A recent report has ranked the digital performance of 52 global hotel brands. The latest L2 Hotels Digital IQ Index rated brands according to the performance of their sites and use of digital marketing, mobile and social media.
The top 20 brands:
| 1. | Four Seasons | =10. | St. Regis |
| 2. | Hilton Worldwide | 12. | Renaissance |
| 3. | Marriott International | =13. | JW Marriott |
| 4. | Hyatt | =13. | Omni |
| 5. | The Ritz Carlton | 15. | Le Méridien |
| 6. | Intercontinental | =16. | Mandarin Oriental |
| 7. | Westin | =16. | MGM Resorts |
| 8. | Sheraton | =16. | Radisson |
| 9. | W Hotels | =16. | Sofitel |
| =10. | Fairmont | 20. | Jumeirah |
How hotel brands are using social media
Keeping things local
The study notes that 95% of the brands have both global and property Facebook pages, increasing from 73% in 2011. Twitter saw an increase from 56% to 70%. Taking a property-centric approach allows for a higher degree of relevant content to be shared and thus keep an engaged audience. An additional benefit of property-level presence comes in terms of immediate customer service and local expertise.
One brand which has been innovative for adding value with local knowledge is the The Ritz-Carlton, who have taken advantage of Foursquare to share tips from the concierge staff at 75 properties.
User reviews
Only 17% of the indexed brands offer on-site ratings and reviews. The report suggests that these sites send 39% less traffic to online-travel-agents, indicating increased confidence from customers, and presumably a lower need to navigate away to other pages for research.
Two noteworthy example of sites that feature reviews are Starwood and Four Seasons. Starwood have opted to create their own, independent reviews site, which requires a reservation code to ensure authenticity. By taking reviews in-house, the brand is able to monitor and respond to customer comments in a controlled environment.
Four Seasons have taken a different approach. Nine of the indexed brand sites link to TripAdvisor, but the Four Seasons has gone beyond by integrating reviews directly on their property pages, allowing customers to see them at a glance and without having to navigate away from the Four Seasons site.
Emerging social platforms
As for new social platforms, Google+ and Foursquare are the most popular, and offer clear value for SEO and local representation.
The visually rich nature of travel content means that there is clear scope for further use of sites such as Pinterest and Tumblr. The Four Seasons and Hotel Indigo are noted as pioneering Pinterest brands. I would expect to see further use of Instagram, yet again the Four Seasons are leading the way with property-specific accounts. I expect to see more brands joining Instagram, especially following its acquisition by Facebook which demonstrates the importance of images in social media.
