How Big Brands Find Success Via Social Media

How are the big brands finding success on the various social-media platforms? 

An infographic on Mashable shows the impact the following eight brands are making online: Trump International Hotel & Tower, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, Loews Hotels & Resorts, Hilton, Wyndham Hotel Group, Hyatt Hotels & Resort, La Quinta Inns & Suites and Choice Hotels & Resorts. 

Some highlights:

Hand Picked Hotels Launch A Leap Year Twitter Competition

In 2012, hundreds of women are expected to take matters into their own hands and make the most of the Leap Year tradition by proposing to their loved ones.


Hand Picked Hotels, a collection of 17 country house hotels which are all stunning rural wedding venues, has launched a twitter competition offering women with the most imaginative proposal in 140 characters the chance to win an overnight stay with their partner at one of the hotels.

Facebook: The New Face of the Hotel Concierge

With all the changes Facebook has made this year, it's only natural that hotel business pages will change their appearance, too.

Today's Facebook brand profile pages now include booking engines, photo timelines and video capabilities that, if created correctly, can allow fans to feel as if they're part of the hotel without actually being on property.

Start Planning Next Christmas Now

Your restaurant or hotel marketing for next Christmas is probably the last thing on your mind, but now is a great time to be building up material to use for next year.

What better way to promote your Christmas parties than to show people having fun, and your hotel or restaurant in all its Christmas splendour?

A Social Media Xmas Story

The Christmas story told through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Wikipedia, Google Maps, GMail and Amazon. Times change - feelings remain the same.

 


Original Source: Flixxy.com

Five Easy Ways to Spread Your Brand Through Social Media

Social media marketing is one of the best ways for small businesses to reach a large number of customers for not a large price tag.

Not that long ago it took tens of thousands of pounds and the expertise of major advertising and public relations firms to develop a brand image for you and your business. For small businesses, this was often out of reach. But social media has leveled the playing field.

Google & Visit Florida partner on digital travel marketing

Google and Visit Florida, the state's official tourism marketing organization, have partnered on a digital marketing cooperative program that spans display, video and mobile.

The partnership enables Visit Florida to work with businesses in the state's tourism industry to run ads targeted to travelers who view content across the Google Display Network, YouTube and on mobile devices through Google's AdMob mobile platform.

Edinburgh votes for UK's first hotel bed tax to fund its festivals

Tourists would pay £1-£2 per person for each night spent in the Scottish capital.

Councillors in Edinburgh have voted for a "bed tax" on tourists and visitors to the city in a bid to raise up to £10m a year to help fund its festivals, venues and conference centres.

The measure, which follows years of lobbying by council leaders, is likely to need approval by the Scottish parliament but would involve a levy of between £1 and £2 for every night's stay in the city on the millions of visitors each year.

Similar taxes have been imposed in New York, Venice and Vancouver, but Edinburgh would be the first city in the UK to apply such a levy.

Full story: Guardian

Napa Valley Reports Surge in Tourism

Tourism is alive and well in Napa Valley, reported Napa Valley Destination Council CEO Clay Gregory.

“We’re weathering the storm much better than other destinations,” he said. “Our numbers are up. The picture is good.”

Continuing this blog's focus on Tourism Business Improvement Districts the following article on Napa Valley highlights where this approach seems to be working very well, on many levels.

How to optimize your hotel for social media?

Social media is not going anywhere anytime soon – so those hotels that optimize for social media and learn how to use it to their advantage will gain the competitive edge over hotels that are still dragging their feet. 

For hotels that do not currently have a social media strategy because they’re scared of the investment costs, here are some free and easy ways to get started in social media.

Hotels and TripAdvisor: It's Complicated

If hotels and TripAdvisor were in a relationship their status on Facebook would read: It’s Complicated.

TripAdvisor has been feeling the heat lately. The consumer-voiced travel review site has dealt with issues in the past, such as hotels claiming certain user reviews are fake, which ultimately harm the hotel’s reputation. 

5 Things Your Hotel Should Do Right Now with Social Media

If you're on social media, have you considered what you will be doing next year? 

Below are some things we would love hotels to implement and think about for 2012!

5 Tips to Freshen Up Your Hotel’s Tweets

It shouldn’t be news to you by now that Twitter is an essential tool for your hotel’s social media efforts. 

It’s a great channel that allows you to connect with your guests and see what people are writing about your brand. 

Unfortunately, there are many hotels using Twitter ineffectively and missing the boat entirely. 

Social Media Predictions for Small Local Businesses

As a small local business, if you remain focused on your customer you’re on the right track for 2012.

I’m happy to say that if you’ve been following my past advice about focusing the limited time you have on refining your knowledge of your Perfect Customer (the one who pays your bills, who you wish you had a 100 or 1000 just like), it’s all good. You don’t have to make any huge changes in your internet marketing strategy.

Here’s why:

Using Social Media & Mobile to Move Last-Minute Inventory

Every hotel owner or revenue manager has been there more times than we’d like to admit, it’s Wednesday and your hotel bookings for the upcoming weekend are looking sparse; the pressure is on to increase occupancy immediately. 

But what many hoteliers forget is that an increase in occupancy is great, but if an increase in occupancy is paired with a decrease in RevPAR or ADR, then you’re just taking money out of your own pocket. 

Introducing TBIDs - John Penrose, MP

I hope no one minds but I took the opportunity to 'video' the video of John Penrose's introduction to the subject of Tourism Business Improvement Districts at yesterday's Visit Economy Forum. 

Mr Penrose couldn't make it in person of course but the video does enable the message that 'TBIDs are very much an option that Government would welcome' to be delivered clearly and without interruption or debate.



Regular readers of the iVisitorGuide blog will know that I have been an advocate for the introduction of TBIDs to the UK for a long time. My first article on this appeared back in February and it is clear now that a lot of work has happened since within VisitEngland and amongst the core cities group to investigate very seriously the potential and practicality of UK TBIDs.

I'll be posting more on this over the coming weeks but in the meantime at least bear in mind that TBIDs are coming to your destination soon - but only if the private sector want them to!