Special RepoRt : Digital Marketing
The DIgITal MarkeTer : SocIal
On Black Friday last November , The Langham Chicago launched its first exclusively social media-driven sale . The response to the 30 % savings offer was tremendous , says Social Media Manager Eric Ziegenhagen . Nonetheless , the social sale likely isn ’ t something he will make a habit of repeating .
Instead , Zeigenhagen and most social media and marketing executives agree that Twitter , Facebook and Instagram have become places where brands interact rather than try to sell rooms . They agree that the medium is more for connecting and staying front of mind .
For instance , Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts recently launched a new wellness program called Energy by Four Seasons . On social media , they introduced it with a 30-day wellness challenge for their followers to try . Four Seasons followers were encouraged to try a different energizing tip or technique and invited to share their experiences via Instagram , Facebook , Twitter and Google + using the hashtag # 30DaysofEnergy . Participant posts were then shared on Four Seasons social media channels .
Social media channels have also become key extensions of much more than just a hotel ’ s marketing department .
“ I think one of the challenges and opportunities now is even figuring out where to put social media on a property ’ s organizational chart ,” says The Langham ’ s Ziegenhagen . “ It used to be marketing , now it ’ s more operations . It ’ s becoming an extension of the call center , front desk and concierge .”
Indeed , whether it ’ s getting a quick response to a complaint or getting saved from a lockout , examples of Twitter being
“ I think one of the challenges and opportunities now is even figuring out where to put social media on a property ’ s organizational chart .”
– Langham ChiCago SoCiaL media manager eriC Ziegenhagen
used for unique guest outreach abound . Starwood Hotels & Resorts , for example , which has a team of about 30 people from its call centers monitoring mentions of its brand on Twitter and Facebook in 11 languages , 24 / 7 , was able to rescue a guest who tweeted he had been locked out on his hotel room ’ s balcony .
At Omni Hotels & Resorts , Santora points to an instance in which a customer in Fort Worth , Texas , was tweeting that the Wi-Fi was poor . “ They went and found the guy in the lobby and bought him a glass of wine while they reconfigured something ,” he says .
Omni also says it has also had good luck with Pinterest , where it started a campaign that before the holidays focused on “ The Art of Pie ,” offering recipes from its different properties and calling for others to share recipes . “ It ’ s more about interaction , awareness ,” says Santora , who notes that the project also helps build out the brand from a search engine optimization perspective . “ If there are people out there searching for something pie-related , they are going to bump into Omni .”
In the United States , many hotel companies say Instagram has become a fast favorite . “ I think people ’ s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter as the amount of content grows and grows ,” says Patrick Goddard , president and COO of Trust Hospitality . “ Now you have to figure out a way in 15 seconds or less to engage with somebody . So really , Facebook is becoming a bit obsolete as people are turning toward Instagram as a communication tool . It ’ s very challenging to engage on any other channel . You have to be very targeted .”
With the growing emphasis on visuals , Ziegenhagen says hotels can easily use a good picture without having to worry about coming up with any fancy text that over-describes it . He says people often follow hotels on social media after they had a good time “ and just want a continuation of the experience they had while staying there .” Ziegenhagen also likens social media posts to an amenity card rather than a sales pitch . “ Advertising says ‘ buy now ,’ whereas on the property itself you would never tell people what to do – unless there was a fire ,” he says .
Other good practices , Goddard says , include ensuring posts are unique , interesting and “ speak to the brand .” But there are also a lot of don ’ ts . “ Don ’ t forget to be relevant ,” Goddard says . “ Don ’ t forget to communicate often . Don ’ t be dull . Don ’ t be redundant . You don ’ t want to clog up people ’ s feeds . You don ’ t want to post for the sake of posting .”
28 HOTELS January / February 2015 www . hotelsmag . com