Social Media Strategy Review : MakeMyTrip

This review is a part of our ‘Social Media Strategy Review’ series where we do a 360 degree analysis of a brand’s social media activity. You can read the reviews of more brands here.

Nurtured from the seed of a single great idea - to empower the traveller – MakeMyTrip is a one-stop-travel-shop that offers a range of best value products and services along with cutting-edge technology and dedicated round-the-clock customer support. Over the years, MakeMyTrip has revolutionised the travel industry, consolidating its position in the market as a brand recognised for its reliability and transparency.

MakeMyTrip has always been proactive in their efforts to strive towards excellence be it market research , understanding consumer behaviour , new product development or marketing its bouquet of products and services. In the current era where in digital media is imperative for any E-Commerce brands success, MakeMyTrip has been one of early adopters to incorporate social media in their marketing mix. Let us take a look at how the brand leverages social media to connect with travel enthusiasts and maximize the reach of their products/services.

Overall Strategy

MakeMyTrip’s follows an integrated social media strategy across platforms. The Content Bucket includes a mix of high definition and engaging posts which cover the array of services brand offers along with this MakeMyTrip launches campaigns and contests which are tailored according to recent offers and occasions. While the company tries its level best to interact and engage with the target audience of Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Pinterest the percentage of engagement in relation to number of followers is very average. The Brand follows a unified and consistent tone of communication throughout, delivery of content varies according to dynamics of the platform in use.

Make My Trip on Facebook

On Facebook, MakeMyTrip follows a multi-faceted approach involving posts related to offerings (exotic destinations, packages and special offers), campaigns and themes based on occasions. An interesting thing about their strategy is that the content is not limited to a specific target audience or a specific objective that is i.e their content mix is spread across the awareness, interest, desire and action cycle which is an ideal approach for any brand.

For instance if a fan is just looking for options to travel MakeMyTrip posts some 4-5 posts on hot travel destinations and if a fan is looking for say the final push to decide on a travel package the page gives them several offers to hit the confirm button. So the subscribers for the brand can consume content which relates to their needs and wants.

The posts on travel destinations are broadly categorized into #Luxury Travels, #Nature Trips, #Adventure Trips, #ManMade wonders, #Relaxing Holidays with Call to Action Links like CLICK to know more. These posts usually contain an album of high definition pictures, persuasive content copy with recommendations for the best possible time frame to explore the destination.

The content bucket for MakeMyTrip on Facebook also includes the announcement of offers on a regular basis the offers vary from occasion based to an offer on a specific service or a combination of one or two services in their offerings. The content for offer posts is tempting and banks on the urgency appeal stating that the offer is limited for the first xxx customers or the offer is valid for bookings till dd date.

Apart from the posts which create awareness about their offerings and exotic travel destinations MakeMyTrip also runs several campaigns, contests and engagement activities to keep the audiences glued to their Facebook Page.

The campaigns vary from occasion to occasion (like #WanderLove for Valentines Day), contests highlighting a specific offer or destination like (#Hotels50, #FlightPlusHotels or #DiscoverBhutan) and engagement activities (like spotting a location in films #Filmiplaces). Such campaigns help them in reaching out to a wider section of target audience and persuading them to book their travel plans on MakeMyTrip with the special offers, discounts and gift vouchers which they offer to contestants and the winners of the contest.

The Brand also has a section #TravelPundit a virtual representative which posts a funny take on locations and valuable advices/suggestions for travellers about different travel destinations around the world.

MakeMyTrip’s commitment towards customer relationship management is evidently visible in conversations on Facebook. It is this customer-centric approach which allows the brand to better understand and provide for its customers’ diverse needs and wants, and deliver consistently. The Brand does not delete any of the negative feedbacks received however grave the situation is the response from the page follows a very neutral tone , assuring the customer of grievance redressal as soon as possible.

MakeMyTrip’s strategy on Facebook is result oriented they use the offers feature for facebook page very judiciously and align most of their campaigns with recent happenings and occasions. The Offers and campaigns crafted by the brand are bound to make an impact on the fans and followers however the influx of negative reviews and complaints is really high on the page which creates a negative impression about the brand.

Engagement

The MakeMyTrip Page on Facebook has 1.3 million fans and only 14,794 are talking about this pointing out at the lower engagement levels for the page.

Source: Simplify360 – A Social Media Analytics Tool

The average response per post is also very low as compared to the community size.

Source: Simplify360 – A Social Media Analytics Tool

Most of the engagement on the page comes in the form of likes , only few people comment on the posts and very few users share the posts on the page.

Source: Simplify360 – A Social Media Analytics Tool

Source: Simplify360 – A Social Media Analytics Tool

This means that despite of the quality of content, engagement activities and high impact campaigns the brand is not able to engage numbers which they intend to. However the overall sentiment for the brand on Facebook is neutral to positive

Source: Simplify360 – A Social Media Analytics Tool

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MakeMyTrip on Twitter

MakeMyTrip has a similar content strategy on Twitter, the copy for content is tweaked according to platform. Although the brand caters to lesser number of followers on Twitter but the efforts and execution is equivocal. The content posted can again be broadly categorized into awareness posts about travel destinations, special offers by the brand and campaign specific posts. Interestingly the campaigns and contests on Twitter receive a better response on Twitter despite of the lower follower count this can be attributed to the hashtags implemented by the brand on a timely basis.

A Key differentiator in the campaigns run on Twitter is the latest tweet chat #TravTalk14 on impact of social media , apps and online platform on travel tourism space organized by 2020 MSL which gave an interesting insight to brand’s perspective towards leveraging social media , the role of apps and other platforms in their marketing mix.

The recent #DiscoverBhutan contest received an overwhelming response on Twitter and it was trending India wide which in turn could have resulted in some leads for the brand to push in their travel packages for holidays in Bhutan.

Apart from the contests which run parallel to MakeMyTrip’s Facebook Page on Twitter the brand conducted #Thanksfor10K contest as a gesture of appreciation and gratification to the users who made it possible for them to reach the 10k count on Twitter.

#TravelPundit on Twitter is more or less similar to Travel Pundit on Facebook and delivers funny take on different travel destinations.

MakeMyTrip’s strategy on Twitter is an extension to the brand’s personality on Facebook. The Brand utilizes hashtags brilliantly and most of the hashtags are found trending on twitter which expands the reach and timeline deliveries for their content on Twitter. MakeMyTrip understands the need to adapt according to the platform so apart from the contests/campaigns launched on Facebook the brand ensures to run contests which are specific to Twitter. This approach in turn adds to the community of fans and followers for the brand.

Engagement

On Twitter, MakeMyTrip has 10.2 k followers with 5268 tweets. The Brand follows 121 people on Twitter. The graphic below gives account of the Top retweets for the brand. Interestingly, the same campaign was conducted on Facebook but the engagement received for #DiscoverBhutan on twitter is phenomenal reiterating the importance of twitter in getting into real time conversations with followers and expanding the reach horizon.

Gender Distribution for People retweeting and mentioning is more or less the same with males engaging more on Twitter as compared to females.

Source: Simplify360 – A Social Media Analytics Tool

Age Distribution pattern gives us a striking insight that the age group of 40+ which is considered to be a tough segment to interact and engage on any platform forms the majority of people re tweeting and mentioning. With this we can infer that the brand has been able to reach out to a wider segment of target audience with their marketing efforts on Twitter.

Source: Simplify360 – A Social Media Analytics Tool

MakeMyTrip on YouTube

MakeMyTrip official channel on Youtube has 842 subscribers with 11 lac plus views registered till date for 516 videos posted by the brand. The YouTube channel consists of all the TV Commercials released by the brand , along with videos covering travel destinations, hotels and accommodations. The Brand has underutilized Youtube and it just serve as a second screen for the TV Commercials launched by the brand.

The Brand can actually post creative content videos which are like tutorials on planning an impromptu vacation , say 5 simple steps to reach Ladakkh or something more creative. They can also share travelogues of MakeMyTrip instructors for a bulk booking trip. Moreover MakeMyTrip does not integrate Youtube in its content strategy for Twitter and Facebook that often most of the content on the other platforms is confined to text or pictures.

MakeMyTrip on Pinterest

MakeMyTrip on Pinterest has 37 boards which cover the following categories Best Travel Destinations, Food and Drink, Around the World, Beaches, Music Festivals, Unique places, Museums and art, specific destinations like Kashmir, Rajasthan, Goa , HongKong so on. Till date the brand has made some 357 pins and has 158 followers. This clearly indicates the lack of focus in marketing efforts on Pinterest. The Content posted is in sync with the overall strategy of MakeMyTrip but since the follower count is too low the scope of engagement is very low.

MakeMyTrip on Google+

MakeMyTrip is present on Google+ but there is no communication whatsoever from the brand on Google+. Although they have 48 +1’s on the page but since there is no effort to connect or engage with the target audience their presence on Google+ can be considered negligible.

Comparison with competitor

Yatra.com is one of the major competitors for MakeMyTrip. On Facebook Yatra lags behind MakeMyTrip in terms of number of followers as well as the engagement levels however Yatra leads ahead in the race for connecting and reaching out to followers on Twitter as well as Google+. Yatra has 10.8 K followers on Twitter and 2761 +1’s on Google+

Content Strategy

The Content Strategy for Yatra is slightly different as compared to MakeMyTrip, most of the communication is personal and emotional. The posts usually lay stress on the lines of saving Rs xxxx if they book a trip with Yatra.Com then there is a section for Travel Tips and contests based on occasions like #YatraColorAFriend for Holi , #MereYaarKiShaadiHai for wedding season.

Engagement

In terms of Engagement on Facebook MakeMyTrip ranks higher than Yatra.com this can be attributed to the quality and variety of content posted by the brand. As mentioned above the brand caters to different target audiences at the same time by posting content which is relevant and in line with the needs and wants of a prospective customer.

Source: Simplify360 – A Social Media Analytics Tool

On the contrary defying the engagement figures , Yatra gets more no. of average responses per post as compared to MakeMyTrip this is because of the tone of communication that is more personal and persuasive. Moreover the content by Yatra mostly has discount deals, saving coupons etc which calls for more responses.

Source: Simplify360 – A Social Media Analytics Tool

While the engagement per fan is almost the same most of the Engagement happens in the form of likes for both the brands followed by comments and shares.

Source: Simplify360 – A Social Media Analytics Tool

In terms of customer relationship management and responding to the user generated posts MakeMyTrip is more resilient and active they respond to almost half of the queries and complaints made by the customers , on the other hand Yatra leaves most of the queries and complaints unentertained.

Source: Simplify360 – A Social Media Analytics Tool

Sentiment

Overall sentiment for MakeMyTrip is fairly neutral to positive 18.94% while the negative sentiment amounts to 7.76% owing to the complaints and grievances posted by users on social media forums.

Yatra.Com enjoys a better state in terms of positive sentiment 21.61% and surprisingly there is no negative sentiment for Yatra online probably because the brand engages in neutral to positive conversations and avoids conversations involving negativity and complaints.

Conclusion

MakeMyTrip has stayed ahead of the curve by adopting innovative social media marketing strategies in their marketing mix to break through the clutter of brands offering similar services. The key highlight of their social media strategy is the multi-faceted approach in devising content which serves different objectives for the brand.

Although the brand has been successful in building a huge community of followers on Facebook, they have been lagging behind in terms of engagement scores. The Brand still needs to explore the beauty of platforms such as YouTube and Pinterest to the best of their potential. MakeMyTrip is slowly picking up on Twitter with unique campaigns and hashtags which trend almost every time they plan.

MakeMyTrip has managed to integrate their offerings seamlessly with several occasions and events. The ideation and conceptualization of campaigns across platforms is simply flawless. #DiscoverBhutan, #WanderLove and #Thanksfor10k are some of the successful campaigns executed by MakeMyTrip in the recent times.

The brilliant execution of these campaigns has definitely helped the brand in expanding their reach as a result MakeMyTrip is much more than just a travel portal or a famous pioneering brand – it has emerged as the undisputed online leader, with its share of the travel market extending to more than 50% of all online sales, a fact evinced by the trust placed in it by millions of happy customers.

Expert View

While Make My Trip is doing decent w.r.t customer service on social media, it needs to leverage social media in a more ways than one. It should not restrict itsels to sharing interesting pics and addressing customer issues.

Make My Trip should build long sustainable campaigns that deliver value beyond engagement and convert fans into customers or leads. Integration of platforms and adding an offline element to the campaigns are some aspects that Make My Trip can look into.

In fact, the brand can also look at building properties for travelers and build a community around themselves on their portal. Relying on 3rd party platform leaves you to their mercies and having people connect directly to you can be a great idea.

The brand should also look at taking a step towards the video platform, YouTube. An effective use of the medium will set reality into motion for the subscribers, fans and followers. After all vicarious experience is a legitimate concept.

Make My Trip tailors their content to take optimal advantage of the unique abilities of each social media platform. Short campaigns don’t work for most brands and yet Make My Trip manages to make a smooth long ride of it.

Expert View by Rajiv Dingra Founder & CEO of WATConsult – An Award Winning Digital & Social Media Agency.

Analytics Support: Simplify360