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HOTEL BUSINESS REVIEW

FEBRUARY FOCUS: Hotel Social Media

 

Social Media is Not PR: How Hotels are Getting it Right and Wrong

By Sherry Heyl Founder & Consultant, Amplified Concepts | February 2015

**Where Social Media and PR Meet** PRSA defines public relations as: “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” This includes listening to the conversations that are happening online and analyzing public opinion about the brand, the industry, and the competition. Public relations is on the front lines to manage a crisis-and in the wild west of social media, a crisis can creep up at any moment. Public relations professionals are also typically great communicators and can create content that captures the attention of influencers and media outlets and can spark a movement that can spread throughout various communities. If your social media goal is to increase awareness of your brand, a social media effort that is aligned with PR objectives will help you increase your reach and manage the tone of the message. Sensei Project worked with Pullman Hotels this past year where we identified and recruited a handful travelers that regularly documented their journeys on social media and had built up a large and engaged following. We coordinated trips to Paris so they could see the newly renovated Pullman hotels for themselves as well as experience the local attractions. We coordinated 6 trips which resulted in coverage that reached over 57 million people throughout the various social media channels including; Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, and blogs. So it seems on the surface that public relations is a nature fit for social media. But there's so much more! Public relations is often limited to top-down, one-way communications that is typically channeled through an influencer or media outlet, but that is only a slice of what social media can do for your brand. **Social Media is a Direct Communication Channel** Working with influencers and media outlets is a great way to amplify your message but your time with them is limited and requires a lot of strategy, resources, and relationship-building to get coverage from the top influencers. You are constantly competing with other brands to get the attention and coverage from influencers. However, the social web is a media outlet anyone can publish on and become an influencer, which means growing an engaged following. If you want a return on your social media efforts, it is not enough to just post content on the social web. If you want to increase your sales, you need to focus on increasing your reach and follow-ing of people who look like your typical guests (not just other influencers). Write about topics they will care about. During the times your typical guests are business travelers, provide tips for running successful meetings, highlight attractions that your guests should visit if they are only in town for an overnight stay, let them know about the business services your hotel provides. During this time be sure you are seeking out business travelers online and engaging them, listening and sharing what tips and ideas they have to share with the community. The best way to grow an engaged following on the social web is to be social. This means identifying the types of people who would be interested in your content and getting interested in what they are doing and sharing. Grow your following by following others. Engage in conversations, share photos and tips from your community, and align your content with relevant topics that are trending. Make people love you by loving them. Our client Novotel NY has done a fabulous job interacting with their community and sharing what their audience loves about NY and the hotel. Recently, to celebrate their 30 year anniversary, they asked their community to share their favorite stories and images about NY with the hashtag #NovotelNY30. The campaign increased brand impressions by more than 50% and grew their following on their social media channels by 143% I have heard people advice not to focus on followers. That is bad advise. The more relevant followers you have the greater the reach and the more relevant they are the more engaged they will be which with grow your reach exponentially. However, if you can only focus on one thing, don't sacrifice engagement to focus on followers. Instead, make sure you are engaging with the right people and getting people to talk about you. Becoming a social media influencer yourself requires as much strategy, resources, and relationship-building as trying to connect with influencers, if not more. The payoff is that your brand gets continuous coverage, you get to interact with your guests and community, and you can use your social media channels for to meet many other business objectives. **Social Media includes Advertising, Marketing, Customer Service, and Sales** As mentioned earlier, social media crosses into various other disciplines. Recent data from BI Intelligence finds that US social media ad spend will top $8.5 billion this year and reach nearly $14 billion in 2018. Ads on social platforms can do so much more than simply provide a pitch message for your brand. Today's social ads can be created and customized in such a way that the community has the ability and incentives to engage with and share your ads. Through the social ad platforms you can target people based on both demographics and passions. Take, for instance, Twitter's new Video Cards offering. We were able to use a video asset that Accor had from an event with Serena Williams and position it the weekend of her U.S. Open Final, maximizing its exposure with the knowledge that her name would be trending. This resulted in not only an increase in click throughs, but fans we able to comment on the ad and share it on their page.

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If your hotel has a presence on social media, your guests will seek you out to tell you about their experiences at your properties. This means much of your social media management will be focused on answering questions and taking care of your guests needs or issues. If you are a large brand with many varied properties, your customer service conversations can potentially dominate your channels and distract from positive interactions with your community. IHG has created a dedicated twitter account @IHGCare that monitors conversations on the channel and responds to issues and needs. The team still has to monitor conversations that are directed to other IHG handles but will respond from their dedicated channel. Social Media is also being leveraged more and more for hotel bookings. Lowes made headlines by being one of the first hotels enabling guest to book a room with a tweet. Piper Stevens, Director of Social Media, Loews Hotels & Resorts said, “When it comes to reservations, we recognize that giving consumers the option of booking efficiently on a network where they are already engaging on a daily basis is going to set us apart and grow our consumer base in a meaningful way.” Many travelers are not sure what hotel they want to stay at when they are traveling to a new city. That is when we take the opportunity to promote our properties by reaching out to travelers who are posting questions online. **A Personal Touch** At the end of the day, social media encompasses Public Relations, advertising, customer service, sales, and all the other disciplines-enough that we shouldn't diminish it by trying to worry about what box it fits into-because it's none of them and all of them. Social media platforms continue to emerge as a way for brands, businesses, and organizations to communicate their message to their audiences, but also a way to communicate with their audiences. And that last part is essential. Social media can take a big brand and humanize it; it can take a small organization and pump it up to Big Brand levels. The key to the whole essence of the thing is connecting. If you can find out what connects with your audience and then reach out and connect with them (and yes, this applies even, and especially when you're fielding customer service requests), then you will see your social efforts pay dividends. Treat it like it's just another outgoing PR channel and you'll see social media wither on the vine-and then spend a lot of time wondering what the fuss is all about. [1]: http://www.hotelexecutive.com/images/business_review/dd09c_Untitled.jpg

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Alexander Mirza Hospitality at The Forefront: Revitalizing Global Engagement With China
  • By Alexander Mirza, Founder & CEO, Mogul

    • The hospitality industry has been built by entrepreneurs such as Conrad Hilton, who believed the business plays a strategic role in promoting cross-cultural understanding and advancing international peace and security. As Hilton once said, "It has been, and continues to be, our responsibility to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality." This vision underscores the importance of global engagement and cultural exchange, which are currently facing significant challenges in China. The Role of Western Brands in the Development of the Chinese Economy For decades, category-leading Western brands grew their businesses within the China market...

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Tim Hentschel Successfully Managing The White Lotus Effect
  • By Tim Hentschel, Co-Founder & CEO, HotelPlanner

    • There is no doubt the White Lotus series will bring in a small boom for Thailand and an even bigger boom for the hoteliers of Ko Samui island. The Four Seasons hotel chain, which hosted all three seasons of the White Lotus series, has done a spectacular job in marketing their properties through the power of entertainment. While it’s too early to measure the White Lotus effect on Ko Samui, it is possible to measure the booking figures for growth in the beautiful city of Taormina, Sicily, where the previous series of White Lotus aired in October 2022. ...

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Andy De Silva How Can Luxury Hotels Adopt Sustainability Practices Without Losing Quality Control?
  • By Andy De Silva, Co-Founder & CEO, Hotel Emporium

    • The modern customer is not shy in their clear expectations of a luxury hotel experience. After all, when investing in that caliber of a stay, there is an understanding that they will enjoy far more than a simple good night’s sleep. And with the rising interest in sustainability, not just to support the environment but also to meet the demands of the new eco-conscious consumer, luxury hotels are seeking ways to pivot their operations. However, as to be expected, activating on ideas and plans outside of normal operations can bring about a bit of fear. How does a...

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James Downey Do You Know How Double-Entry Accounting Works?
  • By James Downey, Professor Emeritus, Lynn University

    • The concept of double-entry accounting has been around for over five centuries. In 1494 an Italian monk named Luca Pacioli who was also an accomplished mathematician devised a process for keeping buying and selling among fifth century merchants equitable who did business with each other. He wrote a book on mathematics which included the double-entry postulation section which has provided the basis for all modern-day businesses who run their financial affairs.  Key to this system was that all business transactions maintain a balance that must be verified throughout the day or night regardless of how many transactions were recorded. It...

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Tom Engel Who is The Hotel's Customer?
  • By Tom Engel, Founder, T.R. ENGEL Group LLC

    • Knowing your customers is the foundation of successfully expanding your hotel business and, there are plenty of hotel customer groups requiring identification and quantification, including: The corporate transient customer segment—typically in on Tuesday, out on Wednesday. In on Thursday, out on Friday, etc. Often the highest-priced customer. The leisure transient customer segment—typically the weekend guest…solo or all-family…most often very seasonal, and sometimes more price sensitive. Multiple group customer segments including corporate, social/military/educational/religious/fraternal (SMERF), sports teams, and reunions. Once a clear “customer” picture emerges, the second and equally important, challenge emerges: “What end benefit(s) are of greatest importance to...

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Felix Schlokat Breaking The Perception of an All-Inclusive With Hilton Cancun
  • By Felix Schlokat, General Manager, Hilton Cancun, an All-Inclusive Resort

    • Conveniently situated just 15 minutes from Cancun’s International Airport, Hilton Cancun, an All-Inclusive Resort (Hilton Cancun) offers seamless access to both tranquility and adventure. While the resort enjoys a serene, secluded beachfront location, it remains close enough to the energy of Cancun’s Hotel Zone for guests who want to explore the area’s shopping, nightlife, and cultural attractions. This duality, privacy without isolation, is one of the many ways Hilton Cancun sets itself apart from the typical resort experience. Hilton Cancun offers a wide range of accommodation options tailored to meet the needs of every type of traveler. Whether hosting a...

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Scott Bent A Visitor's Guide to Hospitality REITs
  • By Scott Bent, Partner, Frost Brown Todd, LLP

    • The hospitality segment of the real estate investment market is having a moment. So called “revenge travel” was a major boost in 2022 and 2023 following the pandemic, and, while many feared the industry would slump as pent-up demand burned off, it’s still going strong through the first quarter of 2024. Both Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, for instance, reported growth and strategic advancement for Q1, and there are signs the momentum may continue throughout 2024 and beyond. In its 2024 Travel Industry Outlook, Deloitte reports that Americans have come to highly prioritize travel...

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