SOCIAL MEDIA HOSPITALITY

BEST PRACTICES SEMINAR

AUGUST 19, 2013

AGENDA •  Introductions

•  Why social media is important for your hotel

•  Industry stats and leaders

•  How to grow your business using social media

•  Best practices and key takeaways

•  Questions

CONVOMETRICS

•  Social Media Marketing Partner of Vagus Inc •  Vast experience creating social voice

strategies, engagement tactics and analytics tracking for hotel, hospitality, entertainment industry and beyond

•  Authentic, engaged, and centered around delivering actionable analytics

WHY SOCIAL MEDIA?

•  Increases exposure for your hotel

•  Generates conversation and buzz about your brand online

•  Allows you to engage with your customers and potential guests

•  Builds loyalty, advocacy and word of mouth

INDUSTRY STATS

•  Online travel bookings are expected to hit over US$54 billion in 2013 (Source: Adobe Digital Index)

•  65% of leisure travelers begin researching online before they have decided where or how to travel. (Source: Ipsos MediaCT)

•  70% of travelers update their Facebook page while

on vacation. It’s even estimated that 1 out of every 6 travelers will do so expressively to make an ex-lover jealous! (Source: Daily Mail)

HOW TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS USING SOCIAL MEDIA

•  Listen to conversations already happening around your brand

•  Identify your goals and metrics for success

•  Create a social media strategy

•  Integrate social into all other marketing/pr/corporate initiatives

•  Track and analyze your work

•  Evolve your strategy accordingly •  Rinse, repeat

INDUSTRY LEADERS •  Wynn Las Vegas has the biggest twitter

account, with a half-million followers

•  The Cosmopolitan is most active with over 36k tweets

•  Hotel Urbano in Miami has more than 7.6M likes on Facebook

•  MGM Grand Hotel has the biggest Klout score (87)

BEST PRACTICES FACEBOOK

•  Post at least three to five times per week

•  Shoot for quality over quantity

–  It is better to have one really good post than three okay posts. Over posting can result in fans un-liking your page

•  Use strong visuals

–  Posts with photos typically result in a larger reach, and almost always result in higher engagement

•  Respond to fans as quickly as possible

–  We aim to stay within a two hour window, but the faster you can respond, the better

•  Unlink Facebook and Twitter

–  Although Facebook now utilizes #’s, @s do not transfer and make a post look as if you did not have enough time to properly format your post for each individual platform

•  Shorter Facebook posts tend to do best

–  Try keeping your Facebook posts under 200 characters, a study showed that 160 characters is optimal for engagement on Facebook

•  Use a Call To Action within your post

–  Like if, share to, comment for, tag your friends

–  Fill in the blanks, ask questions

•  Use Facebook.com resources and marketing tools for further support

–  Check out FAQ and help section

–  Subscribe to Facebook business and marketing pages

BEST PRACTICES TWITTER

•  Keep Tweets short and sweet

–  Tweets shorter than 100 characters get a 17% higher engagement rate

•  Tweet frequently, at least 3-5 times/day

•  Engage other users in conversation using @replies and mentions

•  Participate in Twitter trends

•  Search for daily mentions to monitor the conversation

•  Test and tweet at optimal time of day for your brand to spur engagement

•  Use highly relevant #’s to increase exposure and engagement

•  Don’t be afraid to ask followers to re-tweet important content

BEST PRACTICES TRIP ADVISOR/YELP

•  List your hotel and claim as your account to become owner of the page

•  Use reviews to thoroughly evaluate feedback (both positive and negative) from your guests,

and implement into your efforts moving forward

•  Integrate Trip Advisor App and Review tab on Facebook

•  Understand Yelp’s various offers (reviews, deals, ads, registration) to optimize feedback

•  Turn on email notifications so you are notified when new reviews, comments, or ratings are posted

•  Take conversations offline if there are issues that need to be resolved

BEST PRACTICES FOURSQUARE

•  Claim your business or set up business on Foursquare

•  Monitor your reputation, comments and check-ins daily

•  Utilize Check-in feature to encourage customers to check-in and share your brand with their

network

–  Types of Specials:

•  Swarm Special

•  Friends Special

•  Flash Special

•  Newbie Special

•  Check-in Special

•  Loyalty Special

•  Mayor Special

BEST PRACTICES GOOGLE+

•  Post often and keep it fresh

•  Target your posts by segmenting via circles

•  Use rich media (photos, videos, customized branding assets)

•  Be responsive and ask questions

•  Use hashtags to insert into broader conversations on topics your posting about

•  Host video chats called “Hangouts”

•  Poll your audience

•  Share insider content

•  Run exclusive promotions

•  Follow specialists in your field

•  Share your opinion

•  Offer help

•  Teach what you know

BEST PRACTICES PINTEREST

•  Use high quality images on your website

•  Use rich pins from your website to automatically include information like price, availability and

review with pins

•  Organize your boards with the most relevant on top

•  Pin at least once a day so followers get fresh content (and try pacing pins throughout the day)

•  Ensure all pins link back to the proper source

•  Like and comment on pins that inspire and relate to your brand

•  Invite brand enthusiasts to contribute to a group board

BEST PRACTICES INSTAGRAM

•  Create a theme for your content and be consistent

–  Constant product placement is not a theme

•  Take lots of photos and make them aesthetically pleasing and creative

•  Post once or twice a day and spread out posts like any other network

•  Engage with your followers (comment, follow back, like)

•  Tell an interesting brand story through your images and captions

•  Creative #hashtag contests or #projects are great to spark interaction and amplify your brand message

TAKEAWAYS REMEMBER: •  Social media is not about shouting at your customer, but about

making connections and building loyalty

•  Connecting with your fans in-real-time is an invaluable marketing

tool

•  Offering incentives, contests, and giveaways are great ways to

build communities, but remember to nurture and foster growth as well

•  Never forget to surprise and delight your fans, as well as reward them for their loyalty

QUESTIONS?

Thank you!