Direct ROI from social media, such as tracking someone from a review page to your booking engine is only one small component of the overall ROI. Your analytic program can find the dollar amount in those conversions incredibly efficiently. You can even have a graph. I like graphs, and charts. and lots and lots of data… great stuff.
But frankly, I am nearly done with the ROI conversation (except that my clients are not there yet, so here we go again). It is IMPOSSIBLE to measure EVERY aspect of how valuable it is, at least so far. We can provide relevant insight into what we are doing from time to time, sort of like taking a snapshot of an electron. What we show you now might not be what we are working on in the next nanosecond, but you can see one scintillating aspect of how we build your brand, create business, and return on your investment with us “hired gun” online concierges. I am constantly thinking and developing better reporting tools for my client, but it sometimes works better just to show what I am doing.
We want and need a lot of freedom to work on all these channels. It is a lot to manage, and sometimes you get lost in 20 projects… so this is not a short term thing. For social media campaigns to work you need to be experimental, playful, trusting, and patient. But framing that with a long term and consistent approach is paramount. Once you start this thing, you can’t stop. Not that you would want to, but it might have a damaging effect. If people expect you to be there, and you are not…. the online word of mouth can go south really quick (as you can read HERE and throughout my blog).
On a popular review site, there was a “thread” (IE conversation) about local hotels with large bathtubs. One of my clients fit the bill, and being an active community member my suggestion of the hotel wasn’t looked at as spam or solicitation… it was just another of my many recommendations (or annoying remarks, depends what user you are). This wasn’t in official capacity of the hotel, this was in a personal capacity while online. As I said, this job is like an online concierge, and I am often talking about much more than just the properties… it is about the community. Hiking, rentals, theatres, the weather and more. So I simply told her that might be able to get a deal, because I was part of the team that opened it, straightforward and honest.
The person that asked the question messaged me privately, and I got more information about her needs. For the sake of argument your hotel is empty. She basically needs a $600 RACK rate room type for $200, which isn’t much above our Friends & Family, with the CPOR being $129 or so (yeah it’s large luxury property). If you accept the $200 rate *and* are able to give them a room with a 2 person or larger style bathtub… she is *very*likely to write a good review on her preferred review network, as long as the services are up to snuff. What’s more, she will be a willing and receptive social media advocate… and likely post her review to her facebook account, make a second review on tripadvisor, and twitter about her stay (in fact, you can ask engaged participants in social media to review you…they don’t mind at all). These people are helping grow our online footprint.. keywords, optimizing, etc.
It is possible they deserve a discount, but you have to release yourself to the fact that you can’t control the message. You are simply, in earnest, trying to get an eager guest to stay at your property. You can’t be disappointed when she is honest about her stay, or says something you don’t like. In all likelihood it *will* be positive because you engaged them, and created a positive, enthusiastic climate of your brand from start to finish. In essence, a rate that might make a revenue manager cringe, or that a desk agent would never give a walk-in, is worth considering due to the amplified voice your online guest has.
An active person in social media that becomes an endorser is a huge brand advocate. Beyond $200 of revenue that may have not previously existed, she will virally and offhandedly promote Cavallo for years to come with reviews and indexed search keywords.
What’s more… the more keywords, and the more “real” conversation that exists about you… the better you are indexed and the more relevant you become in search engines. As search indexing changes in the next few years – aggregating pictures, videos, reviews, and other content – it will be paramount to start creating as much corporate or property level specific content as possible. Everyone should be uploading photos of themselves to photo sharing sites – constantly. We should be in chat groups talking about our brand – constantly. Buy Flip Video cameras for the Executive team and have them load videos on youtube. Have your pastry chef do a demo. Have your spa manager tour the spa. EVERY employee diggs articles about the hotel. You need to add as much content as possible to get way out ahead of these other hotels that… well, frankly… aren’t reading this right now.
But this isn’t a science, and this is where experimentation and patience come in. Would you take a lower ADR for that nicer room type with the bathtub, investing in your online reputation? There are no sure things, of course. If she has a bad stay, you can’t control the message…. But extending yourselves to an active participant should bode very well for your online reputation.
Let me know what you think, and expect one or two more of these “social media optimization” snapshots in the coming days.
Excellent post, very insightful and I couldn’t agree more. It’s so important for hotels, and brands in general, to get their employees to actively participate in social media, and to engage those who are already talking about your brand. We all mingle on different social media sites, granted many of us are on the majors (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc), but it’s imperative that unique content constantly be created. Potential customers aren’t just using search, social media can make, and sometimes break, a brand but you must participate or you’ll be left in the dust.