From Social Media to Social SellingThe Evolution of Social Tools

Presented by Carole Smith Travel Centres Conference 2013

Social Sites: A Part of Our Lives

2003• LinkedIn

2006• Twitter

2011• Google+

1.19 Billion 500 Million 70 Million 238 Million 343 Million

Why Brands Embraced Social Media

Targeting The Travel Buyer

1960’s - 1970’s 1980’s 1990s 2000’s

ATTRACT STAGE

CONVERSION

The Challenges for Brands

Why do I need to use these sites?How do I integrate them into my business?How do I know I’m effective? What’s the ROI for my efforts?

Increased awareness of product, services with targeted audience

More favourable perception of our product, services

Better understanding of customer perception of our brand

Increase in new business

Source: Harvard Business Review report ‘The New Conversation: Taking Social Media from Talk to Action" (2012)

Benefits of Using Social Sites for Business

Social Intelligence Social Customer Care Social CRM Social Selling

Where we’re at now with Social ...

CuriosityAwarenes

s

Specific Interests & Search

Consideration &

Comparison

Selection &

Purchase

Social Selling: Online Buying Cycle

The Online Travel Consumer

76%

40%

21%

Source: TripAdvisor survey of 15,000 travellers Jan 2013

Top Sites for Researching Travel

Content is King and distribution is Queen!

https://www.facebook.com/SocialMediaCoachIE

https://twitter.com/CaroleSmith_

http://ie.linkedin.com/in/synneocarolesmith

http://www.synneo.ie/

Tel 353 (1) 547 7884