Ms. Utley

Social Media & PR

Social Media is a Big Issue

By Teri Utley, Senior Account Manager, Range Online Media

Social media has quickly become the topic that is keeping some marketers on edge. While some marketers have a full understanding of the capabilities and reach of social efforts, others are still in the information gathering phase and quietly asking themselves if social efforts are really important to their brand. Other questions such as “What should the strategy be?” or “ Should they participate?” or “What’s required to make it work?” are all relevant and valid questions that must be considered before participating in social media. These and dozens other questions continue to perplex marketers and brands even as the wave of social media participation continues to evolve. As a juncture is approached, marketers are reaching a point of saturation in social programs which could soon force them to join forces within their segmented social programs.

Some industry groups estimate that Social Media spending will hit $3.1 billion by 2014. The growth rate is much faster than other types of online marketing due to marketers feeling the pressure of participating since “everyone else is” and the buzz that surrounds all forms of social media. Are you ready and willing to dive into social media for your brand? If your answer is yes then get started, recruit someone that will build a Facebook page and call it a day. Wait, well, not exactly. A few of questions need to be asked within your organization. Why do you want it to accomplish and what do you hope to gain from participating? Do you have the internal resources to support it as an ongoing initiative? What information do you want to glean from your efforts?

Before leaping into any type of social program, a thorough plan must be developed that will address the above questions and a well thought out strategy should be ready that will address any issues that are sure to arise. Paula Berg, the former Manager of Emerging Media for Southwest Airlines is responsible for a “checklist” of items that will need to be in the forefront of minds that decide to take on the challenge of social media participation:

1. Know that it will help you to reach a new demographic.
2. It’s good to have a social presence before you have a crisis.
3. You are getting immediate feedback at no cost.
4. Listen to your consumers.
5. Have thick skin.

Success within the social media space has been enjoyed primarily by consumer packaged goods, the most notable being the Old Spice “guy on a horse”. Within travel, Southwest Airlines and Sea World are viewed as the best “how to” models. But those involved in marketing for the hotel industry are found scratching their heads a bit as to how to best app- roach their level of participation within the social space and discovering what channels are available for their brand.

Social media exists in a variety of online forms, most notibly Twitter and Facebook. But let’s stop for a second and take a look at your current search engine results for your brand. Do you have videos? How about images? Are those being indexed by engines? Is there a corporate blog for your brand? Any of these items indicate that your brand is being represented in the social space and that you are in control of the content. Once you decide to leave the comfort of control, then you will really be diving into the world of social media that is driven and supported by your user base. When used correctly, social media can be used to provide quantitative and qualitative data that can be used not only to form the burgeoning social media strategy, but some instances, the foundations of the business.

Social media to hoteliers previously meant being featured in some major review sites and relying on guests to fill out review and response cards about their satisfaction while they were guests. Hotels today find themselves at the mercy of thousands of reviews and online comments that are just a few clicks away. With the information that is available, it’s understandable that the hotel industry has reservations about the importance of social media. The best thing a hotel can do to improve its online reputation is to monitor what their guests are saying and interact. But deciding on how to get a grip on that data is at the forefront of the reluctance to participate for most hoteliers.

When considering participation in a social media initiative, hoteliers need to be aware of the day to day management that will be required to maintain and support the program. Their brand will be entering into a very engaged effort that will require hands on management, support staff and keen insight into the ever changing landscape of the social media realm. While social is still viewed with newness, this channel has already seen it share of abandonment. Within the online world there are already profile pages that have already been abandoned due to limited awareness of how complex these pages are to maintain and monitor. Smart marketers will spend a great deal of planning time devising a roadmap for routing the information that will be posted and this will always be a good place to begin your social media plan. The chain of contacts within your organization will be the base of a successful initiative as these are the people that most likely will represent your support staff as the plan for your brand is being built. Knowing how to route a housekeeping complaint to ensure a timely response or having access to the business office to resolve a billing matter will take months of planning and engagement from your employees.

Social media gives great insight into your product. With the reviews that are posted online, hoteliers have the opportunity to respond and tell their side of the story and hopefully find a resolution to any problems that are occurring. Marketers must prepare to respond with very carefully thought out responses that will protect the hotel and satisfy the consumer. When entering a social media initiative, marketers will need to make sure that there will be a designated staff that can answer questions and complete the process outlined below for quick resolution to potentially negative online reviews. A broad plan of action must include:

• Always thanking the reviewer for their post.

• Have the ability to respond to negative reviews promptly which will show the consumer that you do care about what they have to say.

• Refrain from ever entering into an argument.

• Apologize & apologize when dealing with negative comments.

• When responding, try to find any positive remark that may exist and use that comment or remark to your benefit by using it to help build out your response.

• Fix the problem and communicate the steps you’ve taken to improve the process.

• Don’t be aggressive – you don’t want to appear defensive or make the situation worse.

• Thank them for taking the time to comment and ask them for their feedback.

And finally, ask them for continued communication! Consumers want to feel valued and important and there is no better way to continue the conversation with them and discuss any issues or comments that they have concerning your brand.

Start slowly, talk with industry experts and gather support from your internal team. Being successful in the social space with hotels will consume you while it’s beginning and growing. Creating your presence will be easy enough, but gathering and engaging your community may prove to be more difficult. But by following your plan and being flexible when appropriate, you will be able to make your marketing more effective by making your brand stand out among others.

Teri Utley is Senior Account Manager for Range Online Media, a leading search and interactive marketing agency that delivers measurable success through comprehensive, online marketing services, including paid search marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), online media placement and social media, strategic planning, performance optimization and more. Having worked with travel and hospitality clients over the last seven years, Ms. Utley has had the opportunity to participate and lead strategy in both search and media campaigns on a national level. Ms. Utley can be contacted at 817-509-0350 or teri.utley@rangeonlinemedia.com Extended Bio...

HotelExecutive.com retains the copyright to the articles published in the Hotel Business Review. Articles cannot be republished without prior written consent by HotelExecutive.com.