumbai, are instructed to respond to requests and questions within an hour, and are fielding queries ranging from where to find good sushi to alerts that a guest will be checking in late. The account has 12,000 followers. Hilton has a similar Twitter account.

Compared with other industries, the travel and hospitality sector is ahead of the curve in engaging social media.

Seeking return visitors

A key goal of staking a claim in the social-media space is to build a base of devoted followers who will keep coming back.

LuxuryLink.com and FamilyGetaway.com, which sell hotel packages, have launched “mystery auctions,” in which customers bid for hotel packages at discounted rates without knowing the property’s identity. To increase followers, the sites began issuing clues about the hotels only through their Facebook and Twitter pages.

As Country Inns & Suites By Carlson prepared to open its 500th hotel in College Station, Texas, earlier this year, it offered free seven-day trips to three bloggers active in social-media sites.

Marriott is launching a campaign in October that will invite loyalty program members with large Facebook and Twitter followings to help spread the word about its SpringHill Suites chain. They’ll get free stays and other incentives in return for positive messages sent to followers.

Customer relations

Airlines are using the tools and channels to try to ease travel, enabling passengers to book trips and find out if there is a delay without picking up a phone.

Instead of going to Delta.com, where 19 million domestic tickets are booked a year, passengers can make reservations on the airline’s Facebook page. The carrier will also let passengers peruse other websites and still be able to buy tickets by clicking on a Delta banner ad.

“Our strategy is, in channels where our customers are engaging, we want to be there for them and with them,” says Bob Kupbens, Delta’s vice president of e-commerce.

The airline’s website and traditional e-mail continue to be key, he says. But, he says, “these other channels are opportunities to be where the site isn’t. You’re not standing in line in security with your laptop open. But you are there with your mobile phone.”

A social-media presence has become essential for any company that wants to bond with a younger generation that will hopefully remain loyal for years.

Where are you?

Hotels are seeking ways to take advantage of the latest twist in the social-media sphere: location-based service software which uses the GPS in smartphones to provide hotels information about their customers’ whereabouts.

InterContinental is working with start-up company Topguest. People who sign up at Topguest’s website can walk into any hotel, restaurant or bar operated by InterContinental and receive a small allowance of the hotel company’s loyalty points. To receive the points, they must alert their “friends” on Foursquare or Facebook Places, two of the most popular location-based social-networking tools.

For hotels, it’s a way to promote their loyalty programs, increase sales during off hours and learn more about which of their customers are the “most influential” members in social-media circles, says Geoff Lewis, CEO of Topguest.

For all the merits of social media, some industry watchers warn that the industry shouldn’t forget about the older generations that aren’t tech savvy and still need to be engaged.

Intel says it’s chips and software will enable not just internet video streaming but could also allow operators to turn set-top boxes into video game consoles with games served over their connection.

Grid-style TV guides will be replaced by interfaces blending broadcast TV with internet content.

Samsung, Sony, LG, Vizio, Sharp and Panasonic are all releasing internet-enabled TVs this year with features such as Skype video calls, Netflix movie streaming and on-screen widgets that offer news, weather, financial quotes, social networking and internet radio.

With TV’s, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes rapidly adding wired or wireless internet connectivity to their features, a host of companies are tailoring and integrating web-based content for living room entertainment.

Apple has yet to mount a serious challenge to. It’s Apple TV box allow users to buy and rent movies from its iTunes Store to play on their TVs. But apart from YouTube videos and Flickr photos, it’s access to the wider web is limited.

Intel Chief Executive, Paul Otellini, told analysts last week that “The revolution we’re about to go through is the biggest single change in television since it went colour”. It already has a backlog of 1m units for its latest Atom Chip; which offers better audio and video performance, wider and open software support and is cheaper than the competition.

For it’s part, Google is expected to call on its Android developer community this week to create applications for TVs and its software could prove popular if it also promises advertising revenue for TV manufacturers.

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I am not suggesting that this happens all the time of course. It is more luck than anything. Something takes hold and it just goes from strength to strength. The power of the viral loop is something everyone is chasing, but very few marketing agencies manage to attain. It is something neither they nor any manufacturer can control. It all lies with the user. No-one can predict it.
But when it comes to marketing, video can be a great way to interact with potential customers, but you must do it correctly in order to attract new customers and not chase them away. They must see your video as providing them with interaction as well as value in order to be an effective means of social media marketing.
YouTube should certainly not be overlooked as a social media tool. We would be interested in hearing your YouTube success stories. How have you used it? How has it worked for you? Do you have any tips or tricks that you would like to share? Please use the comment section to share your YouTube experiences.