Who should be in charge of executing your social media strategy? There really is not a black-and-white answer and it very much depends on the size and personality of your property, but let’s take a look at a couple of common options:
1. Sales / marketing / PR: A commonly suggested option, yet one that mostly results in very little “actual conversation” taking place and your hotel’s social media platforms being used mainly for sales, marketing, and PR purposes.
Yes, social media involves elements of all three, but it also has so much more potential and possibilities, and by giving it only to your sales, marketing and public relations teams you’re missing out on using social media for guest engagement or guest relations management.
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2. Your current PR company: Do you have a minute to spare and happen to be on Twitter? Send your hotel’s PR company a tweet with a question and see how long it takes them to reply.
Did you get a reply in less than “never”? Excellent, keep your PR company and consider involving them in your property’s social media efforts, but unless they have a specialised social/digital media division, do not let them “run” your social media.
In case you don’t hear back from your PR company via Twitter, do send them another tweet saying “I will stop paying you until you start reading your tweets!”, then see what happens. What do you mean your PR company does not have a Twitter account or last updated its Facebook page 10 months ago?
Remind me again why you retain them? Even if your PR company is on the ball regarding social media, you'll probably face similar issues as outlined in option one above.
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