We had to ask our panel of experts to see what their thoughts were on this. The panel comprised Nathan Clapton, Vice President-Partnerships for TripAdvisor, David Doucette, Executive Director, Internet Marketing for Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, Jerome Wise, Vice President – eCommerce for TRAVELCLICK International and Luke Clark, Editor of Mandala Magazine, Ink Publishing.
Does anyone remember what was the most memorable thing that happened this past year in terms of social media? It all started with the US Airways flight that landed in the Hudson River. The first pieces of news that trickled out came courtesy of Twitter. And thus the flood gates were opened.
In the last year, there has definitely been a coming together and uptake in the market of social media, whether it be via mobile or computer. A lot of hybrid models are popping up, especially in the travel sector. We’re also seeing that progressively, companies are starting to share their experiences and making them available on Facebook.
Some facts. Facebook hit 500 million users in July of this year. The Old Spice campaign went viral, proving that if a campaign is innovative and fun the potential with social media is tremendous, including revenue generation. The movie ‘The Social Network’ is hugely liked, its success perhaps showing how much social media has become part of our daily life.But all this success has also spurred a backlash, especially against Facebook, where privacy, or the lack-off, became a huge point of discussion in 2010. But could the backlash be an indicator that ‘it’ has finally arrived?
Social media represents a sudden shift. Suddenly you’re putting your brand out there and the story is not just your story anymore, but also a story from your customer, shareholder and others. Social media has put tools in place that allow users and members of your site to partake in your story, building a communal narrative.
From a branding perspective, hoteliers can no longer control their brand, but they can participate in it. They have to embrace the channels and react and respond to them in real time. It’s a fantastic opportunity to understand how your brand is perceived in real time.
And how do you manage this influx of views? Ensuring that there is a lot of flexibility built into the system.
An interesting question posed was is social media an evolution or revolution? The consensus from the panel was that it’s an evolutionary process. It’s the new neighborhood that we live in. However, instead of having physical neighbors, they have now become virtual.
And what about ROI? What is the linkage between social media and ROI? First be prepared to define for yourself what ROI means to you, for you cannot just focus on ROI and look at it in isolation. It’s more than just the tangible dollar that you derive from doing business. You also have to consider the value of increased engagement, activity of loyal members and consolidated knowledge of your customer. Somehow you have to measure all the ways that customers are interacting with you, processes that are both tangible and intangible and can add huge value to the brand. In some cases, like with hotels, bookings are already transacted via Facebook and Twitter. Social media is a wonderful tool to aggregate content that would have been otherwise much harder to acquire in the older, traditional model, and much more expensive.
Given this shift, clients are starting to hire social media managers. So what kind of qualifications are needed for such a position?
The position is a cross-over between sales and marketing/branding capabilities. You need to be very open to change. PR background is a plus. You also have to be quick with your interaction and make comments sound real. Instinct is also critical for how do you manage something that is organically grown? Sometimes you just have to go with your gut feeling. Thus, you need to have great judgement in respect to when to respond to an issue and when to simply let it be.
And don’t forget to put a social media strategy together which should be part of the overall strategy.To end, what’s in store for social media in 2011?
Wanting or not, you have to participate in this game. The adage is act fast, fail fast, try again! Don’t shy away from experimentation. Always be aware of what your competition is doing. Strategy and focus are key components for any strong effort.
This is your opportunity to entertain your customers, so tell them more stories, use more writers, create a community, upload more photos. People are looking for engagement. Why not oblige them?
