For the first time, Hotel Marketing is attractive with Social Media
We been watching ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and yet to come. Now we all are set in for our New Year’s resolutions to handle temporary problems.
And every year the stories seem to repeat themselves. The Christmas Carol ends well, and the New Year Resolutions ends after two months.
For many Hotels, traditional Hotel Marketing is the story they all know too well. Social Media is the one thing they want to change.
Diminishing results and the return of investment was just not worth the time and effort. And many Hotels ends up concluding Social Media is hyped up.
Yes, Social Media is very disruptive. And disruption in itself will not create the wanted results.
The primary goal for Hotels is to maximize profitability through innovative marketing channels. The impact is seen through Occupancy and Revenue. And various activities and events will have a negative or positive effect.
Social Media has two primary functions;
- The Social aspect – engage
- The Media aspect – build relationships
The primary reason Hotels fails with Social Media is they tend to look isolated on either the Social aspect of the Media aspect.
New Opportunities
Identifying new opportunities by reviewing your Hotels digital analytics first;
- Digital marketing goals that support Key Performance Indicator goals
- Digital marketing goals are not an end but a means
- Don’t lose sight of what matters
- Based on the non-digital analytics what are your Hotels biggest opportunities for improvement?
Examples:
- Poor service score
- Poor ranking within your Hotel brand
- Negative reviews related to service levels
- Low retention rates
- Increased service complaints
The examples here are all classic examples of challenges that can be transformed and changed into something positive with Social Media.
Optimize and define scopes
Hotels have to identify themselves where and when digital marketing impacts the Hotel.
Customers today connect via web browsers, smartphones, game consoles, and wearables. On the social aspect, people are talking, participating, sharing and networking online. The Media aspect is about showing that you care and earn trust.
One of the primary factors that drive Hotel Bookings is the Guest Experience Factor. Hotels today need to optimize their online presence to meet customers where they hang out.
Implement some simple strategies to close the gap between the Social and Media aspects.
- Reach – build awareness
- Act – Encourage audience to interact
- Convert – Identify marketing goal conversion opportunities
- Engage – Building customer relationships – transform into loyal fans
Optimizing is to make the most effective use of these strategies to attain your goals. In the Social Media aspect, it is all about a constant never-ending improving concept.
To achieve this improvement, Hotel need to learn some basic Social Media Communication Strategies.
- Listen – What are your Social Media goals? Who is your targeted audience? Are you actively listen and tracking this for your Hotel?
- Engage – Do you have a strategy for your engagement? How are you actually implementing this?
- Build – Are you actively building a community of loyal fans and brand ambassadors?
- Learn – Evaluate the lessons learned and start to re-engage.
Embrace the alternatives
Some of the key challenges for many Hotels is that Social Media is not static and very predictable. Many Hotels don’t know how to approach all the disruptions and turn it into occupancy and revenue.
Start with Hotel Marketing strategies you should already know, performing a SWOT analysis.
Strengths
- Location
- Special expertise
- Reputation
- Quick response to guest concerns voiced via Social Media
Weakness
- Ineffective promotions
- Rely on heavy traffic from travelers
- Limited Service lines
- Management and staff challenge
- Marketing deficiencies
- Guests / Customers are in control
Opportunities
- Access to new groups
- New technology
- New markets
- New services
- Customer access via apps
- Social WiFi to funnel visitors / customers / guests into Hotel Community
- Social Media Management that turn Hotel Community into Hotel brand ambassadors
Threats
- Recession
- New competitions (Airbnb etc)
- Changing plans
- Changing demographics
- Adverse government policies
- Internet security
- Social Media becomes anti-social
Change for the better
Today no Hotels should be left behind. Change is here, and it will just continue to change with lightning speed. Existing competitions have embraced this change, and new competitors are already starting to capitalize on this change.
Concerns and challenges happen in real time, and Hotels now need to respond and act in real time.
The great news is that today there exists new opportunities for Hotels to balance these challenges. And the most exciting news is that it can make Marketing more cost-efficient.
Might you ask How? The answer lays in Social Media Management and Social WiFi for Hotels.
Social WiFi represents the future of online Hotel Marketing. It lets you use new technology that makes it easier for Hotels to keep existing customers coming back and reach the next generation of new customers.
In the front end, customers are guided to log in to the Hotels WiFi via Social Network channels that are most beneficial for the Hotel.
Today Social WiFi is a fully interactive advertising and marketing platform that allows the Hotel to target very specific segments.
And Hotels can collect valuable data that can be downloaded and integrated into their Customer Reputation Management (CRM) system.
Within their CRM Hotels can attach the relevant Social Media profiles to improve and add more value their Communication Strategies.
Social WiFi represents the front end and how you bring the customer into your Hotel. Social Media represent the backend of how you nurture and build relationships with your customers.
Benefits of Social WiFi:
- Data Collection – collecting data from each guest and visitor that connects to the Hotels WiFi
- Personalized landing page – creating personalized experiences and keep track of guests and visitors movements inside Hotel
- Customizable splash page – Add simple and effective connectivity points
- Marketing campaigns – Targeted marketing campaigns, new visitors, custom audience or guests that have not visited your Hotel in a while
- In-depth reports – get in-depth reports about demographics of your guests and visitors to better understand their Social Network behavior
- Location analytics – valuable data showing how guest and visitors are moving around in your Hotel. Identifies key trigger points
Benefits of Social Media:
- Awareness – building awareness about your Hotel with the help of those that really care about your product and service
- Audience – learn more about your Hotel community. Discover what triggers their behavior through proper listening strategies
- Targeting – more effective targeting when you learn valuable details about your Hotel community
- Expand – finding new customers and expand your audience
- Response – receive instant response and also provide instant response
- Monitoring – improved marketing intelligence and get ahead of existing and new competitions
- Visibility – increased website traffic and Search Engine ranking
- Sharing – share content easier and faster
- Leads – generate valuable leads at a lower cost
- Relationship – build more valuable relationships with your Hotel community
- Rewards – give and receive instant rewards
Conclusion
Hotel Marketing is attractive with Social Media today as a result of improved technology and dedicated services that focus on the special needs of the Hotel.
I have looked at some of the best ways for Hotels to utilize Social WiFi and great reasons to hire a Social Media Manager.
Even if the story is a bit disruptive and we really can’t tell what tomorrow being present will make sure your Hotel is not left behind.
With proper strategies in place, you still will have a handle on your Hotels integrity. Visitors, customers, and guests have more control over their experience today. This is not a bad thing. Hotels now have a golden opportunity to provide a unique performance. Don’t let an opportunity to make it right to go away.
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT AND FACEBOOK ADVERTISING FOR HOTELS
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Our Social Media Management team has refined these processes to help Hotels. Contact us today to learn more.
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Try something new it will magnetize your Hotel!
Be flexible and identify new ways to make guests happy.
As guest behavior and pattern continues to evolve, expectations will continue to rise. Navigating these changes can be challenging. Learn more about how we can help your Hotel.
About the author
Are Morch is the founder and owner of Are Morch – Hotel Marketing Coach. Get more from Are on Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Instagram| Podcast
