Thanks to efforts of global influencers like Elon Musk, Facebook & Google internet access has accelerated faster than ever before with *over 3 billion people gaining online access as of 2015. This access has accelerated an already fertile e-Commerce market and helped increase B2C potential dramatically. Recent projections have valued the *B2C e-Commerce business to over 3.2 Trillion dollars by 2020!
So with all that money flowing through the internet it’s no surprise hotel marketing teams should look to a cast a wider net via social media channels to pull in higher direct booking. But how much business for hotels can and is being generated directly through social media outlets today? And more importantly how can you effectively tap into social media in order to increase your direct bookings?
Amount Of Business Social Media Generates
Estimates show the *number of worldwide users on social networks by 2018 to be a whooping 2.5 Billion which is nearly 90% of all people online. In 2015, over 70 percent of the US population had social network profiles. According to a study made last year by the social times 28% of time spent online is spent on social media. And *nearly half of all online shoppers rely on social media when making a purchase online!
In hospitality alone there are over 148.3 million bookings made on the internet each year. The amount of business on the internet which is generated via social media is so overwhelming hotels have no choice but to focus on these channels. And the hotels who turn a blind eye to social media as a real avenue of generating direct business will be severely impacted and lose countless bookings to other properties who do cultivate their social networking channels.
First And Foremost, Know Your Market
*74% of online adults use social networking sites. It is important to remember who the current adult population is today.
