• by Tanya Gazdik , August 3, 2017

Airbnb, Hilton Hotels, Marriott, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Delta are the top travel brands, according to an analysis of social media posts, Experian reports.

Using its Social Media Analysis solution, Experian gathered the data from an analysis of tweets and posts using travel-related hashtags including #vacation, #summertravel and #summervacation. 

More than 12% of consumers discussing travel plans also hashtagged “beach.” For the consumers interested in the beach, 43% also hashtagged “amusement park.”

Other popular vacation destinations include New York, which was hashtagged nearly 7% and road trip, which was hashtagged 5%. Nearly 60% of consumers were female and 47% fell between the ages of 31 and 50.

Social media provides marketers in the travel industry a unique view into the preferences, behaviors and opinions of their target audience, says Mindy Pankoke, product manager for consumer marketing data solutions at Experian.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about the consumer. So, brands need to create messages that appeal to their audiences,” Pankoke tells Marketing Daily. “The hotel and airline brands that appear near the top of our analyses portray images of adventure — which seem to resonate with a travel-focused audience. “

While some of these brands are smaller in size, they seem to post fairly regularly and focus their messages on brand awareness, she says. 

“In fact, it appears some of these brands partner with companies outside of their industry, enabling them to reach a new market, which is one of the ways our clients use our social data solutions,” Pankoke adds.

Social media is a channel where consumers openly express their opinions and preferences, she says. 

“Based on the analysis, we see that would-be vacationers have broad interests in technology, media and fashion brands,” Pankoke says. “Marketers in the travel industry need to study how the brands at the top of these categories are reaching their target audience, and tailor content and offers that reflect the positioning of successful brands.”

It’s about going beyond basic data, such as reposts and shares, and digging into the interests of consumers, so they can better communicate with them, she says. 

“Perhaps travel marketers can uncover new brand ambassadors, or discover new partnership opportunities as many of the brands we found are atop the engagement list for would-be vacationers,” Pankoke says. 

The percentage of social media users following and engaging with handles in categories such as finance media and mainstream news are higher than Expedia has seen in analyses of other audiences, she says. 

“But what it means is that marketers in the travel industry may have new opportunities to advertise and partner with new influencers to reach their audience,” she adds.