News for the Hospitality Executive |
There is a reason why everyone is talking about
Twitter. It
works – really it does! Many hotels are skeptical about opening a
Twitter
account. Some hotels think they don’t need it, some think it will add
more
work, and many just don’t know how to use it. Then you have the hotels that send Tweets on a regular basis. They instantly update their followers about events, announce special offers, and promptly answer questions. All this and it’s free! Hotels that use Twitter have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Many hotels want to know how they can measure their return on investment. Ironically there is no financial investment involved but you do have to invest some time. You cannot see specific numbers on your ROI with Twitter, but you can look at how things such as traffic to your website, customer satisfaction, brand awareness and reputation management can increase business. Below are five ways you can measure the effectiveness of Twitter for your hotel. Tweet a special offer and give a code word for a discount A hotel can tweet about an event or an offer the very same day which creates a sense of urgency and a feeling of ‘act now or lose your chance’. This same offer in a print campaign or e-blast would have to be planned ahead of time, couldn’t be edited, and would cost a lot of money. With Twitter a hotel can spread the word for free and it can be delivered instantly to its followers’ mobile phones. You can measure the percentage of people who came to your event through Twitter by having them give a promo code at the door for a discount. You could also promote an event only on Twitter. The Drake Hotel has proved this works, “As twitter grows so does the direct relationship between our online followers and physical guests. People will call in or ask in person about specific offers we’ve only promoted via twitter, which we view as a direct success.” A typical tweet from the Drake hotel is the following: Another way you can measure the effectiveness of Twitter is to track how many people visit your website from the link you place on a tweet. This is automatically updated in an analytics tracking software such as Google Analytics http://www.google.com/analytics Improve customer service and satisfaction For the most part, Drake’s reviews have been positive which is encouraging and motivates us to maintain the highest quality of service. On the odd occasion that someone has a concern about their experience at Drake we contact them directly to ensure their next visit is improved.” Fantastic customer service will ensure repeat customers and new business. Below is an example of how the Drake Hotel quickly responded to a customer complaint: Customer complaint: Build brand awareness and trust If you are interested in learning more about social media and internet marketing strategies please feel free to call us at 978-465-5955 or write an email to [email protected]. |
Contact: O’Rourke Hospitality Marketing Newburyport http://www.orourkehospitality.com |
Also See: | Leverage
Blended Search and Boost your Hotel’s Search Ranking Position /
August 2009 |
How
to Optimize Your Hotel Website for Natural Search / August 2009 |