Ms. Dietrich

Social Media & PR

Socially Speaking – Creating a Competitive Advantage Through Social Media

By Gini Dietrich, Founder & CEO, Arment Dietrich Inc.

In my previous article, I dove into social media — why you need to be there, how the channels work, and the benefits of the different networks. There should be no doubt you need to be engaging in social media – it’s obvious your customers are there. In fact, according to the Ad-ology Research “Travel and Vacation Services—Summer 2009” report, 47 percent of U.S. adult Internet users recently used the Web to research travel and nearly a quarter said social media influenced their travel or vacation decisions. Add to that, according to Forrester Research, that an almost unbelievable 62 percent of Americans believe the online reviews of strangers and it’s time to understand why and how you should participate.

The real question is what should you be doing to engage in social media channels? Your hotel has its own unique offerings — you know they are what create loyalty among your guests. So can’t tell you exactly what to say when you get online. My goal is to get you thinking about all the possibilities, and give you some ideas you can run with and make your own.

Engaging Key Audiences

You no doubt identified target audiences for your hotel and likely have different communication strategies for each of them. There is no reason you can’t do the same thing with social media — in fact it should be easier to find and engage with these audiences in these channels.

One way to connect authentically with different types of travelers is to have an overall brand presence and then create unique Twitter handles, Facebook fan pages, YouTube channels, Flickr pages, and LinkedIn groups based on various needs. You also should consider content development, such as blogs, white papers, videos, podcasts, and articles. They can and should all interact with one another so travelers are aware of the various resources, but the content must be unique in each, so there are genuine, relevant connections made.

Here are a few ideas to build relationships with key audiences through social media:

• Meeting planners: Don’t just tell them about your great space or deals you offer. Engage them as human beings, help them be better at their jobs and this will create loyalty. For instance, share tips for keeping attendees engaged, link to important check lists, and encourage dialogue by asking planners to share their own event stories.
• You know to win those lucrative corporate accounts you need to aim high. This mean reaching the decision-makers in the organizations — not only because they hold the purse strings, but because they also are particular about where they stay. Consider writing a blog executives and business travelers can relate to that is written by one of your executives.
• Brides and wedding planners: One thing that hasn’t changed in the recession, is the national obsession with weddings. While consumers are cutting back everywhere else, over-the-top weddings are still taking place. Become a resource for brides and wedding planners to share advice, stories and introduce them to others, and infuse a little humor into the often-stressful planning process.
• Corporate travel bookers: It isn’t just travelers who are engaging in social media. A recent AirPlus International survey of corporate travel professionals, finds more than 71 percent participate in one or more social media platforms. Sixty-five percent said the platforms benefit them professionally, so offering them content is going to make their jobs easier, make them look good, and aid their professional development.
• Get local: If you have multiple locations, develop social media campaigns to be more relevant to the guests in each location. Perhaps your concierge in a certain location is the right person to communicate on your behalf in that market.

Focus Group Evolved

Why sit behind a two-way mirror and spend a lot of money to get the opinions (likely biased) of a few, when you can understand in real time what is on the minds of your current and prospective guests? Social media provides a window into what is keeping guests up at night, what motivates them, and what they think of your hotel and of your competitors. Here are a few ideas:

• Twitter Search and Trendrr allow you to gauge conversations on Twitter: You can also set up specific searches and columns to monitor specific tweeters (e.g. reporters, influential bloggers) in a desktop application such as TweetDeck (you can also check out Hootsuite or Peoplebrowsr, but I like TweetDeck the best). Use these tools to see what travelers are saying and how their needs are or are not being met.
• Facebook users spend a great deal of time on the site, but there is also a lot competing for their attention. Creating polls within Facebook make it quick and easy for them to engage with you and come back to see the results. Contests encourage them to share your messages with their entire networks.
• Don’t be afraid to pose questions to LinkedIn groups to get traveler’s opinions. Create your own groups and you can regularly poll members for feedback. For a small fee, you can also conduct polls of very specific users on Twitter — for instance CEOs, business travelers, and those in specific industries.

Unsold Inventory

It’s no secret hotels are relying more heavily on travel aggregators in this down economy. Not only are you forced to compete on price, you’re giving a portion of your profits to the aggregator. Social media allows you to cost-effectively offer and test promotions without a middle man in the channels where travelers are looking for deals.

A recent blog post from the Web analytics company Compete reports Jet Blue and United visitors who also visited Twitter in July 2009 were 35 percent and 10 percent respectively more likely to complete a booking than visitors who did not visit Twitter. Both of these companies regularly Tweet ticket deals.

• Packages: Partner with providers of other travel-related services to offer packages and cross promote to tap into each others’ networks and create multiple touch points.
• Deals: Communicate last minute deals or specials via Twitter or on your Facebook fan page.
• Holidays: Take your knowledge about peak travel times and communicate with travelers to offer deals and tips to make holiday travel easier.
• Get Local: Create staycation fan pages to help local residents plan special weekends and events.

Finally, I caution you, just being there isn’t enough. If you just create a profile and do nothing, it’s like buying ad time and only showing your logo. In fact it’s probably worse because expectations for engagement in social media are so much higher than other channels. Connecting with guests in social media doesn’t have to be difficult, the key is to engage. Don’t talk at your intended audiences, start a conversation. You’ll be amazed where it can take you.

Gini Dietrich is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Arment Dietrich, Inc., a firm that uses non-traditional marketing. The author of Spin Sucks, Gini has delivered numerous keynotes, panel discussions, coaching sessions, and workshops across North America on the subject of digital marketing tools. One of the top rated communication professionals on the social networks, Gini was recently named the number one PR person, according to Klout and TechCrunch, on the channels, and number one on Twitter, according to TweetLevel. Ms. Dietrich can be contacted at 312-787-7249 or gini.dietrich@armentdietrich.com Extended Bio...

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