Carol Verret Consulting and Training Consulting Training Seminars |
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The Value Of Pinterest to Hotel Sales & Marketing |
April 18, 2012 Is Pinterest just latest ‘shiny new toy’ or
will it have
staying power? In February
Pinterest drove more traffic to websites than Twitter, Google+,
LinkedIn
(LNKD), and YouTube combined. (HotelMarketing.com, 3/26/12). Couple that statistic with the fact that
93%
of its users are females, and you have a powerful tool for the leisure
and
social market. It only took 9 months for
Pinterest to go from 50,000 users to 17 million – it took Facebook 16
months. (commsource) Pinterest formerly
told its users to not use the site for self promotion and pin stuff
they found
on other sites. This lead to a potential
copyright infringement issue as many photos are copyright protected to
their
photographers. Pinterest changed its
user agreement to encourage ‘pinners’ to
post their own photos and other ‘stuff’ thus opening the flood gates
for
business use. (WSJ, 3/26/12) In an article
entitled Is Pinterest the New Facebook
(Jessi Hemple, Fortune Magazine, 3/22/12) differentiated the two in the
following manner. “People use
Facebook and Twitter to talk to each other, not necessarily to discuss
things
they might want to buy. In contrast, Pinterest users are more often in
a
shopping mindset when they are using the service. If you're keeping a
pinboard
called "Spring handbags I'm considering," there's a good chance
you'll click through and make a purchase.”
What
you pin on Pinterest should support and enhance your brand. Pinterest is all about envisioning an
experience and that dovetails nicely with the emphasis in hospitality
on
creating guest experiences rather just ‘selling’ them a room. It also is purely visual which
eliminates
the marketers’ adjectives in copy that the customer has long since
stopped
believing. Pinterest creates a sense
of
place and helps visitors to the site visualize experiences they may
have at the
hotel – they can put themselves in the pictures. However,
like all social media, a strategy for what the property wants to
accomplish
with the page needs to be in place prior to engaging and not just
‘pinning’
everything from the web site or Facebook.
Pinterest to be used well should also focus on the
destination as well
as the property. “When it comes
to pinning, the breakdown will be approximately 70% about the city and
30%
about the hotel, (Kelli) Crean (ecommerce manager for the Roosevelt
Hotel) said.” (HotelNewsNow, 3/28/12) Pinterest allows multiple pages and contests. Use the multiple pages to focus on many
different
experiences at the property. As
Pinterest is so new it is hard to use the term Best Practices but the
following
can be a guide to a Pinterest strategy: Leisure Travel.
As Pinterest users are 93% female and it is
females who normally gather information and pick destinations for
summer
travel, it is the perfect medium to stimulate web site traffic this
summer. Make sure that your page has
interesting pictures not just pics of a bed in a room unless it is a
great bedding
package. Include photos of experiences
in your destination and don’t forget the kids -- if you have a great
kids offering
and/or unique kids menu, take a picture and ‘pin’ it! Weddings. Brides love Pinterest according to USA
today
"It's changing the industry" for
vendors, planners and magazines, says Anne Fulenwider, editor in chief
of Brides.
Since she took over the title in November, Pinterest has "exploded and
really changed the conversation." A majority of her readers are
pinners.
(USA Today, 4/13/12) Don’t
just pin a picture of the ballroom set for 250.
What do you remember about your wedding – wasn’t it the
details, the
little things? Pin a picture of a
beautiful place setting, a napkin fold, a centerpiece, etc. Do your
pin-ing
with a sense of style! Build a page where your brides can post pictures
of the
wedding they had at your property – this counts as a recommendation! Meetings. Don’t just pin a banquet room
set for 120 theatre style. Pin a detail
of a special break. Pin
a photo of a special lunch prepared by
chef. Pin a pic of the banquet menus
for special breaks, a team building program you offer, meeting
attendees taking
off for a quick 5k before the meeting –
the only limit is your imagination! Run a contest for meeting planners! Restaurant and Bar.
What can I say but don’t take a pic of the peanuts or bar
mix unless it
is something really special! Pinterest
loves F&B! Pin a pic of a special
app or drink to promote ‘happy hour’.
Serve a spectacular burger? Pin
it! Take a detail from one of the chandeliers or if you are a historic
hotel,
pin your claim to fame or a detail from the original building. Pinterest is
perfect for all types of properties but it, like Facebook, levels the
playing
field between the boutique, lifestyle and independent hotels and the
large
chains. If you don’t believe me, log
onto Drury Inns’ page – you will find the most appetizing pic of a hot
dog I
have ever seen! Real simple Remote
Revenue Management can drive your REVPAR this summer but summer is
coming
soon! Don’t wait – ask us how
we do
it! Click here for details http://tinyurl.com/3fuysft then
call us at (303) 618-4065 or email carol@[email protected] . We’ll
share success stories with you!
Carol Verret and Associates Consulting and Training offers training services and consulting in the areas of sales, revenue management and customer service primarily but not exclusively to the hospitality industry. To find out more about the company click on www.carolverret.net. To contact Carol send her an email at [email protected] or she can be reached by cell phone (303) 618-4065. Visit www.hotelsalesblog.com. This article is copyright protected by
Hotel-Online. Reuse by other media or news outlets or organizations is
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encouraged.
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Carol Verret 5910 S. University #C-18, PMB 374 Greenwood Village, CO 80121 Telephone: (303) 618-4065 [email protected] Web Site: http://www.carolverret.com/ Email: [email protected] |