Lodging Interactive Blog

300+ Helpful Tips on Using Social Media

Picked this up from @SusansTravels on Twitter.  Worth a read.

http://econsultancy.com/blog/4106-300+-helpful-tips-on-using-social-media

Hotels That Twitter-Nice List

A pretty comprehensive list of hotels that are using Twitter. http://webtravelrob.blogspot.com/2009/02/hotels-using-twitter.html

Lodging Interactive Launches HotelWebShows - Economical Video Tour & Distribution Solution For The Hospitality Industry

Lodging Interactive, a leading interactive marketing agency servicing the hospitality industry announced the launch of HotelWebShows, its economical video tour solution for the hospitality industry.  HotelWebShows afford hotels the ability to offer virtual tours from still imagery, without traditional costly video production.

Click for more info.

May 2009 - Chatter Guard Benchmark Monitor Report is Out

To get your own copy, sign up for our newsletter at LodgingInteractive.com.

On average, U.S. hotels were relatively stable for the month of May, posting no strong gains or losses. The only exception was in the reviews of Facilities, which posted 5.7% gains (from 3.77 to 3.98). In general, luxury hotels and extended hotels were hit the hardest, posting strong declines. Upscale hotels stayed relatively stable, while the Mid-Range Hotels (both full and limited service) posted strong gains. On a scale of 1-5, 5 being “fantastic” and 1 being “poor,” the average hotel goer reported slight gains in Resultant Quality, from an average of 3.61 in April 2009 to 3.63 in May 2009. Dining experiences improved by 2.68% (3.36 to 3.45), and the Facilities rating, as stated earlier, increased substantially. The average Housekeeping scores posted only a slight loss, slipping by less than 1% (3.50 in April 2009 to 3.47 in May 2009), while Staff scores stayed stable (increasing from April’s 3.75 to May’s 3.76). The sharpest average declines for all hotels were in Rooms and in Value: visitors rated the quality of rooms 1.33% lower (from 3.76 to 3.71), and the sense of value fell 3.12% from April’s 3.52 to May’s 3.41.

Deadly Sins of Email Marketing for Luxury Hotels

When email first bounded onto the scene marketers called it the 'killer app', email would revolutionize marketing, allow luxury hotels to economically reach out and touch each customer and prospect, create a dialogue, build relationships and ultimately provide a steady stream of loyal guests immune from competitive pressure. 

It would level the playing field allowing smaller independent hotels to effectively compete with the Goliath chain hotels.

Unfortunately far too many small luxury hotels have never seen email marketing live up to its true potential.  Failing to effectively tap into the full power of email has all too often meant it is relegated to “just another way” to try to fill last minute rooms. 

Deadly Sins of Email Marketing for Luxury Hotels. - Sunday, 17th May 2009 at 4Hoteliers.

June 2009 - HotelCast 2.0 Podcast is Published

http://www.lodginginteractive.com/pressreleases.htm

We just published our 2nd Quarter HotelCast 2.0 Podcast.

Click on Listen to Our Podcast and enjoy.

Best Practices from YouTube

YouTube video search uses a variety of signals to determine the placement of a video in our rankings, including the video file name, title, and any associated metadata.  The more information provided about a video, the better it can be searched.  In general, we strive to give the best possible objective video result. That said, here are some best practices that you can use to help your videos rise:

Best Practices from YouTube.

We just posted our June 2009 PodCast

Hot off the press, the Lodging Interactive June 2009 PodCast.  Big focus on Social Media strategies.  Check it out.  Listen to Lodging Interactive June 2009 Podcast.

Enjoy!

Twitter Analytics : Which usage behavior attracts many followers?

This is the first part of a series of posts where Data Mining and Text Mining will be applied to extract potentially useful facts about the usage of Twitter and to draw some conclusions such as what makes a Twitter account interesting enough to other users.

Twitter Analytics : Which usage behavior attracts many followers?.

Digital Influence Mapping Project: 5 Tips for Finding the Best Social Media Marketing Experts

No one discipline 'owns' the broad world of social media marketing and communications. Trying to force that to be so is a waste of time and misses the real point of this tansformational expertise. So instead of trying to figure out which agency directory to shop in - PR, Ad, Direct, etc... - look for the experts doing the best work and with the best approach. Chances are you will find great partners and never really know which discipline they originally came from.

Digital Influence Mapping Project: 5 Tips for Finding the Best Social Media Marketing Experts.