Social Media 2014 RILEY SMITH STANFORD HOTELS

Summary of Topics Trends & how we see our hotels fitting within these trends - GM To-Do: Planned vs. Spontaneous Social Media ◦Ensure that all channels have planned and spontaneous coverage (people and technology) - Our channels – Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Hotels In A Nutshell, Video ◦Purpose, strategy, execution, advertising, and ROI - BIG IDEA: Embedding Social Media into guest experience - New this year: ◦Social Media training for all employees ◦Social Media GM call quarterly ◦Social Media newsletter – internal & external happenings and successes in ‘social media & hospitality’

Pre-Reading

GM To-Do: Planned vs. Spontaneous Social Currently we have… ◦A Point Person for Social Media (who takes care of planned social media) ◦Works primarily from desktop ◦Focuses on Facebook What is Desired? ◦We still want that Point Person ◦Add a small tablet, so this person doesn’t have to use personal phone when about the hotel ◦Need to add a team member(s) from F&B and Front Desk to address ‘spontaneous social’ ◦Typically, a salaried, manager-level employee ◦Having a team member who primarily works nights, to address ‘spontaneous social’ ◦Performs most of work from a mobile phone (for apps: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.)

1. Facebook Purpose: Engage  show fans our hotel personality and the great location/city you are in. Execution: ◦Engaging posts done by ‘team leader’ ◦Well-designed contests that attract a specific segment (no more than 4 a year) ◦Campaigns and/or ads done by Riley ◦**Mobile photos captured by rest of team (best to be sent to ‘team leader’ via ) Advertising: We can target groups, citywides, hotel events, specific interests ROI: ◦A) Traffic and clicks ◦B) Leads ◦C) Depending on Brand, reservations

2. Twitter Purpose: Real-time customer service and information Strategy: To have hours of coverage and direct customers to this tool. Execution: ◦Riley is plan B from 8 am - 6 pm; will still receive notifications however throughout rest of day. ◦**2-3 employees have Twitter (or Hootsuite) on phone, w/ notifications ◦**Riley trains these employees Advertising: Target #hashtags for events/conferences, zip codes, or market segments. ROI: ◦A) Traffic and clicks ◦B) s

3. Hotels in a Nutshell - Blog Purpose: SEO, marketing pieces, & social engagement Strategy: To write pieces that are of interest to general traveler; and to market our expertise in an area Execution: Planned: pieces/hotel/year (via 4-5 authors) **Spontaneous: When topical events/stories happen, feel free to write a post about that topic. This blog does not have to be all pre-planned. Advertising: Only if attached to another marketing campaign. ROI: Traffic to our hotel sites; potential leads

4. Video (YouTube) Purpose: Engagement, marketing, and informational Strategy: Produce videos that market a specific goal of yours ◦Make videos to boost staff morale Execution: Informal videos can be done on hand-held devices and posted on social media (staff). ◦Professional videos should have a fully-developed plan behind creation and future marketing (Riley & outside agencies) Advertising: Only if attached to another marketing campaign. ROI: Views, clicks, traffic

5. Foursquare Purpose: Attract locals to your restaurant (not a priority for every hotel) Strategy: Set up generic Foursquare ad & time-specific ads (ex. Restaurant week) Execution: Riley will handle all campaigns involving hotel and restaurant Advertising: F&B team can help me write copy for the ad (ex. Highlighting ‘happy hour’?) ROI: # of check-ins or ‘taps’ (equal to clicks) cost $

FACEBOOK BIG IDEA: Embedding social media in guest experience Facebook’s Algorithm ◦Preventing/reducing # of business page posts that appear in people’s newsfeed ◦Thus, the content has to be really good to be seen Facebook’s Graph Search ◦You can search ‘hotels in [city name]’ in Facebook’s search bar ◦Our hotel’s placement in that search depends on # of likes, photos taken at location, and check-ins of that person’s social network. ◦My prediction: there will be a booking link soon on these searches We need ‘in-hotel’ engaging experiences…that are photo-worthy!

TWITTER BIG IDEA: Embedding social media in guest experience Push Twitter to Guests as a Customer Service Tool ◦Inform guest at arrival ◦… and in room! Generate additional revenue – souvenirs, snacks, brand swag *Roll these out starting with Honors floors. Build up to capacity with rest of rooms. Neither of these are “logistical nightmares”. It’s training employees & guests.

New this Year ◦Social Media training for all employees (on-site or in-person) ◦Social Media GM call quarterly ◦Updating the social landscape ◦New opportunities ◦Reporting back successes ◦Social Media newsletter – internal & external happenings and successes in ‘social media & hospitality’