Case study: Marriott Hotel and social media

I often notice that companies are in a rush to have their foot in social media without proper knowledge of how to utilize it to create a successful social media presence. Companies need to understand that a social media strategy is essential.

Marriott Hotel is a perfect example of a billion-dollar company that employs social media correctly.

Blogs

Chairman and CEO of Marriott International Bill Marriott recently published a blog introducing an advance telepresence called GoThere Virtual Meetings. The technology allows small groups of people to host conference calls in their hotels. People were skeptical about the new technology, because it may discourage travel. In response, he wrote, “What we heard from some of our customers is if we offered telepresence, they would actually hold more small meetings of typically fewer than 6 people at our hotels. These would be meetings conducted on less productive conference calls or meetings that might never have happened at all.”

His reply illustrates Marriott’s active role in listening to guests. By taking advice from guests, current and potential customers will have a more memorable and enjoyable experience at their hotel. Blogging is a way for Marriott to show their proactive stance to cater to their guests as well as network with people who are writing and creating dialogue about Marriott.

They even established a blog by their Executive Chef and other particular hotels, including Renaissance and Courtyard. These blogs give insight into employees and hotels that offer a different experience than regular Marriott hotels. By establishing a variety of blogs, they are attracting a diverse group of bloggers, readers, and guests. Blogs allow others to see the company in various angles and in other places of the world.

Twitter

Marriott uses Twitter seamlessly. They reply to potential and current customers, creating a push and pull relationship. They can discover guests having a bad experience in their hotel, giving them the opportunity to fix the problem before individuals leave. This is extremely important because by catching guest complaints, they are eradicating a problem that could become a crisis. They also reply to individuals searching for discounts and package deals. Directly replying to each individual displays a helpful and supportive attitude, which always goes a long way in customer service.

The Marriott is committed to protecting the environment. They use social media to show this dedication by maintaining a Twitter account solely for environment-related updates. Their involvement to save the planet reveals their ability to respond to sensitive and central world issues. This profile allows them to publicize information that their guests and potential customers would never have known, such as the ways they have gone green.

YouTube

Print media is declining; that is not new. On the other hand, television news remains stable because of its ability to quickly relay information that is visually appealing. Therefore, it is no surprise that Marriott has a YouTube account offering Marriott news. A Marriott news channel attracts an audience who doesn’t have time to read and prefer subscription updates.

YouTube is almost like Google. People use YouTube to find information and/or for entertainment. The Marriott has a second YouTube page dedicated to those two aspects. Through this channel, they can share information to their subscribers on a regular basis. This channel is great, because it compliments all other social media networks. For example, they produced videos about telepresence and presented a green tour of Marriott International Headquarters. Connecting news and stories across social media channels are important, because all platforms should support each other. In my opinion, this is a major reason the Marriott performs well in terms of social media. They’ve implemented a strategy that creates interaction and builds relationships across all media platforms.