Diana Plazas discusses DoubleTree's use of social media across their 325+ hotels globally. She outlines their initiatives like the Cookie CAREavan tour and Little Things Project that engaged millions of users. DoubleTree trains employees on social media and incentivizes teams for high engagement. They rely on their culture of care and live their values authentically online. Managing social media at this scale is challenging but being present, listening, responding to users personally and humanizing the brand are keys to success.
2. Social Media at DoubleTree
• More than 325 hotels in 26
different countries
• Thousands of team members, that
speak a variety of languages
• And millions of guests walking
through our doors each year from
all around the world…many of
them using social media!
9. Cookie CAREavan Tour
10 weeks, 10,000 miles, 50 cities,
250,000 cookies
More than 2 billion media impressions
10. Little Things Project – Listening Campaign
• Days Running: 4
• Total Entries: 4,041
• Total Tweets with
#LittleThings: 400
11. The Little Things Project
OPPORTUNITY: engage travelers outside of our hotels, in person and via social media,
to make their travel experience more rewarding
• Goal – make travel experience
brighter for people everywhere
• Listen to our guests and deliver
• Travel conversations – “what would
make travel more enjoyable?”
• Surprise travelers with some of the
“little things” they ask for
13. Little Things Project Results
• More than 3.2 billion media
impressions via 2,511 placements
in national and local media and
wire distribution
• 16% growth in Facebook fans and
20% growth in Twitter followers
• 33,000 unique entries into the LTP
sweepstakes
• 71,724 unique visits to the LTP
Facebook app
14.
15. Continued Education – Digital Royalty University
• 12 training modules reaching hundreds of DoubleTree
team members with each course (Advanced Facebook,
Twitter 201, Google+, Emerging Platforms: Instagram & Pinterest,
etc.)
• Platform updates & one-sheet tutorials
• Social Media Champions
• Social Skill Review/Proficiency
17. Alignment
• Brand standards – from
internal DoubleTree by Hilton
team and our agency partners
• Annual Social Cultivation
training
• Socialite Google+ Hangouts
18. Rely on Culture
• Monitor Twitter & Facebook
requests along with traditional
service requests
• Know your audience - act in
the same “CARE” Culture
capacity you would in-person
• Timeliness is key to satisfactory
responding
• Understand the public nature
of the platforms
19. Guest Service Assistance Program
• Launched Summer 2011
• Decreased negative sentiment by 12%
• Posts mentioning ‘service’ on social media
platforms have more than doubled
20. Content Management Tool
• Schedule
• Monitor page and see
what works & what
doesn’t for your fans
• Brand is able to share
suggested content to all
properties
• Analytics
23. Living and breathing our culture in social
• Transparency – whether we
like it or not
• Evolution of touchpoints
• Beyond the back of house
plaque – define & live by our
core values
• Living our company culture,
organically reflects our brand
24. Make things right
• On average, companies respond
to only 30% of social media fans’
feedback
• Local companies tend to have
higher social media response
rates than their global
counterparts – 40% responding
to customer queries
• Average response time for
companies on social media is 26
hours
Source: Socialbakers Research Study
25.
26. Case Study: Reddit.com
More than 4MM views in 4 days!
And more than 4.5MM views 30 days later!
27. Case Study: Reddit.com
Trended in top position on Reddit.com for 4 days
Received more than 1,800 comments
28. Case Study: Reddit.com
Extended Reach:
• Shared on DTbH’s social
channels
• 22,000+ people saw post
on Facebook
• 150+ likes & 6 comments
on Facebook
31. Ways to Connect
Listen and monitor your Twitter feed so you don’t miss out on moments to
share a good word from a customer who has enjoyed his stay or respond
to feedback from those who have voiced public complaints.
32. Ways to Connect
Ask customers about their experiences and provide recommendations for
things-to-do, products to buy, ideas on uses, etc.
33. Ways to Connect
Let customers know about deals and promotions. Give them more than just
the basic rundown. Share interactive media with your fans and followers.
34. Ways to Connect
• Humanize your brand
• Let your culture come through
35. Ways to Connect
People want to know who is behind your brand
Highlight your team members
36.
37. Biggest Challenge
• Creating content
• Time available for
posting and monitoring
all channels & emerging
platforms
• Purchasing social ads &
network buys
38. Managing Time & Responsibilities
• Prepare beforehand if possible
• Utilize tools to manage content
• See what’s trending for the day
• Do it in small doses so you
don’t get overwhelmed
• Make it a routine
• Create a content calendar
39. And don’t be afraid!
It will all be ok! Besides, you have millions of people on
the channels that can help you
40. Summary
• Don’t try to be a different business in social
• Make it just another channel to convey your culture and
who you are as a business
• Be there: Listen, Respond, Engage
• You cannot succeed in social if you are not there or if you
are only broadcasting information
• Make it yours, make it personal
• Treat each fan/follower like you would an in-person
customer and make social a part of your day
Humans connect with humans – bring that side to social & you can succeed!