Earlier, I defined guestsourcing as a way for hospitality companies to involve their customers in the promotional process. The rewards include:

• Having a wider range of media to work with
• Access to a broad content base that increases your search rankings
• Increased loyalty from your guests

Now, I’d like to get practical and show you how to take advantage of this concept.

It’s very important you approach this right. Michael pointed out in a recent comment:

It seems to be more genuine and effective when it isn’t forced. Beyond the effort involved, when you court users who are not familiar with social media and not quite sure how to review…it can look and feel awkward…from bad reviews, to “shill” looking reviews.

I agree completely: timing is everything.

The perfect timing

Over and over, I’ve observed the best time to ask for online participation is after you receive positive guest feedback in some form. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it works.

If you get nothing else out of this article…

The next time you receive positive feedback, ask the guest for some type of online contribution. This works like magic for getting reviews on TripAdvisor, but remember we’re discussing guestsourcing here – the art of getting media on the web.

Ask the guest if they would like to share some photos of what they liked about your hotel. Perhaps this will be on Flickr…or just attached to a TripAdvisor review. The important thing is getting the content online – where potential guests can see it.

Turn existing fans into online participants

Earlier this week I talked with a hotel that had a very strong offline fan base, but just recently began social media marketing. With just a little bit of promotion, these fans quickly started participating and submitting their own content. It’s especially important to leverage your existing reputation if you’re new to this.

Listen and reach out

Be aware when prominent bloggers and media producers are visiting your area. Roger Smith did that with Chris Brogan. You can do that by monitoring Twitter and other channels to see who is visiting your area.

Reach out to media producers!

From a marketing perspective, these are among your most valuable guests.

Create a contact point

Designate a social media contact person to provide help and access. Make it very easy for people to get in touch with them: by phone, email, Twitter, etc.

Guestsourcing Photos and Videos

Build a Flickr group to serve as a central collection point for photos: both for contributors and for viewers.

Showcase the best guest photos on your website, like Sunriver Resort. Reward creativity with attention.

Actively solicit new submissions on your site, and in your Flickr group.

Provide a standardized tag – yourhotelname – to make discovery easier.

With video, you may want to note what Omni Hotels is doing. As part of their Omni Flips for Summer package, guests are loaned a Flip Video camcorder for the duration of their stay. A “Summer Fun Counselor” helps guests process and upload their videos.

Encouraging blog reviews

There are many bloggers that exclusively write hotel reviews – either professionally or as a hobby. You want to treat your visiting bloggers like royalty, because they have the ability to sway online perceptions. (Which I say without bias, because I’m not a hotel review blogger…)

I recommend putting together a special blogger’s package. This can include:

• A hotel fact sheet (like you would use with the press)
• The background story on the hotel
• Interview access to the owner or general manager (as appropriate)
• High-resolution hotel photos
• A neighborhood guide (including the best cafes with wifi!)
• …and of course free internet access to write about you

Create a separate page to promote this

You may want to create a separate page on your website for visiting photographers and bloggers. Having links and suggestions all in one place provides easy access to all the information above.

There are no rules

You need to use your intuition on what is appropriate for your hotel and each situation. Hopefully this guide will give you some ideas, but in the end you need to…

Go out there and experiment!

Photo credits: Youssry, jenny downing

In my Flickr guide for hotels, I explained how hotel marketers could use the popular photo-sharing site to promote their hotel. Now let’s look at how the community there can help you spread the word.

Start a Flickr group (or three)

I recommend you start by creating two or more groups: one for your hotel and one around a larger theme, such as your design concept or city. The latter is especially important if you’re located in a little-known destination and want to raise awareness.

Link: Create a group on Flickr

What is a group?

A Flickr group allows members to submit and share photos they have taken about a common subject. There is a huge variety in group topics; you may want to spend a few minutes browsing the most popular ones.

Shameless plug: My group – Hotel Design – showcases the latest interior design & architecture trends

Photographers love groups because submitting their photos usually results in more views and increased popularity.

Why owning a group is important for hotels

There are many benefits to managing your own Flickr group, including:

1. Creating a central access point for all photos taken by guests and visitors
2. Offering more content to people planning a trip
3. The ability to crowdsource content for other marketing materials
4. The opportunity to monitor your brand’s reputation
5. Increased awareness: the Mumbai Taj Mahal has 340 photos in their group (including some high quality images). Each of these are included in search engine results, and raise the hotel’s profile.

Tips for effective Flickr group management

Actively solicit new submissions. Announce the new group in multiple communications channels. You may even want to search Flickr for existing relevant photos and invite the photographer to submit them to your group. Here is how the admin from the Mumbai Taj Mahal group described above is doing this:

Group invitation request

Cross-promote the group. Link to it from your blog. Highlight it on your website. People love seeing photos taken by real travelers like them. You may even create a slideshow of photos from the group, and feature it on your site. Flickr provides a tool that makes this super easy.

Recommend a tag for people to add to their Flickr photos when they take a picture of your hotel. This makes finding and sharing the photos easier. According to this blog post, the Ottawa Folk Festival used this message to encourage amateur photographers to upload and tag their photos:

Please take photos and videos of this event and upload them to sites like Flickr.com with the tag “ottawafolkfestival“. This will ensure that we will all be able to remember the good times we’ve enjoyed at this event.

The result? Hundreds of quality photographs, and increased awareness for the event.

Make it open. Just as I encouraged you to publish your hotel photos under the creative commons license, free access is important for spreading the word. Allow anyone to join the group, submit photos, and view existing photos in the group pool. You can always moderate submissions later, but it’s best to begin with open access.

Hold contests. Give away good prizes for the best photos of your hotel. This is a great way to encourage quality content and raise awareness. But make sure to promote your contest: Hotel Casci Florence held a contest to give away 2 free nights, but only one person submitted entries!

Photo credit: Brooke Novak