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In spite of the reports suggesting social media is the way to connect with and service customers, it just may not be true.

Hotelmarketing.com reports that 62% of customers are looking for more support through social media.

But brand reputation and promotions still top the list of how companies use social media.

Econsultancy reported  a while back that the retail industry has the highest percent (45%) of customers using social media as  their "voice,"  and contacting (and getting) support through social media tools.

Travel and hospitality come in third, with an unimpressive 34%.

Could be that travel industry professionals are too busy promoting the virtues of their properties to actually ask what their customers want, Or  to answer questions and provide quality, individualized advice.

And unfortunately, the disconnect between what customers want and what companies emphasize is actually growing.

You can’t blame travel suppliers and companies for their myopia.
For too many years they’ve had a Pavlovian response to their brands: promote them, and get around to taking care of customers later.

But using corporate social media muscle to promote brand and not to give the people, their customers, a voice, is very wrongheaded.

If it's true that travel suppliers don't make themselves available to support and sustain their clients, to listen to them, one has to ask why.

One report suggested  that the disconnect may be the result of top brass not knowing how to use social media.

Seventy-three percent of corporations and companies said they would “use social media for customer service,” if they understood the tools available to them!

Now there's a problem waiting for a solution.

image/courtesy davidhallsocialmedia.com