Prism Leadership Conference · Leveraging social with other internet channels . Milestone...

Milestone Confidential

Prism Leadership

Conference Tammie Carlisle

[email protected]

January 9, 2013

mailto:[email protected]

2 Milestone Confidential

Agenda

Milestone Introduction

Why social media

How to leverage social media

Channels

Google+ Local

Other social channels

Measuring return on investment

Case Studies

Leveraging social with other internet channels


Our products and services

End-to-end digital marketing solution


Preferred Vendors

Our Customers ~1400+ Clients

Hotel Chains Management

Companies Independent Hotels/Groups

Limited Service Upscale

Preferred Vendors


Why social media?


How search engines rank

Content…relevance to search

Age and relevance of URL (page-

rank)

Search categories saturation

Freshness and engagement

Social circle

Relevant inbound links or referrals

Semantic search (SCHEMAS)

Google Caffeine and Panda updates in 2011 and Penguin update in 2012

place major emphasis on original content, freshness, and engagement

(social factors)


Different SERPs results - same query

SERP for “hotels in San Francisco”

Logged in to Gmail Change location and

browser for the same

query

Results differ for organic listings as opposed to previous SERPs

Local results change from previous results

Not logged in to

Gmail

Search engines now personalize and localize and socialize the results


Opportunities with Social

Influence on Search Results “I can confirm we do use Twitter and Facebook links

in ranking”

– Matt Cutts, Search Quality Group, Google

Cross

Channel

Optimization

Impact Purchase Decisions

Customer Service & Define Brand

Personality

1.01 billion

users

50+ million

reviews

800 million unique

monthly visitors

500 million

users


Impact of social media on purchase

decision


•Facebook

•Twitter

•Flickr

•YouTube

•Foursquare

•Google+

•Pinterest

Social

Blog

Website

Conversions

How it influences online marketing: conversion funnel

Creating

conversion

opportunities


How to leverage social?


Social interactions – a typical view


Define Your Goals

1. Monitor your brand and see real time

conversations about it

2. Tap into the conversation about your brand and

increase engagement

3. Improve product from the ‘real time focus group’

4. Drive traffic to your website/booking engine

5. Saturate the search engine results pages


Create Detailed Marketing Plan

• Festivals

• Concerts, etc.

Local Events

Market Analysis

• Museums

• Universities

• CVB

Local Organizations

• Golfing

• Hiking

• Shopping

Activities/ Things to Do

• Theme Parks

• Historical

Landmarks

Attractions

• Time-Sensitive

Offers

• Rewards

Promotion/

Specials

Product Analysis

Competition

• Green Hotel

• Airport Shuttle

USP

• Meetings

• Pet-Friendly

Niche

• Loyalty Program

Brand


Find out what people are interested in?

Notable themes:

Disneyland

Newport

Beach

Attractions /

Activities

Fashion Island

Balboa Island

Catalina

Island

Beach

Romance

From Google Webmaster or keyword search tools


Knowledge of Local Trends

Use multiple trend sources to identify keywords and opportunities that drive

paying consumers to your area: reaching search traffic through a social medium.


Research your area

Search queries for events/attractions are much higher than for hotels

Talking about these events/attractions connects you with non branded location driven customers

Keyword Global Monthly Searches

Navy Pier 201,000

Navy Pier Hotels 5,400

Millennium Park 135,000

Millennium Park Hotels 1,600

Magnificent Mile 90,500

Magnicent Mile Hotels 22,200

The Art Institute of Chicago 165,000

Hotels near the Art Institute of Chicago 210

@milestonemktg

http://twitter.com/milestonemktg


Custom Content Calendar

Local information (events, restaurants bars) is the #1 reason consumers

interact with hotels in social media.1

Niche destination activity drives SEO and social conversations

Goal – enable the hotel to be proactive and relevant to both the

brand and new consumers

1 USA Today, “Poll results: Why do you Tweet to your hotel?” 4/18/2012

http://travel.usatoday.com/hotels/post/2012/04/what-do-hotel-guests-expect-from-social-media-/675066/1

http://travel.usatoday.com/hotels/post/2012/04/what-do-hotel-guests-expect-from-social-media-/675066/1


Strategy Driving Conversions

Focus on how social media

enhances SEO, driving more

web traffic and assisting in

actual conversions.


Top 10 Ideas for What to Post

1. Vacation packages, Specials, Discounts with a “Book Now” link or promo code

2. Local events, festivals, meetings, conferences, attractions, wedding announcements

3. Hotel or traveler perks (i.e. pet friendly amenities, complimentary reception hour)

4. Local “Insiders” tips (i.e. hidden tourist spots, local knowledge of area)

5. Best restaurants in local area

6. Things to do this weekend in local area

7. Weather comments or tips

8. Quotes from the hotel staff (i.e. humorous or service “magic moments”)

9. Fun facts about the hotel or local area

10.“Tip of the Day” featuring reason to stay


Where should you socialize

Twitter

YouTube

Flickr

Facebook

LinkedIn

Google+

Blog Pinterest


Customized marketing


Best practices


Create a Consistent Message

Same vanity URLs make it easier

for users to find – and remember

– the brand.


Create a Consistent Message

A consistent profile image brands the company:


Rules of Social Media

Be genuine

Do not spam guests who have not “opted in” to receive information

Do not create fake posts or pose as someone whom you are not

Avoid leaving disingenuous keyword stuffed comments

Avoid hard selling in social groups

Observe the rules of the channel and respect the culture

26


Social Media Management Strategy

Incorporate social media into weekly team meetings

Integrate social media into the overall strategy

Make social media management a part of the process

If you only have a short amount of time each day…

Respond- Address tweets, messages, etc.

Be Proactive- Create promos, updates, stay educated

Build your Community


Channels


Google+ Local


What is Google+


Factors that impact local search

3 Off Page

(Citations/Links)

• Best of the Web • Yellow Pages • InfoUSA • Hyperlocal and

social channels

Local Search

Ranking factors

• Proximity to city

• Website and your domain relevance

• Metatags, etc.

1 Website

Claiming Local on

SE

Updating Local with

correct information

Local Local

Claiming Local on

SE

Updating Local with

correct information

Local

• Claiming listings

• 100% enhanced listings

• Category optimization

• Add pictures / videos

• Offers

Optimizing

Profiles

(Google & Bing)

2

• Google Places reviews

• TripAdvisor

• Yelp, Twitter

• Facebook

4 Reviews

• Consistent Name, Address, Phone Number

5 Consistency

of Information


Google+ Local


Google+ Local Merged Page

Google+ Business pages include both the user reviews section, as well as the social media communication element


Merged Google+ Local Pages

Process to merge:

Currently merged by postcard verification

The benefits of this robust hyperlocal, social platform include:

Enhanced user experience with local and social content

Enhances local listing with fresh, trending local events, topics, activities, etc.

Builds visual impact and centralized, accurate information

Carries significant SEO value to build relevancy for new, important, or valuable content


Google+ Case Study

Case Study (6 weeks v. prior) saturating ‘Things to do’ blog posts with links from Google+

Despite website traffic increasing only 1% during this time

Blog Performance:

161.8% increase in traffic

144% increase unique visitors

‘Keys’ keyword: 114% increase

‘Events’ keyword: 183% increase

274% increase in visits to those pages categorized as ‘things to do’


Other social channels


Images - Flickr

Create optimized albums

Geo tag all photos. Optimize

for geo-targeted image

searches

Follow relevant users on Flickr

channels


Videos - YouTube

Highlight property or local

area

Keyword rich tags and

descriptions

Submit videos to major video

search engines

1,500 Views in 1 month; 8,000 in a

year


Hyperlocal channels

What is Hyperlocal?

Engaging with customers in your hotel or restaurant’s neighborhood – highly

targeted and relevant

Foursquare, Facebook Places, Yelp - Most interactions via mobile

Helps build relevance in organic SERP results and local search results

Strategy

Create account, claim, and verify the hotel location

Set up special deals to encourage user participation

Enable guests to check-in on site, post a check-in message and monitor user

analytics.

Results


Foursquare listing and business page

Enhanced Listing

Enhance Place and optimize NAP, categories, and tags

Link to the website and Twitter account

Create a check-in special to incentivize users

Monitor check-ins and place page activity

Enhanced Business Page

Optimize banner: include logo and NAP

Use keywords and bullet points in description

Create lists of local interest categories: Things To Do, Dining, Night Life

Leave compelling and engaging tips on local businesses for each of the list categories

Link to your other key online channels: Twitter, website, blog, Facebook


Blogs – a great social tool

Regular fresh content for users and search engines

Central platform for interactions on all social channels

Position the hotel as a local expert

Drive traffic to website and booking


Pinterest – maybe!

Organize and share images

Our experiments with Pinterest

showed good activity on re-

pins and likes for hotels with

good photos

Not a lot of click-throughs to

booking engine

Largely a branding exercise

http://blog.milestoneinternet.com/web-2/case-study-pinterest-for-

hotels/

http://blog.milestoneinternet.com/web-2/case-study-pinterest-for-hotels/












Pinterest

Benefits

High-engagement with pins & re-pins

High volume of users

Very image-based (beneficial for the

travel industry in particular)

Challenges

Driving converting visitors for high price

point, service-based products

Limiting time used on the platform

versus the benefit received from it

Having sufficient image-resources

Limited SEO value


Pinterest Optimization: On-Site

Add pin-it button to

drive visibility on

Pinterest & links back to

website; participate in

channel without

investment

Pinterest Optimization: On-Pages


Pinterest Optimization: Channel Setup

Adding well-

optimized

description for

maximum search

value

Verifying Pinterest

on website for

visible URL &

referrals + linking to

other social

channels

Creating pin-

boards for top

trending topics to

build relevancy

Interacting

with key local

players for

local

authority

Creating unique

descriptions for each

image & linking back

to website to drive

traffic


Yelp Business Page

Create check-in offers

Manage and respond to

reviews

Add announcements

with specials and deals

Optimize the business

information and add

photos

and manager bios

Check recent activity to

see how much traffic the

listing is getting

@milestonemktg

http://twitter.com/milestonemktg


Linked In: enhanced business profiles

Enhanced business page

• LinkedIn has high page

ranking with Google,

helping your hotel’s

search engine page

ranking

• Optimize your profile

highlighting promotions,

services and

embedding your

property video.


Travel and Niche Forums


Measuring return on

investment


Key performance indicators for social

media

Channel

Views

User

Engagement

Social

Media

Referrals

Social Media

Conversions

Broadcasts to

Build

Engagement

1

2

3

4

5

6

Connections


Measuring social media ROI – the

challenge!


Case Studies


Facebook Sweepstakes Case Study

14: days of promotional period

1155: new Likes on the Facebook page

48.7%: increase in total fans in this 14 day period versus

lifetime prior

261: unique entrants via the Facebook application

submitting email address

28: retweets prompted from the confirmation page of

the sweepstakes

7: pins on Pinterest of promotion image prompted from

the confirmation page of the sweepstakes

33: visits to the sweepstakes application via the

tracking URL in the Pinterest share image

521,509: total Facebook impressions during the

sweepstakes

238,732: total paid impressions during the sweepstakes


Thank you. Questions? Tammie Carlisle

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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