How to Use Your Consumers as Your Best Marketing Channel
It is no secret that social media has drastically changed how hotels are marketing their properties.
In the past, it was typical for the hospitality industry to use traditional channels like television, print, and radio to promote their products or services. These days relationship building in marketing is essential.
While these channels are still used today, they are not nearly as effective as they once were. Thanks to social media, hoteliers not only have direct communication with their customers, customers now have more access to one another to share their experiences.
As a result, the hospitality industry has had to adapt its marketing strategies to focus on word-of-mouth and online reviews. Why? Because social media has made it possible for your customers to be your best marketing channel. Remember, you're not here to sell furniture; you're here to sell experiences. Let your customers do it for you.
We're sharing some insights and tips from a recent conversation on the InnSync Show between Cory Falter and Ed St. Onge of Flip.to on how to utilize your customers as your marketing channel best.
Linkedin is Hosting Your Biggest Networking Event
Is your FOMO (Fear Of Missing Opportunities) kicking in? Traditional networking has come to a screeching halt in 2020 and maybe on ice for the unforeseeable future.
Like many of you, I love rubbing elbows with some of the industry’s best and brightest at events such as HSMAI and HTEC.
I can’t believe my last experience was nearly a year ago at The Hotel Revenue Conference in Seattle, right before all hell broke loose.
Dang, I REALLY miss going to events like that.
If there’s a silver lining from last year, it is the reassurance nothing can replace or replicate in-person events. No way. No how. Thanks, Zoom
It’s crystal clear there are certain aspects of our lives that technology will make obsolete, but levering the right strategies can elevate your networking game to a whole new level.
#HospitalityMarketingBuzz | Facebook and TripAdvisor Step Up Their Ad Game and California Gets Compliant
In the marketing and hospitality industry, things change at such an accelerated rate, that it’s hard to stay on top of the latest trends and technologies. To keep you in the loop, we’ve done the heavy lifting for you and invite you to take a look at our new monthly series, #HospitalityMarketingBuzz. This is a monthly roundup of fresh trends as they relate to the hospitality space. This includes new applications and platforms, feature updates on popular marketing platforms, and cutting-edge strategies to keep your business on par with what’s current. Stay in-the-know and show your colleagues that you’re not stuck in a flash-based, unresponsive world.
“Oh Snap” – Why the Hospitality Industry Needs to be on Snapchat
In the ever-changing world of social media there is a driving new force on the street that hoteliers shouldn’t ignore, and that platform is Snapchat. What began as the “picture disappearing app” in the summer of 2011 from three Stanford students, has quickly become one of the most unique forms of story-telling a brand can use. In fact, that funny little yellow ghost icon is captivating millions of people every day, and is showing no signs of stopping.
Should your hotel be utilizing Snapchat? If you’ve been searching for methods to reach the millennials (and the growing demographics beyond), then the answer is yes.
From a marketing standpoint, you need to be where the audience is, and the millennials are on Snapchat, watching a whopping eight billion photos and videos a day.
Source: AdamPrzezdziek | Flickr
There are many reasons why a hotel should use Snapchat, here are a few compelling ones:
- Your hotel can be an “early adopter” of this new platform, thus helping the hotel assert itself as trendy, young and vibrant.
- Snapchat as a marketing tool offers the ability to stand out from the “noise” some of the other social media platforms have.
- Creativity and authenticity are highly valued by the younger generations, and Snapchat is best used creatively.
Deciding whether or not to use Snapchat is the first step. Once you’ve decided to use it, you’re left to determine how to use it well.
How Does it Work For Hospitality?
Just like the average user, a hotel has the ability to create a profile. After the profile is set up, the hotel can send out “snaps,” add snaps to their stories, and all of the other fun stuff Snapchat does. So ultimately Snapchat works the same for brands as it does everybody else, but how brands should use it is the key to success.
Keep the Snapchat Tone, or Else.
Source: Snapchat.com
One of the reasons Snapchat users love to use Snapchat is because it’s different than the other channels. It’s more authentic, it’s in the moment, it’s not as edited, not as staged. Snapchat is personal, it’s private, and it’s compelling. Use it to tell your story, show off your city, take your followers on an adventure. Show them a day in the life at your hotel, the luxury they can experience, the sights they can see. If you’ve taken the time and resources to set up a Snapchat account, the last thing you want is to drive away followers by breaking the unspoken Snapchat rules!
Partner With Influencers
Partnering with influences is rapidly becoming a huge part of hotel marketing on all platforms, and it’s no different where Snapchat is concerned. Hotels have an advantage when it comes to Snapchat – travel. Many people love to travel and see new places, this provides you with the perfect opportunity to show off your property and surrounding landscape or city! Send out a proposal to social media influencers inviting them to come stay on the basis that they tell their story on Snapchat. Thousands, or more, individuals – millennials – can see your property through the lens and creativity of the influencer.
Add a Personalized Touch
One of the most fun and downright useful aspects of Snapchat are its Geofilters. Essentially, you can create your very own Snapchat filter. The filter will pop up with a Snapchatter is within range, and they can use it on their Snap. It’s sort of like a tag or postage stamp – showing their Snapchat friends where they are. Since you’re able to design it, you can use the hotel’s logo or anything else that works in line with your hotel’s brand. Even here there is an opportunity to create a geofilter that stands out – a filter that will “brand” its image in the viewer’s mind. You can also set up a “Geofence” for exact targeting of users, making it simple to engage views with promotional opportunities.
Snapchat is still trendy. It’s still new, exciting, and not yet crowded. Do your hotel a favor by helping it to be trendy and asserting it as welcoming and encouraging of millennials. This is a way to stand out among the crowd. Snapchat also provides an opportunity for your hotel to build strong and long-lasting relationships. Encourage guests to Snap while staying at the property. Build a community around your story, and use Snapchat as the headquarters.