Social Media Marketing for the Hotel Industry
Content
Honors
Thesis
By:
Emily
Wilson
Faculty
Advisor:
Udo
Schlentrich
Spring
2010
Social
Media
Marketing
in
the
Hotel
Industry
Table
of
Contents
Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 2
Key
Words .............................................................................................................................................. 3
Introduction........................................................................................................................................... 4
Literature
Review ................................................................................................................................ 5
Method ...................................................................................................................................................15
Results....................................................................................................................................................18
Discussion
&
Conclusion..................................................................................................................33
Limitations ...........................................................................................................................................35
Index
of
Tables
&
Exhibits...............................................................................................................36
Appendix
A.
Internet
search
Data.................................................................................37
Appendix
B.
Survey
Responses......................................................................................................39
Works
Cited..........................................................................................................................................50
1
Abstract
Social
media
marketing
is
a
relatively
new
term
for
hotel
companies.
There
is
very
little
quality
research
available
specifically
to
hotel
companies
to
assist
them
in
their
social
media
marketing
campaign.
Much
of
the
industry
published
material
lacks
hard
data
and
just
touches
the
surface
of
the
real
issues.
After
conducting
an
extensive
literature
search
on
social
media
in
general,
an
Internet
search
was
conducted
on
ten
luxury
brand
hotel
companies
to
evaluate
their
current
use
of
and
Twitter.
Next,
a
survey
was
conducted
to
get
an
overall
feel
for
what
companies
find
important
for
their
social
media
campaigns.
Through
the
research,
it
was
found
that
all
companies
have
some
presence
on
one
or
more
social
media
networks,
and
that
there
is
no
industry
wide
standard
for
conducting
a
marketing
campaign
through
these
networking
sites.
The
results
show
that
more
academic
research
is
needed
to
see
whether
or
not
using
social
media
for
marketing
is
a
worthwhile
investment
for
hotel
companies.
2
Key
Words
Social
Networking
-‐
the
use
of
a
website
to
connect
with
people
who
share
personal
or
professional
interests,
place
of
origin,
education
at
a
particular
school,
etc.
Social
Media
-‐
the
type
of
media
that
is
based
on
conversation
and
interaction
between
people
online;
where
media
means
digital
words,
sounds
&
pictures,
which
are
typically
shared
via
the
Internet
and
the
value
can
be
cultural,
societal
or
even
financial.
–
a
social
networking
website
designed
so
users
can
create
and
customize
their
own
profiles
with
photos,
videos,
and
information
about
themselves.
Friends
can
browse
each
other’s
profiles
and
write
comments
to
each
other.
–
a
social
networking
website
where
users
post
status
updates
up
to
140
characters
long
that
can
be
shared
with
their
followers.
Tweet
–
a
post
or
a
status
update
on
Twitter.
Retweet
–
when
one
user
reposts
someone
else’s
tweet.
TripAdvisor
–
a
free
travel
guide
and
research
website
that
assists
customers
in
making
travel
decisions
by
allowing
other
users
to
blog
about
their
experiences.
3
Introduction
is
a
free
social
networking
website
that
allows
people
to
communicate
and
share
information
with
their
friends,
family,
coworkers,
and
strangers.
Mark
Zuckerberg,
together
with
a
few
of
his
Harvard
classmates,
founded
in
2004.
The
company
currently
employs
over
1200
people
and
there
are
over
400
million
active
users
of
the
site.
According
to
Facebook’s
factsheet,
the
average
user
spends
more
than
55
minutes
per
day
on
the
website.
More
than
20
million
people
become
fans
of
pages
every
single
day,
creating
a
huge
marketing
opportunity
for
businesses.
Also,
more
than
100
million
active
users
are
accessing
from
their
mobile
devices
on
a
regular
basis.
is
available
to
users
in
over
70
different
languages
(Corbett,
2010).
Hotel
companies
use
heavily
in
their
social
media
marketing
campaigns.
pages
and
groups
are
used
to
create
a
two-‐way
conversation
between
the
company
and
their
guests.
Hotels
have
embraced
this
social
networking
platform
as
a
way
to
promote
specials,
post
pictures,
and
develop
stronger
relationships
with
their
guests.
The
guest
experience
no
longer
ends
at
checkout;
people
continue
to
give
feedback
on
their
hotel
stays
when
they
arrive
home.
This
avenue
of
customer
engagement
marketing
is
relatively
new,
not
just
to
the
hotel
industry,
but
in
business
overall.
Some
companies
have
capitalized
on
the
opportunities
offers,
while
others
are
still
just
trying
to
keep
their
heads
above
water
in
the
vast
world
of
social
media
marketing.
4
is
a
social
networking
platform
where
people
or
businesses
post
short
status
updates
of
140
characters
or
less.
It
is,
again,
a
free
service
(for
now),
and
acts
much
like
a
microblog
that
allows
users
to
send
and
read
other
users’
updates,
which
are
known
as
tweets.
It
is
a
way
for
businesses
to
relay
quick
bits
of
information
to
their
customers
in
a
timely
manner.
users
have
grown
exponentially
just
in
the
past
year
alone.
According
to
Twitter,
about
50
million
tweets
are
sent
each
day,
which
means
total
tweets
sent
since
January
2009
has
gone
up
1,400%.
Currently,
is
ranked
as
the
number
12
website
both
in
the
world
and
in
the
United
States.
This
exponential
growth
is
only
expected
to
continue
through
2010
and
beyond,
especially
with
the
use
of
mobile
device
applications
that
allow
people
to
tweet
on
the
move
(Wilhelm,
2010).
Hotel
companies
are
using
in
a
similar
way
as
they
are
using
–
to
create
a
two-‐way
dialogue
with
their
guests.
Hotels
can
tweet
about
news
and
events.
They
are
able
to
respond
to
guest
praise
and
complaints
in
a
very
timely
manner.
The
best
use
of
for
hotels
may
be
to
promote
last
minute
deals
on
rooms
and
restaurant
offerings
to
people
who
are
already
in
the
area.
This
helps
with
that
extra
push
when
the
week’s
occupancy
may
be
distressed.
Literature
Review
Very
little
academic
research
has
been
conducted
in
the
area
of
social
media
marketing
in
businesses,
let
alone
specifically
in
the
hotel
industry.
Studies
are
more
prevalent
on
Internet
use
by
teens
and
children
than
how
social
media
platforms
are
being
utilized
by
businesses
to
market
their
products
and
services,
or
even
to
gain
additional
5
revenue.
The
use
of
social
media
for
marketing
purposes
is
relatively
new.
has
only
been
around
for
six
years
and
has
been
used
by
businesses
for
an
even
shorter
period
of
time.
just
started
to
gain
momentum
in
January
of
2009.
Individuals
are
trying
to
figure
out
the
lingo
and
logistics
themselves
before
the
technology
can
be
applied
to
a
company-‐wide
policy.
There
are
many
individual
agencies
that
try
to
track
usage
of
these
social
media
sites,
but
there
is
just
too
much
data
developing
at
too
high
a
rate
for
anyone
to
really
understand
the
full
picture.
Industry
professionals,
consultants,
and
bloggers
have
written
hundreds
of
industry
articles
and
blurbs
about
the
effects
and
best
practices
of
social
media
in
both
general
business
and
specifically
the
lodging
industry.
One
could
spend
hours
sorting
through
these
articles
that
have
little
data
to
back
them
up.
A
gap
is
seen
in
real,
academic
research
being
done
on
social
media
use
by
hotel
companies.
Some
studies
exist
that
have
explored
other
aspects
of
online
marketing
and
e-‐commerce,
but
they
do
not
specifically
pertain
to
social
media
networks.
Peter
O’Connor
at
Cornell
University
published
a
study
in
February
of
2008
called
“E-‐Mail
Marketing
by
International
Hotel
Chains.”
The
aim
of
the
study
was
to
see
if
international
hotel
chains
adhered
to
the
CAN-‐SPAM
Act
of
2003
regarding
use
of
e-‐mail
for
commercial
marketing.
The
overall
findings
showed
that
hotel
companies
were
highly
ethical
in
using
consumers’
personal
data,
and
the
industry
may
even
serve
as
an
example
of
best
practice
for
other
businesses.
At
the
time
of
the
study,
social
media
networks
were
in
their
infancy
and
e-‐mail
was
the
best
online
marketing
tool.
E-‐mail
was,
and
still
is,
used
to
notify
guests
of
promotions,
as
well
as
develop
and
continue
ongoing
dialogue
with
6
consumers,
many
of
the
same
objectives
that
are
being
accomplished
now
through
social
media
(O’Connor,
2009)
O’Connor
entered
false
but
functioning
personal
data
on
the
top
fifty
worldwide
hotel
brands,
as
identified
in
the
July
2003
issue
of
Hotels
magazine.
Over
a
period
of
a
year,
he
received
397
e-‐mails,
of
which
92
percent
originated
from
the
companies
that
were
part
of
the
study
and
not
from
third
parties.
His
research
shows
that
hotels
tend
not
to
sell
personal
data
to
third
parties.
Also,
84
percent
of
the
e-‐mails
received
were
promotional
in
nature,
similar
to
the
nature
of
posts
and
tweets
(O’Connor,
2009)
While
O’Connor’s
research
is
mainly
about
the
legal
issue
of
sharing
electronic
personal
data,
his
findings
on
e-‐mail
use
by
international
hotel
companies
before
2008
closely
mirrors
how
hotel
companies
are
now
using
social
media
networks.
While
the
main
goal
of
any
hotel
marketing
campaign
is
to
bring
in
more
guests
and
therefore
more
revenue,
very
little
data
is
available
on
whether
the
relationships
created
through
social
media
networks
actually
lead
to
an
increased
bottom
line
for
the
company.
A
study
published
by
the
Department
of
Computer
Science
at
the
University
of
California
at
Santa
Barbara
attempted
to
evaluate
the
impact
of
social
connections
on
business
transactions.
While
this
study
is
not
specifically
related
to
the
hospitality
industry,
it
does
shed
light
on
the
sociology
behind
business
transactions
and
social
networks.
This
research
used
Overstock
Auction
as
a
case
study
to
evaluate
how
their
social
networking
component
establishes
and
maintains
a
web
of
trust
between
the
company
and
their
users.
On
Overstock,
buyers
and
sellers
are
able
to
create
profiles
and
rate
one
another
at
the
end
of
each
transaction.
This
social
network
is
designed
to
build
a
7
community
of
buyers
and
sellers,
improving
trust
between
them,
and
therefore
“improving
transaction
satisfaction.”
The
study
found
that
86
percent
of
the
Overstock
users
did
not
set
up
a
personal
network
(Swamynathan,
2008),
showing
they
are
more
interested
in
the
financial
transaction
and
are
either
unaware
or
uninterested
in
the
social
networking
component.
The
study
also
showed
that
93
percent
of
users
had
only
made
transactions
with
a
small
number
of
partners
(Swamynathan,
2008).
While
the
amount
of
transactions
between
users
with
profiles
is
low,
the
satisfaction
rate
for
those
transactions
was
found
to
by
high.
The
writers
of
the
study
believe
that
connections
through
the
social
networking
component
sift
out
fraudulent
users,
inherently
improving
the
trust
factor.
Although
this
study
focuses
on
product
transactions
on
the
Overstock
Auction
website,
similar
principals
hold
true
for
service
transactions
in
the
lodging
industry,
maybe
even
more
so.
The
stronger
the
relationship
between
the
customer
and
the
company,
the
more
loyal
they
will
be
and
the
more
likely
they
are
to
be
repeat
customers.
Social
media
networks
are
the
newest
way
to
develop
the
two-‐way
relationships
needed
for
satisfaction
and
loyalty
to
occur.
A
study
from
Purdue
University,
published
in
the
Journal
of
Hospitality
Marketing
&
Management,
looks
into
travelers’
attitude
and
use
patterns
of
mobile
technology
in
tourism.
The
study
goes
in
depth
into
travelers’
mobile
technology
use
intention
and
their
performance
and
effort
expectancy.
The
general
use
of
mobile
technology
has
been
studied;
including
mobile
travel
guides,
reservation
systems,
and
other
PDA
based
systems.
This
research
aimed
to
evaluate
how
travelers’
previous
technology
use
is
a
predictor
of
their
intention
to
use
mobile
devices
for
future
travel
decision
making.
Secondly,
it
looked
at
8
how
travelers’
previous
trip
experiences
are
predictors
of
their
intent
to
use
mobile
devices
for
their
future
travel
as
well.
To
conduct
the
study,
an
online
survey
was
sent
to
2,000
panel
members,
with
a
total
of
283
completed
responses,
a
response
rate
of
14.15
percent.
The
survey
found
that
88
percent
of
the
respondents
use
mobile
devices
during
travel.
The
authors
of
the
research
think,
“Hospitality
marketers
should
target
their
marketing
toward
frequent
travelers,”
because
these
are
the
people
who
are
most
likely
to
use
mobile
devices
during
their
trips
(Oh,
2009).
This
study
on
the
use
of
mobile
technologies
for
tourism,
published
in
2009,
shows
how
important
it
is
for
hotel
companies
to
market
to
this
specific
segment
of
travelers.
Now
that
social
media
applications
are
available
for
smart
phones,
frequent
travelers
can
follow
their
favorite
hotel
in
the
area
they
are
traveling
to
and
learn
about
special
promotions
while
they
are
in
town.
Industry
studies
on
social
networking,
done
mainly
by
consulting
companies,
seem
to
contain
the
most
up
to
date
and
relevant
information
possible.
It
is
difficult
to
obtain
accurate
data
on
this
topic
when
the
numbers
of
users
are
growing
exponentially
on
a
daily
basis,
but
the
following
three
companies
have
compiled
reports
that
give
businesses
a
good
inside
look
on
how
the
social
networking
world
is
shaping
up.
The
Dow
Jones
Enterprise
Media
Group
recently
released
a
publication
called
The
Conversational
Corporation:
How
Social
Media
is
Changing
the
Enterprise.
The
aim
of
the
publication
is
to
educate
company
managers
on
social
media
and
the
best
practices.
Dow
Jones
is
pushing
companies
to
focus
on
their
social
media
campaigns.
According
to
eMarketer,
95
percent
of
adolescents
between
the
ages
of
12
and
17
are
active
online.
Dow
9
Jones
believes
that
this
Internet
use
will
become
habit
for
the
next
generation
of
consumers,
and
that
companies
should
hone
their
social
networking
skills
now
before
these
adolescents
become
their
main
demand
generators.
A
project
sponsored
by
SAP,
the
world’s
third-‐largest
software
company,
shows
how
young
people
are
driving
social
media
adoption.
A
global
usage
report
completed
in
March
2008
by
Universal
McCann
stated
that
57
percent
of
all
Internet
users
were
active
in
social
networks
(Scoble,
2010).
This
number
has
most
certainly
climbed
in
the
past
two
years.
Dow
Jones
argues
that
many
corporations
are
using
private
social
networks
within
their
company,
used
for
knowledge
sharing,
training,
and
ongoing
dialogue
between
employees.
For
example,
Best
Buy
has
a
closed
community
of
20,000
retail
staff,
called
BlueShirt
Nation.
The
staff
talks
about
customer
needs
and
complaints
and
give
suggestions
for
where
improvements
can
be
made.
Due
to
this
online,
internal
social
network,
the
company
no
longer
has
to
compile
in
store
surveys.
The
online
community
has
also
raised
morale
for
the
retail
staff
and
created
an
overall
better
working
environment
(Scoble,
2010).
The
majority
of
the
Dow
Jones
publication
gives
corporate
examples
of
social
media
use
as
well
as
tips
for
companies
trying
to
get
their
social
media
campaign
off
the
ground
or
make
it
more
effective.
It
is
not
an
actual
research
study,
but
it
does
site
recent
studies
on
social
media
use.
It
could
be
a
useful
tool
for
companies
looking
to
enhance
their
use
of
social
media,
but
it
may
lack
solid
research.
Bloggers
and
technology
gurus,
not
academics,
wrote
it,
but
it
is
more
approachable
for
corporate
companies
than
much
of
the
academic
literature.
10
Burston-‐Marsteller,
one
of
the
largest
public
relations
agencies
in
the
world,
recently
published
their
study
on
social
media
use
among
the
top
100
companies
of
Fortune’s
Global
500
companies
(2003).
Titled
The
Global
Social
Media
Check-Up,
the
study
polled
these
top
100
companies
on
their
use
of
social
networking
sites.
Their
main
point
is
that
success
measurement
with
social
media
marketing
is
not
just
the
sheer
numbers
of
followers
and
fans,
but
that
those
users
must
be
highly
engaged
for
the
marketing
to
be
effective.
The
data
is
the
most
up
to
date
information
available
to
the
business
world,
as
the
study
was
completed
in
January
2010.
Of
the
Fortune
top
100
companies,
65
percent
have
active
accounts,
54
percent
have
fan
pages,
and
50
percent
have
YouTube
video
channels.
Compared
to
other
regions
of
the
world,
the
United
States
had
the
highest
percentage
of
companies
using
social
media.
In
Asia,
the
trend
is
more
towards
writing
corporate
blogs
to
communicate
to
the
consumer.
The
United
States
also
has
the
highest
percentage
of
companies
using
all
four
of
the
social
media
platforms
at
28
percent.
The
survey
broke
down
usage
patterns
by
platform
type
as
well.
The
percentage
of
accounts
with
activity
in
the
past
week
was
82
percent.
This
is
high,
but
also
means
18
percent
of
accounts
are
inactive,
and
is
really
about
quick,
up
to
the
minute
bits
of
information.
The
more
often
content
is
posted,
the
more
often
the
consumer
sees
that
brand
on
their
live
feed.
Over
all
geographical
areas,
38
percent
of
companies
were
responding
to
other
people’s
tweets
and
32
percent
were
retweeting.
The
average
in
the
United
States
for
both
of
these
is
5-‐10
percent
higher.
Overall,
other
users
are
tweeting
about
42
percent
of
the
Fortune
Global
100
companies
(Byrne,
2010).
11
According
to
the
same
survey,
the
United
States
companies
are
not
as
strong
in
their
campaigns
as
are
companies
other
parts
of
the
world.
Only
32
percent
of
U.S.
companies
have
posted
content
that
has
comments
from
fans,
whereas
that
percentage
for
European
companies
is
56.
The
survey
rated
the
tone
of
the
comments
on
a
scale
of
1-‐5,
with
five
being
highly
positive.
Overall,
the
tone
of
fan
comments
on
company
pages
skewed
slightly
positive
at
a
rating
of
3.7.
Most
comments
were
found
to
be
either
strongly
positive
or
negative,
but
few
were
neutral
(Byrne,
2010).
Only
11
percent
of
the
U.S.
companies
had
corporate
blog
posts,
as
opposed
to
European
companies
at
83
percent
and
Asian
companies
at
77
percent.
This
shows
that
Americans
are
moving
away
from
blogs
and
posting
more
content
on
Twitter.
Also,
United
States
companies
had
an
average
of
6.6
accounts
per
company.
This
makes
it
unclear
for
stakeholders
on
which
account
to
follow,
and
may
promote
mixed
messages
about
the
company.
The
high
number
of
accounts
also
leads
to
abandoned
accounts,
which
are
“denigrating
to
the
company’s
presentation
of
itself
in
the
social
media
space”
(Byrne,
2010).
The
final
section
of
the
study
gives
advice
for
companies
looking
to
enhance
their
social
media
campaign.
The
Burson-‐Marsteller
study
paints
a
very
good
picture
of
the
current
social
media
scene
in
top
companies
around
the
world.
This
research
will
be
built
upon
to
examine
usage
trends
specifically
among
hospitality
companies,
although
this
research
will
be
limited
to
mainly
the
United
States
and
will
not
take
a
global
look
at
the
situation.
Tom
Chapman,
a
Social
Media
Strategist
for
the
social
brand
agency,
Headstream,
did
another
intensive
social
media
study.
This
research
focused
more
on
the
user
side
of
social
media
platforms,
but
provides
important
insight
for
companies
on
how
to
manage
12
their
marketing
campaigns
to
engage
consumers.
Chapman
wanted
to
know
if
and
MySpace
were
effective
platforms
for
social
network
marketing
from
the
user’s
point
of
view,
as
well
as
how
effective
page
advertisements
are
in
enhancing
brand
reputation.
The
study
found
that
companies
should
focus
more
on
the
quality
of
the
conversations
they
are
having
with
their
customers
and
less
on
the
“friend”
and
“fan”
metrics.
Engagement
should
be
planned
both
pre
and
post
campaign
launch
to
offer
value
to
the
consumer
after
the
first
transaction.
The
research
was
conducted
through
quantitative
online
surveys
of
social
media
users
and
qualitative
in-‐depth
interviews
with
brand
executives.
According
to
the
research,
less
than
5
percent
of
users
said
they
were
likely
to
remain
a
friend/fan
of
a
brand
if
they
continually
sent
promotional
information
and
advertisements,
and
zero
percent
of
users
said
they
were
likely
to
purchase
a
product
or
service
from
a
brand
via
their
profile
page.
Thirty-‐five
percent
of
users
also
said
they
think
advertisements
appearing
on
their
profile
are
slightly
obtrusive
(Chapman,
2008).
This
shows
that
is
not
an
effective
platform
for
creating
immediate
purchase
decisions
or
transactions.
On
the
other
hand,
users
were
more
likely
to
support
a
brand
if
they
held
two-‐way
communication.
When
asked
how
strong
their
relationship
toward
a
brand
would
be
if
the
brand
responded
to
the
user’s
message
and
listened
to
what
they
said,
43
percent
responded
slightly
stronger
and
25
percent
responded
much
stronger
(Chapman
2008).
Consumers
are
looking
to
build
a
trust
relationship
with
the
brands
before
they
make
a
buying
decision.
Conversations
and
engagement
that
take
place
beyond
just
becoming
a
friend
or
fan
of
the
brand
have
the
most
value
and
are
where
true
brand
loyalty
exists.
13
Chapman’s
research
is
beneficial
to
all
brands
trying
to
forge
their
way
on
social
media
platforms.
It
is
particularly
relevant
to
the
hospitality
industry
when
it
is
so
important
to
create
that
trust
factor
with
a
guest
before
they
decide
to
purchase
what
in
essence
is
an
experience
and
not
a
product.
More
than
ever
before,
hotels
need
to
keep
up
the
activity
of
discussion
on
their
pages
rather
than
simply
advertise
to
users
who
feel
it
is
obtrusive.
After
sorting
through
all
the
research
that
has
been
conducted
on
social
media
recently,
a
gap
is
seen
in
research
relating
specifically
to
the
hospitality
industry.
The
nature
of
the
industry
is
vastly
different
from
that
of
basic
consumer
products.
Hotels
are
selling
an
experience
and
memories
that
people
will
carry
with
them
for
the
rest
of
their
lives.
Companies
that
sell
shoes
are
always
selling
the
same
exact
product,
and
a
person
is
not
going
to
buy
a
pair
of
shoes
if
they
already
own
the
same
ones.
Hotel
and
travel
purchases
can
be
made
on
a
much
more
frequent
basis,
and
people
rely
on
other
people’s
recommendations
when
planning.
The
aim
of
the
following
research
was
to
fill
that
gap
between
general
knowledge
of
social
media
marketing,
and
social
media
marketing
for
lodging
companies.
The
goal
was
to
find
out
how
hotel
companies
are
currently
using
various
social
media
platforms
that
may
be
different
from
other
industries.
It
was
also
to
get
a
feel
for
which
companies
have
the
strongest
social
media
campaigns
at
the
moment,
and
how
that
may
be
affecting
their
brand
equity.
The
ultimate
goal
of
any
marketing
campaign
is
to
create
a
return
on
the
investment.
There
is
not
a
lot
of
money
needed
to
conduct
a
social
media
campaign,
but
time
is
a
huge
factor.
Is
it
really
worthwhile
for
a
hotel
to
have
an
employee
spend
their
14
whole
day
on
and
Twitter?
Are
these
actions
really
creating
any
increase
in
revenue?
Method
&
Page
Search
The
first
step
in
the
project
was
to
do
a
simple
Internet
search
on
how
hotels
are
currently
using
and
to
market
themselves.
Ten
hotel
companies
were
chosen
that
represented
a
good
mix
of
geographical
locations.
Companies
were
chosen
based
on
their
categorization
of
an
overall
property
rating
of
four
or
five
stars.
A
fact
sheet
for
the
companies
researched
can
be
seen
below
in
Table
A.
Table
A.
Companies
included
in
Internet
search
Company Four Seasons Ritz Carlton Mandarin Oriental Intercontinental Hilton JW Marriott Hyatt Shangri La Westin Peninsula Headquarters Toronto, Canada Maryland, USA Hong Kong, China Buckinghamshire, UK Virginia, USA Maryland, USA Chicago, USA Hong Kong, China New York, USA Hong Kong, China Properties 83 70 41 166 520 39 424 66 160 9 Countries 35 24 26 65 80 *22 45 37 6 1946 1919 1984 1957 1971 1930 1928 Launched 1960 1927 Employees 38,000
80,000
First,
the
company’s
name
was
typed
in
to
a
search
to
see
if
any
social
media
platforms
were
noted
under
their
homepage
listing.
Next,
the
company’s
homepage
was
visited
and
it
was
noted
as
to
whether
or
not
they
had
any
social
media
links
on
the
homepage.
If
there
were
no
direct
link
to
social
media
platforms
or
information
on
the
15
homepage,
a
visit
would
be
made
to
the
site
map
of
the
page
to
locate
any
information
they
may
have
regarding
their
social
media
campaign.
As
will
be
discussed
in
further
detail
in
the
results
section
–
many
companies
did
not
make
their
social
media
links
apparent
to
the
average
Internet
user.
If
there
was
a
link
on
the
hotel’s
website
to
their
or
accounts
it
was
followed.
If
there
was
no
link,
an
additional
search
was
made
on
each
of
the
respective
social
media
platforms.
Once
the
company’s
account
was
located
on
or
Twitter,
their
content,
fan
base,
and
usage
was
recorded,
along
with
any
other
aspects
of
their
campaign
that
may
have
stood
out.
All
data
collected
has
been
compiled
into
a
chart
(appendix
A)
and
the
findings
will
be
discussed
in
the
results
section.
Research
Survey
It
seemed
imperative
to
conduct
some
type
of
primary
research
on
this
topic,
as
so
little
has
actually
been
done
and
published.
To
dig
a
little
deeper
behind
the
scenes
of
social
media
marketing
by
hotel
companies,
a
survey
instrument
was
developed.
The
main
goal
of
the
survey
was
to
find
out
the
most
important,
beneficial
aspects
of
social
media
marketing
that
hotel
companies
are
using.
It
was
also
used
to
compare
sentiments
of
managers
at
different
levels
within
the
company.
The
original
survey
questions
were
based
off
the
study
done
by
Burson-‐Marsteller.
Data
from
the
study
was
collected
between
November
2009
and
January
2010,
so
it
is
the
most
up
to
date,
comprehensive
data
available
regarding
corporate
use
of
social
media.
The
study
sampled
29
US
companies,
48
European
companies,
20
Asia-‐Pacific
companies,
and
3
companies
from
Latin
America.
16
The
original
intent
of
our
primary
research
was
to
ask
very
similar
questions
as
asked
in
the
Burson-‐Marsteller
study
and
compares
the
hotel
companies
we
surveyed
to
the
global
companies
they
surveyed.
This
would
show
if
the
hotel
industry
was
participating
in
the
same
way
as
other
global
industries.
Through
the
continued
development
of
our
survey
instrument,
the
questions
and
focus
shifted
away
from
the
Burson-‐Marsteller
study
to
fit
our
own
goals
and
objectives.
Three
faculty
members
in
the
Whittemore
School
of
Business
at
the
University
of
New
Hampshire,
as
well
as
six
industry
experts,
many
of
who
are
UNH
alumni,
reviewed
our
survey
instrument.
Through
the
review
process,
questions
were
added
and
changed
to
fit
the
needs
and
objectives
of
those
people
who
were
interested
in
the
results.
At
first,
the
plan
was
to
send
the
survey
to
only
managers
and
executives
at
4-‐5
star
properties.
We
found
this
would
limit
our
sample
field
significantly.
In
order
to
widen
the
sample
field
but
still
be
able
to
sort
the
data
based
on
hotel
category,
more
questions
were
added
to
the
survey
to
differentiate
between
the
types
of
properties.
Once
the
survey
instrument
was
completed
and
input
into
the
WSBE
Qualtrics
survey
tool,
we
sought
approval
from
the
Institutional
Review
Board
(IRB)
at
the
Office
of
Sponsored
Research.
This
step
was
necessary
because
the
survey
involved
human
subjects
and
there
are
certain
responsibilities
and
safeguards
that
come
along
with
that.
Once
approval
was
granted
from
the
IRB,
we
were
able
to
begin
distributing
the
survey.
The
survey
was
initially
sent
to
fifteen
industry
executives
of
international
hotel
companies.
Next
it
was
sent
to
seventeen
industry
executives
known
personally
by
either
Professor
Udo
Schlentrich
or
myself.
Overall,
only
six
responses
were
generated
from
this
initial
distribution.
With
the
assistance
of
the
University
of
New
Hampshire
Alumni
Center,
17
the
survey
and
accompanying
cover
letter
was
blasted
to
eighty
hospitality
management
alumni.
There
is
no
concrete
proof
if
any
of
these
people
responded
to
the
survey.
With
the
advice
of
a
local
software
company,
I
tried
distributing
again
through
a
blast.
By
mentioning
individual
hotel
companies,
the
survey
was
distributed
to
over
forty
companies.
This
tactic
resulted
in
nine
more
responses.
Unfortunately,
time
was
becoming
an
issue
and
we
had
to
stop
distributing
the
survey
so
we
would
gather
the
results
and
analyze
the
data.
Overall,
data
was
collected
from
sixteen
participants
in
the
budget,
3,
4,
and
5
star
hotel
categories.
Results
&
Page
Search
Of
the
ten
lodging
companies
researched,
all
had
some
presence
on
Twitter,
either
at
the
corporate
or
property
level.
Although
the
number
of
tweets
or
number
of
followers
is
a
telling
sign
of
success,
the
quality
of
the
content
is
even
more
important.
We
found
a
wide
range
of
content
tweeted,
anything
from
event
promotions,
packages,
corporate
information,
questions
posed
to
followers,
responses
to
followers,
retweets,
future
plans,
thank
you’s,
and
welcomes.
Overall,
the
Four
Seasons
had
the
strongest
social
media
presences
on
and
Twitter,
as
well
as
information
available
on
their
website.
Although
nothing
regarding
social
media
was
included
in
their
listing,
both
the
and
links
were
visible
on
the
company’s
homepage.
They
also
had
an
easy
to
find
page
dedicated
to
their
social
media
campaign
called
“Social
Media
At-‐A-‐Glance.”
This
page
included
a
short
description
of
what
each
of
their
accounts
pertained
to
or
was
capable
of
and
the
link.
This
18
page
also
included
a
YouTube
link
and
mobile
device
applications.
The
page
makes
it
easy
for
guests
to
understand
how
the
company
uses
each
platform.
It
also
makes
it
much
easier
to
find
the
official
Four
Seasons
accounts
on
these
platforms
instead
of
searching
for
them.
At
the
time
of
research,
the
Four
Seasons
corporate
account
had
1962
tweets,
more
than
any
other
company
researched.
They
also
had
a
separate
account
for
each
property
location
as
well
as
a
careers
account.
All
of
their
and
accounts
are
listed
on
their
social
media
information
page,
so
they
are
easy
to
find.
Four
Seasons
has
one
main
Fan
Page
in
addition
to
the
individual
property
pages.
At
the
time
of
this
writing
in
April
2010,
their
fan
page
had
over
17,000
fans,
up
from
13,000
in
February
2010.
Four
Seasons
uses
the
fan
page
primarily
for
feedback
from
their
guests
and
to
promote
specials.
Overall,
Four
Seasons
not
only
had
a
very
strong
presence
on
the
social
media
platforms,
they
also
integrated
that
aspect
of
marketing
in
their
webpage.
As
for
Ritz
Carlton,
there
was
no
mention
or
link
to
any
social
media
platforms
on
their
website.
To
find
out
what
they
are
doing
in
terms
of
social
media
marketing,
you
must
do
an
individual
search
on
each
of
the
platforms.
There
was
one
group
found,
but
it
consisted
mainly
of
ex-‐staff
members
of
the
company.
The
content
was
not
related
to
the
promotion
of
the
brand
or
any
properties.
There
was
also
one
Ritz
Carlton
fan
page
with
2,753
fans.
Fans
posted
all
content
that
was
present;
there
was
no
interaction
and
no
oversight
by
the
company
itself.
There
were
only
six
fan
photos
posted
and
the
information
page
was
left
blank.
A
search
for
Ritz
Carlton
revealed
a
bit
stronger
showing
than
their
presence.
They
had
a
global
account
as
well
as
a
few
individual
property
19
accounts.
Even
though
they
had
2,040
followers
on
the
global
account,
the
last
update
was
two
weeks
old.
This
defeats
the
main
purpose
of
of
providing
quick,
up
to
the
minute
bits
of
information.
Overall,
the
social
media
campaign
for
Ritz
Carlton
is
lacking.
If
they
wish
not
to
embrace
this
avenue
of
marketing,
they
should
delete
all
their
accounts
and
monitor
when
people
create
new
under
the
company
name.
Little
oversight
provides
for
weak
and
not
cohesive
messages
to
their
guests.
With
their
current
pages
and
accounts,
they
are
doing
the
opposite
of
creating
a
two-‐way
dialogue
with
their
guests,
they
are
just
confusing
them.
Peninsula
hotels
have
an
even
worse
showing
on
and
Twitter.
This
is
most
likely
because
the
company
is
based
out
of
China,
where
they
participate
in
other
social
media
platforms
not
widely
known
in
the
United
States.
Peninsula
hotels
did
have
a
few
accounts
set
up,
but
there
was
not
a
single
tweet
on
any
of
them.
There
was
a
group
established
as
well,
but
it
only
had
355
members.
They
may
have
a
strong
social
media
campaign
through
platforms
not
widely
used
in
the
United
States,
but
if
they
wish
to
capitalize
on
the
US
market,
they
should
look
into
using
social
media
networks
that
traveling
Americans
use.
Hyatt
Hotels
had
no
social
media
link
under
their
listing
or
anywhere
on
their
website.
There
was
no
official
group
or
fan
page
found,
just
a
few
dwindling
employee
groups,
which
are
ineffective
in
promoting
the
brand.
On
the
other
hand,
Hyatt
Hotels
have
a
very
strong
presence
on
Twitter.
The
Hyatt
Concierge
account
had
the
most
followers
of
any
company
researched,
at
9729.
The
Hyatt
Concierge
was
also
following
the
most
accounts,
which
means
they
have
more
of
an
opportunity
to
hold
two-‐way
conversations
and
respond
to
tweets
that
are
posted
about
20
their
company.
They
use
the
Concierge
account
mostly
to
respond
to
other
people’s
tweets,
while
the
individual
property
accounts
focus
more
on
promotional
material
and
upcoming
events.
It
is
anyone’s
guess
why
Hyatt
has
one
of
the
strongest
campaigns
and
virtually
no
use
of
Facebook.
JW
Marriott
seems
to
be
fledging
along
when
it
comes
to
a
social
media
campaign.
There
was
one
user
generated
group
lacking
in
content
and
with
only
165
members.
They
did
have
a
number
of
fan
pages
for
individual
properties,
but
nothing
to
promote
brand
as
a
whole.
Their
strongest
property
page,
for
Medan,
Indonesia,
has
a
good
balance
of
company
and
fan
posted
content,
although
not
all
is
in
English.
Again,
there
is
no
company
wide
account
for
JW
Marriott,
but
a
few
individual
properties
have
accounts,
while
there
is
not
much
activity
on
them.
It
seems
as
though
JW
Marriott
is
just
starting
to
get
their
feet
wet
in
the
social
media
realm,
but
they
have
a
lot
of
work
to
do
to
develop
a
cohesive
campaign
company
wide.
Hilton
Hotels
also
have
no
social
media
link
through
their
listing
or
on
their
homepage.
By
doing
a
keyword
search
for
within
their
page
did
turn
up
a
“Stay
Connected”
page
with
links
to
their
and
accounts.
The
official
Hilton
page
is
holding
strong
and
continuing
to
grow
a
fan
base,
up
to
36,832
since
February
when
it
was
at
31,488.
The
majority
of
the
content
posted
is
from
Hilton,
but
they
have
very
strong
guest
feedback
and
engagement
occurring.
Their
photo
albums
highlight
the
different
property
locations.
They
have
posted
a
handful
of
quality
videos
showcasing
certain
properties
or
aspects
of
the
company.
The
most
interesting
thing
about
Hilton’s
page
is
the
tab
labeled
“Hilton
Moments”.
They
have
published
short
stories
told
by
Hilton
staff
about
memorable
moments
when
they
really
went
above
and
beyond
to
21
exceed
guest
expectations.
Publishing
these
stories
in
a
public
space
shows
their
commitment
to
the
guest
experience.
The
platform
is
an
excellent
place
to
tell
these
stories.
There
are
two
main
Hilton
accounts
–
Hilton
OnLine
and
Hilton
GoSocial.
The
Hilton
OnLine
account
is
just
like
any
other
corporate
hotel
account.
They
only
have
about
2300
fans,
but
that
is
up
almost
23%
in
just
under
two
months.
Hilton
has
a
high
response
rate
to
other
tweets
and
have
an
overall
good
balance
of
responses,
information,
and
promotions.
The
Hilton
GoSocial
account
is
the
main
account
for
all
Latin
America
&
Caribbean
properties.
The
content
is
similar
to
that
of
Hilton
OnLine,
but
it
is
solely
focused
on
one
specific
geographic
region.
It
currently
has
997
followers
Westin
Hotels,
a
brand
of
Starwood,
have
no
social
media
link
on
their
listing
or
on
their
webpage.
A
search
returns
a
company
fan
page
with
over
8000
fans.
Westin
posts
the
majority
of
the
content,
but
they
do
have
many
fan
comments
and
feedback.
Individual
Westin
properties
have
posted
content
on
the
main
Westin
page
to
try
to
gain
fans
for
their
own
fan
page.
The
Westin
fan
page
only
has
2
photo
albums
and
12
fan
photos
posted,
some
of
which
are
not
necessarily
relevant
in
promoting
the
brand.
Westin
does
not
have
a
main
company
account,
but
many
of
the
individual
properties
have
fairly
strong
accounts.
Most
property
accounts
have
well
over
1000
followers.
Some
give
links
to
posts,
promote
events,
respond
to
guests,
and
promote
restaurant
specials
for
the
day.
Mandarin
Oriental
does
not
have
a
social
media
link
on
their
listing,
but
they
do
have
and
links
on
the
bottom
of
their
homepage.
Clicking
either
of
22
these
links
brings
you
to
their
overall
Social
Media
webpage.
This
page
gives
you
lists
of
their
different
property’s
&
accounts.
They
also
have
a
small
newsfeed
on
the
side
of
the
page
to
show
updates
that
are
currently
being
posted
on
those
particular
platforms.
In
addition
to
&
Twitter,
Mandarin
Oriental
has
links
to
their
Flickr
and
YouTube
accounts.
On
Facebook,
they
have
the
option
for
people
to
become
a
fan
of
Mandarin
Oriental
in
general,
or
one
of
19
specific
properties.
The
company
page
has
over
7,000
followers,
with
many
of
them
posting
comments
on
the
company’s
wall.
Mandarin
Oriental
has
certain
applications
that
set
their
site
apart
from
other
hotel
pages.
They
offer
an
interactive
map
showing
where
all
of
their
properties
are
located.
One
tab
is
dedicated
to
special
promotions,
and
you
can
check
reservations
directly
through
the
page.
They
have
a
FAN
Club
page
that
highlights
the
celebrities
who
have
endorsed
the
company
and
awards
that
the
company
has
received.
They
have
also
added
a
“Tempting
Offers”
page
–
which
is
new
between
the
time
of
research
in
February
2010
and
the
time
of
writing
in
April
2010.
This
shows
they
are
fine-‐tuning
their
social
media
campaign.
They
continue
to
change
and
update
their
pages
based
on
what
the
guests
are
asking
for
and
after
finding
out
which
applications
are
most
effective.
Mandarin
Oriental’s
account
is
average
compared
to
other
hotel
companies.
They
are
not
doing
anything
with
that
sets
them
apart.
They
have
just
over
1,000
followers
and
tweet
about
special
events,
awards,
promotions,
and
responses
to
guest
tweets.
It
seems
most
of
their
focus
is
on
at
this
point.
Intercontinental
Hotels
&
Resorts
do
not
have
a
social
media
link
on
their
listing.
The
only
social
media
mentioned
on
their
homepage
is
a
blog
that
highlights
events
23
and
attractions
in
one
of
their
locations,
but
the
last
time
it
was
updated
was
over
four
months
ago.
The
only
group
is
for
people
who
work
at
one
of
the
hotels.
They
do
have
a
Fan
page
but
it
is
very
difficult
to
find
through
a
search.
It
has
about
3300
fans,
but
the
fans
post
basically
none
of
the
content.
It
is
a
basic
fan
page
with
none
of
the
extras
that
Mandarin
Oriental
has.
It
does
have
27
photo
albums
promoting
different
events.
Four
of
these
albums
are
devoted
to
the
release
of
the
Ipad
at
different
locations.
There
are
also
about
70
fan
photos
posted
on
the
page.
Again,
Intercontinental
Hotels
&
Resorts
have
a
less
than
stellar
campaign
on
Twitter.
They
have
a
World
Concierge
account
in
addition
to
a
few
individual
property
accounts.
Many
of
the
individual
accounts
have
less
than
300
fans,
making
them
basically
ineffective
forms
of
marketing.
Shangri
La
Hotels
&
Resorts
have
an
almost
non-‐existent
presence
on
the
social
media
networks
that
are
so
prevalent
in
the
United
States.
They
have
no
official
group
or
fan
page.
The
only
accounts
are
for
the
Austin
and
Vancouver
properties.
Each
account
is
lacking
followers
and
quality
content.
There
are
only
two
Shangri
La
properties
in
North
America,
so
it
is
possible
they
do
not
focus
on
and
because
the
majority
of
their
guests
do
not
use
these
platforms.
It
is
interesting
to
note
that
most
of
the
companies
based
out
of
China
have
a
much
smaller
presence
on
and
than
do
companies
based
in
North
America
and
the
UK.
That
is
not
to
say
that
the
Chinese
population
does
not
use
social
media
sites.
There
are
other
social
media
networks
that
are
utilized
in
China
that
were
not
researched
for
this
project,
including
Renren,
Kaixin001,
51.com,
QQ,
Cyworld,
and
Mixi.
24
Survey
Results
Companies/properties
who
responded:
1. Mandarin
Oriental
Boston
2. Charles
Hotel
3. Hotel
Murano
4. Luxor
Las
Vegas
5. Tiara
Hotels
6. Westin
Bonaventure
7. Omni
Hotels
8. Millennium
Hotels
9. Four
Seasons
10. Marriott
(responses
from
3
different
levels
of
management)
11. Sheraton
Portsmouth
12. Starwood
13. Two
unknown
sources
Exhibit
A.
Categories
of
company
respondents:
The
online
social
media
survey
was
distributed
to
152
individuals
and
companies
within
the
lodging
industry.
Of
those
152,
we
received
16
completed
surveys,
for
a
response
rate
of
10.5
percent.
Of
the
respondents,
twelve
were
categorized
4-‐5
star
companies,
6
were
mid
range
(3
star),
and
only
one
was
a
budget
property.
Some
respondents
chose
more
than
one
category
because
they
represented
national
chains
with
25
more
than
one
brand.
The
main
market
segments
of
the
companies
surveyed
were
business
travel
and
groups
and
convention
business.
To
better
differentiate
the
knowledge
of
the
individual
taking
the
survey,
they
were
asked
to
rank
their
knowledge
of
social
media
in
general.
One
respondent
was
a
novice,
two
were
advanced
beginners,
three
claimed
to
be
competent,
nine
proficient,
and
one
claimed
expert
status
on
social
media.
It
is
good
to
see
that
most
people
feel
confident
in
their
knowledge
of
social
media
so
it
can
be
applied
to
their
perspective
companies.
Exhibit
B.
Does
your
organization
have
a
defined
social
media
policy?
Of
the
companies
surveyed,
50
percent
did
not
have
a
dedicated
position
responsible
for
overseeing
social
media.
The
50
percent
of
companies
who
did,
either
had
that
position
at
the
corporate
level,
property
level,
or
both.
Eighty
percent
of
companies
surveyed
did
have
a
defined
social
media
policy,
either
at
the
corporate
or
property
level.
So
even
if
there
isn’t
a
specific
person
at
a
property
responsible
for
overseeing
social
media,
the
company
has
some
type
of
guidelines
for
everyone
to
follow.
The
actual
position
26
that
was
responsible
for
social
media
varied
from
company
to
company.
In
six
companies,
the
Corporate
VP
of
Marketing
was
responsible
for
social
media,
while
the
Property
Director
of
Marketing
was
also
a
common
title,
and
sometimes
both
had
some
responsibility.
Some
newer
positions
include
VP
of
eCommerce
and
Director
of
Interactive
Media.
When
asked
if
they
use
an
outside
agency
to
assist
with
their
social
networking
campaign,
69
percent
of
companies
responded
no.
It
may
take
some
time
before
companies
are
willing
to
invest
in
outside
help
to
promote
themselves
through
social
media.
They
first
need
to
see
if
social
media
is
an
effective
form
of
marketing
before
investing
in
it.
Exhibit
C.
Frequency
of
social
networking
site
comment
monitoring
As
far
as
monitoring
comments
on
social
networking
sites,
75
percent
of
companies
monitor
their
sites
every
day,
and
the
rest
monitor
every
week.
Searching
on
their
own
was
the
most
common
form
of
monitoring
comments
on
sites.
Many
companies
are
beginning
to
employ
dedicated
software
as
well.
Some
companies
use
a
combination
of
their
own
search,
dedicated
software,
and
even
outsourcing
the
task.
Information
collected
from
27
social
media,
such
as
guest
feedback
or
reviews,
are
reported
at
company
meetings,
both
at
the
corporate
and
property
levels.
Exhibit
D.
Internal
use
of
social
networks
Companies
were
asked
about
their
use
of
social
networks
both
internally
(within
the
company)
and
externally
&
Twitter).
Sixty-‐three
percent
of
companies
feel
using
social
networks
internally
for
knowledge
sharing
was
important,
while
12.5
percent
felt
it
was
not
at
all
important.
Fifty
percent
of
companies
feel
it
is
important
to
use
internal
social
networks
for
training
purposes.
Fifty-‐six
percent
of
companies
felt
it
was
important
for
ongoing
dialogue
–
similar
to
the
Best
Buy
BlueShirt
Nation
community.
Companies
had
mixed
opinions
on
the
use
of
internal
social
networks
for
recruiting
purposes.
28
Exhibit
E.
External
use
of
social
networks
When
asked
about
the
importance
of
using
social
networks
to
respond
to
guests,
100
percent
of
the
companies
felt
this
was
either
important
or
extremely
important.
This
shows
they
understand
the
need
to
create
the
dialogue
with
guests.
Eighty-‐one
percent
of
companies
felt
using
social
networks
for
promotions
is
either
important
or
extremely
important.
Sixty-‐Three
percent
of
companies
felt
using
social
networks
for
advertisements
is
important
or
extremely
important.
This
goes
against
the
findings
in
Chapman’s
study
of
social
network
users
who
felt
advertisements
by
brands
were
obtrusive.
29
Exhibit
F.
Benefits;
Social
networking
sites:
Interestingly,
only
38
percent
of
companies
strongly
agree
that
social
networking
sites
are
an
integral
part
of
their
marketing
strategy,
while
60
percent
strongly
agree
they
should
be
an
integral
part
of
the
marketing
strategy.
This
shows
a
gap
in
actual
versus
ideal
practices.
Fifty-‐six
percent
of
companies
strongly
agree
that
social
media
provides
valuable
feedback
and
two-‐way
communication
with
their
customers.
Ninety-‐four
percent
of
companies
surveyed
either
somewhat
or
strongly
agree
that
social
media
generates
positive
word
of
mouth
about
their
company,
and
only
31
percent
strongly
agree
that
it
can
result
in
negative
brand
perceptions.
When
asked
whether
or
not
using
social
media
can
result
in
increased
revenue,
13
percent
somewhat
disagreed,
31
percent
were
not
sure,
and
56
percent
somewhat
or
strongly
agreed.
Opinions
are
still
mixed
as
to
whether
using
social
media
can
increase
the
bottom
line.
30
Exhibit
G.
Social
networking
sites
are
used:
Of
the
companies
surveyed,
56
percent
said
they
somewhat
agree
that
their
company
uses
social
networking
sites
to
increase
brand
loyalty,
promote
special
events,
promote
special
offers
or
pricing,
communicate
corporate
news,
and
to
adapt
their
offerings.
Ninety-‐four
percent
of
companies
use
social
networking
sites
to
respond
to
guest
feedback.
31
Exhibit
H.
Importance
of
social
networking
sites
Companies
were
asked
to
rate
specific
social
networking
sites
on
a
scale
from
1
to
5,
from
not
at
all
important
to
their
company
to
extremely
important
to
their
company.
Overwhelmingly,
the
most
important
social
networking
site
to
hotel
companies
is
TripAdvisor,
with
a
rating
of
4.94.
The
second
most
important
was
at
4.50,
followed
closely
by
Facebook,
at
4.31.
The
least
important
social
networking
site
to
hotel
companies
is
MySpace,
with
a
rating
of
2.33.
Corresponding
to
that,
93
percent
of
companies
never
or
rarely
post
content
on
MySpace.
56
percent
of
companies
post
content
on
every
day,
and
37
percent
tweet
at
least
every
week.
32
Exhibit
I.
Success
measurement
As
for
success
measurement,
most
companies
seem
to
be
on
the
right
track.
63
percent
say
they
use
customer
engagement,
that
is
fans
posting
to
them,
as
a
success
measure.
Only
25
percent
of
companies
are
still
using
fan
base
numbers
to
measure
their
success.
A
detailed
report
of
the
survey
findings
can
be
founding
appendix
B.
Discussion
&
Conclusion
The
findings
from
the
research
survey
and
Internet
search
shed
light
on
the
current
practices
of
hotel
companies
with
regards
to
social
media
marketing.
Most
United
States
companies
have
some
presence
on
either
Facebook,
Twitter,
or
both.
The
most
interesting
finding
from
the
survey
is
that
hotel
companies
feel
TripAdvisor
is
more
important
than
either
or
Twitter.
TripAdvisor
is
considered
a
social
network
because
users
create
a
profile
before
writing
reviews
about
hotels
and
attractions.
It
has
become
commonplace
for
travelers
to
research
hotels
on
TripAdvisor
before
making
a
travel
purchase.
Unfortunately,
a
bad
review
on
TripAdvisor
can
have
lasting
effects
on
a
hotel
if
33
comments
are
not
monitored
regularly.
Additional
research
should
be
conducted
on
the
impact
that
TripAdvisor,
a
social
network,
has
on
hotels.
The
volume
of
data
available
and
the
rapid
exponential
growth
of
social
networks
sites
make
it
difficult
to
accurately
measure
true
usage
patterns
and
practices.
By
the
time
you
collect
and
analyze
industry
data,
it
is
already
outdated.
This
is
where
it
becomes
important
for
hotel
companies
to
start
investing
in
outside
agencies
for
help
with
their
social
media
campaigns.
It’s
becoming
too
burdensome
for
each
property
to
monitor
individual
social
media
comments
on
a
regular
basis.
Software
has
recently
been
developed
that
can
help
companies
cope
with
the
onslaught
of
social
media
information.
For
example,
Revinate
is
a
relatively
new
software
application
created
specifically
for
hotel
companies
to
track
and
manage
all
mentions
of
the
hotel
across
multiple
online
channels.
The
software
automatically
tracks
all
reviews
and
social
media
for
the
company,
as
well
as
their
competition.
It
can
change
the
way
companies
approach
their
social
media
campaign.
Current
clients
of
Revinate
include
Intercontinental
Hotels,
Andaz,
Trump
Hotel
Collection,
and
Kimpton
Hotels.
At
this
point,
there
is
not
enough
data
available
that
shows
a
direct
link
between
social
media
marketing
and
increased
revenue,
so
hotels
are
hesitant
to
invest
money
in
outside
help.
Unfortunately,
they
are
spending
valuable
time
resources
by
tasking
current
employees
with
monitoring
daily
social
media,
when
they
could
instead
be
focusing
on
overall
marketing
strategy.
It
seems
that
most
hotel
companies
researched
and
surveyed
are
using
social
media
for
marketing
to
some
extent.
It
would
have
been
interesting
to
survey
hotel
companies
that
are
not
using
social
media,
or
not
using
it
effectively,
and
ask
why.
Is
it
a
conscious
decision
to
have
no
presence
on
these
platforms?
Do
executives
feel
social
media
detracts
from
the
luxury
brand
image
they
are
known
for?
If
you
agree
with
the
Dow
Jones
34
Enterprise
Media
Group
publication,
The
Conversational
Corporation,
then
social
media
marketing
for
any
segment
of
hotel
chain
is
of
the
utmost
importance
because
the
upcoming
generation
of
guests
are
using
social
media
on
a
daily
basis.
If
hotel
companies
do
not
learn
how
to
harness
this
marketing
channel
now,
while
it
is
in
its
infancy,
they
will
be
at
a
severe
disadvantage
when
the
upcoming
generations
become
key
demand
generators.
With
the
rapid
advancement
of
technology,
hotel
companies
have
to
work
diligently
to
stay
on
the
top
of
their
game.
It
was
not
long
ago
that
it
became
essential
for
hotels
to
have
a
webpage,
and
then
an
online
reservation
system,
and
now
a
social
media
campaign.
All
of
these
changes
have
occurred
in
a
very
short
amount
of
time,
especially
compared
to
how
long
hotels
have
been
in
operation.
It’s
time
for
hotel
companies
to
start
taking
social
media
marketing
seriously
and
see
it
as
an
investment
in
the
bottom
line.
Limitations
The
only
limitation
in
conducting
the
online
survey
was
sample
size.
This
was
due
to
time
available
and
type
of
distribution.
The
small
sample
size
does
not
provide
for
results
that
can
be
generalized
for
the
entire
industry.
It
is
possible
the
data
may
be
skewed
because
many
respondents
were
either
UNH
graduates,
or
were
invited
through
Twitter,
which
shows
they
already
use
social
networking.
If
there
were
more
time
available,
the
sample
size
would
have
been
larger
to
better
differentiate
and
randomize
the
respondents.
35
Index
of
Tables
&
Exhibits
Table
A.
Companies
included
in
Internet
Search................................................................ 15
Exhibit
A.
Categories
of
company
respondents.................................................................. 25
Exhibit
B.
Does
your
organization
have
a
defined
SM
policy? ..................................... 26
Exhibit
C.
Frequency
of
SNS
comment
monitoring............................................................ 27
Exhibit
D.
Internal
use
of
social
networking ........................................................................ 28
Exhibit
E.
External
use
of
social
networking ........................................................................ 29
Exhibit
F.
Benefits............................................................................................................................. 30
Exhibit
G.
Use
of
social
networking
sites ............................................................................... 31
Exhibit
H.
Importance
of
social
networking
sites............................................................... 32
Exhibit
I.
Success
measurement................................................................................................. 33
36
Appendix
A.
Internet
search
Data
(As
of
February
2010)
Company Four Seasons Corporate Maui San Francisco Las Angeles Austin Lanai Seattle Tokyo Palo Alto Philadelphia Hualalai Boston Bangkok Ritz Carlton Global Laguna Chicago Mandarin Oriental Corporate Las Vegas Miami New York Riviera Maya London Washington, D.C. Boston San Francisco Intercontinental World Concierge Abu Dhabi Boston San Francisco Sydney Kansas City Frankfurt Sao Paulo Toronto Tokyo Houston Hilton Hilton Online Hilton GoSocial JW Marriott LA Live Followers 9273 1878 811 1291 1630 1112 1584 508 848 848 682 1123 857 2040 1000 376 548 764 938 716 615 446 489 300 112 1771 997 524 398 287 278 300 258 161 203 121 1768 872 696 Following 43 148 203 607 281 291 446 85 62 168 68 87 782 6 350 43 886 160 456 559 323 56 368 148 9 1618 1306 82 122 65 65 75 115 50 282 19 223 682 59 Listed 481 123 80 95 131 100 93 44 49 59 57 85 70 112 69 30 46 113 58 75 45 39 39 30 17 115 15 48 21 23 11 34 7 7 29 8 172 63 36 Tweets 1962 787 574 514 891 1632 954 206 437 967 314 700 600 6 401 7 157 155 136 491 491 111 94 122 9 734 17 251 131 136 18 59 121 32 50 82 605 712 217
37
Denver Grand Rapids, MI Concierge, Costa Rica Hyatt Concierge Austin Vancouver St. Louis Irvine Shangri La Austin Vancouver Westin Las Angeles Boston Columbus Kierland (Scottsdale) Peninsula
724 462 114 9729 3489 3192 2924 1925 558 18 1971 1710 1245 1144 106
591 435 435 7007 3816 3403 3125 2097 545 0 1267 2004 1023 624 20
39 7 7 428 95 113 62 63 46 4 112 45 60 60 3
167 130 130 1636 971 361 136 1361 94 0 1606 1852 225 225 0
38
Appendix
B.
Survey
Responses
My
Report
Last
Modified:
05/03/2010
1.
Your
position:
Text
Response
Managing
Director
Vice
President
Marketing
&
eCommerce
General
Manager
Sr.
eCommerce
Manager
General
Manager
Marketing
Manager
Web
&
Communications
Manager
Interactive
marketing
manager
Managing
Director
E-‐Commerce
Executive
SVP,
Owner
and
Franchise
Services
Interactive
Marketing
Manager
General
Manager
Director
of
Public
Relations
Director
of
Marketing
Controller
39
2.
At
which
level
are
you
a
manager?
#
Answer
1
A
Single
Property
2
Multiple
Properties
3
Regional
Division
4
National
Division
5
International
Division
Total
Response
7
3
1
5
0
16
%
44%
19%
6%
31%
0%
100%
3.
Type
of
Hotel
(check
all
that
apply)
#
Answer
1
Independent
2
Chain
3
Resort
4
City
5
Convention
6
Suite
7
Other
Response
1
12
6
4
4
1
0
%
6%
75%
38%
25%
25%
6%
0%
4.
What
category
does
your
property
or
company
fall
within?
#
Answer
1
Full
Service
(4-‐5
Stars)
2
Mid
Range
(3
stars)
3
Budget
4
Other
Response
12
6
1
0
%
80%
40%
7%
0%
5.
How
many
properties
are
in
the
chain?
Text
Response
2,500
3000+
83
In
the
USA,
there
are
15
properties.
1000
It
is
not
a
chain.
I
oversee
the
interactive
marketing
efforts
for
two
Las
Vegas
hotels
40
6.
Please
rank
your
main
market
segments,
with
1
being
the
highest
and
4
being
the
lowest:
#
Answer
1
Business
2
Leisure
3
Groups
&
Conventions
4
Other
Total
1
8
2
6
0
2
5
7
5
0
3
3
7
5
0
4
Responses
0
0
0
6
16
16
16
6
16
17
15
6
Statistic
Business
Leisure
Groups
&
Conventions
Other
Mean
1.69
2.31
1.94
4.00
7.
Do
you
have
a
full-time,
dedicated
position
responsible
for
overseeing
social
media?
(check
all
that
apply)
#
Answer
1
No
2
Not
Sure
3
Yes,
property
level
4
Yes,
corporate
level
Response
8
0
4
7
%
50%
0%
25%
44%
8.
Does
your
organization
have
a
defined
social
media
policy?
(check
all
that
apply)
#
Answer
1
No
2
Not
Sure
3
Yes,
property
level
4
Yes,
corporate
level
Response
3
0
4
10
%
19%
0%
25%
63%
9.
Do
you
utilize
an
outside
agency
to
assist
with
your
social
networking
campaign?
#
Answer
1
Yes
2
No
Response
5
11
%
31%
69%
41
10.
Whether
or
not
your
organization
has
a
dedicated
position
responsible
for
overseeing
social
media,
who
is
the
executive
or
manager
responsible
for
social
media
policy(check
all
that
apply)
#
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Answer
Corporate
VP
Marketing
Corporate
PR
Director
Corporate
Brand
Manager
Corporate
VP
Operations
Property
GM
Property
Director
of
Marketing
Property
PR
Director
Property
Rooms
Division
Manager
Property
Other
Response
6
3
3
0
2
5
3
0
0
6
1
%
38%
19%
19%
0%
13%
31%
19%
0%
0%
38%
6%
10
Corporate
Other
11
N/A
Property
Other
Corporate
Other
VP
eCommerce
Director
of
IT
Web
&
Communications
VP
Ecommerce
Director
Marketing
11.
How
often
does
someone
in
your
company
monitor
social
networking
comments?
#
Answer
1
Every
Day
2
Every
Week
3
Every
Month
4
Rarely
5
Never
Response
12
4
0
0
0
%
75%
25%
0%
0%
0%
42
12.
If
your
company
monitors
content
social
networking
platforms,
what
process
do
they
use?
(check
all
that
apply)
#
Answer
1
Own
search
2
Dedicated
software
3
Outsourced
4
Other
5
N/A
Response
12
9
4
1
0
%
75%
56%
25%
6%
0%
Other
RSS
Feeds,
Alerts
13.
How
does
your
company
communicate
the
results
obtained
from
social
media
sources
to
other
employees?
(check
all
that
apply)
#
Answer
1
Corporate
executive
meetings/reports
Property
departmental
meetings/reports
Response
11
10
7
6
0
0
%
69%
63%
44%
38%
0%
0%
2
Property
executive
meetings/reports
3
4
Property
staff
meetings/reports
5
Other
6
N/A
43
14.
Please
rate
the
importance
of
your
company’s
use
of
social
network
platforms
(externally
-
in
front
of
firewall):
Not
at
all
importa nt
1
0
0
0
0
Neither
Somewhat
Important
Unimport nor
Unimport ant
ant
3
2
4
0
0
1
1
3
0
0
Importa nt
Extreme ly
Importa nt
4
7
2
11
1
N/ A
Respons es
Mea n
#
Question
1
Advertiseme nts
Corporate
Information
Responses
to
Guests
6
6
7
5
0
1
0
0
0
1
16
16
16
16
2
3.75
4.13
3.44
4.69
5.50
2
Promotions
3
4
5
Other
Other
communicating
events
or
activities
in
our
communities
Statistic
Advertisements
Promotions
Corporate
Information
Responses
to
Guests
Other
Mean
3.75
4.13
3.44
4.69
5.50
15.
Please
rate
the
importance
of
your
company’s
use
of
social
network
platforms
(internally
-
behind
firewall):
Not
at
all
importa nt
2
2
1
2
0
Neither
Somewhat
Important
nor
Unimporta nt
Unimporta nt
0
2
0
3
0
0
3
3
4
0
Importa nt
Extreme ly
Importa nt
3
0
2
0
0
N/ A
Respons es
Mea n
#
Question
1
Knowledg e
sharing
Ongoing
dialogue
Recruitme nt
10
8
9
6
1
1
1
1
1
2
16
16
16
16
3
3.94
3.31
3.88
3.13
5.33
2
Training
3
4
5
Other
Statistic
Knowledge
sharing
Training
Ongoing
dialogue
Recruitment
Other
Mean
3.94
3.31
3.88
3.13
5.33
44
16.
Social
networking
sites:
(choose
the
circle
that
applies
to
how
much
you
agree
or
disagree
with
the
following
statements)
#
Question
Are
an
integral
part
of
our
1
marketing
strategy
Should
be
an
integral
part
of
2
our
marketing
strategy
Provide
valuable
3
feedback
from
our
customers
Provide
two-‐way
communication
4
with
our
customers
Generate
positive
5
word
of
mouth
for
our
company
Can
result
in
6
negative
brand
perceptions
Result
in
7
improved
customer
loyalty
Result
in
8
increased
revenue
Strongly
Disagree
0
Somewhat
Disagree
4
Not
Somewhat
Strongly
Responses
Mean
Sure
Agree
Agree
0
6
6
16
3.88
0
2
0
4
9
15
4.33
0
0
0
7
9
16
4.56
0
0
1
6
9
16
4.50
0
0
1
8
7
16
4.38
0
5
2
4
5
16
3.56
0
2
1
9
4
16
3.94
0
2
5
6
3
16
3.63
Are
an
integral
part
of
our
marketi ng
strategy
3.88
Should
be
an
integral
part
of
our
marketi ng
strategy
4.33
Provide
valuable
Provide
two-‐ way
feedbac k
from
communicati on
with
our
our
customers
custome rs
4.56
4.50
Genera te
positiv e
word
of
mouth
for
our
compa ny
4.38
Can
result
in
negative
brand
perceptio ns
3.56
Result
in
improv ed
custom er
loyalty
3.94
Result
in
increas ed
revenu e
3.63
Statist ic
Mean
45
17.
Our
company
uses
social
networking
sites:
(choose
the
circle
that
applies
to
how
much
you
agree
or
disagree
with
the
following
statements)
#
Question
1
2
To
increase
brand
loyalty
To
promote
special
events
Strongly
Disagree
0
0
0
Somewhat
Disagree
2
1
2
Not
Sure
1
0
0
Somewhat
agree
9
9
9
Strongly
Agree
4
6
5
Responses
Mean
16
16
16
3.94
4.25
4.06
To
promote
3
special
offers
or
pricing
To
4
communicate
property
news
To
5
communicate
corporate
news
6
7
8
To
adapt
our
offerings
To
respond
to
guest
feedback
To
drive
people
to
our
website
0
2
1
7
6
16
4.06
1
0
0
1
0
3
2
1
0
1
0
2
0
3
0
9
9
8
7
0
3
3
7
4
2
To
respon d
to
guest
feedba ck
4.31
16
16
16
15
3
To
drive
peopl e
to
our
websi te
3.87
3.63
3.81
4.31
3.87
4.00
9
Other
To
To
To
promo increa promo te
se
te
special
brand
special
offers
loyalty
events
or
pricing
3.94
4.25
4.06
To
communic ate
property
news
4.06
To
communic ate
corporate
news
3.63
To
adapt
our
offerin gs
3.81
Statist ic
Othe r
Mean
4.00
46
18.
How
important
are
the
following
social
network
sites
to
your
company?
Not
at
all
importan t
0
0
2
5
2
1
0
Somewhat
Unimporta nt
1
1
0
2
1
2
0
Neither
Important
nor
Unimporta nt
1
1
3
6
4
5
0
Importan t
6
3
4
2
4
7
1
Extremel y
Importan t
8
11
6
0
4
1
15
Response s
16
16
15
15
15
16
16
Mea n
4.31
4.50
3.80
2.33
3.47
3.31
4.94
#
Question
1
2
3
YouTube
4
MySpace
5
Flickr
6
7
TripAdviso r
Mobile
device
8
application s
9
Other
1
0
2
0
2
2
4
1
5
1
14
4
3.71
3.75
Other
Yelp,
FourSquare
other
review
sites:
ex.
Yelp
Statisti c
Mean
Faceboo k
4.31
Twitte r
4.50
YouTub e
3.80
MySpac e
2.33
Flick r
3.47
Linkedi n
3.31
TripAdvis or
4.94
Mobile
device
applicatio ns
3.71
Othe r
3.75
47
19.
How
often
does
your
company/property
post
content
on:
#
Question
1
2
3
YouTube
4
MySpace
5
Flickr
6
7
TripAdvisor
8
Mobile
device
applications
Every
Day
6
9
1
0
0
2
2
2
0
Every
Week
8
6
2
1
3
0
7
2
0
Every
Month
1
0
3
0
2
3
4
3
1
Rarely
Never
Responses
Mean
0
1
4
3
5
4
2
3
0
1
0
3
10
4
6
0
2
1
16
16
13
14
14
15
15
12
2
1.88
1.56
3.46
4.57
3.71
3.80
2.40
3.08
4.00
9
Other
Other
Yelp,
Foursquare
Statisti c
Mean
Faceboo k
1.88
Twitte r
1.56
YouTub e
3.46
MySpac e
4.57
Flick r
3.71
Linkedi n
3.80
TripAdvis or
2.40
Mobile
device
applicatio ns
3.08
Othe r
4.00
20.
What
is
your
success
measurement
of
social
networking?
#
Answer
1
2
3
Customer
engagement
(fans
posting
to
you)
Building
a
fan
base
(from
0-‐1000
fans
in
X
days)
Fan
retention
(can
you
maintain
your
fanbase)
Total
Response
10
4
1
1
16
%
63%
25%
6%
6%
100%
4
Other
Other
all
of
the
above
+
referral
traffic
48
21.
Please
rank
your
knowledge
of
social
networking
in
general:
#
Question
Social
1
Networking
Knowledge
Novice
1
Advanced
Beginner
2
Competent
Proficient
Expert
Responses
Mean
3
9
1
16
3.44
22.
Additional
Comments:
Text
Response
Whilst
widely
accepted
as
the
way
forward
for
competing
hotels,
there
is
still
too
much
hesitation
and
disregard
due
to
a
lack
of
understanding
in
senior
management.
There
are
too
many
comments
made
towards
"only
for
the
young
ones"
when
these
portals
provide
the
direct
way
to
our
customer.
"Expert"
is
a
term
I
use
loosely
when
describing
my
position.
Obviously,
it
is
often
joked
about
that
no
one
is
ever
truely
an
"expert"
due
to
the
ever-‐changing,
fast
paced
growth
of
the
Social
Networking
/
Social
Media
scene.
I
do
my
best
to
stay
on
top
of
the
networks
that
are
most
important
to
our
company
and
our
brand.
49
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