Q: How fast are resort social follower counts growing in 2013 vs previous years?

Inherent in some of the data we publish is the need to update the trends on a regular basis. Such is the case with the social media growth data we posted last year. At the time, Twitter and Facebook fan growth had slowed significantly compared to the previous years. But what about 2013? Is social growth still slowing or is it on the rebound. The results were somewhat surprising. Take a look.

The Goods
To keep the results consistent within this YOY comparison, we used the same “top 38” resort sample for both Twitter and Facebook. And again, to remove weather related spikes, we used June 18 – July 18 as our summer range to compare changes in each year. The first thing we looked at was actual percentage growth during that month.

After a few years of decline, we notice that growth has nearly leveled off for both Twitter and Facebook. But that’s a percentage. Even if your overall fan count increases the exact same amount each year, your percentage growth will decline as your total fan count grows. So what about total increases in followers?

Here’s where it gets interesting. For both Twitter and Facebook, resorts saw their biggest total increase in fans/followers in 2013 than any of the previous three years.

What This Means
We think there are probably a couple of explanations for the results. First, as organic growth slowed, marketers have increased paid fan/follower acquisition. Many resorts have recently said that in order to meet their goals, organic efforts had to be supplemented by paid campaigns.

Second, we tend to think that resort marketers are getting better at social media. They’re creating better content, engaging more intelligently, and making smarter decisions. Remember, resorts have only had Facebook fan pages for around 4 years now. A year can make a huge difference in strategy and success.

The Stash Rolls On
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