As hotel marketers involved with social media, we talk a lot about telling our hotels' stories in unique and personal ways. We seek out content that is authentic and user-generated and jump at the chance to share it with our community of fans and followers. Accordingly, when Facebook announced back in March the mandatory roll-out of the then new Facebook Timeline feature for all brand pages, we proverbally became extremely excited. As described by Facebook itself, we would, for the first time, be able to tell our hotels' unique brand histories in an easily viewable way. While Facebook brand pages have always allowed hospitality marketers to update their fan bases with current, of-the-now content about their respective properties or restaurants, there had never been a way to take a look back at the path to the present.

It is widely known that online review feedback has become critical to the success of hotels and resorts. Users' reviews are not only influencing other travelers' booking decisions but are now informing management practices at the property level. While negative feedback is being leveraged for training and retraining programs, positive feedback is feeding into employee recognition programs. In fact, guest reviews might be the most powerful data a hotel has at its disposal, yet it’s often not [...]

In this digital age, putting together a strong social media marketing plan that works for your brand is a top-of-mind priority for hotels and restaurants alike. Nevertheless, the task of creating a strategic social plan can be a daunting and overwhelming one, particularly for properties that have limited resources or are uncertain about which tactics to deploy when looking to reach their social media goals. After you outline what these high-level social media goals are, the next step is to choose the right social media tactics. To help, here's a breakdown of an excellent social media infographic we came across that addresses which social media tools in your toolkit are most effective for hitting your various objectives.

With over 170 million active users, Twitter has firmly established itself as the leading microblog platform. For the traveler, Twitter can play a useful part at each phase of the guest experience. It can be used as a tool to learn more about the destination pre-stay, a means to discover ongoing specials and events during his/her time on-property and an opportunity to stay connected with and informed by the property long after the visit has ended. Accordingly, Twitter has truly [...]

Last month, we hosted a Social Media State of the Union webinar that focused on the rapid emergence of three newer social platforms: Instagram, Google+ and Pinterest. While each of these channels has certainly sequestered significant industry buzz throughout 2012, the major of hospitality marketers are still testing the waters to figure out how each platform can contribute to a more engaged, integrated social media plan. Over the next few weeks, we will take a more in-depth look at each of these channels and provide some tips and insights as to how to best manage your hotel or restaurant’s presence on each channel. First up: Instagram.

When operating a hotel, you are bound to face guest complaints. It's an inherently obvious truth of the business: no matter how high your property's star rating or sterling your current reputation - you will be faced with innumerable challenges, whether service or product-related, that can immediately turn your customer into your biggest advocate or disgruntled reviewer upon checking-out. From a post-stay perspective this paradigm is all too familiar, as your now enthusiastic evangelist or infuriated [...]