The typical brochure content is ignored at best. At worst creates suspicion.

Monday, 16 December 2019

70m+ travel conversations, also reveal a trend towards small networks, increased mentions of friends and family and a change in channel usage

In its latest report, “Sun, Sea, Social and Search”, immediate future has identified a shift in behaviour amongst consumers talking about holidays. Data drawn from Brandwatch Intelligence tools, alongside insight from Global Web Index (GWI), gives travel brands a picture of a changed social media landscape.

Audiences now show a preference for what they see as genuine content. The over produced, staged, ‘meaningful quotes’ posts or the shots of perfect beaches, blue skies and turquoise seas no longer cut the mustard. People are now on the hunt for what they deem to be real pictures, real reviews and real connections.

Katy Howell, CEO at immediate future says: “Consumers are sharing more detail from holidays, unfiltered destinations and candid snaps. The typical brochure content is ignored at best. At worst creates suspicion.”

“Brands need to be focused on quality content if they intend to make an impact. And that means being focused on trust drivers such as personality, consistency and genuine connections.”

The report also reveals a move to discussions in forums and dark social (such as Messenger or WhatsApp). 63% of leisure travellers use Messenger and 61% use WhatsApp for travel related activities. This move is aligned with a desire for more genuine content, indicating consumers are looking for trusted recommendations and advice. According to GWI, UK holiday-goers are 19% more likely to say they’re easily swayed by other people’s opinions and holiday buyers are turning to smaller networks of friends, family and known communities.

Search and social are good bedfellows, so this year the report brings in search data and recommendations from Re:Signal. And search insight backs up the need for quality content. Visual search / Google images are getting more important as a key driver for awareness around destinations.

And whilst image search on Google steps up, the channel behaviours have changed. Twitter is more driven by – it explodes into life ‘in the moment’.

Katy explains the Instagram change: “Instagram is less about the destination, city or country. Instead we see more focus on seasonality, holiday types (beach, nature, adventure) and specific attractions, alongside history and art. Posts reveal more detail, or interesting facts, rather than just showing off a perfectly posed picture.”

The full report examines where social has the biggest impact in the purchase journey, and which destinations were discussed the most (the results will surprise you!), and more. You can download the report for free at http://po.st/Holiday2019




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Want juicy insights, news and more info
Give Katy Howell a call on 020 8547 1830 or katy.howell@immediatefuture.co.uk – oh! And of course, on Twitter @katyhowell

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About Brandwatch
Brandwatch is the world’s pioneering digital consumer intelligence suite, helping over 2,000 of the world’s most admired brands and agencies including Unilever, Walmart and Dell to make insightful, data-driven business decisions.
The company has made three acquisitions to date: PeerIndex (2013), BuzzSumo (2017) as a standalone content marketing platform, and Qriously (2019) to diversify its voice-of-consumer data offering. Additionally, the company was bolstered by its merger with Crimson Hexagon (2018) to create the most comprehensive AI-powered social intelligence solution.
Brandwatch has offices around the globe including Brighton, Boston, New York, London, Berlin, Stuttgart, Paris, Madrid, Sydney and Singapore.
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Re:signal
SEO insights are provided by Re:signal, a specialist SEO and content marketing company which works with numerous travel brands including; Expedia, Holiday Cottages, EasyCar, Audley Travel and more.

Resignal.com
@re_signal