GLOBAL UPDATE : SALES
“ THE CUSTOMER IS STILL INTERESTED IN SEEING VALUE IN MARKETING . If you do an image that speaks to just a beautiful resort in SoCal but doesn ’ t say what is in it for them monetarily , they shy away from it .”
– Agnelo Fernandes , Terranea Resort
Mostly our focus was regional targeting on digital and print media . We created advertising partnerships with the University of Southern California and the Los Angeles Kings hockey team both inside the arena with banners and ads in the game programs and outside with radio , website and email advertisements . H : How important is social media ? AF : That has redefined the relationship with our guests . We used to own our customers ; now we own them and they own us .
This year we brought a social media expert to our marketing team . Obviously it was a struggle with ownership . They asked , “ Why do you want to add another body ?” But the reality is social media is truly an art and a science .
We use pretty much everything — Facebook , Twitter , Pinterest , Flickr , Google +, YouTube and a blog , with the biggest success so far on Facebook and Twitter . There we created a calendar for posting engaging content , such as
video , press coverage and events at the resort . We have also partnered with Klout to invite 20 of Los Angeles ’ most influential social media voices to the resort to generate a buzz . H : What are you doing with video ? AF : Video bursts , 30-second marketing — we do a lot of that . One of our new initiatives is more video content , including longer , three- to four-minute messages done by the marketing agency . Guests make many videos on-property that we use on our social media accounts — people send wedding videos all the time .
H : What has Terranea invested in marketing , and what has the ROI been ?
AF : We spend 7 % to 8 % of our total revenue on our marketing budget . I can ’ t go into specifics , but if you are able to deliver promised revenue to ownership and management , you are in good shape .
In terms of driving traffic to book , online banners are more effective than social media . With social media , for us it ’ s about brand exposure .
16 HOTELS October 2012 www . hotelsmag . com