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Hoteliers on Twitter: Give the Tweeple What They Want

June 16, 2009 at 9:20 AM | by | Comments (0)

We hate to keep talking about Twitter (after all, we know you're already on top of it and that you're obviously already following us), but after reading the excellent feature over at Hotels Mag about hoteliers, hotel properties and hotel chains on Twitter, we were inspired to throw in our own two cents about what we've seen going on around the hotel Twitterverse.

The article itself explains how Twitter works and points out some of the most creative uses of the social media platform for folks in the hotel industry — and the big takeaway here, more than anything, is that all of this shouldn't necessarily be about posting links to press releases or new packages you're offering, but actually achieving a level of interaction with the people who are your current and future guests, whether you're Tweeting as the CEO of a chain or a GM of a property.

Our fave quote from the article:

Creating brand awareness and maintaining guest loyalty are the platform’s most important purposes, says John Wolf, senior director of public relations for Marriott International and keeper of the @MarriottIntl account. “It’s not about return on investment—it’s about return on engagement,” he says.

Speaking from the other side — as the people these Twitterers are trying to engage with — we've got a couple of things to add.

· DO: stop with the "if we get 'x' followers, we'll give away another 'y'" contests. It's not that we don't want to follow you on Twitter, but keeping the list of people we're following to a fairly low number is sort of key for keeping the user experience manageable. Further, we've seen one too many properties who equate follower counts with Twitter success — when, real talk: we followed them as part of one of those follower-count contests and they didn't exactly bring the fun Twitter-times when we stuck around for the party. It left a negative impression.

· DON'T forget: you following us does not mandate a follow back. It doesn't work like that — and sending people on Twitter mean-ish "@'s" about how you've been following us for weeks now without reciprocation is not nice or helpful. Trust us.

· DO engage! Some of our fave Twitter moments so far (heh) have been times where we've posted something about wanting to "run away to Chateau Lake Louise without telling anyone," and then receiving a response from the Fairmont Hotels Twitter that said: "If/when you do, let me know and I'll do my best to get you upgraded to this unbelievable room: http://www.twitpic.com/3u2gj." We're sure they were kidding, but it was just a really cool little touch that we sort of loved.

From the other side, what else should hoteliers, hotel execs and hotel chains be doing with us on Twitter? We know the goal is to engage — but are there any other do's and don'ts that will help them give the Tweeple what they want, so to speak?

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