Twitter adds personality to your brand

Many top blogs are becoming like online magazines. Staffed by full-time professional writers, there is a tendency to become overly factual.

But through a Twitter account, many corporate bloggers feel more free to be themselves and lighten up a bit. By bringing these two tools together, you can provide both informative content and a little personality behind it.

Twitter helps you get to know your readers

Blog discussions in the comment section can serve the same function, but I find them to be less spontaneous than the back-and-forth nature of Twitter. For any blogger, it’s important to build relationships with your readers, and regular communication is the way to do that.

Twitter expands your network

I’ve probably met more new people through Twitter than any other social networking tool. Whether it’s another blogger or a business you wanted to find, Twitter can help open doors and establish connections.

Twitter is an idea goldmine

If you follow the right people, just watching the tweets stream by for a few minutes can give you lots of fresh ideas and interesting links. I use TweetDeck to carefully monitor a select group of people’s tweets, and usually check in a few times each day.

Additionally, you can get a lot of very good ideas by asking questions to your followers. Whether you just want a second opinion on your logo design, or need to do a more in-depth survey, it’s a very convenient to have real time feedback.

Twitter is also a great research tool

Twitter is a recorded stream of consciousness of the web. Entering keywords into search.twitter.com helps you measure the pulse of what people are thinking.

Twitter is the preferred subscription method for some

Some people would rather receive your blog updates on Twitter than through RSS or email. Whether the motive is accessibility or security, cross-promoting blog updates on Twitter is a good idea for these people.

Let me ask you: Does Twitter help you as a blogger? Drop by my shiny new Twitter page and let me know.

This story was posted on the Consumerist yesterday, with most of the readers siding with the hotel in this case. Whether this person had a legitimate grievance is debatable, but the bigger issue is that guests are now taking their complaints online.

They go to Twitter

Kristy isn’t alone. A quick search on Twitter reveals hundreds of hotel complaints each day. The stream-of-consciousness format makes it very easy for guests to share what’s bothering them.

They go to their blogs

Ranting about a poor hotel experience on a blog is nothing new: there are whole blogs built around this concept.

The problem with a negative blog review is that it typically has a long shelf life – and can rank highly in search engines for your hotel’s name. This greatly increases the chance a potential guest will find it when they look for you.

Another interesting thing I’ve observed is that unhappy guests will sometimes post a complaint on a seemingly unrelated blog. For example, Wyn complained on my Hyatt Twitter Concierge story that unless the company fixes their customer service and loyalty programs, Twitter isn’t going to help. (point taken)

They go to TripAdvisor, Yelp, Qype…

Of course. You know that.

But even if you have the good humor to create staff t-shirts with 1-star reviews – like San Francisco’s Pizzeria Delfino – these negative reviews can seriously cut into your hotel’s profit.

They go to OTAs

In my experience, hotel marketers generally check guest reviews on sites like Travelocity and Orbitz less often than TripAdvisor.

Unless you monitor your reputation here as well, negative comments could fly under the radar and reduce the revenue you receive through these channels.

They go to Facebook

More and more hotels are moving to set up a presence on Facebook, and as with Twitter, the convenience makes it easy for people to share a bad experience with hundreds of their friends.

They go elsewhere

People can post complaints anywhere on the web: YouTube, Flickr, forums – the possibilities are endless. The reality is that the internet empowers consumers like never before. Anyone can say anything – with a megaphone.

It’s a control freak’s nightmare, but shouldn’t be a huge concern to hotels that make guest satisfaction a top priority.

The lesson

Customers are quickly taking their complaints online if they don’t receive a satisfactory resolution. Neglecting to solve problems offline could really damage your reputation online.

Your Homework: Make sure you’ve set up “listening tools” to quickly catch if someone makes a comment about your business like this.

For a list of free listening tools – plus an action plan for managing your online reputation – see my article on beating negative hotel reviews.

The difference between Google and Twitter

After last week’s experiment, several months of testing various Twitter integration tactics, and reaching 100,000+ people in 36 hours, I’ve learned some interesting things.

Twitter is the best social media marketing tool for bloggers

I started blogging in 2002, and have tested many different tools since then. Delicious, Digg, and StumbleUpon all have the potential of reaching large numbers of people. But for the typical blogger, nothing matches the viral marketing potential of Twitter.

How you use Twitter makes a huge difference

Like nearly every other aspect of business, you can achieve success quicker by using the right tactics. Some bloggers on Twitter get tens of thousands of new readers each day by using the tool; others tweet frantically and never really get anywhere.

Here are some lessons I’m learning from the best bloggers on Twitter…

Only promote your best posts

Instead of automatically syndicating your blog on Twitter, focus on a few articles you know could be winners.

Personally, I aim to publish 3-5 posts to this blog weekly; and tweet 50-75% of them.

Depending on your publishing frequency, you may want to adjust this.

Promote your best posts well

It’s fine to re-tweet your posts several times throughout the day. Several experts suggest every 2-3 hours is best.

With many of us having hundreds, if not thousands, of followers on Twitter it’s easy to miss what your friends are saying. I try to check into Twitter several times each day, but since my whole friend feed in TweetDeck is updated every 10 minutes or so, you can see how easy it can be to miss updates.

When you’re communicating with a worldwide audience, the difference in time zones makes this even more important.

Tweet formula 1: Insight + Link

Depending on how good your titles are, you may be fine just using them in tweets. But I get a little bored with those sometimes.

Instead, try tweeting a little excerpt from your post along with the link for more info.

That way, you add real value and arouse curiosity at the same time.

Tweet formula 2: Question + Link

Questions encourage conversations. Some people believe it’s effective than just giving out information.

Try it for yourself and see.

Tweet formula 3: Retweet someone else

If someone else tweets about your article, try retweeting them:

Highlight reader discussions

One of my favorite parts of blogging is learning from your comments. If one post draws a lively discussion, let people know about it on Twitter.

Use some type of ‘Tweet this’ link

I’ve tested multiple formats, and Tweetmeme was the hands-down winner for me.Perhaps displaying the number of retweets adds an element of social proof, but I think it’s just a very elegant solution to content sharing.

As of today, it will become the only social media sharing tool on this blog.

Know why you’re on Twitter

Is it to build your overall number of followers…or reach a select audience of very targeted people? Is it to drive page views, or share your ideas as far as possible? Selling something, or part of your branding efforts?

You may be able to achieve multiple goals at the same time, but knowing why you’re using a tool helps you focus.

Action step: Spend 5 minutes brainstorming how Twitter could help you build your blog’s audience.

Let me ask you this: How do YOU use Twitter to promote your blog?

How to get bloggers to write about you

If you are serious about building your hotel’s web presence, reaching out to travel bloggers is a smart strategy. In many ways, bloggers are the journalists of this new media landscape, so you need to treat them as you would the press.

That means providing Access, Content, and Coverage

1. Access to whatever they need to write their story
2. Content to include in their story
3. Coverage of their story

I encourage hotels to put together a special blogger’s package that may include:

A hotel fact sheet

What information does the writer need to know?

• Address
• Contact info
• Property details
• Hotel amenities
• Design concept
• Press coverage
• Awards won
• Links to sites with more info

The background story on the hotel

Is there a unique history that would make a great story? What did the building used to be? What renovations have been done?

Access to high-resolution hotel photos

Bloggers need photos, and lots of them. Provide an area to download quality, high-resolution photos.

Photos for bloggers from Witt Istanbul Suites

A neighborhood guide

What’s cool nearby?

Many bloggers enjoy writing from a coffeeshop, so you may want to provide a list of cafes nearby that offer wireless internet access.

Provide tools to bloggers

You may want to loan out Flip Mino video cameras, or even laptops.

Make sure the blogger has free internet access, and can use your business center for printing documents and so on.

Offer a special blogger’s rate

Depending on your situation, you may want to give a special blogger’s discount on all rooms – or even give away free rooms in return for a blog review.

As long as you don’t attempt to control the review’s content, this is not unethical. You just need to make it easier for people to write about you.

Give blog reviews special attention

Many hotels have a press section on their website. I suggest hotels also showcase recent reviews by bloggers.

Hotel Murano does a good job of this on their Facebook page:

Hotel Murano encourages blogger reviews

By showing bloggers that you care about their thoughts, you encourage more coverage…and expand your web presence even more.

Photo credit: Filipe Ferreira