Surveys Get Social with DoubleTree by Hilton

By Kirsten Stubbs

Like eco-friendly light bulbs and stocking up on economy sized packages of paper towels at Costco, even before social media can make you money, they can inherently save you money. And when it comes to market research, social surveying can save brands time and money with significant and valid results from a substantial sample size to help better serve customers.

Such is the case for DoubleTree by Hilton, the socially savvy hotel chain known for its comprehensive social media training at each of its 250 international properties as well as last year’s social-centric nationwide Cookie CAREavan Tour. The brand is now using social media to identify how it can improve travel for guests and continue to deliver the DoubleTree by Hilton brand promises. Additionally, the brand is using this unique method to engage and further enhance their online community.

In support of DoubleTree by Hilton’s slogan “The little things mean everything,” the brand is asking guests to answer a few simple questions on a Facebook tab for the chance to win a tin of their signature chocolate chip cookies. The instant feedback allows DoubleTree by Hilton to get a true sense of how their community defines and experiences travel. The tab is being marketed via promoted tweets and Facebook ads to create a comprehensive campaign bridging all of the brand’s social media platforms in a way that benefits both brand and guest.

The mix of valuable feedback for the brand and a sweet prize for guests, as well as heightened awareness of both, is resulting in exponential growth in DoubleTree by Hilton’s online community. In ten days following the campaign’s start, the brand’s Facebook likes have grown more than 30 percent, Twitter followers have grown more than 15 percent and their weekly ‘People Talking About This’ metric (the brand’s Facebook engagement) has increased by more than 427 percent, now encompassing a staggering 14 percent of their total Facebook fan base.

To hear more about DoubleTree by Hilton’s “Little Things” initiative, follow along with the conversation on Twitter by searching #LittleThings or read the recent HubSpot article featuring the campaign, or fill out the survey  for a chance at winning DoubleTree by Hilton cookies yourself.

Sina Weibo: Breaking Down the Social Language Barrier

By: Britt Johnson

This week Digital Royalty client Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson kicked off a 25-day worldwide press tour in Taiwan to promote his upcoming action-adventure film, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. Amidst planning the social strategy to support his appearances, one hitch became more and more apparent: How will he share his experiences with his Chinese fans?

Due to strict government restrictions, popular American social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are banned throughout the country of nearly 1.3 billion residents. The regulations have spurred the rapid development of native platforms, one of which being Sina Weibo. The Twitter-like website allows users to post short-form bulletins, repost interesting content, and engage in two-way communication with friends.

Weibo currently boasts 250 million registered users, and nearly 80 million posts per day. Despite these statistics, very few American-based brands have taken the opportunity to extend their online influence to China and its surrounding counties. Digital Royalty helped Dwayne launched his Weibo account upon his arrival in Taiwan, joining the likes of other notable users such as Starbucks, the NBA and actor Hugh Jackman.

Several trans-continental e-mails and phone calls later, here are the lessons we learned from creating a Weibo account:

  • Content is Key: Just like your English posts, Weibo fans want to connect with the human aspect of your brand. Quality photos and videos can cross the language barrier and communicate messages more effectively than text. Plan to utilize a media-rich content strategy if creating an international account.
  • Ask for Help: Traditional Chinese is a complex language. Despite numerous translation tools available online, these methods cannot identify the subtle nuances in grammar and figures of speech. Identify resources that can assist with the translation of posts, and the optimization of brand accounts.
  • Don’t be Afraid to Repeat: One look at your Facebook and Twitter insights will tell you that your content is not reaching much of the Chinese-speaking demographic, if at all. Re-purposing messaging from these sites is permissible, given the very small overlap in fans. For example, Dwayne utilizes his Taiwan-specific tweets and posts as material for his Weibo account.
  • Acknowledge Cultural Differences: The beauty and challenge behind managing a Weibo account is finding messaging that will resonate with a new and unfamiliar audience. Acquaint yourself with the holidays and notable events that may affect your brand. Finding content that is specifically tailored to their interests will help your account to grow more quickly and accumulate dedicated fans.
  • Get Certified: Much like Twitter, Weibo has a verification process for high-profile brands and personalities. Be sure to obtain the badge upon launching an account. Chinese fans rely heavily on the “certified” status. For this reason you will likely see a large spike in followers after Weibo has granted you the badge.

If your brand is seeking a comprehensive international social strategy, I highly recommend checking out what Weibo has to offer. So with these tips, I say, 好運氣. (Good luck!)


Social Media Trends To Look For

 

 

 

Digital Royalty Founder and CEO, Amy Jo Martin, was recently interviewed by TechCrunch to provide insight on the 2012 social media landscape. Article written by Joseph Puopolo:

In 2011, social media had its share of growing pains. Large brands and corporations took to social media in force to try to find footing in this expanding medium. Some brands found success, while others found peril and new PR nightmares. One person who has helped brands navigate the proverbial social media minefield is Amy Jo Martin. She is the founder of Digital Royalty, a social media firm that has set itself apart by helping A-listers find their social media voice.

Amy works with people like Dana White of the UFC, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson of acting/WWE fame and brands like Nike and Fox Sports (and now Joel Stein). Her specialty is working with organizations or individuals and making them look good online. Since the online world is in perpetual flux, I wanted to get Amy’s take on the social media landscape for 2012.

Here were a few key trends Amy said we should look out for in 2012:

1. Social TV Integration

Many shows have already begun to integrate social TV, either through polling or integrating social elements within the show. See my example of how both the UFC and WWE are integrating social media into their programming. Social media played a pivotal role in the last presidential election, and it will likely be more integrated into political broadcasts.

As each news channel fights hard to keep their viewers engaged, networks like CNN and Fox have made significant strides to engage their audience, although some would argue that this social media integration has come at the expense of hard-hitting journalism and analysis.

2. TV Is Going Online in a Big Way

2012 will be the first time that the Super Bowl will be streamed live to the world. Since the Super Bowl is generally viewed as the mother of all advertising spectacles, it will add a new dynamic into the digital component to advertising and social media integration.

3. Facebook Credits Take Center stage

Facebook in 2012 has the potential to project its power and truly take Facebook credits into a viable currency. Amy puts it quite well when she says “they’re building an online destination we’ll never need to leave, and my guess is they’re only about 8% of the way through their product roadmap.”

4. Big Business Has Woken Up

The way corporate entities approach social media is shifting. Many companies realize that setting up Twitter, YouTube and Facebook accounts is not going to cut it as their social media strategy. Brands will need to seriously shift their perspective by treating social channels more like communication channels and less like an advertising channels in order to make a difference. From my perspective this transition has already occurred, judging by the extent to which brands’ Twitter accounts are now used as channels for CRM and customer support, managing pissed off or happy customers in near realtime.

5. ROI Is Still Huge

ROI will remain a key metric to any social media strategy. The concept of engagement is now becoming more and more an excepted metric. CEO adoption of social media is improving, and more CEOs are recognizing the benefits of humanizing their brand by taking to Twitter.

Customer service, research and image branding could all be considered social media intangibles, yet all three are obviously important in business. Social channels impact every single aspect of business from human relations to finance, sales, operations and legal. It’s important for everyone to understand how social media affects their role and responsibilities. Opposite of television, social media is a dialogue vs. a monologue and if a brand is able to collect opinions real-time in high volume via social channels like Facebook polls, they can save a great deal of money on formal research studies.

There have been a lot of discussions about social media fatigue and whether brands refuse to play for that reason. With over a billion people on social media it’s irresponsible for any brand not to have some sort of presence. 2012 will be the year for brands to go beyond cookie cutter campaigns and really determine how it not only adds value to their company, but how it adds value for their customers. 2012 will be crucial for companies and social media. For those who don’t see a direct correlation between social media and sales consider:

“Social media is an ideal tool for moving people up the fan ladder, from being a casual fan of a brand to a loyalist, because the communication channels allow people to build stronger emotional connections with brands.”

So in 2012, the question is, how will your brand use effective strategy to move people up the fan ladder from interested to foaming at the mouth brand zealots?


© Digital Royalty Inc.