What Black Friday and Cyber Monday taught us about Social Media Strategies
I have been connecting, collaborating and networking with Hoteliers, Travelers, Tourism and Bloggers for several years now. Social Media has over the years become part of my lifestyle. Like many Social Media Coaches and Social Media Managers over the years I been providing various Social Media techniques and tips.
Social Media has during this period become a buzz word and in some sense also hyped up. And some days we battle with ridicules meme’s that seems to overtake the news headlines.
But the bottom line is that techniques and tips we provided over the years were primarily to emphasize new Value Propositions that Social Media will bring on for brands.
From my perspective, I have been preaching a shift from Traditional Hospitality Marketing to a system where information is filtered through a Community Control Room. The key for Hotels is to identify who are the authorities in these Community Control Rooms. And build sustainable relationships with these authorities in ways that turn them into Loyal Fans.
If your Hotel provides amazing value to your Loyal Fans the ripple effect will come in form of them sharing your Hotels information with their Community. And this will create new ripple effects when their Loyal Fans share their message to their Communities.
What can Hotels learn from recent events on Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
Many economists were predicting increased sales during Black Friday and Cyber Monday due to many positive economic signals in the market here in the US.
Research firm ShopperTrak indicated that Black Friday gross sales were down 7 percent. And according to National Retail Federation shopper traffic was down 5.2 percent from Thanksgiving Day through Sunday.
According to IBM Digital Analyticals Benchmark Cyber Monday Sales were up 8.7 percent over 2013.
Data shows that there were 6 million shoppers fewer shoppers than expected. And the trends indicate that shoppers are more comfortable and digital savvy to secure the best bargains.
For Hotels we saw that HotelTonight put out $7 rooms for door busters. HotelTonight had here underestimated the power of the Community. The limited supply of these doorbuster rooms was gone in six and a half minute. And this created a lot of angry travelers.
One way to prevent outrage because you underestimated the power of the Community is to collaborate with your community to create awareness. My friends at Conde Nast Traveler shared with their Community The Best Black Friday Travel Deals.
Social Influence for Black Friday and Cyber Monday
According to the IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark marketers continue to rely on Social Channels to drive brand loyalty and sales. IBM analyzed two of the leading sites for sales conversions Facebook and Pinterest. Pinterest referrals drove an average of $97.78 per order, and Facebook $123.44 per order.
The Six Pillars that will help you prepare your Hotels Social Media Strategy for next year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday
1. Awareness
Identify the early reference points that trigger your targeted market segment
2. Listening
Have a proper Control Board that allows you to listen to the ongoing discussions, and especially information related or that mention your Hotel
3. Community
Create a Unique Community Profile that will serve your Hotels market segment
4. Loyal Fans
Identify the Loyal Fans within your Community
5. Reward your Loyal Fans
Giving back to your Loyal Fans is essential to make your Hotel Social Media Strategy flourish
6. Caring and Sharing
Show that you care about your community, and share their valuable information with your Community. This will help you push information back to #1
*NOTE* Social Media consist of Dynamic processes. So think about this process as a rotating wheel. Else you can risk ending up with a lot of angry travelers that end up share information that potentially can damage your brand. Have backup plans in place if something in the process gets out of control.
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT AND FACEBOOK ADVERTISING FOR HOTELS
Facebook Native Advertising will help Hotels redefine the customer experience. Take advantage of new innovative strategies that will improve your Hotels ROI.
FREE access to our Hotel Social Media Community – Get more insights and training about Facebook Native Ads for Hotels!
Our Social Media Management team has refined these processes to help Hotels. Contact us today to learn more.
Join our Free Hotel Social Media Community on Facebook for more in-depth insight.
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
