Social media blogger Chris Brogan shares a day in the life of Yolanda, a fictitious hotel marketer.  Chris shows some good examples of using Twitter, RSS, and YouTube, but I especially like his proactive way of encouraging social media reviews:

After getting the lay of the land, Yolanda pours her second cup of coffee and browses Yelp. She’s not frustrated like some business leaders. Instead, Yolanda has a proactive approach. She’s built a process at her four hotels such that on sign-in, guests are invited to get a Yelp account, so that they can learn what people are saying about restaurants and other venues in Boston. There’s also a polite encouragement to rate their stay via Yelp.

[Read the whole entry]

The concept of encouraging Yelp registration on check-in is brilliant.  Not only does the user get introduced to great area restaurants and attractions, but guest reviews of the hotel will probably increase.

Could you do something like this to increase your social media popularity?

To help you determine if blogging is for you, I’d like to share some of the advantages and disadvantages of using a blog in your social media marketing mix.

Advantages of blogging for your hotel include:

• The opportunity for you to develop a personal bond with potential guests
• Perceived authority on the subject you’re covering (whether it’s your local area as a destination, or a niche in the hospitality industry)
• Increased rankings and visitors to your site (Search engines love blogs)
• Increased influence and reach (Your entries can be published as RSS newsfeeds to other websites)

Disadvantages are slightly smaller, but still worth considering:

• The time factor is perhaps the biggest drawback to creating a blog.  Blogs are easy to start but difficult to maintain.  Publishing a good blog takes a significant amount of time.  Of course, writing takes the most time, but you must also allow time for interacting with your readers.
• Related to the time factor is the risk of publishing a blog that damages your brand’s reputation.  Fortunately, you can hedge against this by creating publishing guidelines for yourself and whoever is involved with the blog.

In my upcoming blogging best practices series, you’ll learn more about how to capitalize on the advantages and reduce the disadvantages of using this media.  Stay tuned….

Publishing a blog for your hotel or hospitality company can be a great way to expand your web presence.   Perhaps better than any other single method.  You can build your reputation as a destination or industry authority, and make it easier for potential guests to find you in search engines.

But blogging is not for everyone.  Consider these factors when thinking about starting a blog:

1. Do you have the time to consistently publish quality material?
The best blogs update regularly with new information. Can you commit to frequently writing new articles for the blog?

2. Do you have enough interesting material to share?
Too many blogs are started by well-meaning people that run out of things to say after a few weeks or months. Will you be able to come up with new article ideas on an ongoing basis?

3. Are you prepared to engage your audience?
Blogging is most effective when approached as a community-building activity. Can you dedicate time to interact with people commenting on your posts? Will you comment on other blogs in your industry?  (Without interaction, you lose many of the benefits of blogging.)

Next week I’ll be writing in greater depth on the advantages and disadvantages of blogging.  For now, I just want you to think about the investment of time and resources it will require.

Having a web site isn’t enough anymore.  Now, the key to online market leadership for your hotel is establishing a web presence.

A new social media research report by Universal McCann puts some hard numbers behind this trend:

• 73% of online users read a blog (what guest experiences are they reading?)
• 57% join social networks (do you have a presence there?)
• 45% have started a blog (what will they say about your hotel?)
• 83% have viewed a video online (can they find one for you?)
• 36% think more positively about companies that have blogs (does your hotel have one?)

Some more insights for hotel marketers…

1. The 3 most popular social media participation activities are watching videos, reading blogs, and viewing pictures.
2. “In the world of social media, honesty is the only policy”
3. Reputation management will become more important as social media participation grows
4. Think globally; your customers are

Here’s the full report:

A website used to be all a company needed to reach customers online.  Not anymore! Now, anyone with $15 and the right software can publish a website in less time than it takes to eat lunch.  It’s estimated that between 15 and 30 billion websites exist.  How are you going to differentiate yourself from the 14,999,999,999 other websites out there?

Having a web site is no longer enough.  You need a web presence.  

The past few years have seen a huge rise of interest in blogging and social networking.  These websites and services are largely community-centered, and encourage user participation.

As a hotelier, you need to establish a broad network of contact points for your hotel that all lead to the center: your hotel’s main site. 

Here’s a list of ideas for “spokes” in your web presence:

• Create a blog, and update it at least once each week
• Integrate social bookmarking services such as Digg and del.icio.us into your blog
  
• Comment on other relevant blogs with a link to your hotel’s site in the signature
  
• Take pictures of your facility – the rooms, the grounds – and post them to a photo-sharing service such as Flickr
• Shoot video of your hotel, and post it to video sites such as YouTube and Google Video
• Record and publish candid video interviews with guests around your hotel
• Get listed in user-written travel guides such as WikiTravel
  
• Participate in discussions about your local area in social networks such as VirtualTourist
  
• Google your name, your hotel’s name, and other relevant phrases to see where you appear when others search for these terms (It’s a great motivator to expand your web presence if you’re just starting)
• Better yet, create Google Alerts for these phrases.  You’ll receive email updates enabling you to track what’s being said about you online.

Remember, having a website isn’t enough.  You need a web presence.

Be an octopus, not an elephant.