The Social Technographics® Of US Online Travelers

November 28th, 2007

Sarah Rotman Epps

With contributors:

Henry Harteveldt , Scott Wright , Josh Bernoff

Summary

User-generated content influences travelers' booking decisions, and travel eBusiness professionals know that they need to address their customers' needs for social media on their Web sites. Creating an effective social media strategy requires deeper insight into travelers' engagement with social media. By applying Forrester's Social Technographics® categorization to US online travelers, we learn that only a small percentage of travelers actually create content online. A much greater number read, watch, organize, and share content with their friends. Choosing which technologies to employ — whether that's blogs, RSS, podcasts, social networks, or the next hot thing — must come after a thorough analysis of your customers and your strategic objectives. To illustrate how travel sellers can apply Social Technographics to their own strategies, we present a case study of Delta Air Lines, analyzing how well Delta's existing social media strategy aligns people and technology with the airline's stated marketing objectives.

Want to read the full report?

This report is available for individual purchase ($1495).

Forrester helps business and technology leaders use customer obsession to accelerate growth. That means empowering you to put the customer at the center of everything you do: your leadership strategy, and operations. Becoming a customer-obsessed organization requires change — it requires being bold. We give business and technology leaders the confidence to put bold into action, shaping and guiding how to navigate today's unprecedented change in order to succeed.