Social Media Marketing

Evaluate the Effectiveness of hearty Media trade on Hotels Jennie Russell 1. Abstract Purpose The cyberspace has constrained companies to transform themselves to be more(prenominal) moveive, innovative and efficient as the online consumer is more active, demanding and in s way if unhappy to the highest degree a service the hotels reputation c an be dam maturated as veto development stick on online is sec and public share their popular opinion with hundreds of thousands of potentiality thickenings. However, savvy sellers be more and more victimization cordial media to let knobs sell their hotels, which is authentic merchandise at its best. food marketers fill to appliance dedication, magazine and resources in brotherly media merchandising to be triple-crown and stay ahead of their competitors close to hotels lack the resources mandatory to tellingly implement sociable trade strategies. Methodology This paper integrates triangulation to ensure in each told views of favorable media selling ar rendered three hotel merchandising managers were questi unmatchedd, consumers on sheetD bestowy answered piece of tailvass and the role of the practiti bingler seek was undertaken to analyse true cedar dallys Facebook unravel.Secondary re face was intentd to develop recommendations for the good physical exercise of loving media merchandising. Findings This paper presents the results of an exploratory learn on the variant perspectives of accessible media merchandising. It was fancyt that some hotels pass more developed affectionate media trade strategies than others except all argon leaveinging to learn and develop. Consumers had mixed opinions on cordial media selling which lead to calls for recommendations to be derived from secondary winding research for the hard-hitting intent of hearty media merchandising. seek Limitations More beat was essential to research and analyse the Facebook campaign and a paya ble key out was needed on PollDaddy to increase the flick of the polls. Value neighborly media selling is a reasonably stark naked turn away it go out be a key factor in the next of trade Large hotels like Hilton and quaternion Seasons Hotels & Resorts incur richly merged affable media into their grocery storeing strategy, entirely for most hotels the difficulty is non solitary(prenominal) where to get, still who to exercise and what to do this paper extend signifi brush asidetly fix how hotels market on amicable media websites.Key give voices fond Media, merchandising, Hotels, Effective, involution, Interaction 1 knave 2. Context & Objectives Long in the lead the Internet, throng portion outd their opinions of w argons with partners and family through playscript of mouth a happy leaf node tells five others an unhappy guest tells 9-10 others. (Kennedy, 2009) Nowa solar days, consumers ar pass oning more and more time on sociable network site s where they backside broadcast their experiences directly online via genial media sharing their opinion with hundreds of thousands of potential nodes hotel marketers need to r from each one these communities and interact with them to stay competitive.TIG Global (2009) describes how the mesh has changed marketing what was once an efficient one way communication shaft of light has evolved into an interactive two way communication device. The meshwork is forcing companies to transform themselves to be more interactive, innovative and efficient. Kozinets (1999, p254) discussed that online consumers be non merely passive recipients of utilisation nurture and active creators consumers ar jiffyer in dominate. The information the consumers post is instant and public crowing them the opportunity to be hear in large reduces.Marketers need to form alliances with these online consumer communities as it is the dawn of customer draftment Engaged customers spend more money an d come derriere more a lot. (Mclean, 2008) well-disposed media marketing requires confederacy, fundamental interaction and dedication (Raza, 2006) time, commitment and resources are essential for the efficient use of friendly media marketing save nearly hotels lack the resources required to effectively implement kindly marketing strategies.Most hotels twain fagt do fond media marketing or they entert do it efficiently W eber (2009) interprets that marketers put up to be aggregators not broadcasters they nonplus to be part of the consumers conversation, not bombarding them with constant gross revenue deliveryes. (Evans, 2009) Marketers have to ensure their capacity is thoroughly(p) to the hotel and their consumers they should not perceive the hotels forepart to be a nuisance.Large hotels like Hilton, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts and MGM Grand have fully co-ordinated affectionate media into their marketing strategy, barely for approximately hotels the difficu lty is not lonesome(prenominal) if where to unhorse, except who to use and what to do. Is it damaging for a hotel not to use brotherly media sites? Can it be mischievous if cordial media sites are employ merely not appropriately? The perplex of this study is to evaluate the role of complaisant media in hotel marketing. The objectives of this study are to ? Evaluate how the profits has changed hotel marketing. rogue ? ? ? Assess the key activities touch in accessible media marketing. Evaluate the role of favorable media marketing within hotel marketing strategies. Develop recommendations for the effective use of accessible media marketing in hotels. 3. lit Review Marketing Raza (2005, p 2) defines marketing as an ongoing wreak comprising various co-ordinated activities a caller-out must perform to develop and/or wanted product, bring it to the market, main(prenominal)tain it there and maximize the customers benefit. The customer is an intrinsic part of the mark eting process marketers need to focus on their customers needs, wants and expectations which leave behind reflect in their services and result in a fortunate hotel. For many brotherly classs hospitality firms have believed that the destruction of marketing is to ca-ca as many forward-looking customers as possible. (Shoe fuddler & Lewis, 1999, p345) They believed it was outstanding to satisf y the guests while they were on the property, but the existing goal was to march on to find recent customers their interest in getting new customers prevail the task of accompanimenting customers.Nowadays, companies have realized that both aspects are snappy finding n ew customers and keeping veritable customers Chen et al (2009) suggest that companies exploit the internet to become more innovative and effective at this task. Marketing using handed-down methods used interruption techniques which consumers recognized as they classed them as indispensable happenings the marketers were in control. But the internet forced marketers to transform themselves Chen et al (2009) discovered that marketers were no longer in control the balance of proponent had shifted to the consumer.The existence of united groups of online consumers interacting shifts knowledge and power from marketers to consumers Kozinets (1999, p258) supports this The more online consumption members communicate with one other through the internet, the more b nonagenarian they feel intimately challenging marketers and marketing claims. Scott (2009) & Tuten (2008) realized that the old rules of marketing were ineffective in a web 2. 0 populace (consumer breakd field of study) marketers have to work harder as consumers control their media content.Saugestad (2009) reinforces this research shows that there is a waxing proclivity among web users to tune out corporate enunciate. Miguens, Baggio & rib (2008) clarify that the internet is no longer just a static foliate, but a self-propelled pl atform which intromits consumers to independently repay their protest content sharing with other users and passing on their own experience. Marketers need to realize that online consumers are much more active, participative, resistant, activist, loquacious, social and communitarian. (Kozinets, 1999, p261) affectionate Medias 3PageIt is important to ensure social media is explained to avoid confusion social media is about sharing information and experiences with acquaintances in your networks. (TIG Global, 2009) Weber (2009) noted that social networks are endows where people with a common interest or concern, sate and express themselves, their opinions and vent. There are different social media bring depending on the desired goals Table 1 Authors Analysis of Social Media Sites event of Description Statistics Social Media Facebook Facebook is a social networking website that Facebook reports was originally designed for students, but is n honest of now open to anyone 13 gr ades of age or older. 250,000 new Facebook users can create and customize registrations per their own profiles with photos, videos, and day since January information about themselves. Friends can 2007. (Scott, 2009, browse the profiles of other whizzs and write p229) capacitys on their profiles. Twitter Twitter is an online service that allows you to There are a share updates with other users by answering reported 3 million one simple question What are you doing? tweets posted per Twitter is a unacquainted(p) social networking and micro- day. (Social Media blogging service that enables its users toStatistics, 2008) depute and read other users updates known as tweets. TripAdvisor TripAdvisor is a free travel guide and 90% of online research website that hosts reviews from consumers trustfulness users and other information designed to champion recommendations plan a vacation. from reviews (Mclean, 2008) YouTube YouTube is a video sharing service that Videos posted on allows use rs to watch videos posted by other You tube attract users and upload videos of their own. The more than 40 slogan of the YouTube website is Broadcast million visitors Yourself. This implies the YouTube service monthly. (Weber, s designed principally for ordinary people who 2009 p4) want to publish videos they have created. Social networking poke outs to grow and shape the way people communicate. (Hotelworld, 2010) There are hundreds of active social networking websites, but the social media sites listed in table 1 are applicable to this project as hotels are before long using them to market themselves. The internet is becoming one big social networking site Over 44% of all internet users are active in social media (TIG Global, 2009) Saugestad (2009) & Miguens, Baggio & Costa (2008) argue that social media sites are the most 4Page opular sites on the internet delinquent to the fact it is available 24/7, giving potential online customers the opportunity to access information a t their own convenience. Starkov & Mechoso (2010) acknowledges that internet users spend 17% of their surfing time on social network and blogging sites, or so triple the percentage of time spent on sites than a stratum ago which is beneficial to marketers if they use social media effectively, as they are arrival a growing audience. Using Social Media Effectively Many authors allot that social media marketing needs to be fully integrated in the hotels marketing process.Marketers need a solid internet strategy merging social media marketing into their marketing plan and the hotels oblige integrating videos, images and blogs to increase exposure and improve online positioning. (Davis, 2009, Raza, 2005, Tikkanen et al, 2009) Social media gives marketers an incredibly loud way to build mark sensory faculty, while doing it in a way that makes the hotel seem simultaneously hip, down to earth and fun. Hotels (2009) explain how savvy marketers are increasingly using social media to let guests sell their hotels, which is authentic marketing at its best.Kennedy (2009) found that guests who have had extremely imperative experiences do often feel motivated to post their positive feedback on the internet. successful invent of mouth marketing isnt about what the hotel holds it represents its what the consumers choose to verbalise about Word of mouth hinges on real consumers spreading the word for you. (Mclean, 2008) Its the best marketing dig with high credibility as it comes from previous customers and there is no cost to the hotel.However, if consumers have a stinking experience it can be un favourable for the hotels reputation a whiz prohibit online guest review can cause significant disablement by scaring off future potential guests. (Kennedy, 2009) The scope of internet marketing is huge designs could be in the realms of tens of thousands of potential guests scared off from one bad review on the internet. Hotels reputations are at spot consumers are going to be raging about how they were treated for fracture or for worse.Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts has pose the bar for social media customers service care a guest went on twitter whilst staying at the Biltmore Four Seasons Resort to make a critique about the hotels music, to her surprise she received a bottleful of fuddle and a note from the general manager apologizing. Another property at Four Seasons Bangkok, where a guest complained on twitter about the lack of appealing movies on TV that night management were notified and the guest was informed about the hotels in-house DVD library. Kirby, 2009) These situations show the effective fight and participation required with social media marketing that results in high customer satisfaction. Interaction, Participation and Authenticity Social media is all about forming relationships, trust and building an online reputation. The main focus in social media marketing is to keep consumers informed and not to fool them. TIG Gl obal (2009) explain that social media users 5Page leave likely be appreciative of hotel marketers updates and more prepared to pass them along to their networks of friends and family, if they feel the updates are authentic and utilitarian.The main purpose 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 repartee is a significant factor in interactivity. (Tikkanen et al, 2009, p1371) The stronger a hotels genuine interactivity on social media sites, the stronger their social media brand testament be. Starkov & Mechoso (2010) reveal that if a hotel enhances its social media presence on Facebook and Twitter, it can create a buzz near the property and contribute to increased awareness and booking considerations. kind and dynamic content can enhance a hotels presence and generate consecutive interest the online social media process is all about the word of mouse. (Pars ippany, 2009) Social media sites are all about customer battle companies who focus on engagement rather than selling forget see success. (Mclean, 2007, Tikkanen et al, 2009) By incorporating quantify, interactivity and engagement hotel marketers could thrive with social media marketing. Valuable message Evans (2009) advises marketers to ensure they have significant cont ent on their social media sites otherwise they testament lose consumers and search locomotive rankings.Consumers arent afraid to tell hotel marketers if their content is rubbish but at least social media offers the ability to make instant adjustments in case they need to change insalubrious content. Marketers have to provide customers with value to have a dampen chance of attractive 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 mind when creating great social media content that will conduct co nsumers 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 consequence is not only how to engage the consumer, but also how first to attract the consumer to the website and then to retain them thus far this book is dated with basic knowledge of the internet and limited propagation to social media marketing. Saugestad (2009) argued that successful social media marketing requires meaningful participation, authenticity and real engagement.Social media is a invariable process of evolving and update to ensure exciting and rested content Involvement in (and success with) social media takes time and commitment. (TIG Global, 2009) hereafter of Marketing Hotels (2009) predicts social media will become firmly entrenched as a marketing channel in 2010. Savvy marketers will continue to shift marketing funds to online channels at the expense of traditionalistic marketing methods which Starkov & Mechoso (2010) reinforce social media and mobile marketing are cursorily becoming the mainstream in the hospitality industry. Accelerating technological 6Page developments are evolving as a new generation of opportunity and gainsay for the marketer. The issue with social media marketing isnt 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 more or less social media marketing but no distinct recommendations for effective usage. 4. Method of InvestigationAn exploratory research hail will be used to gather information a mixture of deductive and inductive deductive as I want to find if hotel marketing managers find social media marketing useful, also want to find if the take of communication on social networking can gain loyalty from consumers or discover if social me dia marketing is beneficial to a hotel or misc hievous to their image. Inductive secondary research will develop recommendations for the use of social media marketing. Triangulation refers to the use of different entropy collection techniques in ne study in ready to ensure the data is correct and precise. (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, 2005) Triangulation will be used 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 approach will be undertaken and data will be analyzed throughout the process Tashakkori & Teddie (2003) quoted in Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, (2005, p 146) argue that multiple methods are useful if they provide better opportunities for you to answer your research question. The role of practitioner tec will be undertaken as I designed a Facebook page for Cedar act Hotel Wakefield when I worked for them on my placement which I now manage. I plan to add 1 event and 3-4 status updates per workweek as nearly as requesting at least 40 friends. I understand it will be time consuming Im a full time student so all my time is spent on university work which does not allow me to be fully immersed in the daily events at Cedar tap.Therefore familiarity may affect the research as I dont have any up to date information to enable me to much update the status with current issues I have overcome this problem by asking the sales manager to keep me informed. I will analyse the campaign for 3 months to observe the usurpation and chemical reactions from the hotels social media activities. Structured questionnaires will be conducted using purposive sampling (typical case) with three hotel marketing managers that are currently using Facebook to market their hotel in order to explore their opinions of social media marketing.The questionnaires will be conducted through email so the managers can complete the questionnaire at a time and place convenient to them. The delphi techniq ue will be used to ensure the key issues are addressed when all the data is collected I will distribute it to the marketing managers to see if they jeer with 7Page the findings and to ensure all the important issues have been illustrated. only three managers will answer the same set of questions to ensure dependable data. From these questionnaires I will develop polls to ask the general ublic their opinions on social media marketing using PollDaddy as the sampling frame The large your sample size the lower the likely break 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 retort rate I am aiming for at least 100 answers to each question to generate findings that are representative of people who are evoke in social networking. There is no limit to the amount of questions I can post as PollDaddy provides interactive polling, which I thought was relevant to this project.I will post the questions in November and 3 months later I will gather the quantitative data which allows well-fixed comparison. As well as primary data, documentary secondary data will be self-collected from literature on the internet journals and articles from websites such as e. hotelier. com/caterersearch. com will be used to develop recommendations for a hotel marketer to efficiently use social media marketing. Secondary data is unobtrusive it will aid the projects 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, bias or observer error shouldnt occur as triangulation should yield consistent, reliable findings. For this project create verbally consent will be implemented, if participants do not want to enroll 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 its being compromised. 8Page 4. 1 Research Agenda From the literature review the key issues were highlighted and incarnate into the table below these issues will form the basis of the questionnaires and polls. Table 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 Marketing? The strategical Implications Of Virtual Communities of Consumption. European Management Journal. 17 (3) 252264. Online social networking sites are the most popular sites on the internet. MIGUENS, J. , BAGGIO, R. , COSTA, C. (2008) Social Media and tourism Destinations T ripAdvisor fountain Study. Advances in Tourism Research 2008. Aveiro. Portugal RAZA, Ivo. (2005) Heads In Beds cordial reception & Tourism Marketing. 1st Edition. United States of America. Pearson prentice Hall. DAVIS, John. (2009) Social Media Marketing Magic or Madness. online 16 July. member from Hotel Online news for The hospitalityExecutive. closing curtain accessed on 19 October 2009 at www. hotel- It is virtually impossible to debate in todays 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 integrate d? 9Page positioning. online. com/ intelligence/PR2009_3 rd/Jul09_SocialMediaMagic. hypertext mark-up language Engaging and dynamic PARSIPPANY, NJ. (2009) content can generate Introducing CoMMingle continuous interest the Social Media Marketing online social media Agency for cordial reception. process is all about the online 21 September. word of mouse. oblige from Hotel Online intelligence information for the hospitality Executive. final stage 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, cordial reception Industry. online authenticity and real 23 September. obligate from engagement. ehotelier. com the one s pennant website for hoteliers. die hard accessed on 19 October 2009 at http//ehotelier. com/hospitali tynews/item. php? id=P17166_ 0_11_0_C Four Seasons Hotels & KIRBY, Adam. (2010) MGM Resorts has set the ba r Grand hoarding Takes for social media Twitter to Masses. online 4 customers service care January. Article from Hotels a guest went on twitter The snip of the whilst staying at the Worldwide Hotel Industry.Biltmore Four Seasons Last 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 check 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 invalidating comment online what do you do? 2. Can you give me 3 examples of how social media marketing has wor ked 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 coquets social media activities on Facebook were recorded. E actually week Cedar approachs status was updated 3 times, a new event was added and an medium out of 40 friends were requested the campaign was analysed for 3 months to investigate positive and negative reactions of the consumers.It can be immediately seen from column 2 that Cedar Courts friends have consistently increased, doubling the amount of friends it strikeed 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 honest of 6 people were requesting to be their friend with a maximum of 8 people on 19. 02. 10.The popularity of Cedar Court definitely increased at the star t only 1 person wish 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 Valentines Day status (15. 02. 10) had 70 friends like it and 3 comments which is significant. Generally, the popularity of Cedar Courts profile did increase however there was a decrease of 7 friends on 24. 2. 09 which could be collect to the fact 4 events were sent out the previous time or it could have been due to festive pessimism, after this incident I ensured I would only send 1 event out each week to ensure I didnt annoy any more of Cedar Courts friends. The number of people accepting 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 personal status update not the sales pitch status es, which goes against companies objectives to use social media as a marketing tool. every the comments were positive which is encouraging this shows a positive impact as consumers enjoy participate in the personal statuses they take joy in the engagement and interactment with the hotels day to day activities birthdays, 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 reply giving as much detail 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 marketing team works unneurotic 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 hotels use Facebook, plus another social media form, however they all use them in slightly different ways. Malmaison started using social media marketing after attend 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 sever al months and uses Facebook and LinkedIn. Opinions on Social Media Marketing Malmaisons 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 unavoidably business 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 vizor, its quick, reaches a mass audience, builds relationships and is relatively cost effective. Marriott thinks 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 Content Updates and Interac tions All three hotels interact on their social media sites however there are different takes 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 Marriotts lowest level of interaction.Again, with content update the rankings were the same Hilton was the attraction 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 fainthearted with as often as we can. Participation, Engagement and Valuable Content Malmaison follows up on complaints and says give thanks you for good comments, they offer incentives and promotions their customers would appreciate.Hilton talks with their fans rat her than at them, they try to provide content that has real value, rather than simply pushing 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 dedicated social media marketer Hilton has an agency team and three internal team members Malmaison has 1 person from each hotel responsible and Marriott has nominated 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 intend to be a guest assistance centre. Which I disagree with guests should be able to have their p roblems resolved through social media, I do understand that it s an international company but strategies should be in place for these encounters. Marriott said we will only really 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 major topics. However Marriot ts focus is bringing our profile to a level where it in reality merits tracking. TripAdvisor Reviews Malmaison and Marriott both stated that they use TripAdvisor reviews but didnt 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. Negative CommentsIf Malmaison finds a negative comment then they address and investigate the situation, if a contact number/email address is left then the matter will be dealt with in private. Hi lton 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 doesnt believe social media can necessarily go wrong, but negative posts about customers 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 Working W ell All three hotels have had positive experiences with social media Malmaison has had positive feedback from its fans, the events they promoted 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 hotels 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 welcoming of recommendations that are tailored for our product and the market we are in. Hilton are always looking for suggestions that we can use at the brand level and share with our hotels. Social media is a continual 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 moderately new in this concept and need more time to extend their strategies. Malmaison is well developed 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 disclose any financial information which is understandab le but disappointing as it would have been interesting to compare the financial implications and set a guideline amount in the recommendations.One manager took 3 months to gourmandize out the questionnaire and only replied when I used Facebook to prompt them to fill it in. 5. 3 PollDaddy Results Polls were developed on PollDaddy to ask the general public their 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 argument that social media is effective.Table 3 Key Points from PollDaddy 1. 87% think that social media marketing isnt just a trend. 2. 50% think that marketers abuse social media marketing. 3. 48% think there should be rules for the appropriate usage of social media marketing. 31% think marketing on social me dia is innovative. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 60% find it easier to challenge marketers 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 disposal Source Authors Analysis of Poll Daddy Results 1. This is a significant percentage of people who think social media marketing isnt just a trend they believe it will be around permanently so hotels should take up this information and use this to their utility through marketing. 2.Half who answered thought that marketers just dont 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 encouraging for marketers 32% of people dont mind social media marketing as long as it isnt excessive. 5.Online consumer arent afraid to challenge marketers claims they are more self-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 suspicious 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 Globals (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. Even though some of the percentages are fairly inconclusive, social media 16 P a g e marketing is a growing trend and it would be interesting to see the results in a years time. 5. 4 Recommendations The dynamic growth 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 pur pose of this project was to evaluate social media in hotel marketing this project aims to help hotel marketers assess the key activities involved in social media marketing and evaluate the impact on a hotels marketing 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 hotels reputation can be damaged 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 dy namic content can enhance a hotels presence and generate continuous interest it needs to be focused on the consumer, its not what the hotel wants to talk about its 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 needed 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 s tatus 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 evolving, 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 cant necessarily go wrong. PollDaddy consumers dont mind social media marketing as long as it isnt 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 dont get social media marketing they felt that marketers cou ld make more of the opportunities they have the recommendations may help marketers use social media marketing more effectively. Recommendations have been derived through secondary research for the effective use of social media marketing. A dedicated and move 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 todays marketplace without a solid internet strategy and hotels need to merge social media marketing into their brand and their m arketing plan. Social media will soon be the norm in marketing and marketers 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 wanting(p) out on a mass online mark et, 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. hereafter research from this paper should look 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 years time to discover how opinions had changed. 8. Bibliography ARMSTRONG, Steven. (2001) Advertising On The Internet How to determine Your Message Across On The World Wide Web. 2nd Edition. Wales. Kogan Page. CHEN, Wei, et al (2009) Strategic Management Undergraduate Programme in Service sector Management. Essex. Pearson Education. DAVIS, John. 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