Let’s make a definitive list of who hotels should follow, for the new guys that come in trying to wade through all this.
Hotels should find other hotels, for industry awareness, networking, and for the more cynical lot, to “track the competition / opposition”.
=)Â Â (can you use happy faces in blog posts??)
I *will* go on the record as saying I think it isn’t so much about “competition” anymore as a value proposition for the customer coupled with niche or specific amenities that set your property apart from others.
I don’t think this climate of brand marketing needs cutthroat business practices targeting competing brands and setting yourself apart from them. There are too many choices to focus on one competitor, and… not to zen out too much… a brand or hotel property needs to look inward, and focus on themselves, their operations, and their ethos.
But as for new hotels on twitter, there are ways to impact their market, and the INCREDIBLE responses I received from some other industry folks were a real treat (thanks people!)…. and it seems almost everyone is inline:
Hotels should follow hotels. It is good partnership, networking, and socializing.
Hotels should look in their local arena. Geographic searching of important twitterers and people that might be interested in your product is imperative. One of the fantastic things is that friending people isn’t considered spam at all. In fact, Twitter is “OPT-IN”, which is a wonderful tool for people to regulate their endorsement of your brand, while still allowing you to search out network hubs and important influencers in your markets.
If you have any other thoughts as to how hotels can effectively establish their presence… please comment!
also… here is a great article for reasons that hotels, or more to the point “product placements”, don’t succeed. Follow FAIL!
Great post, I really like your take on the combining of the social media market and hotel industry.