REPORT FROM THE U.S.—While they continue to focus on some of the most popular sites for their guests—including TripAdvisor, Twitter and Facebook—hotel marketing executives said they also are testing emerging social communities this year.
“You should have some sort of presence on all the major networking sites. It is also important that your organization do testing to see which platforms their guests are using, and really focus your presence there,” said Josiah Mackenzie, a new media pragmatist for Gradigio Hotel Marketing.
For example, some hotel chains are utilizing foursquare.com, a social media network combined with offers from businesses to people who visit them frequently. Visitors access the site via their mobile devices or the Web. “Foursquare aims to encourage people to explore their neighborhoods, then rewards them for doing so,” according to the site.
‘Get the word out’
Morgans Hotel Group in New York is one of the hotel chains testing foursquare. “It provides an opportunity to get the word out there … and hit people where they already are,” said Jim Zito, VP of interactive marketing for Morgans. Still, the site seems to be more geared towards frequent visitors of bars and restaurants, according to Zito and others.
It is a similar story with Web site review and sharing site Yelp.com: Hotels are using it but find that travelers are using it more to find restaurants and bars. “Eighteen months ago, Yelp had more influence in certain markets such as San Francisco,” Zito said.
“For some time, we have been actively involved in TripAdvisor and Yelp. For our restaurants, especially, Yelp is useful to be able to listen in real-time to our customers and respond,” said Ann Nadeau, director of marketing at Joie de Vivre Hotels in San Francisco.
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David Doucette, executive director of Internet marketing for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
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Similarly, Toronto-based Fairmont Hotels & Resorts’ restaurants have benefited from having a presence on Yelp, but it has not necessarily booked many guestrooms. “The user base tends to be more local,” said David Doucette, executive director of Internet marketing for Fairmont.
Hotels can use social sites such as foursquare to serve as a concierge or expert on the community surrounding the hotel. “It is a real good opportunity for a concierge to tell the story of the neighborhood … and build your brand as outreach,” said Mike Whaling, president of 30 Lines, a digital marketing and online branding firm.
Find the right site
Instead of focusing extensively on sites such as foursquare, however, Whaling recommended hoteliers place the most emphasis on ratings and review sites.
“Millions of people are using TripAdvisor to get advice about where to stay. If they see that hotels are proactive about saying a problem has been fixed, it has a lot more influence than trying to do some kind of deal on foursquare,” he said.
In addition, there are other social communities that may be more tailored to the type of guest that frequents specific hotel chains. Joie de Vivre, for example, is active on MobileSpinach.com, which sends text offers from San Francisco-based businesses to users’ mobile devices.
“Americans are a little behind the curve on text messages … but this is growing rapidly,” Nadeau said. While the application is being utilized more for JDV’s restaurants, the hotelier will start sending last-minute hotel deals via Mobile Spinach this year.
Fairmont plans to better utilize its video content on social sharing sites this year. “We are adding some of our own assets to Flickr and looking at other sites such as Panaramio.com,” Doucette said. “There are benefits from a search engine optimization perspective by creating links between their site and our site,” he added.
Travel blogs
Fairmont also has been more active on FlyerTalk.com, a social media site focusing on travel rewards programs for frequent flyers. Fairmont’s marketing executives have actively responded to site visitors’ questions and comments about Fairmont’s properties over the years, leading to the development of a dedicated forum for Fairmont’s President’s Club rewards program on the site.
In addition, many hotel chains are working more with travel blogs, keeping up-to-date on what is being said about them and advertising on the blogs, in some cases. For example, Morgans’ hotels are reaching travelers interested in emerging musicians via ad partnerships with Excite, which distributes the ads to certain Web sites and music blogs.
