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MARKETING TO MILLENNIALS PART 1: HOW TO WIN ON MOBILE PLATFORMS

Knowing how to attract millennials isn’t optional anymore.

That’s especially true in the hospitality industry. The group born between 1980 and 1999 aren’t a small, specialized piece of the pie, they are quickly becoming the largest slice!

By 2030, millennials are expected to be the biggest group of travelers with 78 million people and by 2018 they are predicted to be the largest consumers of luxury travel accommodations as well.

Why marketing to millennials is different.

Unfortunately, getting this group’s attention requires a change in thinking by hotel marketers. The millennials are the first group of people to have grown up with the internet and their expectations and perceptions of companies, especially hotels, have been shaped by that.

One of the first things those in industry can do is recognize the importance of mobile technology. While it might be obvious that mobile is important, what might not be obvious is just how important, check out these eye opening stats about mobile use:

Everyone has a device – in the next three years more than 99% of millennials are expected to be smartphone owners.

They are looking at these things constantly – Millennials touch their smartphones 45 times per day!

And… they are using them for booking – 52% of millennials book hotels rooms for business traveler with a smartphone or similar device.

Mobile marketing is one of the most effective vehicles for properties to reach millennials. Here are some tips on how to get the most out of your mobile marketing efforts.

1) Optimize, optimize, optimize.

Make sure all the features of your main website including information, property photos and the ability to book look just as good on the mobile version. Start assuming that guests will only ever visit your mobile site, and not your main site because that’s increasingly the case.

But optimization for mobile goes beyond just your site. Treat any digital content like it will be read on a mobile device first. 70% of consumers say they will likely immediately delete an email if it is not adjusted for mobile use, and a large portion of these are millennials.

It’s hard enough to get someone to open an email, let alone one that doesn’t look great.

Different styles for different screens.

2) Get an app.

Though most major hotel brands have apps, there are still plenty of smaller boutique and independent properties that do not. Though it might seem like an extra feature that only makes sense for the major chains, as apps become more popular in the industry they are becoming more and more of a standard feature.

Apps not only make the mobile experience more user-friendly, they help build loyalty with customers and give you a great communication channel to talk to guests. There are plenty of companies that specialize in hotel app development, just check our article about this year’s HITEC conference to read about some of them.

3) Be interesting.

Being always connected to the internet means being susceptible to a constant stream of content vying for your attention. It’s harder and harder for marketers to stand out.

So as a rule of thumb remember to be interesting! Would you read your hotel’s email or click on your own banner ad? Or would it get drowned out by the latest Twitter trend or viral video.

Not every piece of content you put out there needs to be a blockbuster or the next social media sensation, but remembering that people are constantly being bombarded with information is absolutely critical!

4) Make your rooms mobile device friendly.

Wifi should be free. That’s a pretty consistent sentiment across millennials. It’s not something that business travelers need to check email, it’s something that most guests are accessing within their first 30 minutes in the room.

Also, hotel rooms should be friendly spaces for mobile technology, easy to find outlets or USB charging stations can go a long way to making younger guests feel comfortable.

5) Have a social media presence.

Mobile and social go hand in hand nowadays. We’ll get more into the specifics of social media in a future post, but for now it’s important to at least understand that you need a social media presence.

If your property is managed under a brand page that’s fine, but if you’re independent and don’t have a Twitter account or Facebook page you may be missing out on plenty of millennial eyeballs!

Start implementing these tips and start winning mobile today! And be sure to stay tuned for the rest of this blog series where we will talk about everything else it takes to market to millennials effectively.

July 14, 2015

Hospitality News

FRENCH RESORT DESIGNED BY FACEBOOK FANS

It was only a matter of time…

Social media’s influence on hospitality has been growing ever since hotels first started getting their own Facebook pages. Last year, the Sol Wav hotel took a big step forward in this area by becoming the first “Twitter Hotel,” using the popular service as an integral part of guest services. Now, social media integration in the hotel world has reached another new peak, an entire property has been designed by its Facebook fans!

The Val Thorens Sensations, by Club Med, in the French Alps was designed based on opinions pulled from social media. Major hotel features like a lobby climbing wall, main dining room yurt, and outdoor jacuzzi were decided by the hotel’s fans on Facebook before it opened. Even smaller decisions such as bed size and mirror locations in the rooms were made through the social network.

Main eating area at the hotel, complete with central-Asian inspired “yurt”

The property doesn’t look half bad either. The Facebook generated opinions were a little quirky, but the end result is impressive. Besides the more original features, like the previously mentioned yurt, Sensations also features some practical accommodations, like beer taps on each floor.

Why more brands should follow Club Med’s example

Though, Val Thorens Sensations is making waves due to the novelty of its design process, the idea of “crowd-sourcing” is something that has real value for future developments in the hospitality world.

Notoriety – being a “designed by Facebook” hotel comes with guaranteed media attention, at least while it’s still a new thing.

Brand Loyalty – This type of guest interaction not only makes a brand seem forward thinking and progressive, it adds an element of authenticity that’s tough to replicate. Giving guests the power to add real input to a property’s layout gets them more emotionally invested in it. Even guests who didn’t directly participate will appreciate the “guest-first” mentality of the idea.

Social media boost – “Follow us on Facebook and help design the look of our new resort” is a pretty compelling pitch.

More guest-oriented attitude and culture – In general, this type of guest-first approach is a nice refresher that any brand can use. When your resort was designed on the opinions of guests, an attitude of high quality service will be inevitable.

But it’s not all good

Even though the idea of “design by Facebook” has its benefits, there are definitely some drawbacks as well.

Idea vs. Reality

Guests don’t always know what they want. Sure, the rock wall in the lobby and outdoor jacuzzi sound like great ideas in theory, but until they’ve been tried it’s hard to tell if they will be good for guests in real life. Maybe the rock wall will be annoying or loud to other guests nearby, maybe it’s just too cold to get in and out of the jacuzzi in the alp winter?

Gimmicky

Having your hotel layout determined by a social media campaign could definitely be a turnoff for the guests of some higher end luxury properties. It’s easy to imagine that certain brands might worry about cheapening their image by being associated with Facebook, or viewed as a gimmick.

My hotel isn’t due for a major renovation any time soon. Why should I care?

Even established properties can benefit from Club Med’s model. The basic idea behind crowd-sourcing can be used in existing properties, with a little creativity! There’s no reason to think it’s an all-or-nothing proposition.

Some examples of how you can use social media opinions to add value to your property:

What color should our new lobby carpet be? You can launch a campaign showing two options of carpet and ask fans to make their voices heard.

What brand / type of wine should we keep in the bar? Wine enthusiasts will be all over this. There are so many choices in variety, vintage and brand, why not just hand this decision over to your fans?

How should we stock the mini-bar? What types of amenities do you want in your bathroom? Even simpler questions can have a big impact.

The idea of a Facebook designed hotel sounds outrageous at first, but when you think about it, it’s really just an extension of great service towards guests.

What do you think about crowd-sourcing in hospitality? Give us your feedback in our comments section below!

February 14, 2015

Marketing Trends

5 little known social networks ready to take off in 2015

Facebook has 1.4 billion registered users. 190 million tweets are sent every day.It’s hard to remember a time before Facebook and Twitter ruled the internet… but everything starts somewhere.

Here are 5 social media sites that could gain mainstream popularity in 2015!

1. Yik Yak

Yik Yak is essentially a location-based anonymous chat room. Unsurprisingly It’s already gained controversy on college campuses and high schools for potentially being an easy vehicle for hazing and bullying.

Why it could be huge in 2015: Who doesn’t love gossip? Yik Yak provides an outlet for live local discussions where users can post their thoughts, complaints and comments. Anonymous chat rooms have existed before, but Yik Yak’s combination of limiting chat by geography and anonymous posts make it stand out.

Why it could fade away in 2015: YY is in danger of suffering too much from anonymity. After the initial novelty, where’s the real value in a site like Yik Yak? There are no selfies in the world of anonymous user-ship, can an anonymous site really establish itself when social network users are obsessed with self-promotion?

2. Ello

Ello, which has positioned itself as the anti-Facebook is an invitation only social network that prides itself on minimalism. One of Ello’s biggest selling points is that it features no ads of any kind, and promises to stay that way.

Why it could be huge in 2015: The major social media players all seem to be jumping on the advertising bandwagon. Facebook has had them forever, and Twitter has been vamping up their sponsored tweets program. Offering an ad-free experience could be enough of a draw by itself to launch Ello into success.

Why it could fade away in 2015: Lack of features and lack of commercial interest could keep Ello from being anything than a club of folks who want a pure experience. Sure Ello’s minimalism looks great, but users could experience a “lack of information shock.” Not to mention Ello is competing with PR departments of companies fully invested in the advertising on social media model.

3. Tumblr

Tumblr’s probably the most familiar name on this list. Since it was founded in 2007, you might think that that if it were ever going to be a major site it would already be one by now, but surprisingly In 2014 Tumblr showed that it belongs in the big time social media discussion when it overtook the top spot as fastest growing social network, from Instagram.

Why it could be huge in 2015: Rapid Growth, Versatility. It’s not easy to say why Tumblr is growing so fast, but it is. Tumblr does a good job of providing a multi-media platform, by allowing users to post video, blog, photos or audio files.

Why it could fade away in 2015: Facebook and Twitter are so popular in part due to their addictive nature. Tumblr does not seem to share this characteristic.

this chart from Techcrunch.com is a perfect illustration of Tublr’s biggest weakness.

“Habit forming” that seems to be the key to a great social network. But who knows? Maybe Tumblr can be hugely popular without creating a compulsive need to check impulse.

4. Reddit

A home for communities is probably a better description of Reddit than a social network. Reddit basically allows user submitted content to be judged by the entire community based on up and down votes. One of it’s biggest strengths is its ability to be used as a platform for different niche communities.

Why it could be huge in 2015: It’s already huge and has a lot of momentum behind it, Whether or not it gets recognition as a “social network” or is talked about in the same circles as Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin is another story.

Why it could fade away in 2015: Same reason as above, Reddit itself will continue to grow steadily, but it’s success as a “social network” is based on public perception.

5. Quora

Quora is a social question answering site. Users are able to ask questions and get community generated answers from experts. One of its key features is allowing potential question answerers the ability to establish themselves as experts on a subject, as judged by other users.

Why it could be huge in 2015: Novelty, usefulness and giving users an outlet for their knowledge. Quora’s key difference from other social network’s is its narrowly defined purpose. It’s simply a way to get questions answered using crowd sourcing. This level of focus might be a breath of fresh air from the somewhat open ended experience of Facebook or Twitter.

Why it could fade away in 2015: User interface and too much user input. The site looks old, it just doesn’t seem like a cutting edge, modern social media platform. It also provides real input and skill from the audience, if you don’t have answers or expertise in a particular area, this might not be for you. On the other hand, people love to express their opinions even if they are ignorant of the subject!

What little-known social media sites would you put stock in for 2015? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below!

January 5, 2015

Marketing Trends

5 Tips for Better D.I.Y. Video Content

Special thanks to our videographer friend Andy for helping us with this post!

Everyone knows that Google is the most searched site in the world right, but who is number 2?

Nope, it’s not Yahoo, AOL or Bing. It’s not even Facebook or Twitter.

Actually, YouTube is the second most used search engine world wide!

Think about that for a second. If your brand isn’t using video as part of their content marketing strategy imagine how many searches, clicks and views you’re missing out on!

At the same time, quality matters. You can’t just put out low quality stuff for the sake of getting into video. You want to make something that you can be proud of, that represents your brand appropriately.

It’ll take some practice, but here are some suggestions to get you on your way to producing great video content!

1. Keep the camera still!

Having a shaky camera distracts your audience and makes a video look amateurish. Luckily it’s a pretty simple problem to fix. Just find something to set your camera on!

If you don’t have access to a tripod, use a stack of books, a step stool, or even someone’s shoulder as something to set your camera on to cut down on shakiness.

If you’re shooting your video with a smartphone you might want to invest in a Smartphone tripod adapter, which will allow you to mount your phone on a traditional camera tripod!

2. Pay attention to lighting

It’s hard to achieve the level you see in professionally done videos without bringing in your own lights and diffusers, but you can get a step closer by just paying closer attention to the light sources you do have. Here are a few basic rules of thumb to keep in mind.

Try to avoid having a strong light source behind your subject. For example, if you’re shooting indoors, don’t frame a shot with your subject standing in front of a window.
Pay attention to light color: incandescent bulbs, fluorescent bulbs and natural sunlight will all give your video a different look.
If you’re shooting indoor your video is probably dimmer than you think. Try improvising with lamps, overhead lights or even flashlights to make your shot look as good as possible.

3. Use a microphone for audio

Having good audio creates a huge difference in video quality especially if you plan on shooting someone speaking. It’s definitely one of the easiest ways to add quality to your video production,

The best way to do this is by buying a microphone. It doesn’t need to be anything crazy, really anything is better than the built-in microphone on your smartphone. Lavaliere style microphones are a great option and are available for just $30 on Amazon. That price is well worth the improvement in your content’s quality!

If you still don’t think buying a microphone is worth it, watch this video that shows the difference between using a camera’s built-in mic and using a lavaliere mic!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ymr9fPOENU

4. Plan your shots

Actually picking your shots, what lighting to use, framing your subject etc.. is something you’ll get better at with experience. There are some basic things you can do right away to improve your shot composition though.

Rule of thirds: imagine a grid try to keep your subject 1/3 to the left, or right.
If your subject is looking a certain direction leave some room in the direction they are looking
Don’t cut off your subjects head, leave a little margin.
Try not to shoot a person from a low angle, it looks awkward.
Include motion, action shots and interesting visuals.

5. Edit appropriately

Editing can make or break your final product.

Though professional level desktop tools, like Adobe Premiere, are ideal, you really only need the basics. In fact there are a number of great free or cheap apps available for smartphones and tablets that have all the functionality you’ll need.All you should be looking for in a video editor is the ability to trim, rearrange shots and overlay an audio track.

Before you start cutting away you should watch a few videos that are similar to the style you’re trying to create. Pay attention to how long each shot takes, what type of cut they use (does the scene fade away or jump to the next shot), and anything else. There are plenty of different stylistic choices you can make and they can have a big impact on the mood impact and watchability of your video.

Need some more help on a video project? Our video production team has the skills and creativity to help your brand shine! Contact them today.

October 17, 2014

Marketing Trends

HOW TO POST LIKE A PRO: 6 TIPS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS

Creating great posts are one of the most important activities you can do on social media. (next to listening) Post are the basic tools of communication on social media, so brands need to make sure that theirs have a level of professionalism that reflects well on them.

If you are posting for a company or organization, make sure your posts look professional with these 6 tips.

1. Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar

The Problem: Typos and poor grammar are one of the quickest ways to make your posts look unprofessional. Just because social media is a less formal way to communicate doesn’t mean you get to skip the fundamentals!

The Pro fix: WAIT… Before you click post, make sure to step back and re-read what you just typed. Start with spelling, since that will be the most obvious mistake to your audience, then move on to grammar and punctuation. A little attention to detail can go a long way.

Twitter is a bit of an exception however. There’s a bit more leeway when it comes to using abbreviations and shorthand in tweets due to the length limitations. As a rule of thumb, it’s fine to use abbreviations as long as you don’t compromise clarity.

For instance your post will still look fine if you use RT instead of Retweet

2. Use Photos Responsibly

The Problem: Using low quality images will not only make your social media presence look unprofessional, it will annoy your audience and decrease interaction. No matter how good your content is, if it doesn’t look good it won’t get clicks.

The Pro Fix:

Subscribe to a stock photo site
Crop your images to correct dimensions

Using royalty free stock photos will not only give you a library of high resolution images to choose from, it will keep you from committing copyright infringement. Most images found on google image search or pulled from the web are copyrighted, and if you’re posting for a company it’s extremely important to avoid using them.

The second part of this fix takes a little effort, but is well worth it. Find out the exact size specification each social media site uses so that you know exactly how to crop your images so they will look as good as possible.

For example, If you upload a photo to Facebook that doesn’t have the right dimensions, it will get resized.

Wrong Dimensions: Logo squished and hard to see.

Correct Dimensions: Nice big eye-catching image.

3. Don’t automatically cross post content

The Problem: It’s tempting to have your Facebook posts automatically published to Twitter, unfortunately the time you save isn’t worth the ugly tweets you’ll generate.

The Pro Fix: It’s definitely okay to post the same content to all of your social media sites, just take the time to craft each post for the site it’s going to be shown on.

A Facebook post is too long to put on Twitter and vice versa. Not to mention the fact that Facebook allows you to hide links and Twitter does not. (See the next tip)

4. Hide those links

The Problem: On Facebook, posting a URL automatically generates a link preview, which usually contains a picture and a short piece of the content of the link. Unfortunately this will give you a cluttered post.

The Pro Fix: When posting to Facebook you can actually delete your original URL without eliminating the preview. Posting links in this way results in a much cleaner look.

For example: With link (messy)

Without link (clean)

Unfortunately, on Twitter , links have to remain part of the body of a tweet. However, there is a simple way to make your tweets look cleaner while saving some of your 140 characters. Use a link shortener like Bit.ly. Bit.ly will not only shorten your links but it even gives you the option to create custom links that are easy to remember as well as track links you’ve already made.

5.Use an optimal post length

The Problem: Posts that are too long or short not only look bad, but result in less engagement.

The Pro Fix (For Twitter): It sounds too simple, but one of the best ways to increase your number of retweets is to make your tweets more easy to retweet. Do this by leaving enough room in your tweet that someone can retweet your post without exceeding 140 characters.

The Pro Fix (For Facebook): Having the correct length isn’t nearly as important on Facebook as it is for Twitter, but it’s still worth paying attention too. According to Fastcompany.com the best length for a Facebook post is just 40 characters. If that seems too short don’t forget that images are a powerful way to get your message across.

6. Remember who you’re representing

Without getting into an entire content strategy discussion, here’s a good rule of thumb for professional level posts. Don’t forget that your posts aren’t coming from an individual they are coming from a brand, company or organization. Be sure to post appropriate content that represents your brand well, and never be negative!

Need help with your brand’s social media strategy? McConnell Marketing offers full service social media services from basic strategy to dedicated account management. Email us: info@mcconnellmarketing.com

August 7, 2014

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