Social listening is the process of collecting data from social media platforms and forums on a chosen topic. It allows you to put an ear to what your audience cares about – providing you with actionable insights and trends and includes things like their questions, feedback and concerns.

As we navigate this quickly changing coronavirus crisis, social listening can be a helpful tool, influencing a wide range of destination organization’s processes including business operations, product development, and advertising & marketing approaches.

Meredith Travel Marketing, a subsidiary of Meredith Corporation, releases their weekly Meredith Social Listening reports based on data from various social networks, blogs, forums, comments, consumer reviews and professional reviews. This report revealed:

Similar to the previous report, deaths drive the most negative sentiment.

• Coronavirus-related hashtags such as #covid19 & #covid-19 are the top hashtags used.
• Stay-at-home related hashtags are also becoming more popular, like#stayathome, #stayhomesavelifes, #stayhomestaysafe, #lockdownow.
• Gratitude for health workers: #clapsfornhs, #clapsforcarers.
• The top 5 most-mentioned states are: New York, Washington, Florida, California and Texas

These are early days, and while conversations are 47% negative and focused primarily on states at the forefront of the surging outbreak, we also see positive conversations supporting #stayathome policies and gratitude for healthcare workers on the frontline. This is an opportunity for destination organizations to reinforce and support these positive messages through their own communications.

 We’ve seen examples from destination organizations using social influencers to reinforce #stayathome policies, showcase local heroes, and even highlight their own members that are supporting residents’ ability to stay at home - through food delivery options, virtual experiences, etc.  The creativity and innovation that is brought to these messages can further reinforce your organization’s position as a community shared value.

For the full report, please click here. We will continue to share these social listening reports and summaries weekly for continued insights and trends.

As a continuing resource, our partners from across the industry are gathering timely COVID-19 information, including statistics and tips to help your organization succeed. Please visit our partner resources & research page.

Destinations International is also encouraging our members to sign-in to the Member Forum and jump in on the conversations happening with your colleagues and peers across the globe.