How to sell hotel rooms via Twitter in five easy steps
Categories: Hospitality, Social Media
How to sell hotel rooms via Twitter in five easy steps
In the course of talking to hoteliers about social media, I often come across statements and questions like, “It’s all well and good, but can you actually make money with it?”, “I only use it for marketing purposes – I have yet to find a way to use it to sell rooms!”, or “Isn’t Twitter just a big waste of time?”.By and large, hoteliers are busy people, so rather than explain to them in detail the theory of how to sell rooms via social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook, I find it useful to show them specific examples, like this one:
1. Monitor Twitter and listen to what people talk about
Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service, which enables users to send and read messages called tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the users’ profile pages. All users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, compatible external applications (such as for smartphones), or by Short Message Service (SMS).
Since its launch in 2006, Twitter has gained popularity worldwide and currently has more than 175 million users. It is estimated that Twitter users generate around 65 million tweets a day and that Twitter handles over 800,000 search queries per day.
Monitoring tweets is relatively easy, because Twitter allows you to search for just about any search term(s) you like and once you performed a search, you can save the search term(s) for future reference.
The first step to successfully selling hotel rooms on Twitter, therefore, is to set up and save a number of useful search terms. These should definitely include the words “hotel” and the name of your city and/or area – the idea being that you want to find Twitter users who mention the word “hotel” and your location in the same sentence.
Once set up and tested, check your Twitter searches a couple of times per day, e.g. in the morning, around lunch time, and in the evening/night. With a bit of luck you will come across tweets like these:
This Twitter user is clearly looking for a suitable hotel in Dubai. You’ll also notice that he is young(ish), wants a hotel with access to shopping malls and other attractions, and plans on visiting Dubai Mall.
2. Reply and become part of the conversation
On Twitter, much like on most other social media platforms, speed is king, so once you have located an interesting conversation, waste no time to become part of it and reply straight away. Remember, your competitors may be watching and your replies are limited to 140 characters, so act swiftly and keep it concise, e.g. like this:
After your initial response, stay tuned for further replies or questions. Click the “@Mentions” button on your Twitter dashboard frequently to find things like:
This Twitter user is clearly interested in what the hotel has to say, has already visited the hotel’s homepage, and has entered into a conversation. It’s time to take the next step!
3. Pitch your property
Make sure you show off your property in the right light, bearing in mind what the potential guest is looking for. Composing and sending tweets only takes a matter of minutes, so don’t worry about wasting hours negotiating with clients.
Once you made your pitch and answered all the client’s questions, it’s time to wait and see what happens next. All being well, you won’t have to wait long to close the deal!
4. Secure the business and follow-up
Do not stop to listen, once you’ve send the booking confirmation to the guest. Keep an ear on the conversation, because social media savvy guests are likely spread the word about your property very quickly, so there is always a chance to secure additional business. Alternatively, just enjoy the results of your social media activities:
Also remember to let your customer service shine online as brightly as offline!
Don’t forget that guests who actively use social media sites are very likely to tell all their connections about your hotel and their stay in your property, so it pays to keep an eye on them to ensure that they enjoy their time in your hotel.
As for the question of ROI (Return on Investment) for the example used here:
Total time spent finding the conversation and engaging with the guest = Less than 15 minutes
Total room revenue generated = In excess of AED 1,000
Click here to view a larger version of the image.
6. ConclusionYes, it really is this easy! All you need is a social media savvy person with dedication, product knowledge, and a way with words, plus a computer and an Internet connection.
Granted, you will not be successful every single time, but consider the advantage of online sales activities over offline sales activities: No parking hassles, no missed appointment because the client was in a meeting, no time wasted in traffic jams.
Don’t let anybody tell you that you require hundreds of followers or connections to sell rooms on Twitter, because you don’t. Equally, don’t let anybody tell you that in the foreseeable future, you can get rid of all your “offline” sales people and replace them with computer geeks, because you won’t.
Do, however, realise that it is possible to sell hotel rooms and service via social media platforms and that such sales activities will achieve results and compliment your “offline” sales efforts!
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