As Twitter increasingly
explores opportunities to commercialize its platform, one area of promise is the travel industry.
According to a report from
tnooz, Twitter's "Buy Now" button, which rolled out last fall only in the United States, could become a driver of revenue for airlines, travel and tour companies.
"Buy Now" enables businesses with Twitter accounts to tweet offers that in turn generate direct transactions from users.
While the feature initially rolled out on a limited basis with artists such as Eminem and Brad Paisley, or companies such as Home Depot and fashion retailer Burberry, its expansion may prove useful in a few areas of the travel industry.
Perhaps conversion is not why followers are there, or perhaps it’s a matter of the right deal/right time/right prospect. The only way to know is to test!
For example, exclusive airfare deals could be promoted to users in specific geographic locations who are more likely than others to be enticed by a great price.
Tour operators could promote generally low-cost, ticketed events that draw greater attendance numbers through easy sign-ups on Twitter.
Hotels and hospitality businesses could leverage Twitter as a way to help guests find local activities while reducing strain on the concierge. They could also push their own sweetened deals to draw in guests who happen to come across an offer as a tweet.
The nice thing about Twitter is that it lends itself to more creativity in pitches that will surface alongside the rest of a user's feed.
As the tnooz report points out, e-commerce on Twitter provides companies a chance to match their own spontaneity with that of a diverse user base. That could in turn become a great transactional tool for revenue management.
