SPECIAL REPORT
Screenshot from a
35-second video included in Two Roads ’ “ Spotlight on Seattle ” series showcasing the city ’ s top five mochas
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM YOUR FRIENDS It ’ s the kind of personality-driven content marketing strategy where shareability trumps all else . In 2016 , Facebook introduced a change to its news feed algorithm that meant content posted by a user ' s family and friends would be given more visibility while promotional content from business pages would appear less frequently .
That shift means taking a harder look at both user-generated content and content that users actually care to share , according to Edward St . Onge , president of Orlando-based content marketing group Flip . to .
“ What we try to educate hotels on is : Marketing should be a conversation ,” St . Onge says . “ You wouldn ’ t walk up to a stranger in a bar and say , ‘ Hey ! Why don ’ t you come sleep over ?’ Marketing is the same thing . It should involve people , not buildings . Buildings shouldn ’ t talk to people because people don ’ t trust buildings .”
According to St . Onge , showing off the GM is a content marketing no-brainer , as it ’ s both the property ’ s most public position and the one with the lowest turnover .
Flip . to ’ s strategy encourages guests to participate in photo contests that typically make both the guest and their friends and family who share the content immediately eligible for prizes such as a free night ’ s stay at various hotels .
And family and friends can go a long way . In an internal case study , Flip . to found an instance where a grandmother with 541 followers drummed up 1,843 unique visits to a property ’ s site .
The internal study compared that to a social media influencer with over 247,000 followers who generated only 23 of those same visits .
Flip . to measures ROI in terms of how many guests became “ advocates ” — that is , users who create content and share it . By its measurement , that number should be at the very least 18 % of a hotel ’ s guests . One step further is that of unique visitors who get an opportunity for a one-night stay ; the goal is to get 8 % to 10 % to claim that offer .
SHORT AND SWEET Getting users to engage with content also means considering their attention spans ( or lack thereof ). Englewood , Colorado-based Two Roads
22 hotelsmag . com December 2017