trg ebook – tourism and hospitality & social media

t h e p r o m i s e b e h i n d t h e b r a n d .ebook Ser ies : Volume 15

TouriSm and HoSpiTaliT y & Social media

1

©The Russo Group, 2009. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

CLICK SCREEN TO BEGIN.Hit escape to return to normal screen mode.

CLICK SCREEN TO BEGIN.Hit escape to return to normal screen mode.

Tourism and Hospitality

& Social media

2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

What does Tourism and Hospitality Have To do With Social media? ....................................................................................3

listening: your most important Skill ..................................................................................................................................................5

Business Benefits from Social media .................................................................................................................................................9

Tourism 2.0 ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 12

convention and Visitors Bureaus .................................................................................................................................................... 13

Hotels and Bed & Breakfast locals ................................................................................................................................................ 15

What’s Working For Tourism in Web 2.0? ................................................................................................................................... 17

3

WHaT doeS

TouriSm and

HoSpiTaliTy

Have To

do WiTH

Social media?

90% of purchases are researched online first.

These industries have the ability to use the internet,

especially social media, to educate and entice

people from around the world to visit their community.

As in other major industries, (Healthcare, Finance,

etc.) companies can use the power and audience

of social networking sites to direct traffic to their

website and product and eventually build brand

recognition and a fan base.

4

also…When consumers develop a personal

relationship with a brand, it leads to brand

loyalty and advocacy. This relationship is

the ultimate goal for most businesses as it

promotes the product and drives sales. Since

the Hospitality and Tourism industries thrive

on consumer loyalty, it makes perfect since for

social media to enter the equation.

5

listening: your most important Skill

Before you dive into the social media waters, you have to understand what you are

getting into. Find your message, build your brand, establish a reputation before you seek to grow a

fan base. Next, find out how you, your brand and your message are being received. By listening, you

are looking for consumer feedback to build and improve your brand based on what the people want.

Because the truth is, people trust the opinion of other consumers before they trust your website. It’s not

enough anymore to put something on your site and hope that people see and respond to it. When

you listen, you become active and involved in the conversation. The business owner is now privy to

consumer conversation about the product; a benefit that has never been available before.

6

Google Alerts

Set up a Google Alerts account under your

company’s name, and also add the name

of your industry you belong to, the business

owner’s name, and even the names of your

competitors. Set this up under anything that

is unique to your business. Every day, you

will get new updated information emailed to

you directly. You will continue to get updated

conversation information on the titles that

you’ve entered. Basically, Google Alerts is

the most general listening device on the web

today.

7

SOCIAL HOSpITALITy REvIEw SITES ARE pROBABLy THE BEST RESOuRCE wITHIN THIS INduSTRy

wHEN LISTENING fOR yOuR NAmE.

yelp

Just search for your name and principals on Yelp. If you aren’t a big business, you might only get a few reviews a

week, but it’s worth going through and keeping tabs on yourself. Yelp is a great resource for finding out what has

already been said about your establishment. You may also want to search for yourself under ‘TALK’ or ‘EVENTS’

which aren’t necessarily review sections, but contain conversations in which your name may be used. It’s all

about listening. Check for accuracy about the info Yelp has about you while you’re there. If something needs to

be changed (like the fact that you do not take reservations), let Yelp know so that the info can be corrected.

Trip Advisor

Trip Advisor is much the same as Yelp, but differs by the fact that users can do more than search and post reviews.

Trip Advisor is primarily dedicated to trips and vacation planning instead of just hospitality reviews. Mileage of

the name dropping on Trip Advisor may vary depending on the size and reputation of your business.

8

mASS AudIENCE SOCIAL NETwORKS HAvE THE BIGGEST pOOL TO LISTEN fROm ANd A GREAT ARENA TO fINd fANS.

facebookOn Facebook, you should set up a personal account for yourself first. Do a search on Facebook for yourself to check discussions, fan pages and groups for any name dropping. This is your opportunity to find out what’s working. Try out your new ideas on Facebook and see how fans respond. This is the best place to build a personal relationship with fans and friends and provides a fantastic instant focus group.

TwitterUse this Social Media behemoth to Search not ‘Tweet’. Get in on active conversations and see what real people have to say about you. Find out how you fit into their everyday lives. You will also be able to set a feed of the query with your RSS reader which will send you the tweets directly without repeating a search. Go to http://search.twitter.com to start today!

TechnoratiTechnorati allows you to specifically search blog posts. It gives you the opportunity to see a more detailed account of a review because blog entries tend to be more personal and elaborate than just a posting or status update. Expect to see less activity unless your business is written about often or is more high-profile. You will find your name discussed more deeply in content and context.

9

Business Benefits from Social media

from a business standpoint, social media makes great economic sense as a branding and promotional utility.

1. Short Term ‘Buzz’ is the initial benefit of any social media endeavor. Because more and more social networking sites are popping up every day, it seems like most of these hubs are fleeting and becoming more fad than future. However, some of the major players (Facebook, You Tube, Flickr, Twitter) have become global entities with a staggering audience. Short Term ‘Buzz’ refers to the initial response that a business will find when it enters the Social Media waters in one of these major arenas. It’s like the new kid on the block that everyone wants to meet. After this ‘Buzz’, though, it’s the business’ responsibility to keep the hype going.

1 0

and...2. Long Term Reputation and Trust is the second business benefit of social media. As the company’s fan base grows, the company must do its part to make sure that the feedback of its fans is heard. That means upholding its own mission to provide customer service as well as provide effective feedback-loop closure by responding to the conversation. This projects an image of responsibility and eventually leads to consumer trust.

11

finally...3. Reduced Cost is the final business benefit of social media for the hospitality and tourism industries. Most experts will agree that any social media effort will be a labor of time, not money. Although most of these sites are free, they do require a special amount of time dedicated to maintenance and updating. On the upside, the networks allow for a major resource of free publicity and feedback which allots for more budget to use for tradition means of branding and advertising.

1 2

Tourism 2.0As we find ourselves in the wave of social networking sites and the dawn of web 2.0, we begin to see a change in the way that most industries do business. Hospitals are using patient blogs to discuss the effects of healthcare and treatment. Banks are using microblogs like Twitter to discuss the effects of the recession with a growing audience of listeners. With the 2.0 trend in full swing, the tourism industry has taken the hint and made itself a leader among the social networking giants. Here are a few examples of Tourism 2.0 and some of the best sites at work today:

myspace: New Zealandfacebook: Burning manBlog: uwishuNuSocial Network: Cool Australia

1 3

convention and visitors Bureaus

The Scottsdale Convention and visitors BureausThe Scottsdale CVB is a nonprofit, private company that has contracts with the City of Scottsdale and Town of Paradise Valley to conduct destination marketing efforts on behalf of these municipalities.

The SCVB has a beautiful, fully-interactive and resourceful website. In addition to be being extremely user-friendly, the SCVB website also features links to all their major social media efforts. The SCVB has its hands in Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube as well as a very impressive blogging effort.

See their website and find the links to their social network pages at http://www.scottsdalecvb.com/

1 4

The williamson County Convention & visitors BureauThe Williamson County Convention & Visitors Bureau is the official destination marketing organization for Williamson County, Tennessee, including all of its incorporated cities – Brentwood, Fairview, Franklin, Nolensville, Thompson’s Station, and Spring Hill.

The company’s website features a meeting planner’s guide, a visitor’s guide, a video section, and links to their Facebook and Twitter. Their Facebook Fan page features recent image postings, among other info) and hosts over 200 fans.

See their website and find the links to their social network pages at http://www.visitwilliamson.com/

1 5

Hotels and

Bed and

Breakfast

locals

Hilton Hotels on facebookHilton uses its Facebook page to post videos and pics of suites in affiliated hotels, status updates with reduced rate specials, and even news updates on renovations and grand openings. This hub of a Facebook page also links the Facebook pages of location-specific hotels, allowing the entire network of the Hilton empire to be easily-accessed and interactive.

Find Hilton Hotels on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/hilton

1 6

The Arcadian Inn Bed & Breakfast on TwitterThe Arcadian Inn Bed & Breakfast is located in Edmond, Oklahoma and is renowned for its exceptional service and romantic details. It ranks as one of the best bed and breakfast inns in Oklahoma. The Inn uses its Twitter account to promote the sales of holiday gift card sales and direct traffic to the company website. It creates community conversation and allows followers the opportunity to interact with the brand.

Find The Arcadian Inn on Twitter at:http://twitter.com/ArcadianAarons

1 7

What’s working for

tourism in

web 2.0?With this brand new undertaking underway, the tourism industry has found a few things that hold to be true for Tourism 2.0. They are:

1. Trust, user referrals and reviews are at the top of the priority list.2. People value individualism and personalization.3. Emphasize “activity” over “place”.4. Personal broadcasting and travel blogging work.5. Web 2.0 apps should be researched before tested.

1 8

RuSSO IS A STRATEGIC BRANdING AGENCy –

ANd AS A BRANdING AGENCy, wE ARE BELIEvERS.

Here, we believe in the promise behind the brand.And here, we believe that changing the conversation motivates consumer behavior.

Through the use of consumer insight, we develop branding initiatives for our clients

that form emotional connections with their consumers.

For more information on branding, social mediaor to learn more about The russo Group, drop us a line, we would love to hear from you.

116 e. congress St., downtown lafayette, la 70501 | 337.769.1530 | F 337.769.1531

www.therussogroup.com | www.razorbrandingblog.com | [email protected]

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/The-Russo-Group/23201487377?ref=ts

http://twitter.com/therussogroup

http://www.linkedin.com/companies/the-russo-group?goback=.cps_1231268006191_1

http://www.flickr.com/photos/therussogroup/

http://www.youtube.com/user/therussogroup

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.therussogroup.com/

http://www.therussogroup.com/razor-branding-blog.html

1 9

©The Russo Group, 2009. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Tourism and Hospitality

& Social media

trg ebook – tourism and hospitality & social media

Documents