| Parsippany,
NJ � July 2008 � Web 2.0 is no longer considered an �innovation�.
It�s a standard. The internet is now a place for sharing and social interaction.
The smartest businesses in the world are using this social interaction
to their benefit � through blogs, streaming video, and online communities,
where people come together to trade links, ideas, and information 24 hours
a day. There�s a good chance that your hotel can benefit from marketing
through social media. I�m going to walk you through some of the ways you
can do so, and increase your profits along the way.
Blogs have become one
of the most effective ways to connect with internet users. A blog is a
regularly updated web page where a writer or writers post articles for
personal or business use. As a hotel, a blog is a way to keep your guests
up to date on the latest happenings of your hotel or the hospitality industry.
It is this informal setting that �conversational marketing� occurs, and
relationships are built with your public.
Here are some tips for
maximizing the effectiveness of your blog:
-
Build relationships with
other bloggers. Check for blogs similar to yours and try to connect
with them, through direct email or comments on their blog posts. Doing
so can open up a whole new venue of traffic to drive to your own blog.
-
Spread your blog content
in various ways. If you are using your blog to market your hotel, then
you want your blog content to be viewed in every way possible. Two ways
to do this are through an RSS subscription and an email alternative. An
RSS subscription allows one-click subscribing to your blog, and the reader
will then be notified of new posts through an RSS reader. An email alternative
would email the latest posts to the reader.
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Offer valuable content on
your blog. Your blog should not just be a thinly-veiled glorified advertisement;
it should provide valuable, useful information that equips your reader
with information about your hotel and/or destination.
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Don�t be the only one doing
it. What about your employees? Why not train and encourage them to
blog, either on your website or on a personal site � the first hand experience
can be very beneficial to any company. For example in additional to you
General manager blogging about your hotel, why not have your Concierge
blog about upcoming events in your destination? Have a well respected Chef
in the kitchen, share some of the Chef�s signature dish recipes in a blog.
-
Measure your blog�s traffic.
Pay attention to what your readers are reading most, and offer more content
similar to it.
-
Couple your blog content
with your email newsletter. Crossover content brings greater exposure
to both forms of online media, which your hotel can only benefit from.
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Podcast. Whether audio
or video, experiment with podcasting. Start out once a week and gauge the
response. In many cases, it can drive more traffic to a blog. We have our
own podcast which we produce and distribute on a monthly basis. Click
to listen to Lodging Interactive�s podcast.
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Add social bookmark links
to your blog. Many social bookmarking sites and communities encourage
users to share their favorite posts, articles, and pages with others. Offer
them the opportunity to share yours.
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Tag your posts. Be organized.
Make searching for information easier on your site. The more user-friendly
it is, the more popular it will become.
While blogs continue to rise
in influence and popularity, a well-produced or clever online video can
spread like wildfire. While many businesses may not benefit from streaming
video, there are plenty of products and services today that can generate
a lot of business from it, including hotels. Here are some ways to do it:
-
Provide an embeddable web
version of your video. This is automatically done through the major
video websites (i.e. YouTube, etc.). If hosting on your own, then you need
to make sure that you can do this. For your video to pop up on other blogs
or social networking sites, you need to give your viewer the ability to
embed it onto their sites using an HTML code. Many video services offer
�one-click� sharing as well, to further ease the process.
-
Stream live video. Depending
on your needs and intentions, a live video stream may be useful if done
correctly. Services such as uStream.tv and Mogulus can help you set this
up.
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Use video to complement your
text. Text on your web site and blog can only be helped with video.
Experiment using video interviews or press releases (Chef, General Manager
or Concierge�.even past guest interviews). Augmenting your text with video
gives your site a personal touch that viewers appreciate.
-
Experiment with different
lengths and formats. There is no magic formula to video success. You
need to experiment a little. Try filming something humorous. Maybe do a
long, informative piece. Either way, experimenting is how you find out
what works the best.
The basis for social media
is the online community. The community is where, hopefully, your material
will be shared with other people. When tapped into the online community
effectively, viral marketing can occur. Viral marketing is where something
you create is shared with other people in rapid succession. It can be some
of the most effective marketing in the world, and is unmatched in terms
of driving traffic. Here are some tips for fostering your relationships
with the online community:
-
Listen to your market.
At any given point, your potential guests are talking. At the same time,
people are talking about your potential guests. Pay attention to this,
and use it when crafting your marketing plans. We offer a great Social
Media monitoring tool, Chatter Guard. Click to visit ChatterGuard.com.
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Build a community around
a specific event. Do you hold any major events during the course of
the year? Take some video of it and post it on YouTube. Take your photos
and put them on Flickr. Link them all together, and use them when marketing
next year�s event. A simple idea such as taking pictures at your recent
hotel�s wine tasting event and posting them on Flickr will help.
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Start a community on a major
social network. It�s incredibly easy to start a group on Facebook or
MySpace. Use this group to tap into your audience�s interests.
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Attend a major social media
conference. There are plenty out there: New Media Expo, BlogWorld Expo,
New Marketing Summit, etc. Attending one of these can put you on the cutting-edge
trends of social media marketing.
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Cultivate long-term relationships.
It�s a general habit to survey your guests to try and find out as much
as you can about them. Take your time. Foster the relationships and don�t
be overbearing. Your guests will thank you with repeated business. Check
out CommentCards.com for a cost-effective
online comment card solution.
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Take your time in getting
established. In many social networks, the people who are involved have
probably been there a while and know the others. They will recognize that
you are new. Take some time to build familiarity with the other people.
Don�t go right into �selling mode�.
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Get a good widget. Widgets
are little customizable tools that can provide information and updates
for readers. What makes them unique is that they can be shared, much like
a video, through embedding. If you update your widget, it is updated on
all the pages it is on. This can be an incredibly valuable tool for your
advertising and marketing.
-
Allow your community to vote
on your content. Let your community�s voice be heard, and you will
create an appreciation that they will respond to.
Once you�ve gotten a good
handle on all of these different aspects of social media, put them together!
Orchestrate a marketing push that is centered on your blog, but implements
some of these other strategies, including social networks and video. Use
it to build up a face-to-face event or the release of a new hotel package
or seasonal special. Creating that �buzz� is what drives the big sales.
On top of that, use these
strategies to connect with your employees. Start an internal blog and let
their voices be heard! Creating that loyalty from within is essential to
any business.
Much like any business
strategy, the key is research. Do your due diligence and observe what others
are doing. Read case studies of those who have enjoyed social media success.
Interview social media practitioners to get ideas and find the bridges
and similarities between your methods and theirs. Use that information
to grow. Research your competitors and find what�s working for them, and
what isn�t.
Another important piece
of research that can make a huge difference in your sales is how your potential
guests are responding. Do they respond more to recommendation? If so, employ
the use of widgets and other socially-based strategies. Or do they respond
most to education? Then craft informational videos and podcasts about your
hotel or destination. Tap into whatever is most effective and use it to
the maximum.
Finally, if you admire
certain bloggers or podcasters and want their opinion, offer them some
incentive to take a look at your projects and campaigns. If you can give
them some kind of gift for helping you out, you can access some very valuable
advice that can really boost your conversion rates.
As you can see, there
are loads of opportunities for your hotel to connect with the consumer.
Every market is available online today, and if you put in a little research
and effort, you can reap some very nice rewards. Work on it consistently,
and I guarantee you will start seeing results.
About Lodging Interactive
Lodging
Interactive is a leading provider of Internet Marketing Services to
the hospitality, spa and restaurant industries. The company provides a
portfolio of effective Internet Marketing Services to hundreds of hotels,
resorts, timeshares, spas and restaurants. Clients included branded hotels
from nearly every major brand as well as prestigious, landmark independent
hotels.
The Company offers effective
online tools and services: ChatterGuard.com,
an online social media monitoring and reputation management system, CommentCards.com,
a full-service business-2-consumer comment card service, eProposalSystem.com,
an online RFP response system for hotel Sales Managers, RFPLink.com,
a group RFP lead generation, HotelDirectBook.com,
a consumer hotel portal, and reporting system, DiningClick.com,
Internet Marketing Services for the restaurant industry, and Spa
Interactive, Internet Marketing Services for the health spa industry.
Lodging Interactive is
a proud member of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA),
The California Hotel Association, and a supporter of the Hotel Sales &
Marketing Association International (HSMAI). For more information contact
Richard Walsh, Vice President of Business Development at rjwalsh@lodginginteractive.com
or at 877-291-4411. The company�s website is located at www.LodgingInteractive.com.
|
Media Contact:
Richard
Walsh
Vice President, Business
Development
Lodging Interactive
877-291-4411 |
