Savvy Marketers and Social Marketing

September 29, 2008 | Uncategorized

It’s incredible how many people in the travel industry - including marketers and management - don’t yet comprehend the impact social networking is about to have on their business. There are an incredible number of hoteliers and tourist office executives who just haven’t come to grips with the revolution that is evolving all about them.

On the other hand, some of the savvier are sensing what is happening and are preparing for a massive change in the way they communicate with customers. These are the ones who realize a few addenda are about to be added to the book of marketing.

A few days ago, for example, while having a quick lunch with the public relations manager of a major European tourist office, the conversation turned to social networking and what many of us now call “social marketing.” This manager, sensing the changes now underway, is developing a plan to face it head-on and to use it to help further develop her public relations efforts. In the years ahead her actions will certainly have an impact on the image of her country and its market share. She understands that social networking is just a bunch of young people text messaging and sending photos to friends. It has become an important form of communications used by a huge part of the population, including the affluent.

Unfortunately, too many pr managers - and their marketing bosses, as well - still have an ostrich-like reaction to the whole subject. They talk about it a lot, they use it in their private lives but stick their heads in the sand when it comes to utilizing it as a marketing tool. The problem, as I see it, is that in addition to just not knowing what to do they are not risk takers. Too many marketing people are content with the status quo and will not take a risk on anything unless it is tried and true.

On the other hand, there are those who want to make an impact and likely will. These are the risk takers — not takers of outlandish risks, but people who want to learn more about something so they can calculate the risks at hand. These are the real drivers of market share and I’ve been meeting some of them recently.

Our firm is currently counseling nearly 30 luxury-hotel executives from properties affiliated with The Leading Hotels of the World on the use of social media and social marketing in their future marketing endeavors. These are executives (some young, others more seasoned) who want to learn more about “social networking/marketing” so they can make intelligent decisions about their marketing strategies.

There are two things I’ve found fascinating about these hoteliers. The first is the future impact each expects social networking to have on their hotel’s business, with a good percentage wanting to utilize it to develop brand awareness and extend their reach into other desirable travel sectors. The second is the incredible geographic disparity of the hotels that have requested us to provide counsel to them - they are literally spread all over the globe, in the U.S., Russia, China, Brazil, Switzerland, Jamaica, Abu Dhabi, Kenya, etc.

There is a message in that geographic disparity and it is one that travel marketers and hoteliers worldwide should heed: social media is spreading so quickly — and its impact is already so great — that one day it will be staring you in the face, when you hadn’t even realized it was on your doorstep.

The impact that television has had on our lives, for example, took decades to develop. But the impact of social media, social networking, social marketing - call it whatever you want - is moving at warp speed. You could walk into your office one Monday morning sometime soon and find your market share devastated by some blogger you didn’t know existed. Better start thinking now how you’ll explain that to your boss.

However, if you want to hear something really interesting about how some imaginative people have embraced social networking and are using it in an innovative way to drive hotel market share, look at New York’s Pod Hotel. It’s embarked on an experiment that a lot of people in the industry are keeping an eye on.

According to an article in the lifestyle section of Toronto’s Globe and Mail last Wednesday, the hotel has set up an online forum that guests can access as soon as they’ve booked a room. The idea is to promote a social network in the hotel that will allow you to make friends with complete strangers by posting messages on the forum.

Say you’re in New York next weekend and don’t look forward to spending it alone. You can go to the forum and say “I’m from Phoenix and would enjoy having brunch with someone next Sunday.” Or, perhaps, use it to link up with someone to go to a play, a basketball game or bungee jumping from the Empire State Building. You could even be sitting in the lobby connecting to the forum via Wi-Fi while searching for a dinner or drinks companion, although I guess you’d want to tell a little about yourself so people wouldn’t think they might be meeting Jack-the-Ripper.

While according to the Globe and Mail The Pod Hotel targets a young crowd (that doesn’t mind small rooms and shared bathrooms as long as they get full-service perks including free Wi-Fi Internet and concierge service) just think what this could mean for business travelers.

There you are on a Wednesday evening, again dreading room service and another date with the Movie Channel. Why couldn’t you log onto the hotel’s forum and look for a dinner partner - perhaps someone with similar business or personal interests? Or if you’re in a new city and would like a few recommendations regarding a good restaurant, just toss it out to the forum. Or maybe just tell the forum that you’ll be having a drink at the lobby bar before heading out to dinner and would welcome meeting anyone who would enjoy having a chat for a half-hour or so. You could even have an interesting conversation with the bungee jumper across the lobby.

The potential is enormous, if you think about it. Of course, you can well image that there will be fourteen pages of disclaimers attached to the forum site once the hotel’s lawyers get involved. “By entering this site you agree that the hotel has no responsibility for anyone you meet on this forum should you decide to have drinks with said anyone. If you join the bungee jumper you agree the hotel has no responsibility…”

Jim Ferri