Topguest announced a major new product update today that will allow their users to earn hotel points and other travel perks just for taking and sharing photos via Instagram, the popular mobile photo sharing application.

I’ve written before how TopGuest is changing the way hotels can recognize and reward loyalty, and this expansion beyond checking in with Gowalla or Foursquare seems to be a logical next step.

“[We have] now moved beyond the check-in to reward other forms of “digital loyalty” such as mobile photo sharing, and we’re bringing our large loyalty program customer base to Instagram all in one swoop. Expect us to integrate with additional mobile-social services as they reach scale,” says CEO Geoff Lewis.

Recognizing how brand loyalty is expressed by the always-on consumer is a big opportunity for hotels. We see consumers today leaving useful online digital trails about their travel activities, and savvy hotels are looking for ways to identify and encourage this.

Behind the scenes, TopGuest is working to create social CRM systems, merging user tables of popular social networks with loyalty program membership IDs. This will provide tools needed to conduct socially-informed CRM and loyalty marketing. It creates a stronger case for using intelligence from the social web to improve business efficiency. According to Lewis, “This is not about one off ‘Deals’ or ‘Specials,’ as the scope and breadth of our partnerships with the largest loyalty programs in the travel industry indicates.”

From the press release:

Starting today, many of the largest travel loyalty programs in the world are awarding real hotel points, air miles, and travel perks to their members simply for sharing photos via fast-growing mobile application Instagram. This is by far the largest brand integration with Instagram to date, and it’s being powered entirely by Topguest, a platform launched in late 2010 to give travelers real rewards from their favorite hotel and airline loyalty points programs for checking in with Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and Gowalla. With this Instagram integration, Topguest is expanding further beyond the check-in as the first and only service to offer real rewards for mobile photo sharing as well. To begin receiving real travel rewards for your qualifying Instagram photos automatically, simply visit http://www.topguest.com and connect your Instagram account. It’s fast and free.

A simple scan through an Instagram feed reveals that the service’s 2 million plus users love sharing photos taken at hotels, restaurants, bars, and airports. Topguest members now get real rewards points from their favorite hotel and airline loyalty programs automatically for their photos taken at over 10,000 of these places. A full list of participating venues near you is available at http://www.topguest.com/search. To qualify, the photo must be geolocated at a participating venue, and the “where” field in Instagram must be tagged with the corresponding location.

Just a few of the participating loyalty programs include Virgin America Elevate, Hilton HHonors, Priority Club, Choice Privileges, Kimpton InTouch, and Wyndham Rewards. Rewards range from 50 points for photos taken at hotels, to 25 points for photos taken at Virgin America airport terminals, to special rewards like room credits for photos taken at hundreds of hotspots like Standard hotel’s Le Bain in New York, Thompson’s Bond St. Sushi in Los Angeles, and Kimpton’s The Fifth Floor in San Francisco.

One of the big ideas from ITB this year is really an age-old concept: the value of telling stories to share ideas. While you can (and should) tell stories about everything you do, here are the three most compelling stories I see from a sales perspective:

“How I chose them” (A customer’s decision making process)

Tell this story because: Having a happy customer explain the process she went through to purchase your product will be something your prospects can relate to.

“Why I chose them” (A customer’s testimonial)

Tell this story because: Having a happy customer tell the story of why he ended up choosing you might reveal motivators that appeal to other prospects. It could include buying criteria you didn’t think of. And the story of why to buy from you best comes from a customer, not a salesperson.

Examples:

Story Hotels uploads hand-written guest comment cards -

Software company Eloqua uses testimonials to share benefits buyers receive -

How we made it (Showcasing your teams’ talent)

Tell this story because: Having the architects of your product or experience explain the creation process they went through raises perceived value and makes your offering much more appealing to others.

Examples:

Faena Hotel + Universe in Buenos Aires -

Ask for Me campaign from theWit Chicago -

The Kilted Doorman at the Hotel Missoni -

Are you telling these three stories?

Huge opportunities exist for entrepreneurs to build products and services that fix the common complaints we hear about mobile and social technologies. Complaints such as:

• Overwhelming amount of noise, making it hard to identify what is important
• Difficulty managing everything, setting priorities
• Different amounts of relevance for each of the people we are connected with
• “Check-in” fatigue for location-based services
• No monetary compensation for locational-based check-in
• Difficulty proving value of new media for management

Entrepreneurs made fortunes solving the problems of the first generation of the web – such as secure payment transactions that enable ecommerce. Now it’s time for a new generation of startups to address a new generation of technologies. (And it seems the companies providing the initial game-changing technology aren’t the same ones that solve the problems caused by their technology.)

Let’s discuss:

• What are the biggest challenges that prevent widespread adoption of new technologies?
• What are the most pressing questions for businesses trying to benefit from new media?

(Companies like TopGuest are solving problems and innovating, and I would love to cover more of these stories. If you know of a company well positioned to change the game in this way, let me know…)

As we begin to understand the value of endorsements and recommendations on the social web, it will be interesting to see how hotels incentive these.

One concept proposed at PhoCusWright@ITB 2011 townhall brainstorming: What if you offered a discount code that people could only receive by scanning a QR code with their mobile phones, opting in to receive updates via SMS text message, checking into the establishment using Gowalla or Foursquare, and notifying their friends via Facebook and Twitter?

How much of a discount would you provide to gain that level of permission and coverage on the social web? Would the discount be tied to influence scores like Klout?

TripAdvisor pioneered (and continues to innovate) the category of consumer-written travel reviews. Now, sites like Room77 and Seat Guru are emerging around the thought that most reviews are too generic. Instead, they provide very specific recommendations about rooms within a hotel or seats on an airplane.

The web continues to push the boundaries of transparency. If you’re going to thrive, you must provide a consistently good experience. Travelers are using technology to gain more and more inside knowledge.

Will sites like Room77 eventually lead to hotels selling room numbers?

Rohit Bhargava used “likeonomics” as his leading trend for 2011, among a very strong list of trends to watch.

“Likes” and microinfluence

In a time-starved world, people want to share opinions but often don’t have a lot of time to take in doing so. The volume of people sharing opinion is quickly increasing, but at the same time, many are decreasing the time they spend doing it.

If we’re going to stay relevant, we need to think through how to leverage this trend.

Microreviews

On the EyeForTravel social media panel in Atlanta, I said I wouldn’t spend more than 15-20 seconds on most retail or restaurant customer reviews.

But if I’m buying a coffee or a quick meal, it’s not likely I’ll spend 15 minutes writing a 3-paragraph review.

That’s why I largely switched from Yelp to UrbanSpoon for restaurant reviews. It’s simpler. One-line mobile reviews. No more time spent agonizing if it’s a 4 or 5-star establishment. I either like the restaurant or I don’t:

A supplement, not a replacement, for long-form reviews

For hotels, longer form written reviews will remain more popular since the experience is much more immersive than a typical restaurant meal. Many people want to describe the different elements of their stay, upload photos and video, and so on.

For management, longer form reviews obviously contain a much richer amount of information to work with. We can extract sentiment with semantic analysis, take action within our organization based on feedback, and even use some testimonials in our advertising.

So what am I supposed to do with microinfluence?

Start with the source that helped this concept gain popularity: try adding Facebook “like” buttons to key pages on your site. (I’ve seen mixed results, so it’s something you’ll have to test for your situation.)

Then as review sites evolve, we’ll have to experiment what this means for us and the future of online reputation management. Right now it’s a bit early, but I wanted to introduce the concept and get your thoughts.

What do you think? How can we use this for hotels?

This week at EyeForTravel’s Atlanta event I’ll be sharing how we can find meaning from chaos in all the online reviews and social media mentions travel companies see today. My intention is to explore some ways we might gather meaningful insight from the rapidly increasing amounts of customer data available on the web.

The challenge we face

Travelers are dramatically increasing the volume of data they publish to the web – both intentionally and unintentionally. Cross-posting between social media networks and increasing integration means that one activity may be posted across 10 different websites.

For example, when I check into a coffeeshop using the Gowalla application on my mobile phone, that activity is recorded in Gowalla, cross-posted to Foursquare, sends a Twitter update, notifies my Facebook friends, and updates my Tumblr.

The challenge – and potential danger – we face here is that if your organization doesn’t have the right systems and procedures in place to gather insights you can quickly be overwhelmed by data.

(This is even worse if you don’t even know exactly what you’re looking for in all the social media mentions out there.)

The reason for social media communication

Feeling overwhelmed by a huge amount of data often leads to inaction. And this is very dangerous because the whole purpose of monitoring the social web and taking part in conversations there is so you can take action on them.

Generate insights to act on

It’s important to avoid “true but useless” intelligence, and focus exclusively on creating reports that provide insights you can use immediately. It should not take a “social media guru” to make sense of the feedback your customers give you.

Your action step: Create very, very specific social media intelligence reports for each person within your organization.

Instead of one person looking at overview summaries, gaining a competitive advantage requires everyone on your team to have access to position-specific data that will help them do their job better.

The big opportunity

The greatest opportunity right now is using insights from the social web for more than just marketing or PR.

It’s in developing “social companies” where customer feedback from the web is used throughout the organization: in every strategic decision, and in all day-to-day operations.

—

I look forward to seeing some of you in Atlanta, and I’ll post a summary of the event after for those of you who can’t make it.

For more details on the Atlanta event, see EyeForTravel’s Customer Centric Strategies for Travel page. For a tool that can help you make sense of chaos on the social web, you should get a demo of ReviewPro.

Thanks to Scott Ginsberg and others, I’ve been impressed with the value of having a few core ideas to “champion” in everything I do.

Here’s the five themes that will be infused into my work in 2011:

Theme: Marketing within constraints

Very few of us have hours to spend surfing Facebook or Twitter, so I’ll be constantly looking at ways to get around time and resource constraints and still use the social web effectively.

Theme: Spending time on human connections, not data collection

I’m becoming an increasingly vocal advocate of social media reputation software that collects online mentions and data, freeing you up to spend time on the things that matter – personal relationships.

Theme: Customer service as the new marketing

Word of mouth is playing an increasingly important role in travel decisions, and investing in delivering an extraordinary experience is the single most effective way to promote today.

Theme: A broader use of social intelligence

Applications can be made for everything from pricing & revenue management to strategic investment decisions. We need to start seeing social media as more than just a peripheral activity and spend more time integrating it with the rest of our business operations.

Theme: Enterprise 2.0 and Social CRM

I hate buzzwords, but this is simply all about integrating new and emerging technologies with your organization. It’s a really big topic, but I’m doing some work with Jacob Morgan and others to explore how this can work within the context of hospitality.

Some big topics in this area are looking at how to gather insights from the social web to provide more personalized experiences to your guests….and also how to use social media as not just an external communications channel, but as a way to better communicate within your organization.

Stories and case studies are the best way to learn

I’ll share lessons on the points above through stories as often as I can. Like you, I get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of marketing articles out there. Jason Falls shared something I think will become increasingly true as social technologies mature:

The ‘gurus’ will fade away while the practitioners excel.

It’s all about getting stuff done. I learn the most from stories of people putting theories in action and to the test. And these case studies are what I’m planning to share with you.

As you know, this blog is a collaboration with you – our “Shakers” – so let Katie & I know of any story ideas you have for any of the above topics.

Thanks!

Trend #1: Integration increasingly important

Example: Gowalla

Integration and compatibility is the most important trend I see as we move into 2011. In many ways, it’s what ties together the rest of the items in this story.

Gowalla is a great example of this. For a long time, I didn’t really get involved in the whole social “check-in” scene. Too many networks, and my friends were scattered across each. But version 3.0 of their application introduced check-in capability with arch-rival Foursquare, and I started using it much more often.

Integration is what pushes many people to try a new technology. It’s hard to convince someone to invest a lot of time to switch and try yet another network, but if you can integrate with existing platforms, it’s easier to gain adoption.

Trend #2: Photos as lifestreaming

Example: Instagram

Possibly my favorite app of 2010, Instagram exploded in popularity because it allows users to share vintage-looking photos easily with their friends. The service captured over 100,000 users in less than a week, and passed one million registered users a few days ago (12/21/2010).

I know a number of people who have very negative opinions of Instagram, but all great products are usually polarizing. I think the community aspect is what made this app succeed so quickly. I paid for a very similar app – Hipstamatic – but ended up discarding it after the first day. The cross-publishing capabilities were not powerful enough.

Personally, I find Instagram most useful when integrated with another service – like Tumblr – as part of a richer lifestream.

Trend #3: The evolution of blogging

Example: Tumblr

Tumblr saw rapid growth in 2010 because it gives the time-starved blogger an opportunity to share a little more than what fits into a 140-character tweet. An elegant mobile application lets their users quickly and conveniently update on the go.

This focus on rapid publishing, combined with a wide selection of free design themes, make it an attractive option for many.

Examples: InsideBuenosAires.com and WeLoveFierro.com

Trend #4: The Social Graph on your website

Example: Facebook & TripAdvisor

Again, integration is the key. I’m seeing more websites experimenting with bringing your social graph – your network of contacts – onto the websites that you use. Doing this helps provide a more personalized experience and should lead to you discovering more relevant information.

TripAdvisor has been gradually increasing its integration with Facebook over the past year. This instantly personalizes the site for each visitor – displaying trusted reviews from friends, sharing most popular destinations among friends, and showing an interactive social map.

Trend #5: Geo-location for city exploration

Social networks such as Foursquare and Gowalla have offered the opportunity to “check in” to physical spaces for a while now.

This year, we’ve seen these tools move from just a way to tell friends where you are to becoming a way for people to explore a city. Gowalla introduced a “trips” feature in January 2010, allowing any user to create a list of places for people to visit. “Foursquare 2.0″ announced September 2010 enabled users to create to-do lists.

Businesses are starting to use this functionality to create branded trips, which leads to the next trend….

Trend #6: Check-ins as part of a larger business strategy

Example: Topguest

As mentioned above, geolocation services allowing users to check in to local business have been around for a few years with tools like Foursquare and Gowalla. Facebook joined the game in August with Facebook Places. What we’re seeing now is business owners put a little more thought into how to use this to drive revenue and loyalty.

Topguest is now offering one opportunity for this - providing real hotel loyalty points for people checking in via Foursquare and Facebook places. I predict we’ll see this continue to evolve as owners start taking this more seriously.

Trend #7: Bridging the online/offline gap with mobile

More and more business owners are using QR codes and other mobile technologies to bridge the online/offline gap.

Google Places began giving out QR code stickers last December – though many establishments didn’t begin posting these until earlier this year. According to Google, the benefits include allowing shoppers to:

• Read reviews to see what other users think about the business
• Find an offer that the business has posted to their Place Page
• Star the business to remember to check it out later, or to remember to visit again
• Leave a review right after they leave the business.

But this is not limited to Google places. QR codes can be used to send traffic to any location, as I’ve covered before with Tailor Made Hotels promoting their Facebook page to people walking by:

Trend #8: Closed social networks

Example: Path

Perhaps in reaction to more open platforms like Facebook and the (perceived or real) privacy problems that go along with that, tools like Path enable small, closed networks you can share your life with.

I like Mike Isaac’s explanation of the service for Forbes.

“Because your personal network is limited to your 50 closest friends and family, you can always trust that you can post any moment, no matter how personal. Path is a place where you can be yourself.”

Trend #9: Group discount buying and Private sales sites

Example: Groupon & Jetsetter

When I opened my inbox earlier this month to find an ad for The Economist – one of the most traditional, conservative publications I respect, I knew Groupon had gone mainstream.

2010 was a great year for Groupon. Since its launch, Groupon has grown to an estimated $350 million in estimated revenue for this year. On November 30, 2010 Google offered a reported $5.3 billion to acquire Groupon, but was rejected. After this, Groupon was identified for an initial public offering in 2013.

The site is most popular with young, educated, female consumers. (Nice infographics here)  In this USA Today interview with Barb De Lollis, Andrew Mason says

“More and more, we hear of people using it for planning vacations. If I live in D.C., I will check out the Chicago daily deal for a few weeks in advance of my trip. I might see hotels, restaurants or a Segway tour. Then you can plan a lot of your vacation around things to do with your Groupon. I look at Groupon as a really interesting city guide that points out one really cool thing to do in a city every day,” he said. The discount serves as a nudge to get people to try it.”

But the success of Groupon doesn’t necessarily mean you should use it at your hotel. I’ve heard first-hand reports of Groupon buyers only coming for the discount prices and showing very little loyalty after the initial stay.

Private sales sites like Jetsetter offer a more exclusive twist on the limited-time-sale model.

I’ve heard passionate arguments on both sides for both of these sales models. Some complain of brand damage, others enjoy the market exposure it brings. Regardless of your opinion, group buying and private sales are two trends that you cannot ignore.

….

Additional trend #1: Sophisticated review management

Example: ReviewPro

Customer review analysis software has existed for years – ever since online reviews started gaining popularity – but now I’m seeing a lot more sophistication in this area.

Rather than being limited to one department or one person, savvy organizations are using info from the social web throughout their organization:

• Identifying opportunities for improvement in operations
• Knowing which parts of the hotel experience is most appreciated by guests with semantic analysis (useful for marketing and management)
• Cross-comparing pricing data with reputation to maximize rates (helpful for revenue management)

Using a tool like ReviewPro helps hotels manage all this from one web-based platform. And I think as an industry we’re just beginning to understand the power of the social web for increasing profitability. I expect to see a lot more innovation in this area in the coming year.

(Disclaimer: I’m currently doing some industry research and market analysis work for ReviewPro)

Additional trend #2: Social CRM

Social CRM continues to evolve, but I saw it brought up in more and more management discussions over the past year. Organizations are wanting to supplement their traditional CRM systems with the vast amount of customer information available on the social web.

Jacob Morgan of Chess Media Group put together a nice intro to social CRM here, and Adam Metz is another thought leader on this topic that I recommend following.

And of course, I’ll be speaking about social CRM at EyeForTravel’s Customer Centric Strategies in Travel conference.

….

Alright, that was one long post. Tell me in the comments section below:

What are your top travel tech trends for 2011?

How are business travelers using WiFi at hotels? To answer this question, I talked with John Gallagher today about some new research iPass conducted on this topic. “Each quarter we survey hundreds of our customers – all of them business travelers. We’re also looking at nearly 30,000,000 customer user sessions in our analysis.”

The iPass Hospitality Survey findings are based on nearly 1,200 business travelers from around the globe. 48% of respondents were surveyed in Europe and Asia while 47% of respondents were from North America. To access the report visit http://bit.ly/hotelwifi

Research on internet usage at hotels

• 95 percent of business travelers care if there is Wi-Fi or a wired connection in a hotel
• 63 percent of business travelers confirm, prior to booking, whether a hotel has Internet, 24 percent assume a hotel has guest Internet connections
• A poor hotel Wi-Fi experience influences 36 percent of business travelers on whether they re-book that specific hotel in the future
• Business travelers aged 35-44 are more likely to post complaints on travel websites, followed by 45-54 year olds.
• 79 percent of business travelers return to the same locations on business trips – 22 percent do this frequently
• 17 percent of business travel hotel guests don’t inform the hotel when they have a poor Wi-Fi experience
• 22-34 year-old business travelers are more forgiving with a poor hotel Wi-Fi service with only 25 percent stating it influences whether they book that specific hotel in the future

Reliable WiFi an essential hotel amenity

J.D Power & Associates indicated that Wi-Fi was a “top five ‘must-have’” amenity for hotel guests in a report earlier this year. “With hotels constantly reviewing their repeat hotel occupancy, it is increasingly important to ensure that internet connectivity for hotel guests works consistently,” said Marcio Avillez, vice president of supply management at iPass. “The business traveler needs high-quality internet connectivity at hotels, whether it’s an additional service fee, or free. Hotels cannot afford to overlook Wi-Fi quality as nearly 80 percent of business travelers return to the same destination. A bad Wi-Fi experience impacts half of the business traveler’s decision to re-book at the same hotel or hotel chain.”

Action steps for hotels to take

I asked John what hotels can do practically to offer better service in this area. A couple good quotes:

1. “Make sure Internet service is of equal quality to the service you provide elsewhere in your hotel.”
2. “Regardless whether your connection access free or paid, you need to offer a high quality connection.”
3. “People just want to be connected, they don’t want hassles. Our customers literally open their laptop and see how easy it is to connect to a network.”

Think of WiFi as part of your overall service offering. Business travelers a lucrative market for hotels, it’s important hotels are providing good service in this area for their customers.