There have been numerous articles about how to use social media. What has been less talked about are the whys behind the success of these social media efforts and campaigns. For the hospitality industry, one of the industries hit the hardest by the recession, social media is one of the most important tools to use, especially when one wants to connect with more environmentally conscious travelers. And best of all, it’s an inherently green tool.
Last year, Marketing Profs conducted a great study with both business-to-business (B2B) marketers and business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers on what’s working and what’s not in social media. The study found that the marketing tactics most often used on social sites weren’t always the best ones.
For example, the most common tactic used on Facebook was using status updates to drive traffic to your corporate collateral. The next popular was friending customers. Yet these tactics were not reported as being the most effective. What was reported as most effective for B2C companies was creating a Facebook application around a brand, which was only performed by one-quarter of all respondents. Other companies (both B2B and B2C) indicated surveying their fans as effective.
Purchased Ads Least Effective
What may surprise you is that buying ads, even targeted ones, was the least effective type of social media marketing, according to the survey.
Regarding Twitter, in this same study Twitterers were most interested in driving traffic by linking to marketing web pages (the most common tactic), then by linking to promotional pages. Again, even though these were the most popular tactics, they were not reported as the most effective.
One-half of all B2C marketers responded that they had the most success with monitoring Twitter for PR problems and contacting users who posted negative comments about their brand (done by only 22.4 percent of total respondents). The least-common tactic of all seemed to be quite successful for B2B companies—brand monitoring and using Twitter invites for in-person events.
So what does all of this mean and who is really practicing these tactics?
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts has recently created its own Facebook-type branded application, www.everyonesanoriginal.com. It’s a community of people focused around wanting to share their experiences at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. As I write this article, the site is conducting a contest for people to submit photos of their vacations and their vacation stories. This is a great example of really allowing people to experience the Fairmont brand without having to go to individual resorts, plus connect with others who share their common interests. I think the concept is phenomenal and well-executed.
The Roger Smith Hotel considers itself a hub for social media in New York City. This boutique hotel is one of the first users of social media. Started by just two guys, it’s now grown to just over 6,700 followers. The company deploys many of the techniques mentioned above, especially creating events to connect with online users in person, allowing them to experience the brand. The hotel even has a director of social hospitality. This particular individual has on more than one occasion used social media to satisfy an unsatisfied customer, such as the case of an event planner who took the time to post on her blog that she could not book her event at their hotel. The director personally contacted her and worked it out, making quite a satisfied customer and client.
On-site Event Promoted
Habitat Suites in Austin, Texas, holds ongoing talks to connect with its audience of eco-travelers/LOHAS (lifestyles of health and sustainability) consumers. Its latest talk was about Austin Permaculture and was promoted through its social networks. Although the hotel does not have the largest following on its social networks yet, it is deploying some of the right tactics to get there. The hotel has received such positive response from guests on how much better they slept due to its “ecologically fresh” air that the hotel could easily create awareness and a contest behind it. The hotel could be asking people to submit their stories, along with photos, about how well they slept in their green hotel. Through more integration of its social network platforms, its following will continue to build.
Joie de Vivre Hotels indicated in a recent article in Hotel News Now that it will not increase its marketing budget online or offline due to the success of its Facebook and Twitter campaigns. It integrates its campaigns online and offline. The hotel indicated that the special discounts dubbed “Twitter Tuesdays” and “Facebook Fridays” have proven to be very popular among its guests.
Kimpton is yet another brand that has had successful results using social media.
So how can your brand integrate social media with your green/sustainability efforts?
1. Look at the case studies I have mentioned. Many of these sustainable brands are using social media in and around their sustainability efforts. Look to see how you can do the same.
2. Focus on making more travelers aware of your partnerships and sustainability programs that benefit them. The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua created an Ambassador of the Environment program and partnered with Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society, a nonprofit organization with the motto, “Protect the ocean and you protect yourself.” During your stay, you can check out educational books, DVDs, and board games at their Ambassadors of the Environment Center. It’s a great program, yet I do not see it mentioned in any social media channels. Why not allow guests to share their experiences? Create an application, similar to Fairmont Resorts & Hotels, for them to share their stores and what they are learning. Once they have a following, they can connect with their fans by holding events as part of the Ambassador program for non-guests for a fee. Then offer them membership in the program, allowing them to continually experience the Ritz-Carlton brand and keep them coming back to the hotel.
3. Integrate social media to come from one voice. Applications such as HootSuite are great for allowing you to integrate your social media campaigns to have everything come from one voice. In less than five minutes, you can post to Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, etc. Best of all, you can see who is talking about your brand (and other brands), allowing you to stay on top of any conversations. You can customize the application to your needs, making it much easier for smaller operations to manage multiple social media sites at once.
When you decide to deploy social media, it’s important to know what’s working and what’s not so that you don’t waste precious time and resources focused on efforts that have not proven to be effective. Follow the paths of those before you and learn from those who have been successful.
Colette Chandler, president of The Marketing Insider, is an expert in consumer environmental and health trends, and helps companies understand the consumers driving the trends. She consults, trains and speaks nationally on how to create authentic green brands. Sign up for her newsletter at www.marketing-insider.com.
