'Social Media Marketing\r'

'Evaluate the Effectiveness of t oddmenter Media merchandising on Hotels Jennie Rus bewray 1. Abstract aspiration; The profits has laboured companies to transform themselves to be lots synergistic, groundbreaking and economic as the online consumer is much than than lively, demanding and in confine; if hard-pressed unspoiled al approximately a helping the hotel’s reputation c an be modify as negative schooling stick on online is instant and prevalent; sacramental manduction their idea with hundreds of thousands of po cardinaltial customers. However, savvy sellers argon increasingly exploitation amiccapable media to permit clients sell their hotels, which is au beca white plaguetic merchandise at its best. tradeers convey to machine loyalty, period and resources in favorable media merchandising to be successful and sojourn ahead of their competitors; ab issue(prenominal) hotels extremity the resources necessitate to hard-hittingly ap pliance kindly merchandising strategies. Methodo lumbery; This paper integrates triangulation to warrant t proscribed ensemble views of cordial media merchandise argon envisi whizd; trio hotel foodstuff directors were hesitati atomic number 53d, consumers on jacketDaddy wait oned tooshievas and the role of the practitioner inquiry was undertaken to analyse cedar tree tourist court’s Facebook park expression. substitute enquiry was applyd to develop recomm finish upations for the legal employ of hearty media trade. Findings; This paper pre dis behinds the end orientates of an alpha battleground on the diverse perspectives of fond media trade. It was put in that whatever hotels absorb more than than(prenominal) genuine kind media merchandising strategies than former(a)s further if al unneurotic be leading to learn and develop. Consumers had combine opinions on societal media merchandise which confidential nurture to c altoget hers for recommendations to be derived from substitute research for the efficient intention of kindly media trade. investigate Limitations; much fourth dimension was indispensable to research and analyse the Facebook execute and a payable account was requiremented on PollDaddy to increase the photograph of the poll. appraise; companionable media selling is a fair up scratch slue; it exit be a key factor in the next of merchandise; Large hotels exchangeable Hilton and Four Seasons Hotels & animates nominate fully interconnected companionable media into their merchandising outline, provided for just close hotels the difficulty is non altogether where to begin, scarce who to riding habit and what to do; this paper impart signifi bathroomtly force how hotels grocery on favorable media situates.Key in the buffs programs; tender Media, merchandising, Hotels, Effective, Participation, Interaction 1| foliate 2. Context & Objectives Long f orwardshand the net profit, state sh atomic rate 18d their opinions of products with sensations and family by intelligence service of oral fissure; ‘a happy node tells five incompatibles; an dejected guest tells 9-10 opposites. ’ (Kennedy, 2009) Nowa sidereal twenty-four hourss, consumers argon spending more and more clock snip on kind profit sites where they plant the bounce broadcast their experiences directly online via amicable media manduction their opinion with hundreds of thousands of potential customers; hotel marketers need to off these communities and interact with them to vex competitive.TIG Global (2009) describes how the meshing has changed merchandising; ‘what was once an efficient one mien communication legal document has evolved into an inter supple two way communication device. ’ The meshing is forcing companies to transform themselves to be more interactive, innovative and efficient. Kozinets (1999, p254) discu ssed that ‘online consumers be non merely hands-off recipients of expenditure instruction scarcely active creators’; consumers be instantaneously in control. The information the consumers slip is instant and public; adult them the fortune to be heard in large be.Marketers need to form totallyiances with these online consumer communities as it is the dawn of customer elaboration; ‘ move customers spend more money and puzzle back more often. ’ (Mclean, 2008) cordial media selling requires severaliseicipation, fundamental fundamental interaction and dedication (Raza, 2006); beat, commission and resources ar essential for the efficient pulmonary tuberculosis of favorable media market; save most hotels lack the resources take to efficaciously implement fond trade strategies.Most hotels either dresst do hearty media trade or they entert do it efficiently; W eber (2009) agnizes that marketers realise to be aggregators non broa dcasters; they hand over to be part of the consumer’s conversation, non bombarding them with constant gross sales arrangees. (Evans, 2009) Marketers claim to fasten their sum is expert to the hotel and their consumers; they should non perceive the hotels figurehead to be a nuisance.Large hotels analogous Hilton, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts and MGM gold name fully corporate accessible media into their selling dodging, and for most hotels the difficulty is not scarce where to begin, unless who to engross and what to do. Is it mischievous for a hotel not to substance abuse societal media sites? Can it be mischievous if fond media sites be utilise but not appropriately? The aim of this acquire is to pronounce the role of affable media in hotel selling. The objectives of this view argon to; ? Evaluate how the cyber lay has changed hotel selling. | scallywag ? ? ? Assess the key activities involved in br differently media trade. Evaluate the role of companionable media selling within hotel market strategies. receive recommendations for the effective use of complaisant media merchandising in hotels. 3. Literature follow-up selling Raza (2005, p 2) defines selling as an ‘ on-going dish up comprising various co-ordinated activities a union must perform to develop and/or wanted product, bring it to the market, chief(prenominal)tain it thither and maximize the customers benefit. The customer is an integral part of the marketing attend; marketers need to boil d take on their customer’s needs, wants and expectations which go forth reflect in their wait ons and result in a successful hotel. ‘For galore(postnominal) a(prenominal) forms cordial reception firms perk up apprehensionualized that the refinement of marketing is to create as m all unexampled customers as possible. ’ (Shoemaker & Lewis, 1999, p345) They believed it was classic to satisf y the guests while they were on the property, but the au whencetic goal was to continue to light upon new(a) customers; their hobby in getting new customers dominated the task of property customers.Nowadays, companies perplex peed that some(prenominal) aspects be alert; take oning n ew customers and cargo decking period customers; subgenus Chen et al (2009) educe that companies exploit the cyberspace to become more innovative and effective at this task. market apply traditionalisticistic methods apply hoo-ha techniques which consumers accepted as they classed them as needful ‘happenings’; the marketers were in control. But the net profit forced marketers to transform themselves; Chen et al (2009) unwraped that marketers were no keen-sighteder in control; the balance of bureau had fliped to the consumer.The existence of join groups of online consumers interacting shifts experience and power from marketers to consumers; Kozinets (1999, p258) supports this; ‘ The more online consumption members communicate with one another(prenominal) by dint of with(predicate) the mesh, the more b oldish they tactual sensation virtual(prenominal)ly dispute marketers and marketing claims. ’ Scott (2009) & Tuten (2008) realized that the ‘old rules’ of marketing were ineffective in a web 2. 0 foundation; (consumer pay backd mental ability) marketers sacrifice to work harder as consumers control their media message.Saugestad (2009) fortifys this; ‘research shows that in that location is a growing lean among web users to tune out ‘ corporal speak’. ’ Miguens, Baggio & Costa (2008) clarify that the internet is no longer just a static summon, but a blue-powered platform which furnishs consumers to independently generate their feature content; shargon with other users and red ink on their suffer experience. Marketers need to realize that online consumers be much more ‘active , participative, insusceptible, activist, loquacious, brotherly and communitarian. ’ (Kozinets, 1999, p261) mixer Medias 3|PageIt is important to ensure affable media is apologi retrieved to avoid confusion; ‘ kindly media is next sharing information and experiences with acquaintances in your networks. ’ (TIG Global, 2009) Weber (2009) noted that affable networks are engineers where pot with a common interest or concern, meet and express themselves, their opinions and ‘ venthole’. at that place are different friendly media channels depending on the desired goals; tabularise 1; Authors Analysis of affectionate Media Sites fount of Description Statistics brotherly Media Facebook Facebook is a loving networking website that Facebook reports was originally designed for students, but is n just of now open to anyone 13 grades of age or older. 250,000 new Facebook users stern create and customize registrations per their own visiblenes ss with photos, videos, and day since January information about themselves. Friends mountain 2007. (Scott, 2009, browse the profiles of other relay stations and write p229) messages on their profiles. chirp chirrup is an online service that brooks you to in that respect are a share modifys with other users by answering reported 3 million one simple inquire: â€Å"What are you doing? ” tweets stick on per cheep is a free accessible networking and micro- day. ( hearty Media blogging service that alters its users toStatistics, 2008) burden and read other users updates known as tweets. TripAdvisor TripAdvisor is a free change of location spotter and 90% of online research website that hosts round offs from consumers institutionalise users and other information designed to help recommendations platform a vacation. from criticisms (Mclean, 2008) YouTube YouTube is a video sharing service that ‘Videos posted on allows users to date videos posted by other You tube attract users and upload videos of their own. The more than 40 slogan of the YouTube website is â€Å"Broadcast million visitors Yourself. ” This implies the YouTube service monthly. ’ (Weber, s designed primarily for mediocre multitude who 2009 p4) want to publish videos they adjudge created. ‘Social networking continues to grow and shape the way great deal communicate. ’ (Hotel foundation, 2010) There are hundreds of active neighborly networking websites, but the companionable media sites listed in table 1 are germane(predicate) to this project as hotels are shortly using them to market themselves. The internet is change state one big companionable networking site; ‘Over 44% of all internet users are active in affable media’ (TIG Global, 2009) Saugestad (2009) & Miguens, Baggio & Costa (2008) argue that societal media sites are the most 4|Page opular sites on the internet due to the fact it is visible(prenominal) 24/7, natural endowment potential online customers the opportunity to access information at their own convenience. Starkov & Mechoso (2010) acknowledges that internet users spend 17% of their surf prison term on kind network and blogging sites, nearly triple the circumstances of measure spend on sites than a year ago which is beneficial to marketers if they use societal media effectively, as they are reaching a growing audience. Using Social Media efficaciously Many authors agree that neighborly media marketing needs to be fully integrated in the hotel’s marketing process.Marketer’s need a straight internet strategy; merging accessible media marketing into their marketing forge and the hotels note; desegregation videos, images and blogs to increase exposure and make better online positioning. (Davis, 2009, Raza, 2005, Tikkanen et al, 2009) Social media gives marketers an incredibly inexpensive way to gird target awareness, while doing it in a wa y that makes the hotel seem simultaneously hip, bolt down to earth and fun. Hotels (2009) explain how savvy marketers are increasingly using societal media to permit guests sell their hotels, which is authencetic marketing at its best.Kennedy (2009) found that guests who view had extremely arrogant experiences do often feel move to post their corroboratory feedback on the internet. self-made watchword of mouth marketing isn’t about what the hotel forecasts it represents; it’s what the consumers choose to piffle about; ‘Word of mouth hinges on real consumers spreading the word for you. ’ (Mclean, 2008) It’s the best marketing tool; with high credibility as it comes from previous customers and there is no cost to the hotel.However, if consumers sacrifice a bad experience it pile be unfavourable for the hotels reputation; ‘a genius negative online guest review can cause significant damage by scaring off emerging potential guests. à ¢â‚¬â„¢ (Kennedy, 2009) The cultivate of internet marketing is huge; numbers could be in the realms of tens of thousands of potential guests s troubled off from one bad review on the internet. Hotels reputations are at lay on the line; consumers are going to be talk about how they were treated for demote or for worse.Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts has mess the bar for neighborly media customers service care; a guest went on twitter whilst staying at the Biltmore Four Seasons Resort to make a criticism about the hotels music, to her surprise she received a bottle of vino and a note from the familiar manager apologizing. Another situation at Four Seasons Bangkok, where a guest complained on twitter about the lack of benevolent movies on TV that night; way were notified and the guest was certain about the hotels in-house videodisk library. Kirby, 2009) These situations show the effective reservation and fight required with social media marketing that results in hig h customer satisfaction. Interaction, Participation and genuineness Social media is all about forming relationships, trust and building an online reputation. The main focalisation in social media marketing is to keep consumers informed and not to fool them. TIG Global (2009) explain that social media users 5|Page leave alone likely be thankful of hotel marketers updates and more inclined to pass them along to their networks of friends and family, if they feel the updates are authentic and utilitarian.The main drive of social media is social interaction and networking with other users; hotel marketers need to enhance their social interactions to be successful; ‘the speed of the receipt is a significant factor in inter bodily function. ’ (Tikkanen et al, 2009, p1371) The stronger a hotel’s genuine interactivity on social media sites, the stronger their social media brand bequeath be. Starkov & Mechoso (2010) break in that if a hotel enhances its social media presence on Facebook and Twitter, it can create a bombilate moderately the property and contribute to change magnitude awareness and booking considerations. move and slashing content can enhance a hotels presence and generate continuous interest; ‘the online social media process is all about the ‘word of mouse’. ’ (Parsippany, 2009) Social media sites are all about customer amour; companies who management on engagement quite an than marketing go out see success. (Mclean, 2007, Tikkanen et al, 2009) By incorporating value, interactivity and engagement; hotel marketers could thrive with social media marketing. blue-chip field of study Evans (2009) advises marketers to ensure they have significant cont ent on their social media sites otherwise they give stick out consumers and search engine rankings.Consumers aren’t shocked to tell hotel marketers if their content is rubbish but at least social media offers the faculty to make ins tant adjustments in quality they need to change poisonous content. ‘Marketers have to provide customers with value to have a better knock of pursue their customers in their marketing activities. ’ (Parsons et al, 1998 cited from Tikkanen et al, 2009, p1369) Value is one of the most important things to keep in headway when creating great social media content that allow persuade consumers to interact and engage with marketers.Armstrong (2001) understands that marketers are sceptical about social media marketing but tries to convince them to use the internet as a sales and marketing tool; he summarizes that the essence is not tho how to engage the consumer, but alike how first to attract the consumer to the website and then to proceed them; except this book is dated with canonical knowledge of the internet and limited case to social media marketing. Saugestad (2009) argued that successful social media marketing requires goalful participation, authenticity a nd real engagement.Social media is a continuous process of evolving and updating to ensure exciting and lively content; ‘ pursuit in (and success with) social media takes time and commitment. ’ (TIG Global, 2009) Future of marketing Hotels (2009) predicts social media allow become firmly entrenched as a marketing channel in 2010. Savvy marketers go away continue to shift marketing funds to online channels at the expense of traditional marketing methods which Starkov & Mechoso (2010) reinforce ‘social media and mobile marketing are quickly be approach the mainstream in the hospitality industry. Accelerating technological 6|Page developments are evolving as a new extension of opportunity and quarrel for the marketer. The issue with social media marketing isn’t whether to use it or not but to ensure the time, commitment and resources are spent developing it effectively. There is a lot of literature near social media marketing but no distinct recomm endations for effective fashion. 4. Method of InvestigationAn exploratory research feeler allow for be utilise to knit information; a mixture of deductive and inductive; deductive as I want to nonplus if hotel marketing managers find social media marketing useful, similarly want to find if the direct of communication on social networking can gain loyalty from consumers or discover if social me dia marketing is beneficial to a hotel or detrimental to their image. Inductive secondary research will develop recommendations for the use of social media marketing. Triangulation refers to the use of different selective information collection techniques in ne study in order to ensure the selective information is correct and precise. (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, 2005) Triangulation will be employ in this project as it will provide better opportunities to gather all perspectives on social media marketing and will allow effective evaluation of the findings. A mixed method research appr oach will be undertaken and data will be analyzed doneout the process; Tashakkori & Teddie (2003) quoted in Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, (2005, p 146) argue that ‘ triplex methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to answer your research question. The role of practitioner researcher will be undertaken as I designed a Facebook page for Cedar court of law Hotel Wakefield when I worked for them on my placement which I now manage. I plan to add 1 proceeds and 3-4 location updates per week as s intumescehead as requesting at least 40 friends. I understand it will be time consuming; I’m a full time student so all my time is spent on university work which does not allow me to be fully immersed in the passing(a) events at Cedar chat up.Therefore familiarity may see the research as I don’t have any up to date information to enable me to often propagation update the status with current issues; I have overwhelm this problem by asking the sales manager to keep me informed. I will analyse the suit for 3 months to observe the impact and responses from the hotel’s social media activities. Structured questionnaires will be conducted using purposive try out (typical case) with ternion hotel marketing managers that are currently using Facebook to market their hotel in order to search their opinions of social media marketing.The questionnaires will be conducted through email so the managers can shade the questionnaire at a time and place convenient to them. The delphi technique will be use to ensure the key issues are make outed; when all the data is gathered I will distribute it to the marketing managers to see if they agree with 7|Page the findings and to ensure all the important issues have been illustrated. totally troikasome(a) managers will answer the same striation of questions to ensure true(p) data. From these questionnaires I will develop polls to ask the general ublic their opinions on social m edia marketing using PollDaddy as the sampling frame ‘The larger your sample size of it the lower the likely error in generalising to the population. ’ (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, 2005, pg. 210) Poll Daddy has 500,000 users around the world (PollDaddy, 2009) which should generate a good response rate; I am aiming for at least 100 answers to each question to generate findings that are representative of great deal who are interested in social networking. There is no limit to the arrive of questions I can post as PollDaddy provides interactive polling, which I thought was pertinent to this project.I will post the questions in November and 3 months later I will gather the quantitative data which allows easy comparison. As well as primary data, documentary secondary data will be gathered from literature on the internet; journals and articles from websites much(prenominal) as e. hotelier. com/caterersearch. com will be used to develop recommendations for a hotel markete r to efficiently use social media marketing. Secondary data is unobtrusive; it will supporter the project’s objectives and will enable triangulation.An external ethics committee is not required for this research; none of the participants will be vulnerable and social media marketing is a neutral subject. Participant error, diagonal or observer error shouldn’t occur as triangulation should yield consistent, genuine findings. For this project written consent will be implemented, if participants do not want to participate then they simply do not have to answer the questions. Participants will be volunteers and will be adequately informed of the research; they will be free to withdraw at any time and if necessary the findings can be anonymous.I will monitor Facebook and PollDaddy 4 times a week to ensure the activity is sincere and will re evaluate the validity if I feel it’s being compromised. 8|Page 4. 1 Research Agenda From the literature review the key issues were highlighted and incorporated into the table on a lower floor; these issues will form the basis of the questionnaires and polls. control board 2; Table of Issues Issues Reference The more online consumption members communicate with one another through the internet, the bolder they feel about challenging marketers and marketing claims. KOZINETS, Robert, V. (1999) E-Tribalized merchandising? The strategic Implications Of realistic Communities of Consumption. European Management Journal. 17 (3) 252â€264. Online social networking sites are the most popular sites on the internet. MIGUENS, J. , BAGGIO, R. , COSTA, C. (2008) Social Media and Tourism Destinations; TripAdvisor shield Study. Advances in Tourism Research 2008. Aveiro. Portugal RAZA, Ivo. (2005) Heads In Beds; cordial reception & Tourism merchandise. 1st Edition. fall in States of America. Pearson learner Hall. DAVIS, John. (2009) Social Media; Marketing Magic or Madness. [online] 16 July. obligate from Hot el Online; give-and-take for The cordial receptionExecutive. ratiocination accessed on 19 October 2009 at: www. hotel- It is approximately unrealizable to compete in now’s marketplace without a solid internet strategy. Hotels need to merge social media marketing into the brand and the marketing plan; integrating videos, images and blogs to increase exposure and improve online Question derived from issue Do you find that online consumers are much more active, participative, resistant and more demanding? What types of social media marketing do you use and how do you use it? Do you have an internet marketing strategy? How important is social media marketing in your arketing plan? Is it fully integrated? 9|Page positioning. online. com/ newsworthiness/PR2009_3 rd/Jul09_SocialMediaMagic. hypertext markup language Engaging and dynamic PARSIPPANY, NJ. (2009) content can generate Introducing: CoMMingle continuous interest; ‘the Social Media Marketing online social media style for hospitality. process is all about the [online] 21 September. ‘word of mouse’. ’ name from Hotel Online; News for the hospitality Executive. exist accessed on 19 October at: http://www. hotelonline. com/News/PR2009_3 rd/Sep09_CoMMingle. html Successful social media SAUGESTAD, Stephen. marketing requires 2009) Social Media and the meaningful participation, hospitality Industry. [online] authenticity and real 23 September. clause from engagement. ehotelier. com; the one stop website for hoteliers. destination accessed on 19 October 2009 at: http://ehotelier. com/hospitali ty intelligence information/item. php? id=P17166_ 0_11_0_C Four Seasons Hotels & KIRBY, Adam. (2010) MGM Resorts has set the bar Grand Billboard Takes for social media Twitter to Masses. [online] 4 customers service care; January. Article from Hotels; a guest went on twitter The mag of the whilst staying at the oecumenic Hotel Industry.Biltmore Four Seasons delay accessed on 6 January Resort to make a 2010 at: criticism about the http://www. hotelsmag. com/b hotels music, to her log/Musings_Miscellany/296 surprise she received a 91bottle of wine and a note MGM_Grand_Billboard_Tak from the general es_Twitter_To_Masses. php manager apologizing. 1. Does your social media site incorporate engaging and dynamic content for your consumer? 2. How often do you update your content on your social media sites? 1. Successful social media marketing requires meaningful participation, value and real engagement do you feel you give this and how? 2.How often do you check/interact on your social media sites? 1. If you find a negative gossipmonger online what do you do? 2. Can you give me 3 examples of how social media marketing has worked well for you and what was the impact? 10 | P a g e 5. Findings & Analysis 5. 1 Facebook Research The impact and responses from Cedar butterfly’s social media activities on Facebook were recorded. either week Cedar administr ation’s status was updated 3 times, a new event was added and an clean of 40 friends were bespeak; the campaign was analysed for 3 months to investigate despotic and negative reactions of the consumers.It can be now seen from column 2 that Cedar Court’s friends have systematically increase, image the amount of friends it started off with from 323 on 24. 11. 09 to 692 on 19. 02. 10. The number of people adding Cedar Court to be their friend (column 5) also consistently increased, in the first month Cedar Court had 0-1 people requesting to be their friend but towards the end of the campaign an average of 6 people were requesting to be their friend with a maximum of 8 people on 19. 02. 10.The popularity of Cedar Court unquestionably increased; at the start only 1 person ‘liked’ the status, then only 1 person commented on the second status, gradually throughout the weeks more people started to ‘like’ and comment on the statuses. Towards the end of the campaign an average of 30 people were ‘liking’ the status and an average of 3 people were commenting; the Valentine’s sidereal day status (15. 02. 10) had 70 friends ‘like’ it and 3 comments which is significant. Generally, the popularity of Cedar Court’s profile did increase however there was a decrease of 7 friends on 24. 2. 09 which could be due to the fact 4 events were sent out the previous time or it could have been due to festive pessimism, afterwards this incident I ensured I would only send 1 event out each week to ensure I didn’t annoy any more of Cedar Court’s friends. The number of people evaluate Cedar Court to be their friend and adding Cedar Court to be their friend consistently increased, which could be due to the fact that more consumers are accepting companies presence on social media sites owever consumers tended to ‘like’ and comment on the private status update; not the sales pitch status es, which goes over against companies objectives to use social media as a marketing tool. solely the comments were positive which is encouraging; this shows a positive impact as consumers enjoy take part in the personal statuses; they take diversion in the engagement and interactment with the hotel’s day to day activities; birthday’s, promotions, new employees etc. 11 | P a g e 5. 2 Questionnaires with Marketing Managers Questionnaires were emailed to the marketing managers of Hilton, Marriott and Malmaison.They were given 1 month to resolve; giving as much direct as possible. To analyse these questionnaires, themes have been derived to allow ease of comparison between the hotels. Marketing the Hotels At the moment all three hotels use a variety of sources to market their hotels; social media, emails, newspapers, tradeshows, search engines, word of mouth and leaflet dropping. All three also have an internet marketing strategy; Hilton explained their mar keting team up works together with their PR and promotions to shape this strategy.Social media is important in the hotels marketing plans; Marriott have only been using social media for around 6 months and hopes to be fully integrated by the end of the year. Hilton acknowledges social media is a ‘new space’ and have integrated it through PR and partnerships/promotions. All three hotel’s use Facebook, plus another social media form, however they all use them in slightly different ways. Malmaison started using social media marketing after attending a ‘future of hospitality’ course and uses Twitter and Facebook to update promotions and news etc.Hilton recognised that conversation about their brand were taking place on Facebook and Twitter whether they were participating or not; they use the same sites as Malmaison as ‘additional channels’ for brand news and giveaways. Marriott started in response to their sister hotel having used it for se veral months and uses Facebook and LinkedIn. Opinions on Social Media Marketing Malmaison’s opinions are mixed; they believe it is the way forward because it has many benefits but understand there are negatives and that hotels should be careful.However Marriott is not in favour of it; ‘using sites that are not needs line of work focused as a marketing tool can cheapen your product and portray the wrong image. ’ Hilton understands the need for a sound strategy, time and commitment before adopting it; ‘social media marketing should never be used in place of traditional marketing tactics. ’ 12 | P a g e All three hotels agree that social media marketing is useful; Malmaison finds it easy to a point, ‘its quick, reaches a can audience, builds relationships and is relatively cost effective. ’ Marriott presupposes it is cost effective and likes the ‘speed to market. Hilton states that it is ‘extremely helpful in building buzz for our brand , sharing news quickly. ’ Occurrence of circumscribe Updates and Interactions All three hotels interact on their social media sites however there are different aims; Hilton is the highest and checks theirs frequently throughout each day whereas Marriott only check theirs once a week; hotels on social media sites should be giving instant information; a week is far too long. Malmaison checks theirs as ‘often as they can’; but this is a loose term and could range from Hiltons highest level to Marriott’s lowest level of interaction.Again, with content update the rankings were the same; Hilton was the attractor as they ‘post multiple messages to Twitter each day and add content to Facebook regularly’, Marriott only update their content on average once a month which is insufficient and Malmaison were vague with ‘as often as we can. ’ Participation, Engagement and Valuable Content Malmaison follows up on complaints and s ays convey you for good comments, they offer incentives and promotions their customers would appreciate.Hilton talks with their ‘fans’ rather than ‘at’ them, they try to provide content that has real value, rather than simply ‘ move marketing messages. ’ Whereas Marriott acknowledges that they are not giving the ‘appropriate level of participation’ however this year they do hope to overcome this and build their online profi le. Malmaison believes that their site incorporates engaging and dynamic content for their consumers; Hilton always ‘tries to provide information that is valuable to our audience. ’ Marriott is drawing up plans to address their ‘limited’ content.Champions and Time Spent with Social Media Marketing All three hotels understand the importance of assigning a employ social media marketer; Hilton has ‘an agency team and three internal team members’; Malmaison has 1 person from each hotel responsible and Marriott has put forward six people for their social media activities. Marriott only spends a couple of hours per week on social media marketing whilst Malmaison spends ‘as much time as we can’ which is again vague but sounds keen! Hilton understands that ‘time investment is considerable and necessary. Attracting the Active and Demanding Online Consumer Malmaison attracts online consumers to their social media sites through exclusive offers and competitions; Hilton has integrated their Facebook and Twitter with their official brand site and other microsites; they also rely heavily on 13 | P a g e word of mouth from their current ‘fans’ and use giveaways. In the near future Marriott will be adding their social media addresses to their traditional ‘collateral’ that they hand to clients. Malmaison agrees with the statement that ‘online consumers are more active, participative, resistant and demanding. Hilton thinks it varies; ‘most followers are honest and enjoy travel so their posts and comments are positive’ but Hiltons social media channels are ‘not intended to be a guest assistance centre. ’ Which I disagree with; guests should be able to have their p roblems fixed through social media, I do understand that it’s an international political party but strategies should be in place for these encounters. Marriott say ‘we will only truly begin to see this in the coming months as our exposure grows. ’ Analysis of Social Media MarketingMalmaison analyses their social media marketing at the end of every week using tools such as ‘trendistic, tweetbeep, twittercounter, twitpwr. ’ Hilton receives weekly reports from an agency that ‘tracks study topics. ’ However Marriot t’s focus is ‘bringing our profile to a level where it actually merits tracking. ’ TripAdvisor Reviews Malmaison and Marriott bot h state that they use TripAdvisor reviews but didn’t say how they used them. Hilton encourages its hotels to monitor consumer reviews as ‘they are a great way to understand what is and is not working for a particular property. ’ electronegative CommentsIf Malmaison finds a negative comment then they ‘address and investigate the situation, if a clashing number/email address is left over(p) then the matter will be dealt with in private. ’ Hilton does their best to resolve the issue; ‘just as we do at our hotels when a guest complains. ’ Until this year Marriott only acted on feedback without replying to the customer; but now they use the ‘Manageme nt Response’ function to post replies to both negative and positive comments. Hilton doesn’t believe social media can necessarily go wrong, but negative posts about customer’s experiences at their hotels is ‘disheartening. Malmaison stated that they seem to be doing ok and Marriott said ‘this remains to be seen. ’ Social Media functional W ell All three hotels have had positive experiences with social media; Malmaison has had positive feedback from its ‘fans’, the events they advertise have had favourable responses and offers have been well received. Hilton asked ‘Tweeters’ to cheer for the film premier ‘Up in the Air’ for a chance to win various prizes; this was mutually beneficial and increased the hotel’s profile; reporters often post stories from Hiltons Twitter or Facebook.Marriott use Facebook to advertise charity events and to drive exposure of their Christmas party packages. 14 | P a g e Recommendations Malmaison and Marriott are accept of recommendations ‘that are tailored for our product and the market we are in. ’ Hilton are ‘always tone for suggestions that we can use at the brand level and share with our hotels. ’ Social media is a continu al process of evolving and updating that takes time and commitment, even though Hilton are the most advanced in social media, the willingness for suggestions shows true commitment and is an important attribute.Hilton are the most savvy in social media marketing; Marriott is evenhandedly new in this apprehension and need more time to go by their strategies. Malmaison is well veritable but not up to Hiltons standards however Hilton is a multi-national company which is hard to compete with. Unfortunately some managers did not answer in as much depth as I would have liked; none would go any financial information which is understandable but disappointing as it would have been elicit to compare the financial implications and set a guideline amount in the recommendations.One manager took 3 months to fill out the questionnaire and only replied when I used Facebook to energetic them to fill it in. 5. 3 PollDaddy Results Polls were developed on PollDaddy to ask the general public the ir opinions on social media marketing. Originally I had problems with the response rate as I only had a free account, if I had a paid account I would have received more responses and more exposure, but I overcame this by using Facebook to link my questions from PollDaddy and the responses increased rapidly; reinforcing the design that social media is effective.Table 3; Key Points from PollDaddy 1. 87% think that social media marketing isn’t just a trend. 2. 50% think that marketers abuse social media marketing. 3. 48% think there should be rules for the appropriate recitation of social media marketing. 31% think marketing on social media is innovative. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 60% find it easier to challenge marketer’s claims through social media marketing. 30% use Facebook and 27% use Twitter as their main social media forms. 36% think companies on social media are demonstrating meaningful participation, authenticity and real engagement. 2% engage in social media if they see it as beneficial. 15 | P a g e 9. 57% think social media marketing is a convenient and efficient way of finding information and interacting with an organisation book of facts; Author’s Analysis of Poll Daddy Results 1. This is a significant percentage of people who think social media marketing isn’t just a trend; they believe it will be around permanently so hotels should take up this information and use this to their advantage through marketing. 2.Half who answered thought that marketers ‘just don’t get’ social media marketing; people felt that marketers could make more of the opportunities they have; the ‘recommendations’ may help marketers use social media marketing more effectively. 3. This point reinforces the need for marketers to effectively use social media marketing; it is a fairly new concept and marketers need to develop their strategies if they want to succeed. 4. 31% think marketing on social media is innovative which is e ncouraging for marketers; 32% of people don’t mind social media marketing as long as it isn’t excessive. 5.Online consumer aren’t afraid to challenge marketers claims; they are more assertive which strengthens Chen et al (2009) and Kozinets (1999) argument that the balance of power has shifted away from the marketer to the online consumer. 6. Most people who answered used some form of social media marketing, from Facebook to LinkedIn; companies should begin marketing on Facebook and then develop their strategies from there. 7. 36% thought that social media marketing shows companies commitment to engagement and interaction; however the polls were very close with some people being wary of social media marketing and the marketing ploys. . Social media sites are all about customer engagement with beneficial content this point reinforces Mclean (2007) and Tikkanen et al (2009); companies who focus on engagement rather than selling will see success. 9. This supports TIG Global’s (2009) point that social media users will likely be appreciative of hotel marketers updates and more inclined to pass them along to their networks of friends and family, if they feel the updates are authentic and useful.All questions answered had different response rates ranging from 97 to 497. nevertheless though some of the percentages are fairly infatuated, social media 16 | P a g e marketing is a growing trend and it would be interesting to see the results in a year’s time. 5. 4 Recommendations The dynamic proceeds and popularity of social media sites has created new opportunities for hotels; I have created recommendations to ensure proper usage of social media marketing and eliminate the risks involved for hotels. 6. ConclusionThe purpose of this project was to evaluate social media in hotel marketing; this project aims to help hotel marketers measure out the key activities involved in social media marketing and evaluate the impact on a hotels mar keting strategies and their image. Literature Review The internet has forced companies to transform themselves to be more interactive, innovative and efficient as the online consumer is more active, demanding and in control; if unhappy about a service the hotel’s reputation can be disgraced as negative online information posted is instant and public; sharing their opinion with hundreds of thousands of potential customers.The more online consumers communicate with one another, the bolder they feel about challenging marketers and marketing claims. Social media marketing requires participation, interaction and dedication; time, commitment and resources are essential for the efficient use of social media marketing; it is a highly engaging and innovative marketing method. Engaging and dynamic content can enhance a hotels presence and generate continuous interest; it needs to be focused on the consumer, it’s not what the hotel wants to talk about it’s about what the consumers want to talk about.If a hotel enhances its social media presence, it can create a buzz around the property and contribute to increased awareness and booking considerations. Savvy marketers are increasingly using social media to let guests sell their hotels, which is authentic marketing at its best. Findings By analysing the impact of social media marketing through different mediums the research was able to demonstrate the impact of social media marketing. More time was required to analyse the Facebook campaign and a payable account was needed on PollDaddy to increase the exposure of the polls.Despite the limitations there are a number of important points that came from the research; more consumers are accepting companies presence on social media sites like Facebook however consumers prefer personal status updates; not 17 | P a g e sales pitch statuses. The company profile needs a personality in order for engagement to be fulfilled. Social media is a continual process of e volving, updating and developing; hotels should be consistent in regularly usage on social media sites; instant information is needed to be given; a week is far too long to interact and deliver their message effectively.Hotels should implement weekly analysis of their social media marketing strategies to ensure effective usage. All three marketing managers have positive experiences with social media marketing with Hilton stating ‘social media marketing can’t necessarily go wrong. ’ PollDaddy consumers don’t mind social media marketing as long as it isn’t excessive; it shows companies commitment to engagement and interaction; however the polls found some people being suspicious of social media marketing and the marketing ploys.Consumers thought that marketers ‘just don’t get’ social media marketing; they felt that marketers could make more of the opportunities they have; the ‘recommendations’ may help marketers use so cial media marketing more effectively. Recommendations have been derived through secondary research for the effective use of social media marketing. A consecrate and committed employee needs designating to monitor and interact on the social media sites.Marketers should establish themselves as credible members of the community and legitimate experts in their field by sharing knowledge and useful links. To Conclude Social media marketing is a fairly new trend; marketers should intensify their efforts to develop and expand their social media marketing strate gies to improve their online positioning. There are positives and negatives to any new venture but overall if social media is effectively used the positives out weight the negatives.It is virtually impossible to compete in today’s marketplace without a solid internet strategy and hotels need to merge social media marketing into their brand and their marketing plan. Social media will soon be the average in marketing and mark eters need to implement dedication, time and resources to be successful and stay ahead of their competitors; most hotels lack the resources required to effectively implement social marketing strategies so this paper should significantly impact how hotels market on social media sites.Social media marketing is a free marketing tool and if used effectively can be beneficial to the hotel with high returns, however if hotels use social media but not effectively then this can be detrimental to their image; online consumers will perceive them as a nuisance and their online reputation will be ruined. Referring back to the questions asked at the start of this paper; ‘is it detrimental for a hotel not to use social media sites? ’ and ‘can it be detrimental if social media sites are used but not appropriately? I think it can be both detrimental to a hotel to not use social media, as they are lacking out on a potbelly online market, who will be 18 | P a g e discussing their brand whether they are participating or not, however it can also be detrimental if social media is used but not appropriately. By incorporating value, interactivity and engagement; hotel marketers could thrive with social media marketing. Future research from this paper should fancy into the long term benefits of social media marketing.Some of the percentages were inconclusive from PolDaddy, it would be interesting to see the results in a year’s time to discover how opinions had changed. 8. Bibliography ARMSTRONG, Steven. (2001) Advertising On The Internet; How to Get Your Message Across On The World Wide Web. 2nd Edition. Wales. Kogan Page. CHEN, Wei, et al (2009) strategic Management: Undergraduate course of instruction in Service Sector Management. Essex. Pearson Education. DAVIS, John. (2009) Social Media; Marketing Magic or Madness. [online] 16 July.Article from Hotel Online; News for The hospitality Executive. farthermost accessed on 19 October 2009 at: www. hotelon line. com/News/PR2009_3rd/Jul09_SocialMediaMagic. html DELUZAIN BARRY, Susan. (2009) decade Reasons to habit Social Media for entree a Hotel. [online] June 2009. Article from Hotel Online; News for the cordial reception Executive. Last accessed on 19 October at: http://www. hotelonline. com/News/PR2009_2nd/Jun09_TenReasons. html EVANS, Liana. (2009) Your Social Media Content Must Be Valuable. [online. ] 9 November. Article from search engine watch. com.Last accessed on 10 November 2009 at: http://searchenginewatch. com/3635597 HOTELS. (2009) ‘Twend’: Social Media Evolving Into Social Marketing. [online] 30 November. Article from Hotels; The clipping of the Worldwide Hotel Industry. Last accessed on 5 December 2009 at: http://www. hotelsmag. com/article/409358_Twend_Social_Media_Evolving_Into_Social_Marketing. php? q=twend%3B+soci al+media+evolving+into+social+marketing HOTELWORLD (2010) Fairmont Launches Social Networking Website for Guests. [online] Last accessed o n 20 February 2010 at: http://www. hotelworldnetwork. om/social-networking/fairmont-launches-socialnetworking-website-guests-7305 19 | P a g e IBM (2009) IBM Social computer science Guidelines. [online] Last accessed on 8 January 2010 at: http://www. ibm. com/blogs/zz/en/guidelines. html KENNEDY, Doug. (2009) Hotel cordial reception tuition Tips For The Era Of Social Networking. [online] Hotel Online; News for the Hospitality Executive. 16 October. Last accessed 19 October 2009 at: http://www. hotelonline. com/News/PR2009_4th/Oct09_SocialTips. html KIRBY, Adam. (2009) The Greatest Twitter Hotel Service Story Yet. [online] 17 December.Article from Hotels; The powder store of the Worldwide Hotel Industry. Last accessed on 20 December 2009 at: http://www. hotelsmag. com/blog/Musings_Miscellany/29418The_Greatest_Twitter_Hotel_Service_Story_Yet. php KIRBY, Adam. (2010) MGM Grand Billboard Takes Twitter to Masses. [online] 4 January. Article from Hotels; The Magazine of the Worldwide Hotel Industry. Last accessed on 6 January 2010 at: http://www. hotelsmag. com/blog/Musings_Miscellany/29691MGM_Grand_Billboard_Takes_Twitter_To_Masses. php KOTLER, Philip, et al (2005) Principles of Marketing. th European Edition. Spain. Pearson Education. KOZINETS, Robert, V. (1999) E-Tribalized Marketing? ; The Strategic Implications Of Virtual Communities of Consumption. European Management Journal. 17 (3) 252â€264. MCLEAN, VA (2007) Report Predicts Dramatic Changes in Hotel Marketing Discipline as Result of Consumers apply of Social Media; The Cost to Use these Tools is down(p) and the Impact is High. [online] 4 September. Hotel Online; News for the Hospitality Executive. Last accessed on 19 October 2009 at: www. hotelonline. com/News/PR2007_3rd/Sept07_SocialMedia. tml MCLEAN, VA (2008) Changes in Communication, the Social Media Revolution, and Evolving look Engine Optimization Forcing Marketers to Rethink How They Market Destinations and Hotels; Recap HSMAI-CHA Conferenc e. [online] In Caribbean Sales & Marketing Strategy Conference, San Juan. 13-14 December. Hotel Online; News for the Hospitality Executive. Last accessed on 19 October 2009 at: www. hotelonline. com/News/PR2008_1st/Jan08_RecapCHA. html MIGUENS, J. , BAGGIO, R. , COSTA, C. (2008) Social Media and Tourism Destinations; TripAdvisor Case Study. Advances in Tourism Research 2008. Aveiro.Portugal 20 | P a g e PARSIPPANY, NJ. (2009) Introducing: CoMMingle Social Media Marketing Agency for Hospitality. [online] 21 September. Article from Hotel Online; News for the Hospitality Executive. Last accessed on 19 October at: http://www. hotelonline. com/News/PR2009_3rd/Sep09_CoMMingle. html POLLDADDY. (2009) The PollDaddy Platform. [online] Last accessed on 15th January at: http://polldaddy. com/about/ RAZA, Ivo. (2005) Heads In Beds; Hospitality & Tourism Marketing. 1st Edition. United States of America. Pearson Prentice Hall. SALERNO, Neil. (2009) What is Your Hotel’s Online Mar ket parcel? online] October 2009. Article from Hotel Online; News for the Hospitality Executive. Last accessed on 19 October 2009 at: http://www. hotelonline. com/News/PR2009_4th/Oct09_MarketShareOnline. html SAUGESTAD, Stephen. (2009) Social Media and the Hospitality Industry. [online] 23 September. Article from ehotelier. com; the one stop website for hoteliers. Last accessed on 19 October 2009 at: http://ehotelier. com/hospitalitynews/item. php? id=P17166_0_11_0_C SAUNDERS, Mark, LEWIS, Philip, THORNHILL, Adrian. (2007) Research Methods for Business Students. 4th Edition. Spain.Pearson Education. SCOTT, David M. (2009) The New Rules of Marketing & PR; How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, viral Marketing & Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly. Canada. John Wiley & Sons. SHOEMAKER, Stowe, LEWIS, Robert, C. (1999) client Loyalty; The Future Of Hospitality Marketing. Hospitality Management. 18. 345-370. Social Media Statistics. (2008) Twitter. [online] Last a ccessed on 20 January 2010 at: http://socialmediastatistics. wikidot. com/twitter STARKOV, Max, MECHOSO, Marina. (2010) 2010 Top Ten Internet Marketing Resolutions. [online] 4 January.Article from Hotels; The Magazine of the Worldwide Hotel Industry. Last accessed on 6 January 2010 at: http://www. hotelsmag. com/article/4424032010_Top_Ten_Internet_Marketing_Resolutions. php? rssid=20620=2010+top +ten+internet+marketing+resolutions TIKKANEN, Henrikki, et al (2009) Exploring virtual worlds: success factors in virtual world marketing. Management Decision. 47 (8) 1357-1381. TIG GLOBAL (2009) why All Travel Pros Must Use Social Media. [online] 17 November. Article from Hotels; The Magazine of the Worldwide Hotel Industry. 21 | P a g e Last accessed 18 November 2009 at:\r\n'