Communication Management Success Model of Travel Programs on YouTube Application

Abstract

The objectives of this research are 1) to look for communication elements in tourism program on YouTube application, 2) to analyze the key elements which make a program successful, and 3) to use it as a guideline to create a role model for tourism program on YouTube application. This research uses data collected from14 programs on YouTube gold and silver channels together with in-depth interviews with eight producers and 18 program viewers.

Research results disclose that currently, Thailand has 28 travel programs on the YouTube application with more than 100,000 subscribers, two channels have been discontinued, while three channels are travel programs specific to the areas, four channels are lifestyle presentations, and five channels are for food variety.There are none of the listings in the Diamond Button (10,000,000 subscribers), two channels in the Gold Button (1,000,000 subscribers), and 12 channels in the Silver Button (100,000 subscribers). The 10 key communication elements that affect the success rate on the YouTube application are as follows: 1) "Period of time" makes a program well-known with a large number of followers. 2) "Co-published with other social media platforms" is essential, 3) "Consistency and regularity of publishing new video clips" is also necessary, 4) "YouTube thumbnails" contains images of tourist attractions, moderators and key explanation for the places, 5) "Content" should include exotic places that are hard to access, 6) "Moderator" creates a distinction of the shows with individual personalities and languages, 7) "Number of views", clips hitting 10,000-100,000 views will urge viewers to click and watch more than a clip with only 100-1,000 views, 8) "Duration released" is very important because freshly released clips attract more viewers, 9) "Length of clips": clips with length between 6-30 minutes are more readily received than clips that are longer than 30 minutes. Most of YouTube application viewers are students, mostly spending their time watching clips during breaks (waiting for a bus, or a friend or during meals) which usually take no longer than 30 minutes and they usually tend to not re-visit the clips afterwards, 10) "Feedback" is a response from viewers in the form of clicking "like" or comments in chat form, it serves as an interaction between viewers and the channel or moderator. This helps keep a relationship to continue, with viewers to continue following and watching the program. This is an important part of maintaining the viewership of the program or the program's followers and developing a strong relationship which eventually leads to channel subscriptions or sponsoring the program producers.