using social media in the cruise liner business

Social Media and CruiseDecember 2010

Who we are• P&O Cruises, Cunard and Princess• Based in Southampton• 45% of UK cruise market• Strong growth through downturn• Part of the wider Carnival family

What are we covering today?• Why is social marketing important• Making the most of the available tools• What are the we doing?• Quick tips

Cruising’s fit with social media• Holidays are inherently social• Most customers research online• Relatively easy to add value• Customers trust each other > they trust us• Social results come up in google

Two key roles• Brand goals

• Awareness, brand sentiment, PR, loyalty• Communication, crisis management• Customer feedback

• Commercial goals• Acquisition, conversion• Promotion, transaction

What are people doing?• Creators – 24%• Chatters – 33%• Critics – 37%• Collectors – 30%• Joiners – 59%• Spectators – 70%• Inactive – 17%

(based on US online consumers)

Top reasons for “liking” us

Is it just for young people?• 77% of 45-54s visited a social site in May 2009• 67% of 55+• Over 50% of the 20m UK Facebook users >35• 40% of Cunard “fans” are >40• Twitter has 3.5m users in the UK

Online influencers• 1% of visitors generate 25% of site traffic• Traffic sent by influencers 4 x more likely to convert into sales• What customers say about you is more important that what you say about yourself

Twitter – a conversation• A 140 character “text message” to customers• Follow companies and journos and retweet things that you find interesting• Don’t use it to spam!• tiny URLs, # and @• Start a debate; ask questions• Tweet from ship launches• PR benefit as popular with journalists

Facebook – for sharing• The easiest social tool to get started with• Comment (where you add value) on pages• Great for polls videos and photos• Don’t be too corporate!• Buying “fans”

Friends influence friends

Chat rooms and forums• Contribute to the debate where you add value and link to blog posts• Be honest - declare your interest• Use the forums to identify “hot subjects” (eg tipping) to tweet or blog about• Largely self-policing

Chat rooms and forums• Contribute to the debate where you add value and link to blog posts• Be honest - declare your interest• Use the forums to identify “hot subjects” (eg tipping) to tweet or blog about• Host a forum on your homepage

Other social media• Blogs - an online diary• LinkedIn – online Rolodex and recruitment tool!• Flickr – for all your photos• Youtube – your online video library

What are we doing?• pocruises.com/community – forums, reviews, photos• Blogs hosted by ship staff and MD• Incentivising Facebook fans to increase reach• Tweeting (mostly to journalists and travel agents)• Full time dedicated marketing resource• Training our team and agents to harness it• Use social media to “meet the crew”

Taking it to the next level....• More customer content on youtube• Split Twitter between “marketing” and “complaints”• Learning from crisis management• Facebook as the call-to-action on adverts?• Bookings on Facebook??• Integration with CRM• Special offers for fans• Group buying

Policy considerations• How to respond to criticism• How often to communicate• Policing user-generated content• When to take the conversation offline• How to use in crisis management• Do you trust your staff to be social?

Quick tips• Be sociable – respond and comment!• It’s a conversation - don’t spam• Include pictures, video and surveys• Ask for feedback from customers• Focus on quality over quantity• Link between traditional and social communication tools• Try to take “complaints” off-line quickly

Quick Tips• Link all your various profiles• Don’t be too corporate or “on message”• Be honest, informal and controversial!• Stick loads of inbound links on everything• Use Hootsuite and google alerts to monitor• Update regularly (but not too often!)• Get your staff involved – trust them to speak!

How to find us........• linkedin.co.uk/mark-pilkington• twitter.com/mark_pilkington• facebook.com/pandocruises• wearecunard.com• jamescusick.co.uk• youtube.com/pandocruises• pocruises.com/community• 50essentialexperiences.com