How Travel Brands Do Customer Service Right on Social Media

Forget the 1-800 number. Social media is rapidly becoming one of the travel industry’s most important channels for customer service. A 2016 study by marketing agency Rational found that 67% of consumers have used a company’s social media channel for customer service, and that another 53% expect a response within 60 minutes of contact. Social-focused customer service now even influences entire advertising campaigns, and has been shown to cost travel brands real money if they don’t respond. Another study from Twitter suggests travelers spend more money with brands that promptly respond to their questions on social media. Put simply, the stakes for getting customer service right on social media have never been higher. Given this rising rate of requests and increasingly high stakes environment, how can companies ensure they’re developing the right customer-centric social strategies? Are automated tools like chatbots a potential solution? The truth is there are no right answers. Each brand needs to define what works for their organizational structure and processes. However, guidelines do exist that can help travel brands grow and thrive in this new environment, where real-time 1:1 responsiveness is more important than ever. Here’s