Something special happens when travelers discover your hotel through real experiences shared by friends & family. Capture these memorable moments and let your guests introduce your hotel to the world. You’ll inspire an entirely new audience of future guests with Flip.to.
Sound interesting? Introduce your hotel to the world with Flip.to. Take a tour, or see how to introduce your hotel to the people who matter most below:
Star of the revitalized Fisherman’s Wharf reaches 200,000 future travelers in first 6 months of operation
ORLANDO, FL — February 8, 2016 — Flip.to, the advocacy platform for hotels that captivates and inspires new audiences of travelers, has helped Hotel Zephyr amplify its reach to over 200,000 potential new guests in only six months. Hotel Zephyr is Davidson Hotels & Resorts’ first property within its new lifestyle & luxury collection, Pivot, and one of San Francisco’s newest boutique hotels.
The hotel has seen enormous guest engagement since partnering with Flip.to, which coincided with the hotel’s opening after a multi-million dollar renovation in the summer of 2015. Over 40% of guests have shared their travel experience with their network of family and friends, driving quality traffic back to the property’s website, and introducing Hotel Zephyr’s playful maritime concept to thousands of leads for future travelers.
“When launching a new brand, momentum is critical,” noted Harry Carr, director of Revenue Management for Hotel Zephyr. “Our guests have become ambassadors for our hotel, helping us connect with other travelers seeking Hotel Zephyr’s spirited atmosphere. Flip.to unveiled a completely new channel to identify and reach the right guests for our property. It’s been an outstanding complement to our revenue and marketing efforts.”
Hotel Zephyr’s transformation, aimed at travelers seeking a fresh, lively and one-of-a-kind San Francisco experience, not only included a complete redesign and renovation of the hotel, but also consisted of a newly launched website and tech-forward approach to the property’s digital presence. Flip.to was a key component of this effort, increasing guest engagement, integrating social mediums and driving loyalty, while also shifting attention away from online travel agencies.
The advocacy platform has attracted thousands of new visitors back to Hotel Zephyr’s website through the warm introductions of their guests. Each guest is greeted by distinct, unique experiences designed to convert, taking these curious onlookers down the path to becoming future loyal guests.
“Thanks to connectivity in the digital world, your guests have more influence than ever before,” said Debi Moses, Senior Director of Sales for Flip.to. “Flip.to gives hotels the ability to tap into that influence by letting them share their travel experience with their personal connections—a like-minded network of travelers who are perfect for your hotel. Their combined reach truly gives you global exposure.”
Hotel Zephyr features 361 stylishly appointed guest quarters and suites. The property’s artistic design brings a new dimension to the upscale vibe that defines San Francisco. The only waterfront hotel in Fisherman’s Wharf, guests enjoy stunning panoramas of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Fisherman’s Wharf, Coit Tower and the Bay Bridge. For reservations, visit www.HotelZephyrSF.com, or contact Reservations at reservations@hotelzephyrsf.com.
Here’s a special guest post from one of the number of incredible innovators, subject matter experts, and just all-around big idea folks that we love hearing from. At Flip.to, we’re constantly looking to collaborate with people in the industry that inspire us. Get in touch and let’s do something amazing together.
From e-commerce to digital marketing, Tim Peter has been putting the web to work for hospitality for over 20 years. Today he’s sitting in on the Flip.to blog to share a bit of that knowledge. Check out his take on the truly impactful marketing team for your hotel that’s been hiding in plain sight.
I really hate marketing sometimes. I know that’s a weird thing to hear from a guy who does marketing for a living. But the simple reality is that finding and attracting guests isn’t always easy. Far from it. Not only are you constantly competing with companies that possess a seemingly-endless mix of people, data, and budgets to chase down potential guests wherever they may be, but all of you compete with your customers for a tiny sliver of their attention. And that tiny sliver is only getting smaller every year.
Check this out: According to research from Expedia, guests visit 38 sites on average over the course of 45 days before they make a reservation. 38 sites! 45 days! That’s crazy, right? And, remember, that’s not 45 days prior to the stay date; it’s 45 days ahead of the booking date.
Seriously, what’s taking them so long? Why can’t they make up their mind?
Well, for starters, most of them don’t know where they’re going. Google’s Road to Decision study suggests that over half have no particular destination in mind when they get started, while 84% of travelers aren’t sure which brand they’re going to choose once they do.
Want an even crazier—and more troubling—stat? About two-thirds of guests don’t really understand the difference among the brands available to choose from. Sadly, this holds true even among many heavy business travelers. And the flood of information your potential guests face each day usually only adds more confusion, rather than simplifying the solution.
What you and your guests both need is someone who can help ease the guest decision process and cut through the cluttered content landscape, pointing out the benefits your property offers in a timely and efficient manner.
And, yes, that’s what your sales force and marketing team strive to do every day. Most do a pretty good job of it, too. But, let’s be fair. It’s really hard work (see above, for instance). Google’s made it more challenging to rank in search, favoring PPC ads over its traditional organic results. And as Richard Dunbar pointed out here on the blog recently, getting your content in front of guests on sites like Facebook has gotten both more difficult and more expensive due to the social media giant’s algorithm changes over the past couple of years. And even those messages that make it through Facebook’s filters are fighting for your guests’ time, attention, and action.
The simple fact remains that you’re competing against the hundreds or thousands of marketing messages that your guests see every single day. In such an oversaturated media environment, it’s no surprise that even well-trusted brands and long-standing relationships sometimes struggle to make an impression—to say nothing of close the sale.
Bet you’re hating marketing right about now, too.
But here’s the good news. You’ve got a secret sales force at your disposal, one who knows all about the exceptional experience and value your property offers and represents a trusted source of information to the thousands of potential guests you’re looking to reach every year. Even better, you don’t have to cover much overhead to put this secret sales force to work.
So, just who is this secret sales force?
Your current guests, that’s who. According to Nielsen, most people trust the recommendations they receive from their friends and family on social. And on average each of your guests connects with roughly 200 friends and family on Facebook and other social media. Your existing guests offer you a trusted connection with these potential customers.
Just consider the math for a moment. Let’s say you’re responsible for a 100 room hotel, that runs at 60% occupancy and hosts 1.4 guests per room each night. That’s almost 31,000 guests per year that you can put to work telling your brand story. Which, y’know, is a lot of people. And, even using conservative numbers about how many friends each has on social media, those 31,000 guests can reach millions of other potential guests on your behalf (since most of you probably hate math way more than you hate marketing, I’ve tucked that away down at the end of this post, but those numbers are real).
Facebook has made it plain that it plans to show its users more content from close friends and family. Put your guests to work telling your hotel’s story, and the friends and family Facebook favors will be the folks staying in your rooms every night. They’re the ones who can share compelling stories about how much they enjoyed their stay, highlight the outstanding value they received, and sell their connections on why they ought to consider your property too. Their posts on social get in front of their friends and family and provide you a trusted entry into a dialogue with those potential guests. That’s your secret sales force.
And it’s one you can’t afford to waste.
It’s no secret that guests have chosen for years to write reviews on TripAdvisor and booking sites, sharing the details about their stay with folks all over the world. Those reviews often drive valuable business for your brand. But why not put content like that to work for your hotel? How about getting your guests to share on behalf of your property to a targeted audience, instead of just about your property to some random bunch of strangers on the Web? This isn’t just about Flip.to (though, as you might imagine, the company offers a really great way of empowering your guests to tell your hotel’s story). This is a huge opportunity for you to reach new business effectively and efficiently, regardless of how you choose to engage them.
The simple fact remains that your secret sales force offers you a near-perfect opportunity to connect with potential guests. Their messages get seen and are trusted by your target audience. They’re well-informed about your value, and I don’t know about you, but it’s enough to make me fall in love with marketing all over again.
Appendix: The Math Behind the Hidden Sales Force’s Social Connections
According to Pew Research, 39% of “adult Facebook users” have 1-100 friends, 23% have 101-250, 20% have 251-500, and 15% have over 500 friends. So, using the lowest possible number of friends on Facebook per brand:
(39% x 31,000 * 1) + (23% x 31,000 * 101) + (20% * 31,000 * 251) + (15% x 31,000 x 501) = 4,618,070
Which, again, is a lot. What’s even crazier is if you use the higher number in each range:
(39% x 31,000 * 100) + (23% x 31,000 * 250) + (20% * 31,000 * 500) + (15% x 31,000 x 501) = 8,421,150
Note: Since we don’t know the upper bound of friends in Pew’s topmost group, I’m still assuming “only” 501 friends for the most connected cohort on Facebook.
And here’s the thing. Assume for a moment that these numbers are way too high, say maybe twice as high as they should be. Your guests still connect you with 2 to 4 million other people on Facebook alone. Pretty cool, eh?
Advocacy has changed the game for how hotels develop and communicate their story to the world. But what does it look like to incorporate advocacy into your hotel’s day-to-day?
We connected with Deanna Padilla, Marketing Manager at Nickelodeon Suites Resort, to shed some light on this question—here’s what she had to say.
Nick Hotel on Branding
Michael Mathews: We can tell branding is important to your digital strategy. How important was it that Flip.to could be seamlessly incorporated into your current site?
Deanna Padilla: Our brand is important to us and our consumers, so being able to easily incorporate Flip.to into our current site matching our brand standards is very important.
MM: Could you talk about some of the branding examples that were incorporated between your brand and Flip.to’s platform (Homepage Component, emails, and certificates)? What has the value of the branded Flip.to integrations meant for Nick Hotel and your guests?
DP: Flip.to incorporated our brand colors within the homepage component and our hotel logo in the emails and certificates. This is a valuable detail to be able to incorporate the Nickelodeon brand with all of these initiatives. Plus, this also builds brand loyalty and engagement with the consumer.
MM: What advice would you give to other hotels when it comes to branding and messaging?
DP: Make sure your branding and messaging match, this makes your product more valuable, especially to your loyal customers. Branding truly builds advocates.
MM: How would you describe working with the Flip.to team to incorporate these changes?
DP: Flip.to has been a great partner to work with. The team was there step-by-step in getting photo advocacy up and running. It was a seamless process.
On the New Photo Explorer from Flip.to
MM: Nick Hotel recently launched one of the newest features of Filp.to, Photo Explorer. How would you describe using this piece of the platform (from set up and curation, to making changes)?
DP: The setup piece was easy to complete. Flip.to provided the necessary instructions for me to provide to our partners to update on their end on our behalf. Curation of guest photos is a simple and fun step, especially being able to see the property through the guests’ eyes.
MM: How much time out of your day do you spend on the platform?
DP: I spend about 10–15 minutes each day on the platform curating and sharing great photos on social media.
MM: How user friendly is the platform? What’s been your favorite aspect so far?
DP: The platform is extremely user friendly. A few touches, and you can share on your individual social media platforms.
Being able to share these experiences from the guests’ own personal photos on social has been a favorite of mine.
MM: Has there been anything that surprised you that you learned from the platform?
DP: Just how easy it is to manage, and also share on the hotel’s social media platforms. It’s a quick and easy process making posting more of a fun item than another work task.
MM: How has Photo Explorer helped in your overall marketing strategy?
DP: Photo explorer has increased our fan base on social media and will hopefully drive them to our website and lead to direct bookings.
On Advocacy
MM: How has Flip.to changed your day-to-day?
DP: Flip.to has added a nice addition to my day-to-day work tasks. I enjoy reading the guest comments and looking at the guest photos every day.
MM: What drove Nick Hotel to get started with Flip.to, and using advocacy as part of your marketing?
DP: The opportunity for social sharing among our guests and their friends and their friends’ friends was a huge factor in deciding to participate in photo advocacy.
MM: What have you found most beneficial when making advocacy a core component of your revenue and marketing strategy?
DP: Definitely the number of sign-ups we have received from photo advocacy alone is outstanding. This has increased engagement on our social sites.
MM: What advice would you give other hotels who want to get started with advocacy?
DP: If you are looking to increase your social awareness and reach new audiences while building your relationship with existing fans, then photo advocacy is a must for your property.
Incorporating advocacy into your hotel’s long-term strategy will set your hotel up for success.
For Nickelodeon Suites Resort, integration was a snap. New features like Photo Explorer engage users with personalized interactions that are built in, so they have the right conversation with every viewer. Plus, a streamlined process and a bit of fun have been carried over into Deanna’s day-to-day tasks, making curation and sharing a breeze.
We love hearing incredible stories from our clients, so get in touch and let’s collaborate to feature your hotel in our next behind the scenes post.
Photo Explorer is an entirely new way for hotels to infuse authentic guest stories and candid perspectives into their online experience. The newest feature of our advocacy platform, it’s become an integral part of many hotel’s marketing and revenue strategy.
Check out how some of our current clients are using Photo Explorer, below.
The Shores
Nick Hotel
New visitors may not be ready to book now. Present them with an opportunity to “show some love” for a favorite photo in order to receive a special incentive for a future stay, and start building a new relationship. This thoughtful interaction is relevant to their current travel considerations, and starts the conversation down the right path.
Over time, hotels convert curious onlookers into future guests with meaningful, relevant interactions as they envision the beginning of their own great travel story.
Adrift Hotel
Not only that, but your hotel has a richer story to tell thanks to the authentic perspectives and experiences that only your guests can provide.
Photo Explorer is a powerful, smart platform that drives and converts. With advocacy, hotels aspire to inspire—and aspirational selling is the key to winning in the new hotel marketplace.
If you’re curious how Photo Explorer can help your hotel reach new audiences like never before, learn more here or get in touch with one of our Advocologists and they’ll be thrilled to walk you through a live implementation.
Advocacy becomes a foundation of Caribe Royale’s marketing strategy
ORLANDO, FL — December 2, 2015 — Caribe Royale, a Flip.to customer since 2013, has captured authentic guest stories, warm introductions to their hotel, and more guests with their latest and most successful photo competition to date using Flip.to’s advocacy platform for hotels. Running from June through September, the Beat the Summer Heat photo contest was designed to reveal new brand stories and compelling images from guests to complement Caribe Royale’s existing marketing campaigns.
In a short three-month span, Caribe Royale received 143 finalists in the contest, each sharing the favorite moment of their stay with their networks to rally points. The effect was viral. Guests, their friends, and even their friends’ networks were engaged to vote and share on behalf of the guest and the hotel. By the end of the competition, they together rallied an incredible 221,217 points, earned in ranges from 3 to 8 for different actions like voting or sharing.
More importantly, these engagements represent captivating, authentic introductions to the hotel through advocacy. According to a Nielsen report, 92% of respondents say they trust earned media (recommendations from friends and family) above all other forms of advertising—a fact apparent as nearly 500 of these visitors alone voted and signed up for an offer on a future stay, revealing warm leads who’ve shown real interest in the hotel.
To make them even more valuable, these sign-ups from the competition represent an ongoing opportunity to engage and nurture potential future guests, building brand affinity and driving long-term, recurring revenue for Caribe Royale.
As opposed to standard hashtag competitions—which are often riddled with image curation, attribution and usage rights pitfalls—Flip.to was built with the hotel’s marketing in mind. Images and quotes are easily curated, sorted, and shared from the hotel’s library. As a result, Caribe Royale was provided with an ongoing stream of authentic guest stories at their fingertips, with the ability to share across social media channels in just a few clicks.
Elyse Cottle, the Director of Promotions for Caribe Royale, spoke of Caribe’s recent success, “Flip.to has taken the headache out of capturing, curating, and distributing our guests’ incredible stories, saving our team countless hours. It’s always a pleasant surprise to come back to the Flip.to platform and see how much content and reach we’ve effortlessly captured.”
The competition was a resounding success, both for the guests and the hotel. Caribe Royale was recently recognized for a 2015 HSMAI Gold Adrian Award for their use of the Flip.to advocacy platform—a ‘tip of the hat’ garnered in addition to the unique user-generated content, outstanding reach, and warm introductions to potential future guests gathered using the platform.
Recently debuting Photo Explorer, Flip.to is designed to make authentic guest stories, like those captured in the Beat the Summer Heat photo competition, an integral part of the hotel’s story. The platform extends a hotel’s ability to turn guests into advocates and create a huge impact on brand exposure and ROI.
Hotels may display their guests’ favorite moments gathered during their photo competitions in a dynamic gallery, creating a truly personalized experience for every site visitor. This entirely new look at the hotel through the eyes of its guests is an incredibly smart platform, designed to convert curious on-lookers to future guests, and better communicate the personality and genuine guest experience of your hotel.
The impact of Advocacy has been felt throughout the marketing and revenue efforts of Caribe Royale. Since launching with Flip.to, Caribe Royale has reached more than 1.6 million of their guests’ friends, relatives and colleagues, in addition to seeing a spike in traffic to their website.
“Advocacy transcends every aspect of a hotel’s business, from marketing and sales to revenue management,” added Edward St.Onge, President of Global Sales and Marketing at Flip.to. “Your hotel has the opportunity to increase direct bookings, build trusted brand connections and extend your reach to travelers across the world when advocacy becomes a core component of your hotel’s overall strategy.”
Flip.to has been key to Caribe Royale’s success. The platform gives Caribe Royale’s guests the opportunity to tell their story to the world, creating an ever-growing team of advocates who have a massive impact on their reach and bottom line.
Caribe Royale is an upscale, Caribbean-inspired convention hotel located just minutes from popular Orlando tourist attractions. To reserve a stay, visit www.cariberoyale.com, or contact Elyse Cottle at ecottle@cariberoyale.com.
Captivate & inspire an entire new audience of global travelers like never before, and tell a richer story for your hotel with Flip.to’s newest feature—Photo Explorer. It’s an entirely new look at your hotel, as told by your guests.
Your guests capture the widest range of experiences and most candid insights into your hotel. With Photo Explorer, your property now has the ability to infuse these authentic stories and perspectives that only your guests can provide into your online experience. Thanks to advocacy, your guests drive their friends & family back to your site, drumming up a ton of activity and attention for your hotel.
It’s refined at every level. From a nuanced interface, to thoughtful interactions designed with your guests’ travel considerations in mind, the platform is smarter than ever. Photo Explorer adapts for every type of visitor that comes to your site, whether they’re learning about your hotel for the first time, or a past guest rekindling their favorite moment. With Photo Explorer, your hotel can tap into the benefits of aspirational selling and influence potential travelers where hotels can really win—inspiration.
Take a deeper dive below, and see how engaging your guests who create and share their stories makes a real impact for your hotel.
Curate a richer story from your guests’ meaningful moments
Turn memorable moments into highly engaging interactions with every type of visitor to your site—from your guests, their friends & family, or a curious onlooker. Capture, curate, and infuse authentic guest moments into a compelling online experience for your website. It’s a fun part of your day that makes a huge impact for your hotel. Since it’s in real time, these stories are timely, relevant and seasonal—speaking to your potential guests today.
Filtered by your hotel’s current and past contests, or through a unique Gallery view, Photo Explorer is smart. It takes into account hotel rating, votes, timeliness, and even who’s viewing your site. Your best images will always be on display, paired with the right message for that visitor.
Deliver unique, personal experiences to every website visitor
Photo Explorer engages different users in different ways—out of the box. Personalized, thoughtful interactions are built in, so your hotel has the right conversation with every viewer based on their persona and their travel considerations.
With unique call to actions, your hotel can now build real relationships with past and future guests. Convert anonymous visitors just learning about your hotel into warm leads, or rekindle a favorite moment of a past guest. These strong initial brand connections nurture guest relationships when you deliver unique, personal and genuine online experiences to every person that visits your site.
Integrate simply and see immediate, measurable results
Simply put, integration is a snap. Provide a link location to point your content, and we’ll take care of the rest. Managing Photo Explorer is easy too, fitting effortlessly into your day along with the rest of the Flip.to platform.
Everything is tracked, so you can see firsthand the impact authentic guest stories make for your hotel. You’ll be notified of submissions, sign-ups for future offers and shares—driving home the impact that authentic stories created by your guests are making for hotels on a global scale.
Even though the travel buying process doesn’t start at “Book Now,” this tends to be where most hotel marketing efforts are focused. In reality, the decision for travel starts well before guests are ready to book. In fact, the inspiration and research phases are primed for influencing the decision to travel. Fortunately for hotels, this is where they can be making a big impact. The key is to engage them in the right way.
Instead of pushing someone who isn’t ready to book now, why not change up the conversation. If they’re very early in the decision-making process, offer a light touch, let them unveil, and begin nurturing them down the path to becoming a future guest. With Photo Explorer, your hotel can do just that.
You’ll build brand affinity, and when they are ready to make a reservation, you’ll be top of mind and they’ll be more likely to book directly.
What does all of this really mean for your hotel? Photo Explorer is an entirely new look at your hotel. Thanks to your guests, your hotel can have real, candid experiences woven into a smart platform that drives and converts. It aspires to inspire—and aspirational selling is the key to winning in the new hotel marketplace.
Guests want more. They’re looking to buy into experiences and seek inspiration. By sharing in the creation of this inspiration, they receive value in return, and start on their way to becoming loyal brand ambassadors. It’s a win-win for your hotel, as you’ll not only share in getting incredible content, but you’re truly connecting with your guests.
Don’t just take our word for it. Check out Harvard Business Review’s recent article, What Apple, Lending Club and AirBnb know about Collaborating with Customers, which ties revenue and profit margin growth directly into the ability to tap customers to become co-creators.
Stay tuned for a lot more to come. In the meantime, get in touch with one of our Advocologists to see a live implementation. We’re excited to see the stories your guests are telling!
Advocacy platform sparks results; hotel and guests both win
ORLANDO, FL — November 09, 2015 — Flip.to, the advocacy platform for hotels, has increased direct bookings and captured added revenue for Platinum Hotel, an all-suite property located in Las Vegas, Nevada. Flip.to tapped into the right demographic for the hotel and spa—a non-smoking, non-gaming retreat, just a few blocks off of the main strip.
Designed to earn new guests by way of the warm introductions of their existing guests, Flip.to’s advocacy platform extends the hotel’s reach to a massive and highly targeted audience of potential future guests in an authentic and trusted way.
Platinum Hotel has seen the immediate impact on top-line growth. In addition to the revenue earned by way of booked room nights, more than 20% of their guests have advocated on behalf of the hotel. They’ve shared to a network of over 15,000 friends and colleagues in just two months—each that fall within a pool of like-minded, warm leads with similar travel and purchasing habits just one degree from the hotel’s advocate.
The move to implement Flip.to has been part of a comprehensive revenue approach by Platinum Hotel, led in part by Director of Sales and Revenue Strategy, Melissa Graves.
“We employ a hybrid approach that aligns revenue, marketing and sales. Flip.to fit seamlessly within this effort by letting us drive more direct bookings while creating a huge impact on our brand and ROI. Plus, we’re able to thank our loyal advocates, rewarding those that stay, and eventually their friends and family. It’s a win-win-win for the hotel, our guests and their network.”
Graves went on to add that the ease of implementation was an added benefit to the platform for Platinum Hotel. “Flip.to is incredibly easy to manage and take live, with an Account Management team that made the process quick and seamless,” said Melissa Graves. “I only wish we had started sooner.”
This approach is part of a larger shift in the industry that has identified the need to align hotel marketing, revenue management and sales to optimize demand and pave the way for the highest profit potential. Revenue strategists are consistently looking to adopt new technology platforms that employ these methods. Though cutting-edge today, this irrevocable change is fast becoming the standard in the industry.
“Reaching the right demographic for your hotel with your marketing efforts is critical,” said Debi Moses, Senior Director of Sales, Americas at Flip.to. “This is especially true as the cost of traditional digital channels like PPC ads can be hugely expensive for hotels in this market. Flip.to tracks everything, right down to booked room nights. It’s really made an incredible impact for The Platinum, who’s quiet getaway is the perfect retreat from the Las Vegas Strip.”
The Platinum Hotel offers a welcoming Las Vegas escape, letting guests relax amid superb amenities in any of their 255 one- and two-bedroom suites. To reserve a stay, visit www.ThePlatinumHotel.com, or contact Melissa Graves at melissagraves@lvplatinum.com.
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.
Sometimes, making a small change can make a big impact for your hotel. Take your welcome email—what can be a great personal touch for your guest, can also help you, the hotelier! In fact, welcome emails typically generate four times the total open rates and five times the click rates compared to other bulk promotions. This drives home that fact that it’s a great opportunity to do even more.
Enter the image URL from Flip.to, which doubles as a tracking pixel. Flip.to implements this strategy for our clients through our advocacy platform.
Why you should do it
The image URL or tracking pixel provides the ability to continue marketing to your guests with Flip.to, regardless of the channel that they originally booked. This enhances the conversations from your hotel, and builds strong brand connections with your guests.
Since this is coming from your hotel’s existing welcome email, the recipients include those who booked through a call center, mobile device, in-house, or travel agency. Here is where the pixel really stands out—with the ability to continue marketing to those guests before and after their stay, you can continue the conversation with your guests even when they’ve packed and gone home.
How to set up your image URL
Within your welcome email, simply insert an image URL into your existing email template. This URL acts as a tracking pixel that provides the ability to enhance campaign outreach. Any guest that receives the email will now receive pre- and post-arrival touch points through the Flip.to platform.
Because the pixel is an image URL, if you have Photo Advocacy enabled, you also have the ability to display a graphic relevant to their upcoming stay. This would include an invitation to let the guest know about the photo competition.
In this case, when the URL displays the graphic to announce the photo contest, it excites the guest by letting them know about their eligibility to participate—and knowing is half the battle. Following their stay, another email is sent to all of those guests that were tracked through the engine, as well as through the image URL, inviting them to interact and share their positive experiences to their friends and family across their social networks.
For hoteliers utilizing Photo Advocacy, guests participate further through periodic emails that rekindle their favorite moment, again and again. These interactions continue the relationship not only between the hotel and the guest, but also the guest’s friends and family, well after check-out.
So now, thanks to one tiny URL, the hotel has the opportunity to reach out to more guests, even if they’ve booked from other sources. This allows hoteliers to nurture these guests, and their networks, down the path to future direct bookings,
Bonus: Some providers include these email services and technologies within their subscription. Make sure you’re taking advantage of this service!
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 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.
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.
