Social Marketing: Taking it to the next level

Social Marketing: Taking it to the next level By: HP Team

Agenda New Social marketing sites Do’s and Don’ts Facebook pages What should you “Twitter” How Twitter could help your business Constant Contact Websites YouTube New Ideas! Share a great success story from your hotel

New Social marketing sites Del.icio.us Stumble it! Sphinn It! Deliver Samepoint Social Mention Serph Oneriot And many more!

Creating a Social marketing Campaign 1. Does it meet the objective of your company 2. Does it support your goals 3. Does it encourage members to be interactive-involved with your product 4.Is it quick? 5. Does it Utilize media- Example: Audio, Video, Demo 6. Does it offer a satisfying experience 7. Does it provide a longer team utility 8. Does it integrate with other marketing activities: i.e. website, newsletters, blogs, podcasts 9. Does it maintain agility: Should contain same dynamic as human behavior 10. Company Participation: recognition, company interaction, attention to members or community. Article on Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang

Do’s and Don’ts Do’s: Friend your clients Twitter specials Promote community events Use as conversation Use discretion Think quality vs. quantity Provide links to interesting Articles Use proper capitalization Use numerals & words for all numbers Ok to answer w/ fragments Be polite - follow others if they follow you Twitter on a daily basis Promote a twitter SRP to track business Set up searches to help drive your “followers” base Don’ts: List out rates Start posts with ‘I am” Quote rates, only % off Use abbreviations like U4 Exceed 140 characters Ignore proper grammar Don’t add to many people at one time (twitter version of Spam) Sell “hype,” initiate conversation (ex. Comment on their blog) Contact someone you don’t know at all Treat as a billboard Forget who you are “talking” to

Facebook Page Updated Photos Link to other media: i.e. website, Twitter, etc. Create a group page Invite all HP hotels Send out packages/specials Friend people in the community Example of items to write on your facebook page: ATTENTION SPORTS TEAMS!! Hilton Garden Inn Rock Hill is in the perfect location for your convenience!! - ATTENTION SPORTS TEAMS!! Hilton Garden Inn Rock Hill is in the perfect location for your convenience!! Hilton Garden Inn Need to host the PERFECT meeting? HGI Rock Hill can set you up for success with 3500 sq ft of meeting space. www.rockhill.hgi.com Example of a great Facebook page: HGI Rock Hill- View by link below. HGI Rock Hill Facebook Page

Twitter: Marketing gateway to the masses Who handles your “tweets” at your property How often Do you have it linked to your outlook? Who are you following? Are you connected to your friends or companies? What is the goal of your “Tweet”? How are you tracking it on property? If you are offering a discount, is your staff aware of that? Update guests or clients on hotel updates (ex. renovations, menu changes, new amenities, hotel events) Inexpensive method to increase awareness Example of good “Tweets”: Sugarland in 2 days! We are one block away from the Resch Center. Trying to find a good deal for your 4th of July weekend? Become a follower of Cambria Green Bay & receive 15% of your suite! Green Bay Blizzard arena football is at the Resch Center. Call us for our current deals! 15% off for Twitter followers. Come check us out for Sugarland on July 8! Sugarland on July 8 in Green Bay!!! Had a slew of walk-ins tonight :)

Twitter: Tips Tweet at a 8th grade level on EVERY tweet. Who, What, When, Where, Why. Think “if someone is going to search for this event, what are they going to look up… ANSWER: Key words, in twitter key words are called tags and noted with the (#) sign… i.e. anyone who is currently tweeting about the Tour de France will add (#tdf) within each tweet. Hotels at a minimum should be adding (#hotel) and (#location) to each tweet (i.e. #Pineville, NC) if a band is playing in your area you should tag the band name, the location that they will be playing at, and also list the date. You are not just “twittering” to your followers, you want to “twitter” comments that make you “searchable”.

What is Constant Contact: A permission-based email-marketing tool that allows you to create high impact emails to promote your business utilizing the strictest permission-based philosophies that allows you to send emails without violating SPAM laws What is SPAM? Not Spam is unsolicited email also known as UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email). By sending email to only to those who have requested to receive it, you are following accepted permission-based email guidelines

How Does Constant Contact protect you? Email-marketing tool that follows the strictest permission-based philosophies: Communication registration page states why you are collecting the site visitor's email address how you plan to use their address that you are following the embedded privacy policy by accepting license agreement you agree to use only permission-based lists and never to sell or rent your lists. Verification - automatically sends all of your new contacts an email confirming their interest in receiving emails. Unsubscribe - email contains an unsubscribe link giving your contacts opt-out option for future emails and automatically updates your contact lists. Identification - email header information is correct because it is pre-set for you by Constant Contact. Your email's "From" address is verified and already accurately identifies you as the sender. Contact Information - all of your emails are pre-filled with your contact information including your physical address.

Constant Contact: Creative Ideas One a month: Send out at least one open house invitation or newsletter from Constant Contact Create databases for market segments Flyers and postcards Front desk staff to input email lists Name databases w/ property or city name first Add in links to your Twitter and Facebook on newsletters/invitations Coupons for discounts at the property Add your name to signature lines

Constant Contact Success Story:Wingate by Wyndham: Birmingham, AL A great example from Constant Contact: With Matt’s last newsletter that offered a specific rate coupon with SRP code for exact tracking he booked $2700 in the first day the newsletter came out and of that $2700, $2400 was for the month of July. This means a lot of people are reading it because the coupon was at the bottom of newsletter and there was a call to action.

Website Update your website to the brand standards Include your website link in your facebook/Twitter Specials and packages Pictures of your property and area attractions Embedded links- if applicable Landing pages

YouTube HP LLC YouTube Page Post videos of your hotel on YouTube Use it to solicit to various market segments Send out the link to your YouTube video in your newsletters, facebook page, twitters, and link it to your websites ( if brand allows) Send any videos of your property to Tim Waz at twaz@hp-hotels.com

Action Items: Make sure that each of your hotels have a Facebook page and Twitter account set up. Each hotel should have their websites up to brand standards Verify with your brand support manager to find out what your brand standards are for social marketing Nominate someone on your team to update profiles and post tweets All GM’s and DOS’s should monitor and verify the information being posted online Update your current marketing plan: Actionable items- to include social marketing goals for the remainder of the year

Share Please share one success story that you have with using social marketing

Social Marketing: Taking it to the next level