Twitter

With the increasing popularity of Twitter, it was only a matter of time before a viable Twitter-specific online travel agent emerged.

Its name is Inoqo and it has staying power.

Click here for an introduction to Inoqo for hotel owners/operators.

There is a reason why everyone is talking about Twitter. It works - really it does! Many hotels are skeptical about opening a Twitter account. Some hotels think they don't need it, some think it will add more work, and many just don't know how to use it.

Then you have the hotels that send Tweets on a regular basis. They instantly update their followers about events, announce special offers, and promptly answer questions. All this and it's free! Hotels that use Twitter have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Many hotels want to know how they can measure their return on investment. Ironically there is no financial investment involved but you do have to invest some time. You cannot see specific numbers on your ROI with Twitter, but you can look at how things such as traffic to your website, customer satisfaction, brand awareness and reputation management can increase business. Below are five ways you can measure the effectiveness of Twitter for your hotel.

• Tweet a special offer and give a code word for a discount

One of the main uses of Twitter for hotels is to promote a special event or offer. The Drake Hotel in Toronto Canada www.thedrakehotel.ca has had a lot of success with this and says, 'Similar to phone and email, twitter is a really great medium for communicating with our guests and the community in general. We use twitter to run contests and offer special deals to our followers and as a means for responding and maintaining guest services.'

A hotel can tweet about an event or an offer the very same day which creates a sense of urgency and a feeling of 'act now or lose your chance'. This same offer in a print campaign or e-blast would have to be planned ahead of time, couldn't be edited, and would cost a lot of money. With Twitter a hotel can spread the word for free and it can be delivered instantly to its followers' mobile phones. You can measure the percentage of people who came to your event through Twitter by having them give a promo code at the door for a discount. You could also promote an event only on Twitter.

The Drake Hotel has proved this works, 'As twitter grows so does the direct relationship between our online followers and physical guests. People will call in or ask in person about specific offers we've only promoted via twitter, which we view as a direct success.' A typical tweet from the Drake hotel is the following:

• Track traffic to your website from twitter with analytics

Another way you can measure the effectiveness of Twitter is to track how many people visit your website from the link you place on a tweet. This is automatically updated in an analytics tracking software such as Google Analytics http://www.google.com/analytics.

• Improve customer service and satisfaction

Twitter allows you to send messages to your followers and equally important is that they can send messages to you. You must listen to what your guests have to say and respond to them in a timely manner. They may ask about room rates, events, or restaurant information. They may also have a request or complaint. The Drake hotel knows the importance of addressing these issues, 'Since its earliest days the Drake has made customer service its number one priority and we take all feedback from guests very seriously.

For the most part, Drake's reviews have been positive which is encouraging and motivates us to maintain the highest quality of service. On the odd occasion that someone has a concern about their experience at Drake we contact them directly to ensure their next visit is improved.' Fantastic customer service will ensure repeat customers and new business. Below is an example of how the Drake Hotel quickly responded to a customer complaint:

Customer complaint:

Hotel Response:

• Search what people are saying about your hotel and make changes

As with any social media site it is important to monitor what the public is saying about your hotel. A bad comment could seriously hurt your reputation and if this happens you must respond in an effective manner. You can also learn from any comments about your hotel as to what your guests like or dislike. Based on this information you can make changes that will improve your hotel and satisfy your customers. You can do a search for your hotel name in Twitter at http://search.twitter.com/ and you will see a screen as shown below:

HootSuite will automate searches and track everything in one place. However, if you prefer software to install on your computer, TweetDeck is another powerful tool with many of the same functions. You can also see what people are tweeting about in the hospitality industry on a site called tweetmeme: http://tweetmeme.com/?category=lifestyle-travelplaces. You can see more tweets on the travel industry at 'we follow' http://wefollow.com/tag/travel.

• Build brand awareness and trust

Twitter is an excellent way to build people's trust and confidence in your hotel. Once you have established a community of followers you can communicate directly with them and they will appreciate that there is someone there to answer their questions or keep them informed of special events and offers. Through twitter you can transmit your brand's personality and strengthen credibility. As your list of followers broadens, so will your brand awareness. Strong consumer confidence and brand awareness has the power to generate more leads and bookings.

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See how a coffee house in Houston used Twitter to double their clientel.

Know the 8 steps to Twitter failure.

Don’t follow anyone.
Become the Twitter promo king (that is, do too much self-promotion).
Don’t interact with others.
Talk about your property/hotel incessantly.
Use your Twitter feed as an RSS feed.
Don’t track anything.
Don’t tell your customers you’re on Twitter.

Also, having followers is great, but it’s smart to track who is clicking on your links and coming to your website and most importantly if they are booking. By using a URL shortener like http://bit.ly/ or http://kl.am/ you can track how many people clicked on your link and analyze if your Tweets are working for you.

List of Free Twitter Tools

tweetmeme - is a great free Twitter tool. It isolates the most popular tweets in an easy to navigate format. This way you can tweet the most hilarious and popular content easily. The more hilarious the content the more likely people will follow your tweets.

stufftotweet– This is the same concept at tweetme.com. Take the time to check out the latest great content and retweet it like nobodies business. There was a gorgeous picture there today that I shared with my Twitter followers.

Social.com - Offers a quick and easy way to share links and comments with your online

followers? This tool allows you to stay within your current page while adding a link to Twitter, Delicious, and other Social Media sites.

doesfollow - This site allows you to figure out who is following who on Twitter. You just type in the names of both users.

grouptweet - Group Tweet turns a standard Twitter account into a group communication hub where members can post updates to everyone in the group using direct messages. When the group account receives a direct message from a group member, Group Tweet converts it into a tweet that all followers can see.

justtweetit - This is a good site for twitter organization. The most important aspect of this site is that it offers groups of like-minded tweeters. You can join groups of writers, sports enthusiasts, music lovers etc.

search.twitter - This is the google.com of twitter searches. It looks like the web designers copied the Google homepage. The site looks great and offers a look into the Twitter database. A neat site to say the least.

tweepletwak - This site offers twitter analytics, which can be really useful if Twitter is an integral part of your marketing plan. It even will send a message to those that unfollow you. That step alone makes tweepletwak worth checking out. The caveat is that it’s in the private alpha stage. There are still some bugs they need to fix. To sign up for a chance to be a part of the tweepletwak world you can sign up for their newsletter.

twiggit- Keep your friends in the Digg loop. This site integrates Digg with Twitter seamlessly. Very cool!

twitbuttons - Create a customized Twitter link button for your website. You type in your username and you get a free button to place wherever.

Here are 10 applications that make Twitter a more useful tool.

1. Flashtweet - is a mass follow tool that simplifies the process of adding your twitter friends.This is a great way to get twitter followers fast!
2.Twellow - This website allows you to search Twitter users in a yellow pages format. I usually use this website to find local people if one of my client's customer base is regional.
3. Twitterfeed - This is a great site to use if you want to drive an RSS feed to your Twitter account. Your tweets are important when trying to get twitter followers fast. People tend to search for similar interests within in your tweets and follow you.

4. TinyURL, PonyURL, and Bit.ly - are url shorteners. Shortening the URL in Twitter allows you to have more characters for your message.

5. Twittertise -This website allows you to schedule your tweets in advance. You can set up a whole weeks worth of tweets and let it run on auto pilot.

6. Twhirl, that lets you post and read tweets from your iPhone or cell phone.

7. TweetDeck: Let’s you see more tweets, as well as replies and direct messages, at once; it also features automatic updates.

8. TweetBeep: Get e-mail alerts on Twitter, such as when people have tweeted one of your search terms.

9. TwitPic: Send out links to pictures with your tweets.

10. TweetLater: Schedule tweets in advance, lets you track keywords on Twitter, and more.

Know the 8 steps to Twitter failure.

List of Free Twitter Tools

Copyright © 2010 Robert J. Thompson. All rights reserved.