We Social Media Managers and Consultants are constantly challenged by our clients right? Clients in the Hospitallity industry can be some of the most challenging but recently I have worked as a consultant for the UK arm of an extremely large hotel chain and was gobsmacked to find how easy it was! I say that because I found that even the most basic social media practices were not being handled and on pointing these issues out to my client immediately found that i had become something of a Social Media Genius (in the eyes of my client that is. . .)
So here are the 5 points to start with for a Social Media client in the Hospitality Industry:
1. Trip Advisor Apps
We are all aware of the power of Trip Advisor. The site has over 50 million reviews, 85,000 destinations , 475, hotels, 675 restaurants I could go on. I'm sure almost every hotelier, restaurant owner has been reviewed or mentioned on the site so why not show of your clients positive recomendations?
Trip Advisor has apps available for Linkedin (reviews displayed on the company page) and Facebook and its such a great way link up your clients social media platforms and merge the online communities. This allows you to further engage and share information about the business
2. Facebook Places Best Practice
First things first, go and claim your place. I'm sure you've done this already but just in case you havent get it done. Its not only a great tool to get your clients guests to tell all thier friends where they are and how much they're enjoying it but its also a great SEO tip. Facebook Places is linked to Bing Maps so you also begin to appear in a great position in the Bing search ranking thanks to this placement.
"But why use Facebook Places for my hospitality business?" I'm sure your clients will ask you. Well one of the main benefits of using this free service is that your business will get more free, viral exposure which will generate more web traffic and brand recognition just by registering with Facebook Places.
3. Twitter Use
One of my Social Media Consulting clients Crowne Plaza Liverpool has been using Twitter very effectively. Because Twitter is a free, real time tool it means guests can use it to comunicate with the hotel without being put on hold or even spending any money on phone calls and get an instant response and it means the Reception staff dont need to have thier time consumed with phone calls. So for example a guest can tweet Crowne Plaza "i need to change my booking from a twin to a double for the 17th, it it possible?" the Hotel can then simply tweet back the answer in real time, its cost effective, real time and convenient for the customer.
4. Facebook Booking App
As i'm sure you're aware by now, regardless of the demographic, market or audience you are aiming at. . .your clients customers are on Facebook. They are on facebook for an average of 46 minutes per day every over a 30 day period. Once there they intend to stay there so when business pages say " come to our website to. . . ." thats where the traffic slows down and people think "i'll go when i'm done on Facebook". So why not give customers the opportunity to book with while they are on Facebook? Facebook Room Booking apps such as bookassist are good value.
5. Reputation Management
One of the biggest mistakes I always seem to point out to owners and managers of hospitality businesses is the fact that negative comments and mentions seem to go ingnored. Buzz Monitoring (an essential element of Relationship Marketing) is incredibly important for your reputation. Negative mentions need top be addresed as do positive ones. Other people that come across the negative mention need to see a comment for the businesses saying something like " Mr Jones we are so sorry you feel like this, we always try our upmost for our guests etc etc etc. . . ". This is much better than ignoring the comment and allowing other people to view it without a response from the hotel.