4 key insights into social advocacy for hotels

There are a ton of social networks out there, each intending to do different things and appeal to different demographics. But as a hotel, which ones should you really care about? The answer to this question depends largely on who you ask. I could lecture about what I think are the best choices but I find it’s a lot more fun (and relevant) to simply look at the data—and we have lots of data.

Flip.to has been the advocacy platform for hotels and theme parks for over five years. In that time we’ve helped our clients connect with their guests in meaningful ways. In doing so, we’ve been able to collect a huge amount of data, and observe how the big three (Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) social networks, well, work.

Here’s how we define social engagement, plus 4 key takeaways to pull back the shroud, and help guide your hotel’s social engagement efforts with your guests.

Social Engagement

Social Sharing

In Flip.to’s space, a “share” is defined as someone who’s booked a room at your property and then told their friends and family about it using a social network. Sharing is crucial because it represents the “top-of-funnel” when we’re talking about advocacy. These advocates’ voices are powerful, delivering an impactful message that comes from a trusted friend rather than a corporation.
When it comes to sharing, Facebook is the clear winner. This isn’t a big shock because Facebook is arguably, if not absolutely, the most popular social network in most parts of the world today. What’s interesting here is just how popular it is relative to Twitter and LinkedIn. Facebook represents nearly 58% of all sharing through the Flip.to platform. Twitter is a distant second at 27%, and LinkedIn represents the remainder.

Social Connectedness

When we talk about social connectedness, what we’re really saying is “reach.” High sharing volume is great, but paired with massive reach it’s even more powerful.

In the last five years, Flip.to has helped its customers reach over 60 million connections through advocacy.

So how does that break down by network?

Again, Facebook rules the roost. Of those 60 million connections, 69% can be attributed to Facebook. Twitter is an even more distant second with about 25%, and LinkedIn rounds out the balance. It’s important to note that the difference between first and second here is significant. Not only does Facebook represent more social connections, it represents more connections per advocate as well—creating a multiplier effect.

Unique Visitors

Any time an advocate shares an upcoming trip to a social network, there’s an invitation for her connections to visit the property’s website and learn more. Plus there’s an incentive attached to entice that person to book in the future. Driving traffic to the property’s website means there’s an opportunity to win over this prospect and secure a sale down the road, cutting out any intermediaries.

Here’s where our journey gets really interesting. At the time of this analysis, Flip.to had generated over 2 million unique visitors for its customers. Of those 2 million, nearly 60% came from Twitter. Facebook, now the distant second, represented about 34%. Despite creating the majority of advocates and despite those advocates representing greater social reach than all others, Facebook could not deliver the same volume of website traffic that Twitter could.

Potential Future Guests

Once a friend or family member lands on the property’s website, a customized message invites them to sign-up and lock in an incentive for a future stay. Those that sign-up represent a pool of potential future travelers for the property. They’ve been given the best introduction possible—that of a trusted source—and now they have an incentive in-hand to experience the property for themselves. For the hotel, the marketing potential here is huge, so capturing those sign-ups is critical.

Facebook manages to pull ahead again here by a large margin. 62% of all sign-ups originated from a Facebook post. Taking it a bit further, about 12% of all advocacy originating from Facebook will result in a sign-up on the hotel’s website. With Twitter it’s closer to 3% and with LinkedIn it’s nearly spot-on 2%. LinkedIn did manage to close the gap as we moved through the conversion funnel.

Key Insights to Guide Your Hotel’s Social

Know (and be) where your guests are

With the majority of social advocacy taking place on Facebook and Twitter it’s safe to conclude your guests are active on these social networks so you should be too. There’s more to it than just having a presence but that’s a discussion for another time. If you’re looking to invest in one over the other, Facebook is likely your best route but it’s critical you understand your customer demographic before diving in. Don’t assume one is the clear winner every time.

(Relevant) Content is King

People are better connected via Facebook than they are through either Twitter or LinkedIn. Since we know they prefer to share via Facebook, this means that sharing relevant, meaningful content with your audience can be more impactful through this channel. Take advantage of the multiplier I mentioned and ensure that your message is hitting home.

Posts that include photos receive 120% more engagement than the average post.
Via BitRebels

Tailor messages based on the channel and the audience

Twitter is a massive broadcasting tool that makes up for fewer connections, but with a more active audience. We demonstrated that you can effectively drive direct traffic by taking advantage of your guests’ connectedness over Twitter.

While it may not convert at the same level as Facebook, there’s something to be said about volume. Adjusting your messaging on that channel can help to improve conversion and bridge the gap. Additionally, Twitter was designed to be a conversational tool, unlike the other channels. When you’ve been tagged in a tweet that’s an open invitation to engage in a conversation with that person. Each subsequent tweet can reach that same audience time and time again.

Know how to convert social traffic

The Facebook crowd is more likely to convert and sign-up on your website, underscoring the importance of this channel. It may not bring as many people to your site as Twitter does, but those that come are there for a reason.

Understanding where these potential future guests are in the travel booking process is crucial. Be sure to have content on your website that appeals to a socially-minded audience. A sign-up for an offer they can claim on a future trip, for instance, may be more relevant to this viewer. This not only keeps people on your site longer, it improves conversion. Lookers turn into bookers when they see an experience that’s aspirational and attainable. Seeing that experience through the eyes of former guests is as real as it can get without being there yourself. So consider your on-site messaging and what story it’s telling your potential guests.

The biggest lesson from this analysis is that it’s immensely important that hotels understand their guests and that they make some effort to tap into their guests’ social connectedness.

Every guest that walks through a hotel’s door represents an opportunity to create the experience that guest is expecting.

Hotels are great at this. But thinking beyond the on-property experience, every guest represents a social network of their own, like-minded friends and family. Tapping into that network can yield great benefits when done thoughtfully.

Be a part of the future of hotel marketing and revenue management with RevPAR Hacking

Hot off the press from Flip.to and industry leaders, RevPAR Hacking is the ultimate guide to the impact of revenue culture. Not only will readers get insight from leading experts in their field, but they’ll also learn the tips and tools to put them at the forefront of hotel marketing and revenue management.

So what does it mean for a hotel to have a revenue culture?

By aligning collective goals, teams work together as they aspire to generate the most revenue—and the entire organization will reap the rewards. In fact, so will the guests, as there will be more resources available to serve their needs. A revenue culture spans everyone responsible for driving the hotel’s bottom line—marketing, e-commerce, revenue management and sales succeed by sharing revenue considerations at every level of their strategy.

To go further, guest data and revenue data should inform one another at every level. A comprehensive revenue approach to this degree will not only align your teams, it’ll also target the most profitable business for your hotel—the right guest at the right price.

In RevPAR Hacking, industry thought leaders open up on how they’ve created a growth-minded revenue culture that has set up their teams for success. These models shed light on the ‘hows’ and the ‘whys’ of revenue culture, but also why it’s a valuable (and inevitable) shift for hotels who continue to seek growth.

A revenue culture that aligns your hotel’s goals will be a key driver of success—your team, your guests, and your bottom line will all win.

See for yourself how RevPAR Hacking reveals the impact of revenue culture, plus the thoughtful approaches to get you there.

Seeing is believing

A sneak peek at Group Advocacy

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes here at Flip.to. Fueled by our very own bean-to-cup coffee machine, (more on that here,) our team of product designers and engineers are constantly working to enhance the platform and create a better experience for our users. Group advocacy is the latest example of this innovation, as we aim to weave advocacy into every level of the guest experience.

The new Group Advocacy is a big enhancement in a hotel’s ability to use advocacy with group business. Hotels can now easily import events, create and manage campaigns to target groups with specific incentives, track statistics across campaigns, and more.

So what does this all mean for our hotel partners? Well, now all of your hotels’ weddings, meetings, or corporate groups are stories ready to be told by these guests to their friends and family. And it’s through those stories that your hotel can reach more travelers worldwide, and deliver each one a unique, inspired experience that takes them down the path of becoming a future guest.

This is thanks to our integration with Lanyon Passkey—part of Lanyon’s Smart Hotel Cloud software—that lets hotels streamline and automate meeting and event bookings. Used by thousands of hotels, destinations, and meeting-planners worldwide, it’s easy to manage hotel accommodations for events of all sizes.

There’s more to follow, but enjoy a taste of Group Advocacy below. (For current customers, log in and take a peek at this new feature on your account!)

As growth ramps up, Flip.to adds four key senior players

Customer success and rapid innovation pave way for expansion

Geetha Balakrishnan has been appointed Vice President of Customer Success. With vast experience in hospitality technology operations, global delivery of implementations, and team development, Balakrishnan is an accomplished leader in her field. Formerly out of TravelClick, she now heads a team of account management and implementation specialists to drive customer onboarding and success.

Edward St.Onge, President of Global Sales & Marketing for Flip.to, previously worked with Balakrishnan when he owned and operated EZYield, an industry leader in hotel channel management. “Geetha’s ability to lead and organize global, results-driven teams is astounding,” said St.Onge. “Her experience managing high-growth organizations will better enable Flip.to to continue delivering on the expanding needs of our customers.”

Diane Van Leunen joins Flip.to as the Director of Digital Marketing. With an agency background, she leads the development and execution of communication and branding strategies for the growing platform. “Flip.to’s world-class product is making a measurable difference for hotels worldwide,” said Van Leunen. “The opportunity to connect and engage customers, and contribute to the growth of Flip.to with this exceptional team is an important role I’m thrilled to be a part of.” Her most recent experience includes roles at The Kessler Collection, a luxury, boutique hotel group, and Plan A PR and Marketing, an agency focused on growing brands in the hospitality technology B2B space.

Senior Software Engineer, Kevin Tiller, comes to Flip.to out of Patient Point, an innovator of patient engagement solutions. His experience includes the architecture and development of dynamic new product lines, as well as the design and implementation of several web applications. “Kevin’s extensive development knowledge makes him a core member of the product team,” said Eric Peters, Director of Engineering at Flip.to. “His ability to transform concepts into high-quality software solutions is making a huge impact for our customers as we continue to unveil new layers of product enhancements.”

In addition, Rosana Burlingame has taken on the role Accounting and HR Manager. Coming most recently from Hilton Grand Vacations, she boasts over 15 years of accounting experience in the hospitality space. “Rosana is a true asset to the organization,” noted Keith Durden, Chief Financial Officer at Flip.to. “With our growth, Rosana has helped lay the groundwork to accommodate our scale.”

“Talented people are drawn to great teams—it’s a big part of their decision to join any company. By hiring top folks, we’re ensuring that creativity, innovation and passion aren’t just placards but truly part of our day-to-day at Flip.to,” added Brian J. Kent, CEO and Co-founder.

With the recent additions to the team, the global hospitality technology company has plans for several product announcements before the end of the year as it continues to unveil its advocacy platform for hotels.

Flip.to drives direct bookings in demanding Asia Pacific market for Compass Hospitality

Advocacy platform becomes an integral part of revenue strategy for the Thailand-based hospitality group

ORLANDO, FL — September 08, 2015 — The rapidly expanding Compass Hospitality group in Bangkok, Thailand has launched Flip.to, the brand advocacy platform for hotels, to drive direct bookings and reach an entirely new audience of potential future guests.

Since going live on the platform, Compass Hospitality group’s Bangkok hotels have extended their reach well beyond the scope of their current networks, bringing large audiences of unique visitors and potential future guests back to the hotels’ websites to book directly.

For Compass Hospitality, this has been critical given the highly competitive online distribution market. “OTA bookings are rapidly growing across the region, expected to jump an enormous 58% from 2013 to 2016,” said Tejinder Sidhu, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Compass Hospitality. “As such, we are turning to emerging technologies to gain a competitive edge.”

Sidhu went on to add, “We are seeking to prioritize channels with the greatest revenue potential, so any way we can shift share to direct bookings is an integral part of our distribution strategy. Flip.to has been an incredibly effective way to do so, reaching potential new guests in a more trusted way than other forms of traditional or digital advertising.”

Flip.to has made an immediate impact in Compass Hospitality’s ability to connect with travelers worldwide. Trusted introductions have helped the hotel group reach thousands of new guests in just a few months, encouraging them to book directly through the recommendations of their friends, family and colleagues.

the-key-hotel-sukhumvit — The Key Hotel Sukhumvit, Bangkok

“Lowering the cost of customer acquisition is a priority for many hotels, especially in a highly competitive market,” noted Debi Moses, Senior Director of Sales, Americas for Flip.to. “By tapping into advocacy, Compass Hospitality has been able to amplify exposure to their website, building brand connections and encouraging new guests to book directly.”

Flip.to has emerged as a key player in the region with Compass Hospitality as their newest hotel partner. Currently operating 49 hotels in Thailand, Malaysia and the United Kingdom, the group is set to expand by offering their guests unique experiences, from luxury resort getaways to boutique, city hotel stays.

For reservations at any one of Compass Hospitality’s extraordinary locales, visit their website at CompassHospitality.com, or contact Tejinder Sidhu at tejinder.s@compasshospitality.com.

Making sense of social media—how to create the conversation about your hotel

Our very own President, Edward St. Onge, was recently featured on Global Hotel Network’s Perspectives column, a site that provides market insights and thought leadership to executives in the global travel and tourism industry. Flip.to is proud to be a member of the online network, and Ed himself sits on the GHN’s Technology Committee.

The column, Create the Conversation About Your Hotel takes a deep dive into the value hotels can see from social media, even as it’s constantly evolving.

Social media was born as a conversation between friends—users sign online to connect with their family and colleagues. It makes sense that hotels want to be a part of the conversation. But it’s important to do so in a way that doesn’t fall by the wayside. As Ed notes in his perspective, hotels often put time and money into posting uninspired content:

“This just adds to the social noise, getting lost in hundreds of other messages competing to gain exposure on your guest’s news feed—more than 1,500 at a time on average, according to Facebook.”

That’s a lot to compete with at any given moment! So how do you cut through the clutter? For hotels, the trick is advocacy. Ed adds:

“Advocacy is a game-changer for how hoteliers use social media. The content is real and shareable—we’re talking about authentic stories of guest experiences, amazing pictures taken at the hotel, and great examples of the hotel’s happy staff. A single guest can reach hundreds and sometimes thousands of potential future guests beyond the scope of your current fan base. How many new guests does your hotel reach every day? If handled correctly, these truly social shares can translate into real, trackable ROI for your hotel.”

With advocacy, hotels can truly tap into the potential that social channels bring to the table. For more, check out Ed’s full perspectives piece featured on GlobalHotelNetwork.com.

HITEC at the Hangar Lounge, and the Icebreaker Photo Contest

We kicked off the first night of HITEC with an amazing event at the Hangar Lounge, co-hosted with our friends at Social Tables and Lanyon. The mid-century modern travel hangout couldn’t have been more perfect, complete with three lounges including the top observation deck overlooking the streets of Austin.

It was a great party, and we’ve got the pictures to prove it (thanks to our guests!)

Flip.to hosted the ‘Icebreaker’ photo competition, encouraging folks to ‘break the ice’ and take a photo with a new friend. For the last month the contestants have been rallying votes. Some sweet prizes were on the line, like an Apple iWatch.

Needless to say, our guests came through. Check out some of our favorite quotes and snaps below:

I know, I know—what you’ve all be waiting for…the winner! I’m happy to be the first to say, congratulations Marcy Albert! She tallied up an astounding 668 points and 112 votes, (in addition to the sweet tattoos.)

Another really great aspect of this event is that each host played a huge part in the technology that made it memorable. While we headed up the photo competition, Lanyon and Social Tables each headed up the event logistics with some really great products:

Event Registration

RegOnline® by Lanyon
RegOnline® by Lanyon is the affordable event management software that lets you plan and manage meetings and events quickly and easily.

Leading up to the event, our guests easily registered themselves and their guests online. Confirmation and reminder emails were sent to all attendees inboxes, making event info handy the night of the event.

Event Check-in

Software by Social Tables, an Event Software Platform
Event check-in software that revolves around people. Organize your attendees with the power of the social graph.

Event check-in was a snap thanks to this amazing platform by Social Tables. Guests were checked in at the touch of a finger, keeping traffic flowing (especially important at a high-volume event!)

We had a fantastic time at HITEC—the biggest show in it’s history. The latest, most innovative technologies were on the floor, with quality attendance of over 6,000 hotel professionals from around the globe. A huge thank you to our friends at HFTP, our co-hosts Social Tables and Lanyon, and all of our fantastic guests!

(Now, who’s ready for New Orleans?!)

How to boost your hotel loyalty program with advocacy

Loyalty programs have become a necessity to compete for the fleeting interest of the frequent traveler. Hotels are increasingly using loyalty to attract the “right” guest, rather than just trying to fill rooms. Advocacy, on the other hand, can be as simple as a word of mouth referral or a powerful testimonial. Like loyalty, it can be used to attract the right customer—only this time, it does so by reaching like-minded customers through their social networks. But, in the end, not all loyal customers are advocates, and not all advocates are loyal customers. So how do loyalty and advocacy work together?

The time-tested approach of creating programs and incentives that reward loyal customers, though struggling, can still be effective. Re-thinking this model to combine advocacy with loyalty creates an environment in which there’s no incentive to book anywhere other than directly.

Flip.to is doing just that. By turning guests into engaged advocates, trusted brand connections are built, and frequent travelers become key promoters for your hotel. Here are some of our key findings to successfully bridge the gap between loyalty and advocacy:

Membership: For loyalty programs to flourish it’s crucial there be network growth over time. Members tend to stay longer, spend more, and return more frequently. Additionally, loyalty programs cost real dollars to implement, and hotels understandably wish to drive enrollments wherever possible. By integrating loyalty into a guest engagement or advocacy strategy, not only will network membership grow, but it will do so in a way that is largely automated and, therefore, far more scalable.
Engagement: Combined, a hotel’s guests have far greater reach than any marketing effort it could ever undertake on its own. Hotels that focus on driving engagement are able to put this massive reach to proper use. By putting loyalty points on the table as the incentive, a hotel can boost or maintain already high engagement while also directly linking loyalty and advocacy in the guest’s mind. It demonstrates that loyalty can be an engaging pathway for turning hotel guests into advocates and reinforces the value of the loyalty program for the guest.
Member Value: Measuring and understanding the value that loyalty program members bring back to the hotel is clearly important, and it can help define which enrollment initiatives should be pursued more aggressively. Guests who enroll in loyalty programs through advocacy initiatives, on average, return equal value to the hotel as those enrolled elsewhere. Considering the ease of implementation and the time-saving automation available through this approach, the integrated method can deliver real value to the hotel’s bottom line.
Automation: Behind the attractive veneer of any loyalty program there are real costs, both in hard dollars and human capital. Besides facilitating scale, automation can reduce these costs and free up the hotel’s associates for valuable guest interaction. An integrated approach to loyalty and advocacy means the member enrolls prior to arriving. The hotel is now capturing meaningful data about the guest before they even arrive, creating opportunities to enhance the guest experience and a compelling path to up-selling.

Both loyalty and advocacy have their place in a hotel’s toolkit. Combined, they represent something greater than the sum of their parts. By implementing a guest advocacy strategy that incorporates loyalty, hotels are able to engage with their guests in a natural and meaningful way that drives results. And the best part is that everyone walks away a winner!

5 ways to target the right guest for your hotel using advocacy

Advocacy works for all types of hotels—the friends, relatives & colleagues of your guests are the perfect demographic for your hotel to reach. Whether your hotel fits in the business, leisure, resort, limited service or luxury markets, you have the ability to make trusted introductions to entirely new audiences of future guests with an advocacy campaign.

Your guests are already sharing their travels—get them talking about their stay too. Check out some tips below on how your hotel can reach the right guest by marketing with advocacy:

Connect the right guest with the right incentive for the best engagement. Two glasses of wine may engage guests booking a romance package to advocate more than a flat discount off of food & beverage (perhaps better suited to a family). Likewise, business travelers may enjoy a complimentary room upgrade or loyalty points.
Tailor guest share messaging for your brand. Your guests have like-minded travelers in their networks. Don’t be afraid to play up your guest share to build stronger connections with potential future guests. Just remember to keep it conversational—this message is coming from your guests on your behalf, not the other way around.
Enhance your advocacy strategies to optimize results. Pre-stay, Post-stay, and Photo Advocacy are all great experiences to engage your guests at different times of their travel. For example, guests love sharing moments at spectacular leisure destinations. Adding Photo Advocacy would be a great fit for this type of property. Our advocology experts can help guide you through the process of putting the best campaign together for your hotel.
Engage top advocates even further. Some of your advocates have astounding reach! With the Flip.to dashboard, you can easily sort by top advocates. Keep an eye out at check-in for these notable guests (our handy front-desk guest-list email will help, too) and make their trip a bit more special. Building these connections convert your guests into even greater promoters of your brand (and even co-creators,) giving them further reason to continue to advocate for your hotel.
Don’t forget to share! When your guests supply your hotel valuable moments from their stay in the way of photos and quotes, share! These authentic moments are perfectly suited to share to your own network and reinforce what’s unique about your experience. Plus, it’s built right into the platform—click to curate in just a few moments.

It’s important to remember that when you target guests using advocacy, you have the ability to be strategic across campaigns, incentives, share messages, and more. This will further optimize your outreach across your different markets. These small efforts can mean a big boost in engagement and revenue for your hotel!

Passing of the gong

David Bruce and Crystal Ellington — David Bruce, Account Manager and Crystal Ellington, Business Development Representative

At Flip.to, we’re constantly striving to innovate for our hotel partners, aspiring to find new and creative ways to help hotels earn new guests. As we continue to grow, so too does our team. In fact, this constant growth is what helps us serve our hotels even better! That’s why it makes me extremely proud to see two of our members moving up among the Flip.to ranks in the Marketing department.

Thanks to stellar performance and “gong-banging” ability, the one and only David Bruce is being promoted to the Account Management team. Stepping up to fill in for Mr. Bruce is our very own Crystal Ellington, moving from her research role up to the big stage as our new Business Development Representative.

So, what’s all this talk about a gong anyway? Think of it as a badge of honor, a celebration of the little victories along the way, heard loud and clear through the halls of Flip.to. It’s our little reminder of why we’re here—success through collaboration and innovation. As David passes the gong to Crystal for new pastures in the Accounts team, we’re all more inspired and motivated to achieve more. Congratulations to David and Crystal!

(P.S. Flip.to all-stars making moves means that there are more shoes to fill! Check out our openings here .)