seventh art media - hospitality brands and facebook - identifying the opportunities

8/7/2019 Seventh Art Media - Hospitality Brands and Facebook - Identifying the Opportunities

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SEVENTHARTMEDIA

#7AMEDIA WHITEPAPER SERIES:

HOSPITALITY BRANDS AND FACEBOOK -

IDENTIFYING THE OPPORTUNITIES

This document, and information contained therein, is the copyrighted property of Seventh Art Media and is for yourpersonal, non-commercial use only. You may not reproduce, display on a website, distribute, sell or republish this document,or the information contained therein, without prior written consent of Seventh Art Media.

( Copyright 2011 bySEVENTHARTMEDIA. All rights reserved.


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SEVENTHARTMEDIA HOSPITALITY BRANDS AND FACEBOOK

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION: HOSPITALITY BRANDS AND

FACEBOOK IDENTIFYING THEOPPORTUNITIES...............................................2!METHODOLOGY: THE PROMISE OF SOCIAL

MEDIA .............................................................3!THE DEEP DIVE: WHAT CONTENT PERFORMS

THE BEST? ........................................................4!CONNECTIVE CONTENT OPPORTUNITIES ARE

MANY DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON .........6!RETURNS ARE NOT LINEAR..............................8!CONCLUSION: TAKING FACEBOOK TO THE

NEXT LEVEL....................................................10!ABOUT SEVENTH ART MEDIA........................12!

This document, and information contained therein, is the copyrighted propertyof Seventh Art Media ( Copyright 2011) and is for your personal, non-commercial use only. You may not reproduce, display on a website, distribute,sell or republish this document, or the information contained therein, withoutprior written consent of Seventh Art Media.

Copyright 2011 by Seventh Art Media. All rights reserved.

This is the first issue in a new series of whitepapers

published by Seventh Art Media. To see otherSeventh Art Media whitepapers and to learn moreabout us please visit www.SeventhArtMedia.com


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INTRODUCTION: HOSPITALITY

BRANDS AND FACEBOOK

IDENTIFYING THE OPPORTUNITIES

byDoug OReilly & Oliver Sohn

Facebook surpasses Google in US online traffic,Mark Zuckerberg is Time Magazine's Person of theYear 2010, and Goldman Sachs invests in Facebookat a $50bn valuation - we clearly have arrived in thenew Era of Social Media.

As we transition from a search-based to a socialmedia-based online culture, and as consumerattention shifts from paid media to earned media, itis increasingly important for hotels and resorts tofocus on the business opportunities that come withthe creation of social currency and social capital fortheir brands. Having a network is easy - gettingattention is not.

But hospitality and travel are among thoseindustries and topics that have the natural

opportunity to realize strong levels of onlinecommunity engagement, and as a result, grow theirbrands and businesses through strategic socialmedia marketing.

KEYS TO SUCCESS: CONTENT

QUALITY AND AMPLIFICATION,

I.E. CONSUMER-GENERATED

BRAND IMPRESSIONS.

This whitepaper, our first issue in a series publishedby Seventh Art Media, presents the results from acomprehensive analysis of basic forms ofconsumer-generated brand impressions onFacebook relative to (a) content type, (b)

community size, and (c) hotel brand status (i.echain vs. independent).

We reviewed 2,492 content posts by 75 hotel bran

on their respective Facebook fan pages for the laquarter of 2010 to better understand what type content generates amplification and engagement.

What we learned is that content strategies fhospitality brands need to take into account a wirange of factors in order to create a lastiperformance on Facebook:

! If you dont plan out your growth strategy for tlong-term you might find youve built

community of the wrong target market.

! Building engagement is not Facebooks strosuit. Creating amplification (impressions) is easiand returns a brands bottom-line benefits mumore quickly.

! Dont expect your fan page to increase or sustain amplification rates as it grows, withomaintaining a steady flow of the right type

content.

! Most hotel brands show little discipline reviewing the performance of their pages repeatedly posting the same under-performicontent types.

! While video is a booming engagement tool fother sectors, hospitality is lagging due to poquality content, subject matter and executioThis is a huge missed opportunity.

! Too much content being posted is ancillary tobrand or property and does nothing to enhanceguest connection. This results in additionmissed opportunities.

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METHODOLOGY: THE PROMISE

OF SOCIAL MEDIA!

One of the promises of social marketing is theability to mine the vast volumes of data it producesfor unique insights into customers and theirbehaviors.

To help deliver on that promise Seventh Art Mediais introducing a new series of insights specific to thehotel industry. In our first installment we havechosen to look more deeply into Facebook. Morespecifically, we wanted to show what content typeswork best to create engagement and amplification

via the Facebook channel.

We began by reviewing 75 different Facebookpages for chain hotel brands, individual brandedhotel locations with their own page and independenthotels for the last quarter of 2010. Pages werelimited to include only upscale and luxuryproperties and brands. We then quantitatively andqualitatively reviewed almost 2,500 brand/propertycontent posts and the follower activity on each pageto help build a picture of what works and what does

not work.

Without historical page growth numbers for the 75Facebook pages included in this study we areunable to present a link between the contentperformance data and pace of page growth, but wewere able to identify patterns that illustrate whatcontent creates interaction. Our experience showsthat content, which generates interaction andsharing activity, is a primary driver of growth forcreating new fans of a page.

With this exploratory research project, not onlywere we were able to answer the primary questionabout content and interaction, but we were also ableto identify a wider range of trends and implicationsthan originally anticipated.

So, what did we learn? Here are our top findings:

Not all content performs equally. Are photosor videos, links or status updates the most

engaging content type? The answer is that thecontent that conveys a unique sense ofbrand/place and makes a personal connectionwith followers performs the best. In hospitalitythis means photos more than any other contentype.

! Returns are not linear. As a Facebook pagegrows the percentage of followers engaging viacontent cues drops off sharply.

!Amplification scales. Engagement is anotherstory. Comments on content have a ceilingOnce a certain number of comments have beenadded to a post it appears subsequent followersare less likely to add their own commentary.

! How you build your community will helpdefine how you can use it in the future. Inother words, maybe returns can be linear if youchange your strategy and goals for building yourFacebook following.

! Quality in all aspects counts. Quality contentrules. Quality engagement rules. Qualitymaintenance rules. In other words, qualityrules.

! The best content often already exists. Most ofthe top performing content in terms ofengagement and amplification was nomanufactured or contrived. Instead, it wasgenerally a highlight of existing activity orcontent brought forward on Facebook.

! Hotels need to feed content into theirFacebook pages. 92% of all follower activitycomes in the form of likes and comments oncontent posted by the brand itself vs. directposts by fans.

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THE DEEP DIVE: WHAT CONTENT

PERFORMS THE BEST?!

Not to dodge the question but the answer is itdepends. And what it depends upon is a matter ofgoals and relationships.

Figure 1 below illustrates one aspect of howdifferent content types create different patterns ofinteraction under different circumstances. In thisexample, we break out content posts by type andlook at the average number of comments and likesthey generate.

In order to make a comparison across many sites of

different sizes we have used a ratio that shows the

number of comments and post likes for every onethousand (1K) page likes. Total interactions are thesum of both an individual posts likes andcomments.

It is clear that each content type performsdifferently. Photo content is much more likely toelicit higher numbers of post likes and commentsthan any other type. Interestingly, videowhich iscurrently being hyped by many as the mostimportant content type to entertain and engagecustomersprovides the least amount of interactionwith followers.

Is the poor performance of video a matter of

quality? Are only a few brands doing it right andeveryone else is bringing them down? Looking athe quality of the videos posted during the three-month period under analysis reveals that quality islacking across the board. Figure 2 looks at themaximum ratio of interactions per content typeThe results clearly show that video significantlyunderperforms other content type in generating bothpost likes--which help amplify the content--and postcommentswhich both amplify the content andpotentially promote engagement.

WE WANTED TO SHOW WHAT

CONTENT TYPES WORK BEST TO

CREATE ENGAGEMENT AND

AMPLIFICATION VIA THE

FACEBOOK CHANNEL.

Figure 1 Average Interactions per Content Type (Source: Seventh Art Media)

INTERACTIONS PER 1K

POST LIKES PER 1K

POST COMMENTS PER 1K

LINK VIDEO STATUS PHOTO

1.8 2.2 2.6 3.5

1.7 1.9 1.9 3.1

0.1 0.3 0.6 0.4


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Why does video lag? Our working hypothesis isthat a number of factors are in play and they willcontinue to evolve.

First off, Facebook isnt the channel of choice forwatching video. Secondly, after a review of all ofthe 82 videos posted across 75 Facebook hotelpages it is fair to say that the videos are often poorquality and none are particularly entertaining orengaging. How many grainy ballroom videos orshots of the penthouse do people really want to see?

VIDEOS ARE OFTEN POOR

QUALITY AND NONE AREPARTICULARLY ENGAGING.

These may be important for other channels such asTrip Advisor or the property site itself, but if itdoesnt have a hook of personal connection it maynot be suitable for Facebook.

The simple fact is that not all content is right for allchannels. There are a number of social strategies

that can be utilized to create engaging andentertaining video but these are generally executedoutside of the confines of Facebook and require anintegrated approach to social media. This

integration of social media efforts for coordinatedcampaigns is becoming more and more commonamong top brands in the space but is lacking so farin the hospitality sector.

On the other hand, photos are the clear winner forcreating amplification and engagement. The fact isthat Facebook users like the quick-hit satisfaction ofa witty post or a beautiful or clever picture. Some ofthe highest performing photo content was notnecessarily professional level quality but at a

minimum connected on a personal level. A quicksnapshot of the first snow of the season and a giantpumpkin are examples of connective content thatboth worked well and required little effort. In factthe first snow theme resonated across many pages.

Figure 2 Maximum Interactions per Content Type (Source: Seventh Art Media)

INTERACTIONS PER 1K

POST LIKES PER 1K

POST COMMENTS PER 1K

LINK VIDEO STATUS PHOTO

39.8 23.3 34.2 56.0

35.9 17.1 34.2 46.7

10.0 6.2 29.6 17.9


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CONNECTIVE CONTENT

OPPORTUNITIES ARE MANY

DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON

EXAMPLE #1

EXAMPLE #2

A simple vignette of the autumn harvest

season (and a 400 lb. pumpkin) elicited

enthusiastic responses and helped guests

recall the experience of their previous

stays. The key is conveying a sense of

place/brand and quality execution.

The responses to the Four Seasons treeposting were less about the tree and the

picture and more about remembering an

experience.


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So why do so many hotel pages rely more on linksand status (see figure 3)?

The short answer may be that both content types are

much easier to produce. Unfortunately, easy repostsof content cannot create an effective stream ofstatus updates that convey the personal connectionand brand voice you need in support of your brand.Furthermore, links to tenuously related content orrehashed content from elsewhere will only serve totake the edge off of your points of differentiation.

EASY REPOSTS OF CONTENT

CANNOT CREATE AN EFFECTIVESTREAM OF STATUS UPDATES

THAT CONVEYS THE PERSONAL

CONNECTION AND BRAND

VOICE YOU NEED.

Unfortunately, what we see occuring is that thesecond lowest performing content type is also the

most commonly posted. It would be one matter if

these links were primarily calls to action translatinginto reservations or some other form of brandsupporting activity, but our review shows that theseare few and far between. The most common links

by far have tenuous relationships to a brand orproperty and do little to create a connection, incentsharing or extend a brand experience. In shortmost of it is filler.

Figure 3 Percentage of All Posts by Content Type (Source: Seventh Art Media)

LINK

STATUS

PHOTO

VIDEO

51%

24%

21%

3%


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RETURNS ARE NOT LINEAR!Is bigger better? In terms of amplification of yourbrand and content it clearly is the case. It only takesa few thousand followers and a regular schedule ofdecently performing content to create millions ofpotential impressions across Facebook annually. Asyou increase your follower base the potentialimpressions grows exponentially.

However, there are a large number of implicationsfor how you grow your fan base and interact withthem that are unique to hospitality. In Figure 4 wesee that the average number of interactions we canexpect to see from every one thousand followersdecreases as the page size increases. In essence,you reach diminishing returns on interaction fairlyquickly.

The second aspect of page size growth is thedecreasing ratio of comments as a percentage of allinteractions. In fact, the average number ofcomments appears to plateau while the number oflikes rises sharply as page size increases. What isgoing on here?

The answer is that a complicated mix of elementsleads to these results. The individual factors andtheir implications for using Facebook as a

marketing channel are the most important aspects ofplanning and strategy for hospitality brands.

NOT ONE SIZE FITS ALL. WE ALL

KNOW THIS INTUITIVELY BUT

FINDING THE RIGHT FIT IS THE

HARD PART.

The first factor is that not one size fits all. We allknow this intuitively but finding the right fit is thehard part of this equation. It is easy enough for usto break down the pages by type and compare howan umbrella brands page compares with a page fora single branded chain location and an independenthotel. So lets start there:

Figure 5 compares the distribution of post likes andpost comments for each page type. Umbrella brand

Figure 4 Average Interactions by Page Size (Source: Seventh Art Media)

LESS THAN 2.5K

2.5K TO 5K

5K TO 10K

10K TO 25K

25K TO 50K

MORE THAN 50K

AVERAGE INTERACTIONS

PER 1K FANSAVERAGE # OF

COMMENTS PER POST

AVERAGE # OF

LIKES PER POST

3.5

0.3 3.8

2.8 2.4 7.4

1.5 1.6 9.8

1.7 3.1 22.6

1.3 6.8 34.0

0.9 6.2 55.9


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pages clearly receive fewer comments and likesthan property specific pages and independentproperty pages. But why? Is the content lessengaging or interesting? Do the followers differ

from the followers on property and independentpages? And finally, does it matter that much?

Reviewing the content and user makeup (via posts,likes and comments) of the pages reveals a fewthings. First, many brand pages were built or arebeing built with a goal of getting followers in thedoor.

Secondly, the emphasis is on amplification of deals,brand messages and other communication vs.

engagement on a service or experience level. It isnttoo much of a leap to infer that these tactics havecombined with the existing brand recognition tocreate pages and communities with a deal andmarketing communications centric focus.

This means that opportunities for user commentsare few and far between. This also means that thebrand is locked-in to a particular type of consumerwith a particular type of motivation. To us, this isthe biggest implication of our review: if you build

followers through discount incentives then you

only have a community of discount seekers. Thepush to get 100k followers in a short amount of timeand then figure out what to do with them afterward

is a losing strategy.

IF YOU BUILD FOLLOWERS

THROUGH DISCOUNT

INCENTIVES THEN YOULL HAVE

A COMMUNITY OF DISCOUNT

SEEKERS.

Instead, a focus on quality followers who value thebrand beyond discounts is important. The flip sideof the discount equation is evident in property-specific and independent hotel pages. Peoplefollow a specific property because of a connectionto the property itself. Is it more important to haveone-thousand of the right people who love yourbrand and will interact with your content, strengthentheir connections and advocate on your behalf or

Figure 5 Interactions by Page Type (Source: Seventh Art Media)

0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50

0

10

20

30

40

50

UMBRELLA BRAND BRANDED LOCATIONS INDEPENDENT HOTELS

POST LIKES PER 1K POST LIKES PER 1K POST LIKES PER 1K

POSTCOM

MENTSPER1K


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twenty-five-thousand people who want discountedrates?

The same goes for an umbrella brand page.

Advocates and fans of the brand will like the pageand its content when it provides connections to thethings they value in the brand. Bypassing that forexpediency in growing your page limits the long-term opportunities of the Facebook channel.

In short, hospitality brands at all levels need to tapinto the aspects that make their brands unique anduse existing content and brand assets they have on-hand to deepen relationships through connectivecontent.

Hotels and resorts in particular have an extremelydeep reservoir of existing content that simply needsto be tapped into effectively. Each evokes memoriesand personal connections for the viewer. Isnt thatthe type of experience you try and deliver everyday?

HOSPITALITY BRANDS AT ALL

LEVELS NEED TO TAP INTO THEASPECTS THAT MAKE THEIR

BRANDS UNIQUE AND USE THE

EXISTING CONTENT AND

BRAND ASSETS THEY HAVE ON-

HAND TO DEEPEN

RELATIONSHIPS.

CONCLUSION: TAKING

FACEBOOK TO THE NEXT LEVEL!

Based on our analysis it is clear that creating asustainable and relevant stream of content forFacebook is a key to success for hotels and resortsIn addition to ensuring relevant content iscontinuously flowing into the channel a number ofother factors will also play into your long-termsuccess:

! Form follows function: Most importantlyupfront planning, programming and goals arerequired for the Facebook channel. The goals

you set for the page will define your contentprocesses and the people who choose to followyou. If you want a specific type of customerliking your page you need to program to thatcustomers specific needs. Additionally, yourbrand page is only one way of interacting withcustomers or amplifying your brand viaFacebook. If you want a more engagingexperience for your target customer you mayneed to move your content into the Facebookstream via other methods.

! Trying to change behavior is a losingproposition: The easiest way to grow aFacebook page is to offer incentives and dealsbut where does that leave you after the deal isover? Your brands most visible social mediaproperty is positioned as a deal channel andfollowed by deal-seekers who will add little tothe conversation and will be unresponsive tocontent that your best customers may value dueto their much stronger brand connections.

While a big base of Facebook followers looksgood in terms of raw numbers and amplificationyou are likely to be less effective in reachingyour most valuable customers and extendingyour reach to their friendswhich is where thereal power of marketing via Facebook lies.


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! Facebook pages are best for amplification:Facebook scales well to help your brand getimpressionsbut the simple fact is that as pagesget bigger the ratio of comments to followers

drops off and the interaction moves to likes.The reasons behind this are varied but it appearsa comment plateau is reached fairly quickly. Ontop of that, people wont actually read beyondthe first few comments and the commentingsystem does not create a sustainable ongoingconversation thread on brand pages. The key isusing Facebook to both amplify the brand andbranded conversations that are taking placeelsewhereincluding on a users Facebooknewsfeed. In other words, the Facebook page is

often best served as an entry/amplification pointfor content with the engagement happening offof the brand page itself.

! Facebook is about enhancing brandengagement not creating it: Following up onthe last point, hotel and resort brands should notlook at their Facebook page as a primary pointof engagement but as a channel to extendengagements that happen elsewhere. The key isto take content created from these engagements

and get it into the Facebook streamphotos orvideos of guests enjoying unique aspects of theproperty or brand, guests interacting with thebrand or a brand sponsored event. Keeping thispoint in mind can also help build out a strategynot based on deals and promotions and helpavoid brand dilution in the channel as well.

! Get your content right: A simple question toask about any content before you post it isWhy would any of my guests share this? If

you cant answer that question withouthesitation then you shouldnt post the content.

! Measure ROI on Amplification and DirectResponse: Facebook has some handy tools formeasuring impressions and these should beleveraged in developing an assessment of thechannels contribution to cost saving vs.

comparable CPM rates of more standard onlineadvertising. But measurement should not stopthere. Content should be set up to track viewsbeyond the channel and click-throughs

generated by the content wherever it ispertinent. Back-end systems (such as GoogleAnalytics) should be structured to capture thecontribution of the channel to referrals andconversions.

! Look to other channels for one-to-oneengagement: Facebook is a hammer thatdoesnt elegantly transition to the gentleraspects of one-to-one customer service requiredin a hospitality setting. In the coming weeks we

will be exploring many of the other social mediatools for facilitating and enhancing a guestsbrand experience. These include TwitterFoursquare, Yelp, TripAdvisor and some lesser-known but powerful possibilities for specificapplications such as customer feedback, insightand crowd sourcing.

WHILE A BIG BASE OF

FACEBOOK FANS GROWN WITHDISCOUNTS AND SPECIAL

DEALS LOOKS GOOD IN TERMS

OF RAW NUMBERS, YOU ARE

LIKELY TO BE LESS EFFECTIVE IN

REACHING YOUR MOST

VALUABLE CUSTOMERS AND

THEIR FRIENDS WHICH IS

WHERE THE REAL POWER OFMARKETING VIA FACEBOOK

LIES.


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ABOUT SEVENTH ART MEDIA

Seventh Art Media is a division of Seventh ArtGroup with offices in New York, London andDubai specializing in social media content &strategy development for hotels, resorts, retail, andcommercial real estate worldwide.

We create value through branded experiences forhospitality, retail and real estate.

Seventh Art Groups clients, including StarwoodHotels & Resorts, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts,Ritz-Carlton, Plaza Hotel New York, The RelatedCompanies, and many more, have entrusted us with150 worldwide projects in 22 cities, 4 continents,worth US$7bn.

Learn more about how we can help your hospitalityor real estate brand at www.SeventhArtMedia.com

Follow us on Twitter @seventhartmedia

Follow us on Facebook SeventhArtMedia

seventh art media - hospitality brands and facebook - identifying the opportunities

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