How to Create New Paying Customers for Your Resort & Restaurant

I read these articles today and thought they were worth sharing.

How the Resort Industry is
Using Social Media
http://mashable.com/2010/02/23/resort-industry-social-media/

A few ideas gleaned from this article to boost business:

• Host a Blogger Retreat similar to the outreach some business organizations do for journalists.
  
  
• Find prominent bloggers in your demographic (Moms, Bicyclists, Nature Enthusiasts, the Dating & Mating Life, etc.) and ask them to come to your hotel and stay for a time giving them breaks on price, free dining, or whatever is in your budget in return for a post on their blog.
  
  Article Excerpt:
  
  "In a similar fashion, Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort has broadened its reach by tapping into the mommy bloggersphere. The company’s Snow Mamas blog features five to six mommy bloggers who write about their ski trips. Each mama gives tips on dining, budget, lodging, and ski gear for the whole family."

Another article worth reading is:

Starbucks Gets Its Business
Brewing Again with Social Media
http://adage.com/digitalalist10/article?article_id=142202

Article Excerpt:

Let's get this straight right away: Return on investment in social media is not measured in how many friends you have on Facebook or how many followers you have on Twitter. It's not calculated in trending topics or YouTube comments. It should, in fact, be held to the same criteria other marketing channels are: Did it move your business? ...

Starbucks' advantage could easily have been squandered. "If we had approached it not from 'what you know and love about Starbucks' but as a marketing channel, we would have taken this down a path that would have been very different," he said. "This was not [built as a] marketing channel, but as a consumer relationship-building environment."

Tips gleaned from this article include:

• Learn why customers like you and return to your business year-after-year. This will tell you what they want from you in Social Media. For example, do people always mention how helpful you are at mentioning what is going on in the area? Then have a Calendar of Events section and/or a Best Things To Do & See Area and fill it with what you would tell a customer, not what someone wants to pay you for. Tweet and post items of interest that fall in line with what you normally do for your every day patron. Be who you are in real life, not a marketing machine.
  
  
• Tell everyone about something new in a fun, engaging way. Do you have a room that you've just redone or new menu item you're excited about? Have a reduced rate coupon available to those who download it off of your website or Facebook page.
  
  If giving away things doesn't work for you, change the premise of the coupon to be a sneak peak. For example, "Become a Fan & Be One of the First 100 People Invited to Our New Banquet Facility's Pre-Open House." This will bring new fans and excite your customer base.
  
  
• Share your soul. Does your company really care about a particular group enough to donate time or money to? Involve your fans! Tell them about a benefit you're holding, post pictures of your volunteer work in the area, ask them to share pictures of how they spent their vacations with you. Again, engage your customer on a human level, not as an advertiser, and you will be rewarded.
  
  Article Excerpt:
  
  The secret to Starbucks' social-media success is, at least in part, the fact that it plays it cool. "It's not like we started our Facebook community, got to a million people and started pushing offers at them," he said. "We built up a community of people who enjoy engaging with our photo albums from our trip to Rwanda, who loved to have these shared moments around their favorite drinks." Then, fans started asking the company what was going on, and how they could be included.
  

• Don't hire a marketer or PR person to do your posts for you. I know, this sounds counter-intuitive coming from a person who makes a living as a graphic designer, but it's important that YOU are the voice behind the scenes. It's great to use an informed source to help you set things up or lead you along the path of social media, but the core of your company was built on its own values and services. Let your company do the talking from the inside out, and you'll be seen as more trustworthy to your fans and customer base as well as be rewarded in your bottom line.
  
  Article Excerpt:
  
  Unlike many marketers, Starbucks doesn't run its Twitter feed out of its PR department. The chain's voice on Twitter is Brad Nelson, 28, a former barista who rose through its IT ranks.
  
  When the company was looking for ideas to re-engage with its core customer in 2008, Mr. Nelson suggested that he begin a Twitter handle for the brand, and it now has 775,000 followers. The brand relies on the 28-year old to translate the Starbucks experience for the online community, search out confused or disgruntled consumers, chat about store offerings and even crack jokes.

I hope these articles give you some great ideas to implement. Let me know what you come up with. It's always great to see companies succeed in giving their customers what they want.

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Have a great rest of the day!

Morgan Mann is a graphic designer with over a decade of experience working in the in-house ranks at Einstein Bros. Bagels and with small restaurants and resorts utilizing her creativity and strategic brainstorming to help them bring success to their business ventures. To see more of her work, visit her website at www.1designsource.com.