HOTELMARKETING.COM

Expedia on how to engage the travel blogging community

June 21, 2012 | Hotel Marketing

Expedia has a huge inventory and can offer travellers so much choice. But what it also knows is that travelers will come to the site four or five times before actually booking. Blogs that really engage and inspire can play a really important role at this stage.

So with thousands of travel writers out there, how does a brand like Expedia choose who to work with? Before working with a blogger Expedia wants an affirmative answer to the following three questions:

- Do they offer a unique audience?
- Do they have a unique point of view?
- Do they come with a level of credibility?

As with anything though, the travel brand must understand what they are trying to achieve and then measure the success of the blog too. “We have a business need and we need somebody who can cast a broad net and engage with people who may then go on to buy our products,” says Keeling.

For Expedia measuring success involves understanding the perception the blog has created and how many page impressions it has achieved. “So we look, for example, at how many people engage with a particular hashtag – such as #ExpediaKids - we’ve created on Twitter and what they are saying about a campaign,” she explains. “And we also track transactions – so on the day that a city is being promoted how does it fare with bookins?” For the record the #ExpediaKids on Twitter generated over 4 million impressions in the first 18 days of the campaign.

Get the full story at EyeForTravel

Visit our sponsors: