E-Marketing Associates

5 Tips to Freshen Up Your Hotel’s Tweets

Renee Radia by
on November 30th, 2011

It shouldn’t be news to you by now that Twitter is an essential tool for your hotel’s social media efforts. It’s a great channel that allows you to connect with your guests and see what people are writing about your brand. Unfortunately, there are many hotels using Twitter ineffectively and missing the boat entirely. Getting the most out of Twitter is a strong way to impress your current and potential guests as well as get your name out there and put a voice behind your brand. Read on for a list of fresh Twitter tips, content ideas, and do’s & don’ts that will help your hotel utilize Twitter to its fullest extent.

1. Make Twitter your digital concierge
These days, guests are constantly tweeting their thoughts and experiences for the whole world to read. Take advantage of these tweets by taking your actions a step further. Did one of your guests tweet that he isn’t looking forward to waking up before dawn for an early morning meeting? Surprise him with fresh coffee at his door or tweet him directions to the nearest java house! Did someone tweet that his toddler spilled juice in the room? Let him know that new towels are on the way. You can learn a lot about your guests by reviewing their tweets and tailoring your responses specifically to them. You will stand out, be appreciated, and keep your guests more than satisfied.

2. Offer a social media discount
A recent study shows that 48% of brand followers follow brands on Twitter just to get discounts and deals, so give your followers what they want! You can offer a promotion for something as simple as a discount on a spa treatment or even a gift shop item. Only promote the special on Twitter or your other social media channels, so that it is exclusive to your fans and followers! You could also create a special promo code for 10% off a room that you send to people who are actively engaging you on Twitter and tweeting about your hotel. Be more frugal with this one though, as you don’t want floods of people demanding you give them special room rates.

3. Share nearby events
Tweet about events going on in your city. Provide your guests with quick and easy information as well as links to these cool happenings. Do you have a shuttle taking people to the event? Spread the word on Twitter. Did you partner with the event to give guests at your hotel a discount? Include the event’s Twitter handle in your tweet so they see you are promoting their event. You never know who is the face behind that Twitter account and might be willing to work with your hotel on a special promotion. It is easy to be mutually beneficial to each other, not to mention your guests will appreciate the heads up about the great events they should check out!

4. Get the word out about your new blog posts and specials
Your followers will appreciate being the first to know about any new promotions and specials you have, so every time a new one is added it’s a nice idea to tweet them out. Hopefully your hotel manages its own blog, and tweeting every time you add a new blog article is a great way to drive more traffic to your blog and therefore your hotel website as well.

5. Retweet and respond
Everybody loves being retweeted, and it will make your guests feel more special that you noticed them. Whether they are tweeting about your hotel, an event in your city, or anything else relevant, retweeting is a good way to acknowledge your customers. Also, don’t forget to respond to tweets! You don’t have to respond to every single tweet, but thanking your guests for a positive tweet about your hotel goes a long way. However, it doesn’t mean as much if every single tweet on your timeline is the exact same message thanking people and hoping they enjoyed their stay, so vary up the messages, tailor them specific to each person, and time your tweets throughout the day instead of tweeting all at once.

Feel free to share any other fun and unique Twitter techniques below!

Categories: Blog,Hotel Internet Marketing,Hotels & Resorts,Internet Marketing,Social Media,Social Media Marketing,Twitter — Tags: , , , , , ;

Improved Performance Tracking for Facebook Business Users

David Sotelo by
on November 29th, 2011

Facebook is hopefully by now an integral part of your business marketing plan and monitoring your results are just as important. Facebook pages can be a great tool for engaging with your customers and potential customers but you want to make sure your news feed is where you do the talking. A recent comScore report shows that your news feed is where the action is as fans are 40 to 150 times more likely to take in your company info and converse with you. Also friends of fans are more likely to visit a brands store and website and make a purchase. This brings up the next important aspect of your page which is your analytics or in the case of Facebook your insights tools.

Facebook Insights is your go to destination for checking to see what is working and what may need to improve with your Facebook business page. Facebook insights will provide you with all the data you need to make sure your page is being used to its full potential and to make sure you are getting the most out of Facebook pages. As with any analytics tool there is a lot of ways to sift through all the numbers and try to make sense of everything but I will go over some basics to get you started. First off there are two types of Facebook insights: User Insights and Interactions Insights. User Insights will give you info such as total page likes, daily active users, new likes and unlikes as well as pages views and demographics. Interaction insights gives you all the info you need for daily story feedback such as post likes, comments and impressions as well as daily page activity.

Some of the more important metrics to track are page views and unique page views because from those you can find out how many of your fans are returning fans. Mentions are a key metric because this will tell you the number of times someone tagged your post. Fan growth is always important to know especially if you are a new company since they give you a good idea of how well you’re growing and see what may cause spikes and what may impede growth. Unlike rate is good to keep an eye on since you want to try and get an idea of why people are unliking or leaving a site. Is there one particular page there are consistently leaving where they shouldn’t be? There are some new metrics added to insights called “People are talking about this” that counts stories that are eligible to appear in user’s newsfeed. Also the Virality metric is added which is pretty cool because it gives you a percentage of how “viral” a particular post is and can be used to gauge what is important to your customer. The new changes are a welcome addition and should help you to keep improving your Facebook Page.

Categories: Blog,Facebook,Social Media,Social Media Marketing — Tags: , , , , , ;

Introducing Social Travel Sites for Trip Advice

Golda Criddle by
on November 23rd, 2011

Welcome to the world of social travel. Traveling the world has never been so uncomplicated, with so much information at your fingertips on the web in the form of social travel sites. These sites can do everything from helping you meet new people to travel with, to booking your flight, car rental and hotel in one click, to building the ideal vacation just from your interests and budget. But with a wealth of options comes its own complications – which site is right for your needs? Whose advice should you listen to? Whatever your preference, there is a social travel site for you!

When you’re traveling to a new place, it’s always a good idea to ask the locals for advice. They’ll know all the hot spots, local deals, happy hours and unique places to visit. If you want to do some research of this kind before your trip, check out NileGuide. Its slogan is “for travelers, by locals,” and it provides an easy way to ask questions of local NileGuide users that reside in your destination. NileGuide also offers guides to restaurants, nightlife, hotels, and custom itineraries based on interests such as food, outdoors, budget and more.

Maybe you’re more comfortable hearing tips from your friends? Try out Kukunu. You can add a trip and click one button to ask for advice from your Facebook or Twitter friends. Even better –their suggestions will show up in your itinerary so everything is one place. You can also share your trip information with a co-traveler simply by adding his or her email address to the site.

If you’re looking for more expert advice, sign up for Tripatini. It functions much like Yahoo groups and other message boards – you can join groups and participate in discussions with journalists and other media experts. You can ask questions and create your very own travel blog on the site with pictures, video, chat and shop for travel accessories such as books, luggage, music and more.

If you’re seeking more of a comprehensive community social travel site, look no further than TripWolf. TripWolf offers much more than the standard travel guide by allowing you to record your trip with all places that you plan on visiting into one PDF document that you can print and share with friends. Great restaurants, shopping venues and attractions are nicely laid out in one packet. Each venue page has a map of the surrounding area so this document is ideal for traveling in a car.

Travelers today are fortunate to have access to destination information from locals, friends, experts and communities. The sites above offer guides that spotlight unique places and make sharing information simple. How will you use the web to build the trip of your dreams?

Categories: Blog,Social Media — Tags: , , , , ;

Google Music Finally Hits the Masses

David Sotelo by
on November 21st, 2011

Music lovers can celebrate because Google Music is finally here. It has actually been available since May, 2011 as Music Beta by Google but required an invite to use it. The online music streaming service is now available to everyone and the greatest part is its still free, at least for now. For those that are not sure exactly sure how Google Music works, it is basically an online storage locker for all your music. You can store up to 20,000 songs for free and access them anytime through either your desktop or Android phone. The music streams so there is no storage on your computer or mobile device and even allows for automatic caching for offline play on mobile devices.

A big part of Google music is their new music store which launched with their official release and gives users a quick and easy way to purchase songs. The songs are priced at free, 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29. A unique aspect of the pricing for their songs is that the artist can set their own prices however there are always songs of the day that are free. The Android application received an update form the beta version and is polished and fairly easy to use. One negative aspect is that since the service is free is that it can take awhile to upload your songs to Google’s servers depending on how many tracks you have. I have a little over 12,000 tracks and it took me about a week and half to upload all of them but if you can leave your computer running then it is not too much of an issue.

This new version also has deep integration with Google + that will allow you to share purchased songs on it, however your friends can only play back tracks once. As of now it is only available in the U.S and Universal, Sony and EMI artists are all available for purchase however Warner Music Group currently is not. If you do purchase tracks they will be encoded at 320kbps and in mp3 format. The audio files you upload can be in mp3 and aac format but no digital rights management files (DRM) or WMA and WAV files. There are so many options to listen to music today but Google Music is a great free service for those who want to hear their own music collection anywhere and at anytime.

Categories: Blog,Google — Tags: , , , , ;

Which Social Media Conference Is Right for You?

Renee Radia by
on November 18th, 2011

Businesses both big and small are establishing social media presences these days, and if you haven’t quite joined the masses yet then there’s never been a better time! Jumping on the social media bandwagon can be scary, so it is helpful that there are more than enough articles online that teach you how to take that initial plunge and keep your fans and followers happy. For people who like learning better off the page, it is only natural that social media conferences started sprouting up everywhere in hopes of teaching the best practices in this new social space. Social media conferences are fun because you get to learn new ideas, mingle with savvy professionals, and even sometimes travel away from home! But with the giant selection of conferences to choose from nowadays, it can be overwhelming trying to decide which one is right for you and your business, and which one will really give you your money’s worth (some registrations cost over $1,000)!

Do Your Research
Before putting down the hefty fee for an event, check its stats. Look to see if the event has its own Twitter account or Facebook page. Does it have its own hashtag? It should! Google the speakers to see how accomplished they are. Check out their tweets as well. Are they posting regularly? Are they conversing with others or simply auto tweeting? You could even take it a step further by using websites like Klout to see how influential both the speakers and the event are. What topics is the event going to cover? If you are more advanced at social media, then a session about learning what platform is right for your business is probably not going to help you. Does the conference have separate tracks for beginners and more advanced learners? Ask your contacts or send out a tweet to see if anyone has attended the conference before and could offer some insight. Lastly, don’t forget to keep in mind the opportunity cost of attending the event.

Beginners Take Note
If you’re relatively new in the social media space, then going to a conference as renowned as Blogworld may not be your best choice because you are going to get an overload of information in a short period of time and you may not know what to do with it all. Plus, with the great selections of speakers at some of these big events, it would mean a lot more to see them speak in person if you already are familiar with their work and follow their social media presences. It will be easier to tell what sessions you’d like to attend and what would benefit your business the most if you are aware of the speakers’ strong suits. For beginners, a less pricey way of learning, such as a social media workshop or webinar, might be the best way to start!

Attending a social media conference is a fun way to boost your motivation as well as knowledge in this new social space. However, there are a lot of conferences that might not be worth your time and money for what you personally want to learn, so try to ask yourself these questions and do a little background checking before handing over the cash.

Categories: Blog,Internet Marketing,Social Media,Social Media Marketing — Tags: , , , , ;

Facebook Ad Optimization for Beginners

David Sotelo by
on November 16th, 2011

Businesses are always trying to improve their bottom line and online advertising is a viable means to do just that. If you own a business you are probably familiar with Google Adwords and their pay per click model but Facebook also has paid advertising that can be a welcome addition to your current marketing plan. Facebook is accepted by many businesses as a marketing tool in the ever evolving social media space and optimizing your Facebook advertising is very important to getting the most bang for your buck.

Once you setup your Facebook account you will want to create your ad based on who your target market is so this will require you to create criteria based off demographics. You know your business best and who buys from you but doing a little research might help you discover some new buying behaviors. What age groups buy from you, do you sell to a specific geographic area or can you sell all over the world, do you sell something that mostly males buy or maybe just females buy, are your customers college educated, maybe you are a paralegal business and want to target people who like law sites or are connected to relevant law pages on Facebook. The more you know about who buys your product or service the better off you will be in maximizing your dollar.

Your ads manager will be your go to destination for monitoring, tracking and making any changes to your ads. Paid advertising is a work in progress and will often require testing out multiple ads to see which ones are performing better for each campaign your running. Keywords are also important because certain keywords will appeal to certain buyers. If you have a law firm and specialize in certain industry you will want to make sure you include certain keywords that will appeal to people or other businesses looking for that. Your click through rates will be higher (ctr) and ideally should results in more conversions. You can track impressions, clicks, click through rates, reach etc so that you can see what performs better. As with most online advertising programs you select your budget and bid price so you don’t break your bank account.

One very important aspect that can often get overlooked in a somewhat analytical approach such as online advertising is write content that you would want to read! Using the right keywords and targeting is important but write engaging and creative ads that would interest someone and make them want to click on so they can learn more and call to action. There is much more you can do with paid search advertising on Facebook however this will hopefully get you started in the right direction and onto more profitable ground in the world of paid search advertising.

Categories: Blog,Facebook,Social Media Marketing — Tags: , , , , ;

3 Quick Instagram Tips for Business

Golda Criddle by
on November 14th, 2011

Remember Polaroid cameras? They provided instant gratification to users in the form of printed photos you could immediately enjoy. iPhone application Instagram honors Polaroids in its logo and echoes a similar method of instantly editing and sharing photos on social networks.

Instagram has enchanted iPhone users with its simplicity. Photo sharing previously included many clunky layers (take the picture via camera, upload to computer, edit on Photoshop and post to Facebook). But with Instagram, all steps can take a matter of minutes, even seconds. Instagram’s 16 vintage filters can transform even the most ordinary photos into works of art in an instant, and then the photo can be pushed onto every social network imaginable.

The application has only been in existence for just over a year, and yet it already has 10 million users who upload 1.3 million photos daily (that’s about 15 per second). With such a large user base, businesses should take advantage of Instagram as a way to connect with potential customers. Using the basic tips below, businesses will be able to maximize Instagram as a community engagement tool.

Tell a story

People are using Instagram images to share and tell their stories. Brands should follow suit by connecting with their customers directly. Through comments and pictures, brands can gain real-time insights of customer-brand interaction. Brands wanting to utilize Instagram should post interesting images, and treat them like art rather than advertisements. The #hashtag feature can also be used to create a consistent theme in your photos so users know what to expect from you.

Interact with the community

Instagram is a social network centering around pictures, and brands should encourage followers to share photos of their products using the #hashtag feature. This is especially useful for those that work in the hospitality industry. They can find snapshots that travelers take of their properties and use them to create conversations. By using hashtags, brands can also track people and generate activity on their profiles. Potential customers also have the opportunity to look for images of places they want to visit without commercial distortion or advertisements.

Engage with a contest

Take interaction one step further by hosting an Instagram image competition. Brisk was one of the first to host a contest on Instagram where users can submit photos that will appear on Brisk cans at South by Southwest. Contests are a great way to encourage creativity and foster engagement with customers.

Instagram is yet another tool businesses can use to boost interaction and deepen relationships with customers. It’s simple fun, and addicting. How will your business use Instagram to engage with your community?

Categories: App Reviews,Blog,Photo & Video — Tags: , , , , , , , ;

Google+ Pages: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Renee Radia by
on November 9th, 2011

Four months after the initial launch of Google+, business pages are finally available to brands worldwide.  Businesses have been looking forward to this new platform as a way to connect and share information with fans and customers.  While this may sound similar to Facebook Pages, brands are hoping to capture customers because of the platform’s cleaner and more user-friendly interface.  Corporate accounts on social networks have become an essential staple in brands’ marketing campaigns, and now Google+ is yet another one to add to the mix.

Why Join Google+ Pages?
Google has added numerous incentives for creating a Google+ Page.  One is that Google+ Pages will be incorporated into Google search queries, making your brand or business more SEO-friendly.  This will help drive more people to your Google+ page, as well as encourage them to form meaningful connections and even add your brand to their circles.  While Google indexes some but not all Facebook content, public content on Google+ is already showing up in searches.  Another unique feature is called Direct Connect, which lets people seek out a brand easily by adding a “+” before the search.  For example, a Google search for “+Anderson Cooper 360” lands you directly onto the television show’s Google+ page, entirely skipping a results page!

Google+ Pages vs. Facebook Pages
At first glance, the most obvious difference between the two platforms is that Google+ Pages appear to be much less cluttered, more user-friendly, and not constantly recommending you click ads or add new people to your circles (yet).  Another feature that cleans up Google+ Pages is that while on Facebook Pages, users can post content themselves to the brand’s wall, on Google+ Pages, only the brand can post to the wall.  Users can only comment on the posts, as well as Share or give a +1, which has the possibility of keeping Google+ Pages looking crisp, or the flipside of limiting engagement with the brand and pushing people to Facebook Pages.  Facebook Pages come out on top in terms of being able to incorporate outside applications and services, but with the increasingly high demand of these enhancements, most likely it will not be long before Google+ Pages add similar features.  The Google+ Circles ensure that your posts are shared with all your connections, instead of Facebook’s Edgerank which arbitrarily decides if and where your content is displayed on fans’ feeds.  Analytics are not currently available on Google+ Pages but they are expected to be very powerful, given what Google can already do in this area.  The analytics will most likely be integrated with other analytics views, such as Google Analytics, that will give businesses a more immersed and practical understanding of the role social networks play in producing real ROI.

Google+ Pages Letdowns
While some brands were eagerly anticipating Google+ Pages, many are now wondering why Google waited so long to release this feature, as Pages are not much different from personal Google+ profiles.  There is also a problem when it comes to managing your brand’s page because currently Google+ Pages allow for only one administrator, which means in order for multiple people to update the brand’s wall, they would all have to use the same Google account.  According to the Google+ Pages Content Policy, brands are prohibited from running contests and promotions on their pages, which places more limitations on e-marketers.  Google+ also as of yet does not have the ability to offer vanity URLs.

Both Facebook and Google are sure to continually make updates to the platforms, some for the better and some for the worse.  And with the difference in the number of users on each social network, it will be interesting to see what happens from here.  When all is said and done, Google+ is still a compelling and efficient way to share content.  And one thing is for sure, despite some downsides to Google+ Pages, it is a product of Google, and therefore can reward you handsomely when it comes to SEO.  What business doesn’t want that?

 

Categories: Blog,Facebook,Google,SEO,Social Media,Social Media Marketing — Tags: , , , , ;

eCards Are Proving Their Worth In the Business World

David Sotelo by
on November 7th, 2011

eCards are relatively new compared to traditional print cards but many people may have either received or seen one. They have been and continue to grow in popularity for businesses who want to give their appreciation and thanks to all those who they have done business with over the years. Business eCards are growing in popularity for good reason. eCards are short for electronic cards, sent via email to all your contacts of preference. They are similar to print cards in the sense that you can open and close your card and select your unique card cover with different designs and images and personalize it with your own greeting and add signatures for a personal touch.

There are many advantages of using eCards instead of traditional print cards including:

  • Environmentally friendly:  No paper is used and one eCard can be sent to as many email addresses as you want.
  • More cost effective: The cost to produce 1 card is usually less expensive than to buy hundreds, if not thousands of paper cards and the cost of postage.
  • More efficient: A single eCard can be sent to as many email addresses as you want instantly.
  • Measurable: eCard data can be tracked since they are web based so that means you know who received them, who opened them, and which cards bounced.
  • Enhanced Personalization: eCards are customizable so it is easy to include your company logo, signatures, animation, custom graphics and more.

Reaching out to your business customers, partners, affiliates, and whoever else you have built relationships throughout the year is a great way to show your appreciation. eCards can be customized to show who your company is and give you the freedom to make your card interactive, humorous and exactly how you want. Businesses love that eCards can be viewed on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets since so many people us them for business. Whether it is to reduce your company’s carbon footprint or you just don’t want to go through the hassle of putting on postage, eCards are a great way to send your company’s message!

Categories: Blog,E-Cards — Tags: , , , , ;

Social Networks for Neighborhoods May Benefit Local Businesses

Jacquelynn Mendez by
on November 4th, 2011

Early last week, I stumbled upon an article about the launch of a free private social network, Nextdoor, which is made for neighborhoods across the country as a way to keep in touch with those who live closest to you. With new media progressively moving toward more customized, centralized and localized platforms, this new trend comes to no surprise. Although it is a small next step for social media, a popular neighborhood network could be a giant leap for local businesses. Having an online hotspot for individual communities will give small shops a chance to finally reach local customers on a more personal level without having to filter through a giant network of irrelevant profiles.

How Local Social Network Platforms will Help SMBs
From restaurants to car washes, small local businesses can easily get lost in today’s overflowing online world of big brands and big names, which is why neighborhood social networks could be the answer SMBs have been waiting for. After digging into the details, it’s easy to see that most of these networks plan to take a non-traditional ad platform route to avoid bombarding their users with “in-your-face” banner ads. In turn, this strategy opens the door to more creativity through deals, conversations or review pages made specifically for each business’ target market and industry type.

Although platforms like Google and Facebook already allow businesses to serve ads to very narrowly targeted regions, a network like Nextdoor will take this filtering to the next level by ensuring that the only people served these ads actually live in the neighborhood. In addition, users on these social networks will enter the site expecting to see and looking for local information. This leaves a great opportunity to reach a wider range of potential customers on a much deeper level.

The Future of Neighborhoods Online
As technology continues to advance, a microscopic focus on local markets within online media is inevitable, so it’s important for marketers who would like to succeed in social to keep a close eye on these trends and get in when the most opportunity is available. After all, today’s media moves faster than ever before and does not stop for anyone. So what are you waiting for?

Categories: Blog,Facebook,Internet Marketing,Social Media,Social Media Marketing — Tags: , , , ;
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