SPECIAL REPORT : SOCIAL HOTEL AWARDS
BEST FACEBOOK PAGE
BY BRAND
FOUR SEASONS HOTELS AND RESORTS , Toronto
JUDGES ’ COMMENTS : “ The efforts of Four Seasons should be commended , as they have invested heavily in training local content publishers at each hotel to post relevant information while maintaining brand standards .”
DESCRIPTION : Four Seasons launched its Facebook presence in May 2009 . The corporate team trained public relations directors and social media specialists across the globe to launch their own presence on social media and create share-worthy content to engage with consumers . Facebook photo albums and applications are introduced for specific campaigns , and a tab was created to drive e-commerce efforts with the goal of nurturing deeper engagement with the Facebook community . Qualitative measures like response time , posting frequency , content structure and the development of quality imagery and media were other areas of focus .
RESULTS : In Q2 2012 , fan engagement on Facebook was up 42 %. Of existing Four Seasons social platforms , Facebook is the number one referral source for visits to Four Seasons websites .
RUNNER-UP : Marriott International
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts ’ brand Facebook fan page
BY PROPERTY
THE RITZ-CARLTON , NAPLES , Florida
DESCRIPTION : The property decided to revamp its efforts on its existing Facebook page to increase awareness of and affinity for the resort . The hotel targeted potential customers — men and women ages 35 to 65 with combined household incomes of US $ 150,000 living in major metropolitan areas in the Northeast , Midwest and southern Florida markets of the United States — with Facebook advertisements . It then recorded their likes and dislikes from fan interaction on the property ’ s Facebook page and began recognizing Facebook fans on-property . The page also featured live question-and-answer sessions with resort experts on topics including culinary , spa , fitness , healthy eating , wedding planning and event décor , as well as real-time posting of on-property photography .
RESULTS : Daily fan growth rate increased 201 % from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012 . The amount of daily , engaged users quadrupled from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012 . Average daily organic impressions increased 178 % from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012 , and Facebookreferred guests delivered US $ 7,376 in incremental room revenue in 2011 .
RUNNER-UP : The Kimberly Hotel , New York City
JUDGES ’ COMMENTS : “ Great example of localized knowledge that not only gives voice to the brand but also inspires people to travel .”
BEST REPUTATION MANAGEMENT
JUDGES ’ COMMENTS : “ Starwood did a fabulous job of training a dedicated team to really put some thrust behind their customer engagement efforts .”
BY BRAND
STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS WORLDWIDE
DESCRIPTION : Starwood established a 29-member team to handle global social media activities related to its brands , hotels and loyalty program . This included monitoring and analysis , conflict resolution , service recovery and reputation management . The goal was to mitigate the risk and opportunity costs associated with not responding or recognizing guest feedback rather than a direct return on investment . The creation of the team included training and collaboration with public relations , marketing , brands and other internal teams to establish clear protocols and escalation paths .
RESULTS : Starwood ’ s team has had an average response time of under two hours across all major social channels and has seen a 37 % increase in positive social sentiment across each of its brands and loyalty program .
RUNNER-UP : ITC Hotels , Gurgaon , India
22 HOTELS September 2012 www . hotelsmag . com