Jamie Biesiada
Facebook has faced a lot of scrutiny recently with news of data breaches and swirling questions about trust, but data from Passport Online proves it is still a force when it comes to social media platforms.
"Everybody's on Facebook, whether you like it or not," said Marilyn Macallair, vice president of business development at Passport Online.
Passport Online, a provider of travel agency digital technology like websites and social media promotions, recently released its 2018 Digital Report Card, which found that agents' digital activity has spiked in the first half of the year. For instance, the company found that website sales are up over 60% year-over-year, and that consumer engagement on websites is up.
Social media statistics were also way up. Passport Online has a product that posts to agents' pages, ESP Social Media Posting. So far this year compared to last, on Facebook, the number of "likes" agents are receiving are up 4%. Comments are up by 144%, shares are up 11% and click-throughs are up 73%.
Macallair called the increases "a little bit surprising," considering all of the issues Facebook has had recently, including users calling for boycotts.
"It is more surprising to me that these numbers are so big, but it tells you that Facebook is not going away, and from a travel agent perspective, that's what their principal social media channel is," Macallair said.
In addition to revealing that Facebook is still a dominant social media force for travel agents, Passport Online's data shows that agents in general are more active digitally, Macallair said. They are increasingly updating and upgrading websites in addition to upping their social media usage.
She posited that younger agents and independent contractors entering the industry could be part of that spike in digital activity, especially as consortia and others in the industry are courting new agent talent.
Passport Online's report card also revealed an increase in detailed offer views, up by more than 20%. Detailed offer views occur when a consumer clicks beyond the agency's home page to look further into travel opportunities, Passport Online said; each month in 2018, nearly 500,000 offers were viewed on websites powered by Passport Online.
"It's kind of a wake-up for [agents] to say, OK, if you've just recently spent some time on your website - whether it's ours or anybody else's - what does it look like? What kind of hits are you getting?" Macallair said.
Clicks beyond the homepage indicate that consumers are going deeper into the website, spending more time investigating travel opportunities. That's an indicator to an agent that their website is performing well, according to Macallair.