Now that we’re deep into 2019, we thought it would be interesting to analyze the trends of a year rich in new developments and features.
With over 3.4 billion users worldwide, social networks are an increasingly indispensable communication tool for businesses, and one that continues to evolve with the emergence of new formats and new ways of engaging.
In this article, find out what the 2019 trends are for Community Management in the travel world.

Social networks to focus on in 2019

Thanks to their growing number of usersSocial networks have become an essential part of a company’s communications strategy.
In fact, an estimated 89% of companies will be investing a large part of their marketing budget in the use of social networks in the coming months.
However, to stand out from the competition, you need to know how to manage your presence and activities on social networks.

In 2019, Facebook remains at the top of the social networks in terms of active users worldwide: 2.3 billion per month, including 44.8 million in France.
It’s the most generalized platform, enabling you to target your audience in the finest possible way and find out their centers of interest.

As for Instagram, a social network based on the instant publication of photos, it is used every month by 1 billion people, including 20.1 million in France.
It is particularly popular in the travel, fashion and lifestyle sectors, and its content appeals to a young, hip audience.
These are the two social media most favored by tourism players.
Meanwhile, the social medium Twitter is number 1 for everything to do with customer relations, with 335 million monthly active users worldwide, including 15.7 million in France.
It is especially favored for spontaneous, event-driven communications.
Twitter users in particular use it to communicate and exchange with the brand.
These platforms are particularly relevant for targeting 25-34 year-olds, while 18-24 year-olds tend to prefer Instagram and Twitter to Facebook.

The ideal strategy is to be present and have regular, relevant activity on each of these social media.
Messaging applications are also growing steadily.
In 2019, according to a Harris Interactive study, 66% of Internet users are active on these applications, up from 60% in 2018.

Content to highlight on social networks in 2019

While the text format is becoming less and less popular with the connected public, the use of photos and videos as part of a digital strategy is still growing.
This is especially true for tourism players such as travel agencies, airlines and tour operators.
This can be seen in the Facebook publications of Subocea and Nordiska. The Orléans tourist office also uses photos and videos in its strategy.
The aim of these visual formats is to make web users want to go on a trip, and at the same time to order the services on offer.
As a result, we’re seeing more and more inspirational content featuring paradisiacal landscapes, sunsets or aerial photos and videos taken by drone.
This production and publication work can be carried out in-house, or by a partner. collaboration with an influencer to create unique, high-quality content.
It will also help build audience trust.

In 2019, Internet users are increasingly active on social networks, but spend less and less time consulting each post.
Faced with this change in behavior, companies’ communication strategies need to be more focused on the following short, original formats to capture and hold the audience’s attention.
Short videos and short clips are therefore preferable.
Likewise, these sequences must be adapted to the format of smartphones, i.e. to vertical viewing.
D’autre part, les ephemeral content are booming.
They give Internet users a certain exclusivity and create excitement and customer engagement.
This is particularly the case with Instagram Stories, Snapchat or even Facebook Stories.
We recently saw that even Youtube is getting into stories.
The formats continue to multiply and represent new challenges for travel players.
In particular, Instagram is constantly developing new stickers for its stories to enable users to demonstrate ever greater creativity and authenticity, and above all to encourage exchange between individuals.
The most recent Instagram stickers include: polls, questions/answers, karaoke and countdowns.

Companies are also encouraged to interact more with Internet users, for example by launching small surveys. surveysYou can do this by posting brief but informative content from time to time, replying to comments, creating hashtags, or organizing contests.
Our best advice would be to ask you to communicate in a natural way, letting the boundaries disappear between your brand and its followers.
One of the strongest trends is the power of messages.
Indeed, messaging apps like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger have billions of active users per month.
Today, we can see that users spend more time communicating via these applications than sharing content on social networks: 9 out of 10 consumers prefer to communicate with a company via instant messaging!
This gives them the impression of having a privileged relationship, and makes them feel more confident, which is the primary aim of your social networks.

Don’t forget to activate Facebook Messenger for your Facebook business page if you haven’t already done so.
You can add plugins to your website that will automatically send users to an instant messaging application.

The challenges facing social networks in 2019

User trust in social media declined sharply in 2018.
Twitter, for example, was at the heart of controversies concerning the proliferation of bots on the platform.
To address this issue, Twitter removed é millions of fake accounts.
The big challenge for 2019 is therefore to regain and keep users’ trust.
To do this, and to retain or regain their trust, we recommend that you communicate often, and be transparent through your publications.
To humanize your company, don’t hesitate, for example, to hold Q&A sessions to help customers feel closer to you.
As companies are well aware, data security and fake data are at the heart of the strategic challenges facing social networks in 2019.
However, social networks remain major information platforms for web users, particularly when they are researching their future travels, destinations or activities.

What’s more, users are becoming increasingly disillusioned with influencers.
You need to be very careful when choosing an influencer to work with, so as not to lose the trust of your subscribers.

To sum up, 2019 represents an exciting year for communicating via social networks.
To achieve a relevant digital strategy, it’s vital to understand and take into account the evolutions of social networks, as well as their issues and challenges.