Travel consumers trust each other - CGC is a big trend

According to a research study released by Compete, when making travel decisions, consumers listen to one another. In total, consumer generated content (CGC) already influences $10 billion a year in online travel bookings.  Consumers are increasingly embracing their peers’ voices online: 20% rely on CGC when planning travel, and they consider this content more credible than reviews from professionals or information from the brands themselves.

To understand how marketers can create a strategy for getting involved in the conversation, Compete analyzed the effectiveness of three innovators in the travel category that have already embraced CGC:

• Sheraton Hotels pushed its standard website booking functionality aside, transforming into a social platform revolving around a “Global Neighborhood”
• Southwest Airlines launched a promotion to involve consumers in its marketing campaign through a contest for creating the best “Wanna Get Away” commercial
• TripAdvisor has become the single largest source of consumer-generated travel reviews online, with over 5 million consumers sharing in an ongoing dialogue

Three strategies recommended are:

Comments

[Robert Kingston]

This is a great find. I'm very excited to see where Social Media takes consumers in several years to come. The benefits it poses for companies are amazing but I expect competition for attention to increase 3 fold.

[Brian Lamb]

This is a great example of what trendwatching.com have called Crowd Clout. The travel industry are clearly already adapting but anyone with a significant online presence had better start adapting. Customer centric sites will be the ones who embrace customer rating and learn from it.