Case Study : Social Networking Media.

Expedia have a number of Twitter accounts for the different regions that they are based in,
however, lets focus solely on their main Twitter account @Expedia that has 311,000 followers.
They are a lot more active on Twitter than they are on Facebook, posting around four to five times
a day and there are a lot more thought goes into what they share on there than from the other
platforms. They tend to share a lot more real time content than on their other networks, such as
live tweets from events and live streamed Q&As that they promote under the hashtag
#ExpediaChat. These are a really good at encouraging their followers to engage with their tweets,
by encouraging them to ask questions of the guests and share their own experiences. Occasionally
they retweet and favourite their followers tweets about experiences with Expedia, which prompts
others to share their experiences with the chance of it being shared by Expedia.

Another great way that Expedia have built engagement with their followers is through games, such
as one called #MatchMadeinTravel which identifies users’ perfect holiday destination in the style
of the dating app Tinder, where you swipe left or right depending on whether you like what you
see. This is a fun way of engaging with their followers and it markets their holidays in a less direct
way than standard adverts.

Expedia run their own blog, writing about all things travel related and they use Twitter to share
and expand the reach of their posts. They also often share other travel bloggers articles that could
be of interest to their audience.

The majority of their hashtags used are brand specific, for example aforementioned #ExpediaChat,
however they do also occasionally get involved in trending hashtags such as #Earthday and
#WorldEmojiDay and frequently used hashtags related to their posts. This is a great way to
increase their brand awareness and reaching a wider audience.

They receive a large number of complaints which they deal with politely and try to respond to
within 24 hours. They do all that they really can in this situation and inform users that they will
contact them privately to avoid any public scrutiny.
(Source: linkhumans.com)
a) How did Expedia use social networking sites in impacting its audiences to achieve such
successful results in its campaign? Give at least TWO examples of Social Networking
Sites usage in this campaign?
(4 marks)

b) How does the use of game results in the success of this marketing campaign?
(3 marks)

c) Define Social Networking and explain your favourite Social Networking Site.
(4 marks)

d) Explain THREE reasons why people involve actively in social networking sites.
(6 marks)

e) Explain at least FOUR advantages of social networking media.

(8 marks)