Hotels Suites in Dubai increasingly are using social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter to communicate with customers and drive brand awareness. These online tools are gaining importance, experts say, because more travellers are using them to research and choose where to stay on their next vacation.
The rise of social media in the last five years has been 'staggering' and will continue to grow, according to a new report. The advisory firm says this new form of feedback is good news for consumers and offers both threats and opportunities for hotel operators.
Perhaps the most influential of these new online tools are hotel review websites such as TripAdvisor.com. These sites have completely changed the market by giving guests a worldwide platform to provide candid feedback about their hotel stay, says Steve Vaile. Hotels in Dubai that have gotten bad ratings on these sites have seen their revenues plunge by up to 50%-60%, he claims.
At the same time, social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook have also become increasingly valuable for driving brand awareness and creating a dialogue with customers. Hotels know that they need to be more actively involved in these sites, but the majority of them don't know the best way to use them, he tells AMEinfo.com.
When communicating on social media sites, transparency is essential, Vaile says, as well as avoiding the traditional PR mentality of trying to dress up negative criticism in another way. 'When someone complains significantly about anything it's much better to work at solving the problem than at trying to put a spin on it,' he said.
The best course of action is to thank guests for their feedback, say you are listening to them, fix the problem, and tell them their problem has been solved. 'If a hotel comes out with a statement and it turns out they haven't been listening to their customers and implemented change then it can really go against them,' he said.
InterCon seeks dialogue:
Social media has been an important tool at major hotels for over a year, says Robert Singleton, a Dubai-based online marketing executive. 'It's a support tool for our advertising and communications efforts, it is not replacing anything,' he said. 'But as technology has evolved so too have our communications tactics.'
The hotel uses social media to create a dialogue with customers, and encourage interaction between the hotel and its current and potential guests. 'So it can be for all aspects of the hotel. We can talk about housekeeping things like chocolates on the pillow, or concierge activities like people asking where the nearest spice souk is,' he noted.
Social media can also be a valuable marketing tactic because it can be an effective way to create loyalty. It can get people all in one place who have the same viewpoint and tell them a message that's specific to something they are interested in,' he noted.
Hotels should ignore concerns about giving customers a platform to air their criticisms. 'People are always afraid that with social media you are inviting negative comments which will be publicly broadcast, but I think these comments are going to be broadcast anyway, whether it's on your page or just on their own,' he said. 'So you can use these social media to search for your company name, see how it's being used and mentioned, and then you have the opportunity to engage with the person who has the complaint and get to the bottom of it, rather than just have people bad mouthing you.'
Singleton believes it's very important that if a hotel is not active on social media to at least be reactive and monitor these sites to make sure it's being talked about in a positive way.
Online fanbases grow:
Certain hotels also has been very active in social media since early 2008 on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, says Terry Kane.
'Social media is not going to fill your hotel in terms of room bookings, but what it does very effectively is drive brand awareness to areas that have never been seen before and giving insights into different parts of our hotels,' he said.
He advises hotels to be natural when communicating on social media and avoid using corporate jargon. 'It is almost like you are in someone's household, if you will, when you are on a social media channel and being natural in that environment is so important,' he said. 'You need to have a specific tone of voice to maintain brand consistency, but not use superlatives in everything that you are doing. We try to speak as a normal person speaking.'
