The primary plot of Breaking Bad is about the struggling high school teacher who is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. This causes a chain reaction of new patterns to secure a financial future for his family before he dies.
It is not unique that often it is an extreme situation that triggers tipping points.
You might ask: why is this important for Hotels?
I will tell you why this is important and why the Generation Y customer is just one tweet away if your Hotel start Breaking Bad.
The Plot
Hotels have gone through some financial turbulent years, and the challenges to bring onboard new customers have been lined up one after the other. It is during periods like these we learn how the cream rice to the top.
Generation Y grew up with technology and rely on it to perform their jobs better. Armed with Smartphones, laptops, tablets, and other gadgets, Generation Y is plugged-in 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This generation prefers to communicate through e-mail, text messaging, and Social Media rather than face-to-face contact and prefers webinars and online technology to traditional lecture-based presentations.
The challenge for Hotels is how to capture the attention of this fast-paced live interaction?
The Setting
I just attended the Travel Distribution Summit North America 2013 event in Chicago. This event was made possible by Eyefortravel. Here I meet many of the smartest and brightest in the Industry.
In this fast-paced new evolving marketing it is very helpful to meet Industry authorities IRL (In Real Life).
Here I am with James Craven from tnooz and Barbara Delollis from ReviewPro (Barbara is known for her sharp pen at USA Today’s Hotel Check-In Blog).
As part of my Hotel Collaboration Project with Eyefortravel, I was provided with a Press Pass. Here are some of the top Tweets I reported during the event:
Tweets about “#tdsusa from:AreMorch”
The primary focus for this event was to share and gather data on key technology and economic drivers that are having a huge impact on Generation Y customers. And since the first keynote session started with The Hyperloop they got my attention.
I stepped into the first track focusing on Advanced Analytics, Customer Intelligence, and Profit Optimization. My friend Josiah Mackenzie from ReviewPro touched on some of the Important Reference Points that will tip reviews in your favor.
One of my key takeaways here represent for main paradigm shifts we see comes with Social Media. The customer’s wants and needs are still important, but identifying patterns and the variables that affect patterns are new key measurement factors. We are moving towards review driven booking patterns. Hotels today will need strategies in place that easily allows them to catch these patterns.
My friends from Porter Airlines told us that Social Media becomes important in how you differentiate your product and service. And one great takeaway here was there is no e-business, it is all business. Porter Airlines has crafted their business concept based on Customer Experience.
A question I asked during the event; “Ladies how many of you would fly Porter Airlines for a Louis Vuitton?”
Next Level Social Network
Jump into a track with Twitter and Facebook speakers, and you discover fast what is among hoteliers today. We learned that Twitter is the shortest between you, and what you are most interested in. And the key is to plan for the moment, there will be a #hashtag moment during the day. The key to Twitter is leveraging your brand for the moment. Implement creative Vine to embrace the moment.
#Funtime: I will write a story about the Hotel that creates the most creative Thanksgiving Vine
Share your Vine link here in the comments. I will tweet all the contributions.
Our friends from Facebook indicated that as much as 80% of Facebook users are influenced by their friend’s recommendations. Facebook shared a great analogy with us; Live In Beta, Plan – Learn – Do.
The key takeaways here are to stick to your Key Performance Indicators and leverage them. Target your market segments with strong storytelling.
The Customer dashboard is exploding with dots fill them in with emotions that build on your Hotels Value Proposition.
Where Sky Is The Limit
Our friends from ATT introduced us to the idea that Google Glasses is soon moving into Google Lenses.
bing Ads made it clear that at the end of the day we still have to understand our underlying business. The next generation bing Smart Search will allow us to get results from the web, your device, the cloud, and apps #ThisIsBing. This will create unique reference points that allow us to identify patterns in new unique ways. SharePoint and Cloud will become a key collaboration portal.
Orbitz told us that as much as 2/3 of Orbitz Travelers use Tablets for bookings. Orbitz indicated they offer better price points via Tablets.
Our friends from TriptIt focused on the importance of collaboration with Loyal Fans. They utilized bloggers for their PR campaigns.
Is your Hotel dipping into Social Networking Barter Strategies?
Part of the event like this is to Network and Collaborate with Industry Authorities. And it is refreshing to learn that hoteliers are embracing new trends, and willing to Breaking Bad.
And the next Customer Experience is to learn how to create anticipation based on Customer Patterns.
The End
The great thing for Hotels today is that this story doesn’t end, it is just beginning. Start thinking outside the box, and learn how Social Media can create a new future for your Hotel.
Generation Y customers today are already on Smart Phones, Tablets, Laptops, X-box, PSP, Smart Watch, Google Glasses, and more. Is your Hotel meeting the Generation Y customer where they hang out?
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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.
Credit
Where North America’s Online Travel & Hospitality Industry Meets
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