Over the past year, I have written extensively about social and digital media from a company perspective, yet hotels are made by people.
Without general managers, housekeeping supervisors, waiters, etc. all we’d be selling would be fancy walls, bathrooms, and dining venues. Perhaps then it’s time to look at hoteliers rather than hotels and see how we can become more socially enabled and connected.
Generation Y is entering the workforce and also makes up a growing number of hotel guests and restaurant patrons. Often referred to as “Generation Me”, millennials are socially connected, but are also said to be impatient, disloyal, and expectant.
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The message is clear: If you’re a hotelier today, you’ll have to become more social in order to understand and cater for millennials in your workforce and marketplace. What then does it take to be a truly social hotelier?
Firstly, profiles, of course. If you are a hotelier, but aren’t yet on LinkedIn, you essentially don’t exist. The seemingly ever-growing professional networking platform isn’t only an excellent personal branding tool, but also an excellent source of business leads and industry information.
Besides, especially in our fast-moving industry, it’s often the best way to stay in touch with colleagues or reconnect with ex-colleagues who have moved jobs.
Whether you like it or not, you should also be on Facebook — your guests, suppliers, and competitors probably already are, so it’s a matter of joining the crowd and not getting left behind. Pre-internet, social buzz was exchanged in corridors and around water coolers — today, Facebook provides much bigger “water cooler moments”.
Other useful platforms and services are Twitter, Instagram, and Foursquare — they all enable you to “become part of the conversation” that’s ongoing 24/7 about your hotels.
Get the right phone
Secondly, it’s time to move to a smart phone or tablet and mobile apps. Many of us are still attached to our Blackberrys, but from a social perspective, iOS and Android are superior operating systems, which offer a larger choice of mobile apps. Regardless of the operating system, you should carry a phone that has a good camera.
Arm your “social” phone with mobile versions of your preferred social networks, log into your accounts, and set up suitable search terms and alerts, so you can get involved in things.
Lastly, the right mindset. There’s no point carrying a fancy smart phone and being present on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms, if you only remember to use these tools when you’re at home.
The first rule of being a social hotelier is to be active as you go along. You’re in charge of creating a buzz for your hotel or for yourself. A photo of the general manager of a resort in Dubai snapped recently during one of his morning walk-arounds received more than 200 “likes” and 16 comments in the first two hours — considerably more than any marketing-related posts on the hotel’s Facebook page — http://on.fb.me/GQ3XkR
It’s a good idea to ask around and see who in your hotel or restaurant is already using social media and to then join forces. It has a bigger impact and is also more fun.
Remember: people buy from people. People hire people. The more active you are on social media, the better it is for your property’s PR and business development efforts or for your own “brand” as a socially aware hotelier. Whatever you do: Keep it social!
About the Author:
Martin Kubler is owner, director and chief cook and bottle washer of Iconsulthotels FZE, an ultra-boutique hospitality consultancy in Dubai.
Email: info@iconsulthotels.com or visit facebook.com/iconsulthotels
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