HotelChatter

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Yes, it's time to sign-up for yet another social media account.

We can understand why bargain-hunting and advice-seeking hotel guests will use Foursquare but why should hotels who are already active on Facebook and Twitter pay attention to Foursquare?

According to David Binkowksi, SVP, Director of Word of Mouth Marketing at MS&L in New York, Foursquare is another social media platform where hotels need to monitor their reputation and branding.

"A negative reputation, via tips left by its customers, could be sending people to competitors (or at the very least, not to your hotel.) Much like other forms of social media--Google, Wiki, etc.--understanding who's leaving positive or negative comments about your brand are worth paying attention to. Those companies that address them typically see their sentiment swing positive over time."

Indeed this is part of why Simpson is so tuned into Foursquare already.

"The more information that I listen to, the more I know what's going on with the hotel. "

Additionally, Binkowski says Foursquare could be a new market for hotel ads. "If your occupancy rate is so low it's worth testing Foursquare advertising 'Mayorship specials' to see if you can pick up a few extra visitors per night as a 'test and learn.'

The only downfall to this, he cautions, is that hotels may start to saturate Foursquare with these specials so that it could ultimately become a "race to the bottom."

While it is growing rapidly, Foursquare still has a long way to go before it tops the power of Twitter and Facebook and even TripAdvisor but as we've all learned in this great Social Media experiment we're currently undergoing, you can't afford to dismiss something as a fad, even if you don't understand it.

Or as Simpson says, "2010 is for people to stop saying that they just don't get it. Social media just makes life better for businesses. I hope more and more people start adapting to it."

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