The Revinate Blog

Social Media State of the Union Q&A

Thanks to all of you that attended our Social Media State of the Union webinar on Wednesday. For those of you that missed the session or would like to view it again, a recorded version can be streamed here.

In addition to the session recording, we wanted to share with you all of the great questions that were asked on the webinar and provide you with the answers below.

Q: What are the Google+ Page profile and cover photo dimensions?
A: The new Google+ cover photo is similar to Facebook Timeline but is a little bigger and the profile picture is on the right instead of the left. The size you will want in order to maximize the cover photo is 940 pixels x 180 pixels. The Google Plus profile picture dimensions are approximately 250 pixels x 250 pixels.

Q: Why is the Hotel Berlin Page all in English? Do they have a separate German language page?
A: This Page is actually written in German, but they’ve included an English version of their About Section. Google+ also has translate technology integrated throughout, allowing users to easily translate foreign language posts into their native language.

Q: Within Google+, can you simply link your YouTube channel videos when asked to upload your own videos?
A: At this time, Google+ requires you to re-upload the video content that you would like to have added to your Google+ page, although we suspect that this functionality will come at some point down the line.  For the time being, we recommend that you upload at least 2-3 videos so that your visitors will be able to view at least some dynamic content about your brand.

Q: Can you only access Instagram from a handheld device or phone?  Or can you from a desktop?
A: You can access Instagram from a desktop browser. However, you cannot post photos from this interface at this time. You can find more information on this here.

Q: Do you have to have a mac computer to use the Instagram desktop?
A: No you do not. It works across all major browsers. To view an Instagram photo in your desktop, simply click on the image link from wherever you are accessing it – Facebook, Twitter, etc. – and you will be sent to Instagram’s desktop viewing portal. Here, you can like and comment on the photo from either your personal or brand’s Instragram account (make sure that you know which account you are currently logged into). Please note, however, that at this time, Instagram only allows you to upload and share photos through its mobile application. Stay tuned for our How to Instagram Your Hotel for timesaving tips, strategies and best practice ideas coming to our blog very soon.

Q: We are on Pinterest. How can we get our boards to be searchable?
A: To make sure that your boards are searchable, the first and most important step is to be sure you keep the 'Hide your Pinterest profile from search engines' checked to 'Off' so your profile can get indexed. As far as how to optimize your Pinterest account for search, we will be sharing a comprehensive How to Search Optimize Your Pinterest Presence here on the blog soon, but to get you started, start connecting with relevant users.  Since Pinterest is a younger and far less cluttered social space than Facebook or Twitter, engaging with other active users that are aligned with your brand – through commenting on posts, copying users with @mentions, re-pinning original content and liking when appropriate – can yield you significant benefits. 

Q: How appropriate are these platforms for a new business opening in a year? And for restaurant brands?
A: As with any other established business, these platforms are terrific ways for new businesses alike to augment your social presence and increase audience reach. They support you with strengthening your brand identity and do assist with bolstering organic search ranking. The platforms enable you to communicate with your audience in a highly visual way that lends itself perfectly for restaurant brands. Finally, each platform allows you to re-purpose and crowd-source compelling new content for other platforms that can help build buzz for your opening.

Q: Do you recommend Google +, Instagram, and Pinterest over Facebook and Twitter?
A: While we think it’s imperative to keep an eye on emerging platforms and develop at the very least a listening presence on them – provided your team has the resources to do so – both Facebook and Twitter have far greater usage and should serve as the cornerstone platforms to your property’s social media plan. We do recommend, however, leveraging the unique benefits yielded from these of these emerging platforms to complement and integrate with your current social strategy. Specifically for each:

• Google+ Maintaining an active presence on Google+ will at the very least support, to some degree, your visibility in organic search.
• Instagram Sharing photos on Instagram will supply your brand with highly appealing photography that you can re-purpose and share in difference ways on other social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Tumblr and Flickr.
• Pinterest Curating a few pin-boards will again allow your brand to speak a highly visual conversation with users and, like Google+, can increase traffic to your website.

Q: What is a hashtag and how many should I use?
A: A hashtag (#) can be thought of as a keyword used to label content that you’re posting (primarily on Twitter) and make it more searchable. To generate a hashtag, begin by using the pound/hash sign followed by your keyword. (eg. #NYC #Hotel) While hashtags can improve your post’s visibility, we recommend that you use no more than three hashtags in a tweet, as research suggests that beyond this threshold the likelihood of your content being re-tweeted and shared significantly diminishes.

If you have any more questions, feel free to reach out to us!

Ashley Chavez, Revinate
ashley@revinate.com
@revinate

Benji Greenberg, BCV
benji@bcvevolve.com
@bcvbenji

Location-Based Services for Hotels - A Best Practices Webinar

'Checking In' means one thing to hoteliers. It means something very different to the millions of people who use location-based services like Foursquare, Facebook Places, Google Places and Gowalla. Join Benji Greenberg of BCV and Linden Freeman of Revinate for an hour of straight talk about what hotels should, and shouldn't be doing on these social platforms.

During the session we will:

• discuss the leading location-based services and explain how they differ
• share best practices from the hospitality industry
• provide recommendations for rewards and deals
• see how Revinate incorporates LBS into its industry-leading software solution for hoteliers

When: Tuesday, September 13th at 10am Pacific/1pm Eastern

To attend, you must sign up in advance here. We will be recording the session so even if you can't attend, please sign up and we will notify you when the recording has been posted.

See you online.

 

Hotel Data Conference - August 3 and 4

If you're coming to the Hotel Data Conference in early August, please be sure to come to the "Owning Your Guest" breakout session. I am starting to put together some great data about guest reviews that I will share with attendees at the session... and then with blog readers. With millions of reviews to analyze, I'm sure we'll be able to pull out some great nuggets that will help you understand who is writing reviews, who is responding to reviews, and why it matters. If there are any stats you would like us to look into, please let me know!

Thoughts from The HSMAI Revenue Optimization Conference

I'm not a revenue manager but I get to work with many of them in my role at Revinate. Revenue Managers are data driven and approach problems in an analytical way. They are often blown away by Revinate because it takes unstructured guest feedback and makes order of it by finding trends and easily allowing you to see quantitative analysis of how your property is doing against the comp set. (Or, if you are a corporate user, which properties are leading your portfolio and which ones might need an extra hand.)

Yesterday I attended HSMAI's Revenue Optimization Conference. I attended the event last year but our software was relatively new and we didn't have nearly the customer-base that we have today. It was amazing to hear people talking about Revinate, both in the sessions and in informal conversations about technology.

I wanted to share my five take-aways from the day:

• Step up: Many speakers mentioned that revenue managers need to make more market aware business decisions and take a larger role in the organization. They were encouraged to try to stimulate demand, not just crunch numbers. Since they are at the convergence of social media, distribution and revenue management, they are in a unique position to try new things and really make a difference. Revenue managers were urged to work on their communication and persuasion skills to become leaders.
• KISS: There was a lot of talk about how hard it can be to bring in new technology, especially if there isn't a culture of adopting new things. Hoteliers urged technology providers to keep things simple, versus throwing too many features into products.
• Despire Google's plea that it's just a content aggregator, there is concern that Google search results display OTA prices first, often driving people to book off the brand.com Web site. With the acquisition of ITA, many hoteliers wonder if Google might look at a hotel booking engine next.
• While there was some animosity expressed at Expedia for how long it takes for hotels to be paid for bookings, Amy Severson, the Director of Strategic Accounts make the point that hotels don't realize how much it spends on behalf of the hotel in advertising fees, search fees and credit card fees.
• A new consumer service has hoteliers gasping for air. The service allows you to book a room at a hotel but then allows other hotels to bid for your business. If you can get a better rate, you cancel and book elsewhere. Talk about creating competition.

All in all, an interesting event.

Webinar - Integrating the Online Reputation Management Function into Hotel Operations & Culture

With the explosive popularity of social networking, online reputation management has emerged as one of the foremost issues on the minds of hospitality professionals today. But with so many priorities to juggle, finding the time and dedicated resources is challenging.

Join Michelle Wohl of Revinate and special guest Daniel Edward Craig, former hotel GM turned consultant, for a free, engaging Webinar that will explore ways to manage the social media and online reputation management functions on property.

The Webinar will cover:
* Assembling the right team and allocating resources
* Monitoring and disseminating reviews and feedback internally
* Publicly responding to reviews
* Using reviews and feedback to enhance the guest experience, drive revenue and build loyalty and advocacy

We will have two live Webinars and will be recording the session so even if you can't make it, sign up for one as we will alert all registrants when the Webinar recording has been posted.

Session one: Wednesday, May 25th at 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern. RSVP Now.

Session two: Wednesday, May 25th at 11am Pacific / 2pm Eastern. RSVP Now.

Webinar Materials - Facebook and Twitter For Hotels

Thank you to everyone that joined us today for our Webinar. We hope that those who joined were able to learn something from the examples of hotels doing great, and not-so-great things on Facebook and Twitter. A special thank you to Benji Greenberg of BCV for his social media expertise.

If you missed the event or would like to share the materials with your colleagues, please find a PDF of the presentation here. And please find a recording of the event below. We would also love any feedback in the comments section, below.

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Facebook and Twitter for Hotels – A Best Practices Webinar

Facebook and Twitter for Hotels – A Best Practices Webinar

With Guest Speaker, Benji Greenberg, President of BCV

While most properties have already signed up for Twitter accounts and Facebook Pages, the majority are still not sure how they should be using the social networks.  Join Benji Greenberg of BCV and Michelle Wohl of Revinate for an hour of straight talk, example sharing and best practices for driving loyalty and sales.

 

During the session we will:

• take a realistic look at how much time it takes to build relationships online and how to resource for social media
• look at examples of Hotel Facebook Pages that get it right and discuss why they work
• discuss ROI and what metrics you should and shouldn’t measure
• discuss the pros and cons of offering deals to followers
• provide advice about what to do with ‘squeaky wheels’ and irate customers

 Two sessions will be offered to accommodate multiple time zones:

Wednesday, April 20^th – 8:00am Pacific / 11:00am Eastern RSVP here.

Wednesday, April 20^th – 11:00am Pacific / 2:00pm Eastern RSVP here.

New Webinar Announced - Thursday, March 31st

For the first time, online reviews and recommendations are driving more bookings than either location or price. Your reviews have never been more important in the definition of your hotel. But you don't have to sit back and watch your reputation get formed. You can play a large role by responding to reviews and engaging with your guests and prospects on the leading review sites and OTAs.

Join Michelle Wohl of Revinate and special guest, Daniel Edward Craig, former hotel GM turned consultant, for an engaging Webinar that will cover real-life examples and success stories. You will learn:

    * The differences between the review sites and site guidelines for responding to reviews
    * Best practices in responding to negative AND positive reviews
    * Tackling the most difficult issues that come up in reviews
    * Putting together an action plan for your hotel

This free, 1-hour webinar includes 45 minutes of content, inspiring case studies, and concludes with a 15-minute question and answer period.

Who Should Attend:
General Managers, Directors of Revenue Management, VPs of Sales and Marketing, E-Commerce Managers, Social Media Managers and any hotel associate that’s passionate about growing their hotel’s online reputation in 2011.

Register by clicking here.

Upcoming events in Q1

We are hitting the road this quarter. Come see us, in person, at the following events.

February 1: HSMAI Digital Marketing Strategy Conference - New York

March 2-3: Social Media Strategies for Travel Conference - San Francisco

March 7-9: Hotel Association of Canada & Online Revealed Canada - Toronto

New Webinar Announced - February 8th, 2011

Growing Your Hotel Business 

Best Practices in Reputation Management

Hotels can no longer afford to let their online reputations be defined by others. Now, there are more opportunities than ever for hotels to build a strong online reputation that attracts more guests.

 Join Ann Manion of Hotel Advantage and Michelle Wohl of Revinate for an engaging Webinar on:

• 3 key components of building a strong online reputation.
• How to overcome roadblocks in developing a social media strategy.
• The best metrics & qualitative markers for measuring success.

This free, 1-hour webinar includes 45 minutes of content, inspiring case studies, and concludes with a 15-minute question and answer period.

Date and Time:

February 8^th, 2011 - 1 p.m. Eastern Time

Are you doing all you can to build a strong online reputation for your hotel? Sign up here: http://revinate.me/2l8 and find out how to grow your hotel business in 2011!

Who Should Attend:

General Managers, Directors of Revenue Management, VPs of Sales and Marketing, E-Commerce Managers, Social Media Managers, Digital Facilitators, Facebook Administrators, Hotel Twitters, and all hotel associates that are passionate about growing  their hotels' online reputation in 2011.