It being December, we’re taking a look back at the most-read stories from each of the travel industry topics we’ve covered over the past 12 months. First in line is social media and marketing

It’s been a busy and in some cases incredibly challenging year for social media and marketing departments across the globe. Convincing management teams that social is delivering an ROI remains a challenge, but the fact that this channel is a vital and valuable tool for customer service – and crisis management – seems to be gaining acceptance. On the marketing front, a dominant theme was that the role of the marketing executive is not what it used to be. No longer can you rely purely on ‘creatives’; the people you hire must have an understanding of numbers too. Okay, so here are the top ten most-read stories of the year to date, but remember the year isn’t over yet!

1. Dark days: How Malaysia Airlines managed an ‘unprecedented’ crisis in a digital world

A communications crisis that no airline executive ever wishes to face was the most-read story of 2014. In an exclusive interview with EyeforTravel, Dean Dacko, Malaysia Airlines’, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Malaysia Airlines (MAS), highlighted the crucial role that social media played in communicating with relatives and friends of MH370, the aircraft which disappeared without trace in March this year. The story highlights the importance of having a social strategy in place in a digital world. Dacko sums it up in this sentence: “I don’t know whether we would have been able to move as rapidly, or as accurately, without having that kind of intelligence or understanding that the digital world afforded.”

2. What the ‘I amsterdam’ letters teach us about destination branding in the social media age

In a guest post from David Hornstein, who is currently studying for an MSc in tourism management in The Netherlands we hear about the power of consumer-to-consumer marketing. From providing attractive visuals that add meaning to people’s personal brand story, finding the perfect destination photo, Hornstein shares ways that destination marketers can add value to tourists for ongoing success.

3. Google: talking straight or skirting the issues

It seems that anything with Google in the headlines, is going to pique readers’ interest. This was a Q&A which emerged from a chat with Nigel Huddleston, Google’s UK Industry Head, Travel.

4. The next round in the battle between the OTAs, hotels and the Big 3

In a story that features an interview with Richard Lewis, CEO at Interchange & Consort Hotels, Best Western Hotels, James Poole, VP International Marketing, Avis Budget Group and Tim Hentschel, chief executive of HotelPlanner, the question arises: who or what is the next big threat to the travel industry? No doubt a debate that will continue into 2015.

5. 5 ways to effectively manage cross-platform social marketing

Readers looking for advice on how to work social media for marketing found themselves engaged with this story which outlines five tips that remain relevant today. In a nutshell – but do read on to find out more – cross pollinate across platforms, review social media on a weekly basis, be goal-focused and creative, plan in advance and know what you stand for and, finally, maximise content and use the right tools.

6. Why Southwest Airlines is sticking with email and cozying up to customers

This story with a focus on South west is all about getting hyper - hyper-local, hyper-personal or hyper-contextual. In essence it's about understanding how to reach customers in an omnichannel world. 

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines is no exception. An interview with the airline’s chief marketing officer, Kevin Krone reveals that, surprise, surprise, mobile plays a big part in this. We also hear why email is anything but dead.

7. How El Al airline is using data on the fly to deliver a great experience

August had a Middle Eastern flavour with a look at how El Al’s marketing team is finding ways to improve the customer experience. The airline is using four targeted ways to do improve digital marketing performance using big data plays a big role. An interesting read!

8. 3 noteworthy visual marketing trends from a luxury travel brand

Allison Sitch Ritz Carlton’s Vice President of Global Public Relations told EyeforTravel that everything they do is driven by research. She shares two findings that impacted the brand’s visual marketing efforts. They are that: all arrows point to the colour blue as the one that customers want you to see, China shouldn’t necessarily make you see red and that by knowing your colour, you can get to know your customer.

9. Hilton on how to deliver purposeful innovation and digital good will

As one of the world’s most well-known chains, readers are always interested in what Hilton is up to. In this unmissable piece, Joshua Sloser, VP Digital Product Innovation at Hilton, shares some tops tips. Among the most notable takeaways from this story are that brand should define what they are hoping to achieve at the start of an initiative and then measure for success, to inspire or enrich with great visual content and never make a recommendation that you wouldn’t give to a friend. 

10. The guest’s worth: the No.5 element of a super successful hotel marketing campaign

This is the fifth of a five-part series that shed light on the secrets of super successful marketing. This one looks at the guest’s worth, but the others – measuring effectiveness, the importance of visuals, the simple ‘where’ to spend it, and why you need to target, target and retarget are all worth a read.