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News for the Hospitality Executive |
Crafting High-Performing
Promos for Email and Social Media Channels
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August 2010 You’ve got your OTA offers out, your auction site offers, your email offers and now your Twitter and Facebook offers. Do you know what promotions are returning the best bang for your buck? Chances are if you are offering the same thing through all the different channels you aren’t targeting users enough and could be missing out on revenue and engagement opportunities. If the saying that no two guests are alike is true, then it also rings true that no two marketing channels are alike - especially when it comes to social media and email. The good news is that there can be overlap. According to a recent ExactTarget report shared with eMarketer, while email subscribers still make up a majority of engaged followers, there is actually a little overlap in email, Twitter and Facebook fans. This highly-engaged four percent of users are every marketers dream, but how do you increase that number for your brand and continue to keep fans of individual channels happy? Get back to the basics, know your audience and diversify your offers.  Email Subscribers These folks are your bread and butter. They have invited you into their inbox and regardless of their click-thru rates, open rates or conversion rates, their opt-in attitude can pay off for you. This is also the group you have the most information about so don’t blow it. Sort through your data and segment, segment, segment! -Email Them
Focus on offering this group the best loyalty offers and make sure you are giving them what they have requested. Remember, you should know if they were visiting for business or with their kids or for a romantic weekend. This group wants to see that you “get” them and are paying attention to the needs and desires they have communicated to you. Your promotions to them should reflect at least a basic level of personalization. -Booking Window Email subscribers move on their own timeline, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t build some urgency into your offers. Give them a promo with a few weeks booking window for travel in the near future and a book by date. Keep in mind though that like you, they have to sort through hundreds of emails a day so make your subject line screams deal! Facebook Fans Research has shown that your Facebook fans were most likely already fans of your property before they hit the “I Like” button. So, the key to keeping these followers coming back for more is delivering a blend of rich content that reminds them of their fond memories and fun and unbeatable offers that they can share with their friends. -Post
Focus on offering this group the most inventive and impressive offers you’ve got and remember, the more interesting, quirky or fun the better. Be creative with this audience, a casual tone and exciting offer goes a long way. This is also a great place to give away need period nights or weekends with contests so don’t just limit your offers to the usual rate deals. -Booking Window Facebook fans flock to this outlet for 24/7 updates on friends and deals, they are regular users so you don’t have to worry about them “missing out” on something you post at the beginning of the week. Try working with announcing a promo at the beginning of the week with a close at the end. If you are trying a contest, make sure to make a big deal out of winners. Twitter Followers Fast and furious is the name of the game with these 140 character addicts. They are tuned into Twitter for only the latest information, deals and developments. -Tweet
Think “fire sale” for this channel. Focus on offering this group the cheapest rate possible. The offer should be clear, direct and of course, 140 characters. This is also an ideal place to push promos for your F&B offerings. Pack the bar for the evening with a Twitter happy hour deal or hype a new menu item and offer perks to those who try and tweet about it. -Booking Window The booking window here is the shortest of all avenues. The offer should go out early to mid-day and the booking deadline at the end of the day. Remember that this audience has a super short attention span so it is a great place to get rid of a few rooms a few days from the offer date. Once you have established a promo pattern for each of these channels, your followers and fans will make note and that is where you’ll see an uptick in cross-pollination - they’ll realize the benefits of being dialed in to all of your messaging if you have diversified your promos. After all, nobody wants to miss out on a deal. If you would like to learn more about Social Media and Internet Marketing for Hotels please contact O’Rourke Hospitality at 978-465-5955 or send an email to [email protected].
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| Contact: O’Rourke Hospitality Marketing 44 Merrimac Street Newburyport MA, 01950 978-465-5955 www.orourkehospitality.com |