Mediaboss Marketing

By Daniel Edward Craig

By now most hotels have a Facebook page, but many struggle with how much time to dedicate and what results to expect. Is Facebook a channel for sales, marketing or guest service? In ReviewPro's most recent webinar, we tackled these questions and more. Here are the highlights from our discussion.

Is Facebook declining in popularity?First, are rumors trueare people abandoning Facebook in droves? A study by digital agency iStrategy found that Facebook users declined by 25.3% in the 13-to-17-year-old age category between 2011 and 2014 and by 7.5% among 18-to-24-year-olds. But the study also found that users grew by 32.6% among 24-to-34-year-olds, by 41.4% among 35-to-54-year-olds, and by 80.4% among those 55+.

Does this mean young people are fleeing Facebook as parents rush in? And will parents soon follow? Only time will tell. For now, unless teenagers book the majority of your rooms, with 1.23 billion users worldwide Facebook is more relevant than ever for hotels.

Building Your Fan BaseDuring the webinar, panelist Alex Houg, vice president of optimization at BlitzMetrics, recommended a three-campaign system on Facebook: build an audience, engage and convert.

When building an audience, it's quality and not quantity that matters, said Emeric Ernoult, CEO and co-founder of AgoraPulse. "The highest quality fans are those who have visited you," he said. "They know your property, and they can provide that valuable "social proof" travelers are looking for when deciding where to stay."

Ernoult said that the best time to recruit these fans is when they are onsite. But it's not enough to display a sign that says "Like our page". "What's the return for the guest?" he asked. Instead, offer incentives for guests to check in or to become a fan such as free Wi-Fi, a cocktail, an appetizer or an upgrade.

Spain-based Palladium Hotel Group knows all about building a fan base. One of its properties, Ushuaa Ibiza Beach Hotel, has attracted over 318,000 fans and 171,000 check-ins in three years, despite having only 450 rooms and being open only a few months each year. How? Through a three-pronged strategy of commerce, guest satisfaction and loyalty, Guille Rodriguez, Palladium's social media corporate manager, told us.

It helps that on any given day up to 5,000 people come to the hotel's club to see the world's best deejays. "That's thousands of potential ambassadors," said Rodriguez. "We encourage them to tell their friends and make them jealous."

Ushuaa makes it easy by providing ID bracelets that allow guests and visitors to log on to Facebook at kiosks around the property. They also give them access to free photos and videos of themselves for sharing on social networks.

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Is Facebook A Sales, Marketing Or Customer Service Channel? | By Daniel Edward Craig