Social Networking for the OHLAPresented by: Holly Zoba - The Scout Report

This is Scout

“Social Media is like teen sex.

Everyone wants to do it.

No one knows how.

When it is finally done there

is surprise that it’s not better.” Avinash Kaushik, Analytics Evangalist, Google

Agenda

A Little History

What is social media really?

Activities, practices, and behaviors among communities of people who gather online to share information, knowledge, and opinions using conversation media.

Conversation media are web-based applications that make it possible to create and easily transmit content in the forms of words, pictures, videos and audio.

Social Media Ecosystem

Social Networking

Publish Photo

Audio Video Micro blogging

Livecasting Virtual Worlds

Gaming

Productivity Apps

Aggregators RSS

Search Mobile Interpersonal

Top 5 reasons to engage

5. 3 out of 4 Americans use social technology (Forrester, 2008)

4. 2/3rds of the Global Internet population visit social networks (Nielson, 2009)

3. Visiting social sites is now the 4th most popular online activity – ahead of personal email (Nielson, 2009)

2. Time spent on social networking is growing at 3 X the overall internet rate, accounting for greater than 10% of all internet time. (Nielson, 2009)

#1 Reason to Engage

Some fun facts

Data source: brandinfiltration.com

But is anyone making any money from it???

#1 social media mistake

Treating it like just another marketing channel when it should be so much more.

Public Relation

s

Customer Service

Loyalty Buildin

g

Thought LeadershipCustomer

Acquisition

The Approach - 3 Fundamentals

With whom do we have relationships?

How can we use social media to start conversations with all of our relationships?

The Four Pillars of Engagement

Old v. NewSocial media as just another marketing channel:

Points of Engagement - December

•Holiday Parties – add menus to website•Create shopping packages tweets•Put together a New year’s eve promo and put it on the Facebook page

Is it really all about you?

Travel Planning Funnel

Pre-market – need trigger

Search

Plan

Pre-validateBook

Post validatePrep

Experience

Share

Source: Dale A Brill – VISIT FLORIDA

Communicate?Educate

?

Collaborate?

Entertain?

Employee Life Cycle

Entertain

Educate

Communicate

Collaborate

Make a strategic plan(Engaging guests, employees and

owners/brands)

Identify objectives – where do you need help?

Guest retention?Employee retention?PR?New customers?A little owner understanding?

Make a strategic plan

Identify objectives – where do you need help?Talk (and listen) to the parties involved:

Guest surveysGuest focus groupsDepartment meetingsEmployee speak outs

Guest surveys/focus groups

What are you trying to discover?Guest interests

How involved are they with social media? Where, when, why?What do they like about your hotel? What services do they use?What do they do outside of your hotel?Where do they eat, where else do they travel

Guest irritations – with your hotel, with travel, with packingGuest wish list – what do they want from you?

Make a strategic plan

Identify objectives – where do you need help?Talk to the parties involvedCreate your team – with Pillar leaders

CommunicatorCollaboratorEducatorEntertainer

Make a strategic plan

Identify objectives – where do you need help?Talk to the parties involvedCreate your team – with Pillar leadersAssign Social Media “tools” to your leaders

Make them responsible for becoming experts at their tools

Typical Tools by Pillar

Life Cycles in Social Media

Make a strategic planIdentify objectives – where do you need help?Talk to the parties involvedCreate your team – with Pillar leadersAssign Social Media “tools” to your leadersHold a problem solving/brainstorming session

Identify which “tools” may solve which problems/objectives and howDo you need outside help – neighbors, competitors, owners?

Make a strategic planIdentify objectives – where do you need help?Talk to the parties involvedCreate your team – with Pillar leadersAssign Social Media “tools” to your leadersHold a problem solving/brainstorming sessionCreate an action plan

Prioritize problemsApply brainstorming solutionsAssign due dates and control process

Make a strategic planIdentify objectives – where do you need help?Talk to the parties involvedCreate your team – with Pillar leadersAssign Social Media “tools” to your leadersHold a problem solving/brainstorming sessionCreate an action plan Execute, evaluate progress, measure results, begin again

So that’s the strategy but how about the execution?

First let’s review our options in the social media ecosystem --- aka

There is MORE to social media than Twitter and Facebook!

Social NetworkingVisitors OCT 09

% Chg, YOY

Facebook 128,940,004

188 %

LinkedIn 15,545,678

89%

MySpace 49,903,967

-9%

Bebo 2,299,547

-32%

Orkut 439,984 3%Plaxo 2,082,18

42%

Ning 6,797,938

62%

Fast Pitch 52,549 -4%

KickApps 849,140 444%

Gather 437,761 -15%

Social NetworkingFacebook & LinkedIn – must doBebo – diminishing but AOL purchased in 2008Orkut – 71% of Orkut users are from Brazil and IndiaPlaxo – Similar to LinkedInFast Pitch – small business focus – to help your business growNing – Build your own social network!!!KickApps – add social networking apps to your own siteGather – social networking targeted to the over 30 crowd

How can social networking help?

A Few Other Tips

PublishUnique Visitors – OCT 09

% Chg, YOY

Blogger.com 31,699,703 28% Constant Contact

9,125,571 106%

Slideshare 59,282 86% Wikia 3,992,360 84% Wikipedia 1,573,018 46% Wordpress 28,048,281 33%

How can publishing help?

WordPress and Blogger both offer free creation of blogs. WordPress = more professional

Constant Contact – email service - $15/500

Slideshare – share PowerPoint presentations

Wikia – Great to produce internal best practices – employee collaboration

Wikipedia – go to your city/neighborhood and add in your property

Micro bloggingUnique Visitors – OCT 09

% Chg, YOY

Twitter 23,042,455 578% Plurk 206,303 -28% Twitxr 12,324 -58%

Micro blogging Twitter basics:

Several tweets a day – of interestFood is always an interestFind a voice and be consistentWhen you retweet, give a positive

introThank those who retweet youTry Tweet Ups and contests

(twtvite.com)Treat Twitter like a petrie dish –see

what grows (twittersheep.com to see what interests your followers)

Advanced Twitter

Consider HootSuiteManage multiple accountsTrack trends and individual tweetsMonitor your brandURL shortenerScheduled tweetsManage groupsImage sharing/file uploading

For more reporting - TwitterAnalyzer

AudioUnique Visitors – OCT 09

% Chg, YOY

iTunes 1,637,942 98% Podbean 205,754 95% Rhapsody 1,960,141 -26%

AudioCreate your own podcasts using Podbean.com-Walking tours around your property-Calendar of Events for the holiday season

Upload them to Rhapsody and iTunes

Photo SharingUnique Visitors – OCT 09

% Chg, YOY

Flickr 28,063,071 4% Photobucket 22,013,034 -8% Picasa 83,873 18%

VideoUnique Visitors – OCT 09

% Chg, YOY

YouTube 84,679,416 35% Brightcove 4,698,577 -3% Hulu 8,616,718 130% Google video 94,600 232% Viddler 998,055 59%

Photo/VideoTag your photos

Give guests digital cameras to use – have scavenger hunts, post results

Before and after guest photos

Photos help increase members

People LOVE to share photos

Tag your videos

Give guests flip video cameras to use – make them a vacation movie get permission to post

Make funny staff videos

Make how to videos (how to use COTA, cooking, bed making, napkin folding)

People LOVE to share videos

Flip Video – under a minute, cute, funny, touching or surprising

Productivity Apps

Unique Visitors – OCT 09

% Chg, YOY

Acteva 105,082 17% Google Alerts Google Docs Survey Monkey

9,425,612

50%

Tiddlywiki Zoomerang 1,412,87

1 9%

How Productivity Apps Help

Acteva – perfect for small meeting planners, brides

Google alerts – monitor your brand/your competitors

Google docs – great for collaboration

Survey Monkey – Zoomerang – Easy to produce surveys

Tiddlywiki – create user manuals, tutorial, best practices

ReadNotify – email tracking service – when opened, if forwarded

InterpersonalUnique Visitors – OCT 09

% Chg, YOY

GoTo Meeting 2,020,980 121% iChat 1632 1890% Jott 43,210 -59% Skype 2,907,563 69%WebEx 1,596,217 64%Acrobat Connect

How Interpersonal Tools Help

GoToMeeting, Acrobat Connect, WebEx – offer online how to tutorials – to new meeting planners? New brides?

Skype/iChat – let your international customers call you for free, face to face OR let them call their families from your business center

Jott – you never need to think again.

Summary

Thank you!Email – Holly@ScoutReportOnline.com