What hospitality marketing professional hasn’t been caught up to some degree in Twitter Mania?  Let’s sell some rooms!  So & So just sold 400 room nights through a promotion on Twitter.  We should be out there.

I’ve read the same articles you have about a hotel that unloaded gobs of rooms through Twitter (usually at a steep discount).  But what I haven’t read yet is an authoritative Twitter Case Study showing the manpower investment actually provided an acceptable ROI.

Sometimes it’s best to step back and see what others are doing.

I did read an interesting story in Brand Week saying major marketers are somewhat underwhelmed with Twitter. According to the article:

• Hyundai, which was named “Marketer of The Year” by Advertising Age is ready to write the microblogging service off.  Joel Ewanick, group VP of Marketing says he finds Facebook, which has copied most of Twitter’s best features, to be a superior platform.
• Procter & Gamble execs recently told venture capitalists that they didn’t think Twitter was “particularly relevant to what they’re doing on the brand-building and advertising side.”
• Verizon, a company that spent more than $1 billion on advertising in 2009, has around 5,000 followers. Coca-Cola has 15,000.
• Apple’s not even on Twitter.
• Some corporate Twitter accounts suffer from prolonged neglect. Delta Airlines’ Twitter page went from June 17 to December 22 last year without a single Tweet.

One Twitter success story cited in the article comes from Dell Computer which traces $6.5 million in 2009 revenue to its outlet store as a result of Twitter – an asterisk in the balance sheet for a company with $50 billion in sales last year.

The article does point out that companies like Dell, Comcast and Best Buy are using Twitter successfully for customer service.  And others like Dell are using it to promote specials.

It’s true the number of followers for celebrities like Ashton Kutcher or Oprah Winfrey have helped create Twitter Mania. Someecards which has 1.7 million followers vs. Hallmark’s 2,000 shows how a small company can use Twitter to outflank an older, bigger rival. But Someecards has a “voice,” a definitive edge to its Tweets that few hospitality marketers might find appropriate for their properties. You’ll have to read the article for more on this.

Now I’m not saying Twitter can’t find a place in your overall hotel marketing program.  But remember – it’s a marketing tool.  Evaluate it like you would any other tool.  Set objectives.  Determine how it will impact your customers. Decide what resources are required.  The service may be free, but the manpower requirements to create and manage a successful program are not.  How will you measure success?  What’s an acceptable ROI?

Safe Travels – Madigan Pratt

PS – If you know of a great Twitter Success Story – one with proven ROI, please let me know.  I will be glad to feature it in a future post.

TripAdvisor may be the most controversial service in hospitality marketing today. Some hoteliers love it, while others have issues.

No matter what you think, TripAdvisor is making an offer you can’t refuse. A Business Listing on your TripAdvisor page at half off the regular rate. Sounds like they’re in the hotel business, doesn’t it? In any case, the listing includes 1) a direct link to your site, 2) your 800# and 3) an e-mail link to reservations.

Here’s what we’re advising clients:

1. Get a Business Listing on TripAdvisor and do it today! This is a limited time offer.

Our research shows nearly 100% of guests in small- to mid-size luxury hotels read TripAdvisor reviews before booking. How much is it worth to have your hotel’s direct contact information right in front of travelers when they are seriously shopping and want to book a trip? Priceless!

2. Measure your marketing ROI.

Anyone can track where Web visitors are coming from, but now you can track what marketing is driving phone calls to reservations and impacting your bottom line. And it’s surprisingly affordable.

Track your TripAdvisor listing and measure the effectiveness of all your marketing efforts – PPC, PR, advertising, direct mail, banner ads and e-mail newsletters - with Marketing Tracker. Detailed real-time reporting and call recording help you identify what marketing and sales efforts are working.

If you want to take advantage of this TripAdvisor offer, you better hurry and act now. The offer expires January 31, 2010.

The cost for a TripAdvisor Business Listing varies depending on teh size of your hotel. Click here to see your rate and sign up. Have your credit card ready!

And don’t get stuck wondering what you’re getting for your money. Measure your marketing ROI with a program like Marketing Tracker. So when it comes time to allocate marketing funds you will know what works.

Your decision to advertise on TripAdvisor again or anyplace else will then be based on the proven value your hotel receives – not simply the price of the media. It’s a much better way to approach hospitality marketing decision making.

Safe Travels – Madigan Pratt

Here’s some interesting information you can use to achieve a better ROI on your Internet marketing efforts.  It comes compliments of MarketingSherpa and ad:tech.  Their 2008 year-end survey of more than 1,200 marketers was designed to identify the most effective Internet based marketing tools. Beyond being the most effective, the study wanted to determine which tools produced the greatest ROI.

The chart below shows the various tactics marketers use and were covered in the study.  The usage axis shows the percentage of marketers using the tactic with the horizontal axis showing the percentage of marketers reporting great return on investment.  The size of the circle represents the relative budget compared to other tactics.

“Paid Search” (big blue circle) is a winner with about 50% of marketers surveyed saying it produces great ROI.  In second place is “House Email” (small orange circle) with about 45% indicating it produces great ROI.  In third place at around 40% is search engine optimization (SEO – even smaller purple circle).

Note however the difference in the size of the circles.  “Paid Search” is significantly bigger than either “House Email” or “SEO.”  As the report points out:

“The relative size of the circles means the tactic [House Email and SEO] requires far less budget than “Paid Search.”

Conclusion:  If you’re dealing with a hospitality marketing budget smaller than you need (and who isn’t?), make sure you are maximizing your house list email marketing efforts and SEO before branching out into paid search.

FYI – if you want to get the most out of your email marketing program be sure to avoid The 7 Deadly Sins of Email Marketing For Luxury Hotels.

What do you think?  Safe travels – Madigan Pratt