2010 - The year of Social Media?

It seems that 2010 is the year of Social Media. Each week we read articles about it and learn new initiatives from travel suppliers. We are happy to see the industry embracing a way of communicating and exchanging that is part of our day to day life. But this is just the beginning. We as “social communicators “(aren’t we already 500 millions on facebook ?) expect to see brands take advantage of social media to better inform us and to get closer to us. However, there is much more that can, and should, be done. Marketers have realized how they can better interact with their customers with social media. But we suspect that behind the scene it also depends on how systems need to change to embrace this potential.

Over the last couple of weeks we have run a poll on social media on the main page of our Micro Site. The question was: Will proliferation of social media impact hotels technology infrastructure?

The results of the votes are very interesting. 67% of respondents agree that social media will impact hotel systems, 16% consider that it will not impact hotel systems while 17% are still undecided.

These results tell us that marketers and merchandisers can be truly creative, but only if they are enabled to do so by technology. For hoteliers to embrace social media they need to ensure that their entire technology systems infrastructure is not only ready, but that it will place them at the forefront of this new interaction.

Here are some examples of what can be done with social media, but just think a moment about how from a technology perspective these can be implemented.

Hoteliers commonly use rate comparison tools to get valuable information to feed their revenue management systems. However, there is no reason why they cannot be using keyword systems to pick up on broader conversations beyond their own branded and competitor branded terms, right now. Furthermore, they could be using these systems to alert their marketing departments and build on-the-spot promotions in their Central Reservation Systems to be available immediately on their web sites, advertised on Facebook and communicated via Twitter.

Property Management Systems (PMSs) could evolve with concierge applications enabling guests and hoteliers to communicate more easily prior to or during a stay, including links to Facebook. For example, after guests have checked-in, a message could be sent from the PMS to their Facebook inbox to welcome them to the hotel and provide them with more information or even offers at, or around, the hotel.

Social media can also help with sales. By harnessing the volume of conversations hoteliers can show, through what people are saying, why those people’s peers should consider them. Guest books used to do this on a one-to-one basis but now social media can do this many-to-many, instantly and globally. Imagine the power of enabling guests to post their comments, pictures and videos in an online resource, in much the same way they do now on TripAdvisor. This would necessitate changes to the hotel chain’s content management system, making them robust enough to host new content and the necessary workflow and security to accommodate that. Equally, the brand website should support this extra public content without disrupting the navigation and response time.

However, marketing also depends on raw information, and there is much that can be done in this area to make the information work harder. For example, the Central Reservation System could be plugged into Facebook, so that confirmation of bookings could be notified on the guest’s Facebook inbox, with appropriate upsell and cross-sell offers as well as concierge services. The booking confirmation could also provide a link to a video of the property or any relevant information the hotel wants to communicate. And, because sites such as Facebook are designed to allow sharing, these videos could spread in a viral manner.

So let’s answer the questions we started out with. What does the industry need to do to embrace social media? How does the industry, and the systems which drive it, need to change? The answer as confirmed by our poll results is that existing systems will have to be adapted, throughout all business functions from research to marketing to customer relations. Furthermore, to gain real value they need to be much more integrated, without damaging their current performance or their brand perception.