Social Influence Action Plan Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort & Spa Looks like paradise does it?
I am sure that each one of you would be so glad to go over there one day … this hotel is so far away that you will then start looking for more details on internet (no phone call as it is too expensive!) ; unfortunately, you won’t find anything except the official Hilton page with a brief presentation of this resort. In this report will then be presented a real social influence action plan that will help this hotel, managed under the worldwide renowned Hilton brand, to develop its online visibility and create a real community around its heavenly destination! As nothing has been implemented for this hotel to be active online, we can actually create profiles on any social platforms, after having fixed goals, linked with the general management’s vision and mission.
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1st step: the general management should be aware that, nowadays, online interaction is a crucial factor in a hotel development, generating in the end a real increase in revenue in a perennial way! Therefore, we could show them examples of online success via the creation of interaction with its community, like the Wyndham Hotel Group who has the most “likes” on its Facebook fan page with 321 000…. 2nd step: once the general management is convinced that they need to be active on the internet, a reputation management strategy should be adopted, and a reputation manager should be hired. 3rd step: identify the key, social and peer influencers and create a community: this reputation manager will be in charge of dealing with the global online image of the hotel, and will create a community using key platforms such as:
The creation of a professional Google+ page will be an advantage as this tool is brand new for businesses and the reputation manager won’t have any difficulty setting up a profile and starting creating its circles. These lasts are one of the most important criteria, as well as the interaction on the wall: posting great content and relevant information will attract
people in the hotel’s circles. The HBBN should then target guests who already came to the hotel and who left positive comments on Trip Advisor or event their own personal blogs. It should also target businesses that could be interested in organizing a seminar or an incentive travel in Bora Bora for example; travel agencies who sell this destination;
in the end all
these people will then influence their own circles … and this is what we are looking for! Please have a look at the Azimut Hotels, leading Russian hotel chain, which has a great Google+ profile with relevant content and 116 circles!
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Nowadays more than 800 million people subscribed for this social media, any hotel should be present on it if they want to be known worldwide. For this particular Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort & Spa (HBBN), only 417 people “like” it, and 14 talk about it, and there is NO interactions on the wall … please have a look here! The Six Senses Resorts & Spas is actually really good at communicating on Facebook, with a page for each of its destination and hotel (with even an entire page dedicated to actual available jobs!):
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Following key institutions with a great number of followers linked with the Hilton values will be an important step into the online development of this hotel. For the moment, there is no profile created for the HBBN. Thanks to this article on the Mashable website, we know that some companies are not looking for the number of followers, but for quality, “communicating with people who are genuinely interested in what is going on the resort they are looking for.” The HBBN will then have to do both on a short term basis: follow as many people
as
relevancy
possible, with
its
but
with
values
and
interests! When typing in Google the key words “resorts and twitter”, I clicked on the first one and it is doing really good as there is a Cristèle Juppet – MBA 2 A – February 2012 -4-
really active interaction and conversations on the wall, with people from anywhere in the world talking about the Diamond Resorts. The HBBN reputation manager’s duty will then also be to appear #1 when typing these kinds of key words!
For a destination like Bora Bora, how could we communicate without thinking about sharing videos and pictures to show the environment? A game could be created such as posting a video/picture describing a Polynesian island each week, in order to have people worldwide making research on what is showed in the video, and each week an island has to be discovered, with a reward for the winner! Only 8 pictures are available on Flickr; on YouTube we can nearly find guests videos only, without any comment or conversation!
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Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts will be one of the perfect examples as they have created Four Seasons Magazine with videos shared on YouTube; people then can have an idea of the essence and purpose of the brand thanks to this alive medium.
The Hôtel du Louvre is also doing a great job on this platform by showing the “backstage”: the social media manager is even in charge of filming some room renovations in order to make this hotel more alive and active within its community. This transparency really attracts people!
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Food reporter: as the Polynesian culinary experience is unique, the hotel should also share its local dishes from its “gastronomic” restaurant in order to attract people
that
belong
to
the
greedy
community! As
people
working
for
this
culinary sharing social media also taste any kind of restaurants in France (even Michelin stars), one person could be invited to taste the local food and the Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort & Spa will be part of the community! Have a look here at how people do talk about the Hotel de Crillon in Paris!
This platform could also be used later in the social interaction plan for this hotel, maybe not until the second year of existence. Indeed, the online community should already be targeted and loyal before trying to make them “check in” in the HBBN via Foursquare. Even if Bora Bora is far from everywhere (18 000 km from France), occupancy rates are high and honeymooners are still selecting it for their trips. This is why it is crucial to have a strong community before going on this platform in a short term. 4th step: answer 100% of negative comments about the hotel on Trip Advisor, within a week delay. Actually, the HBBN does not have a significant and active impact on this website, and should now use it as a real tool. Indeed, only 403 opinions are available, and
NO answer has been provided, even for the worst comments ever! Guests are not invited to leave comments; there is no interaction or thank-you-note (for positive comments). Taking this objective, the Guest Relations Manager should be Cristèle Juppet – MBA 2 A – February 2012 -7-
trained so that, when talking with guests before leaving the hotel, she should orient them into leaving a comment online on the social media platforms, in order to get more positive comments and strong worldwide affluent people! In case of a negative comment, write in a polite way, understand the complaint, and apologize for it and search an excuse or compensation will be the minimum to communicate on. The Hôtel du Louvre in Paris is actually doing a great job on this matter: each negative comment should be answered and communicated to the general manager, and the reputation manager also has the duty to answer to a minimum of 50% of positive comments . The answers always look the same:
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Typical answer from the social media manager for a negative comment
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5th step: Once the Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort & Spa is well established on social platforms and achieved a real positive image, all the direct links should be set up on the official Hilton webpage and people should be able to leave comments directly on the website; this last should then be strongly improved (a little bit later in the strategic plan). One of the main onsite duties will be to train staff as guests usually complain on Trip Advisor about the inefficiency of the local workforce. This matter will be part of an active Human Resources policy and strategy, and it does not belong to the reputation manager’s duties, but this fact will have a significant impact on the overall reputation of the hotel! 6th step: measuring it all. The general management will then be eager to have concrete results. Indeed, after having invested in a new employee and strategy, they should be happy with the whole image that has been created around the Hilton brand and the location of this resort. Success should be measured with the number of followers on Twitter, “like” on Facebook, comments on YouTube for great videos, etc. The level of interaction on the different wall will also be measured, and in the end, if the positive and active image of this hotel is spread worldwide on the web, then the occupancy rate will surely increase… Conclusion: the goal that the general management and the reputation manager should bear in mind during this whole process is that the community should be core, not the
business.
“The purpose of a business is to create a customer” -Peter Drucker-
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