Social Media Goals
Small and medium-sized businesses and large corporations actively integrate social media platforms into their digital marketing strategies. The hospitality industry might also benefit from using the benefits of social media to engage the market and enhance customer loyalty, profit, increase sales, and ensure continuous feedback from clients. As a Chicago suburb-based four-star boutique hotel launching a wedding venture, the company might pursue several social media channels to improve customer service through feedback, product promotion, communication with and between guests of the hotel, and promote the new venture.
Customer Service Goals
Since the hotel’s operations are particularly dependent on the quality of customer service, the improvement of customer satisfaction should be the core of the social media objectives. Indeed, research shows that social media can be effectively used as customers’ “source of information and an important tool to make their voices heard in their relationships with organizations” (Hogberg, 2017, p. 128). Thus, the goals for customer service of the hotel should include:
- obtaining feedback from guests through polls and surveys on social media;
- increase customer satisfaction;
- popularize the range of services available at the facility.
Product Goals
The hotel’s target audience includes young individuals and couples, which validates the opportunity to promote the wedding venture successfully. According to Isacsson Larsson (2017), “the great impact which social media has on the customers’ behavior has made it one of the most powerful marketing tools” (p. 6). Therefore, to use this benefit of social media for the company, the hotel should set the following product-related goals to promote the newly introduced venture for small weddings:
- increase the number of posts demonstrating the new feature;
- place advertising to promote a new product;
- post videos from weddings to popularize the service;
- use social media tools to engage customers in reposts in exchange for discounts and presents;
- increase sales;
- improve competitiveness with rivals.
Communication Goals
Another important element of integrating social media platforms into digital marketing is establishing two-way communication between the hotel and its guests. In the travel and hospitality industry, online content is not only the primary source of information but also a medium through which “customers expect to become partners in creating and consuming personalized products with firms” (Garrido-Moreno et al., 2018, p. 9). To establish effective communication, the business might present the following goals:
- create a community of loyal customers;
- improve communication style with customers;
- establish an emotional connection with past clients;
- engage with prospective markets, increasing the channels that target young audiences.
Marketing Goals
In terms of marketing goals that might be achieved through the social media perspective, they are as follows:
- obtain a stronger brand awareness;
- increase brand loyalty;
- enlarge revenue;
- increase website visits and bookings through social media access.
Social Media Channels
The identified goals should be pursued using the most appropriate social media channels capable of providing feedback and posting planned content. Since the target audience is young couples aged 30-45 years, the most effective social media channels where this population is likely to engage with the company are Twitter, Trip Advisor, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube. Using these platforms will ensure a coherent online presence and a wide range of content posted.
In particular, a hospitality-industry-based platform, Trip Advisor, will specify the services and guests’ feedback, which will provide new clientele with reliable information. Pinterest and Twitter will allow for visualizing the brand and engage the target audience. Finally, YouTube and Instagram will be perfect platforms for posting video content, reviews, and wedding films to promote new ventures.
Reference List
Garrido-Moreno, A. et al. (2018) ‘The missing link: creating value with social media use in hotels’, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 75, pp. 94-104.
Hogberg, K. (2017) ‘Challenges of social media marketing-an explorative international study of hotels’, International Journal of Technology Marketing, 12(2), pp. 127-141.
Isacsson Larsson, M. (2017) The use of social media marketing towards external business customers: goals and measurements. Master’s thesis. Lulea University of Technology. Web.