Social media is here to stay. Hotels that do not have an active plan will be left behind and lose market shares, especially if you’re an independent,  said Bonnie Buckhiester, president of Buckhiester Management Limited, during HSMAI University’s “The Impact of Social Media on Revenue Management” webinar last week.

Forty-eight percent of consumers combine social media and search engines in their buying process, according to data released by Social Media Today. This leads to an acceleration and amplification of information on the Internet, where shoppers research and obtain information very quickly and then broadcast their findings to connections on social media sites.

Those findings, in turn, impact the booking behavior of other consumers. In an Econsultancy survey cited by Buckhiester, 90% of online shoppers said they trust recommendations from people they know, while 70% trust opinions of unknown users.

Revenue managers can leverage this influence to drive business and increased bookings. Buckhiester outlined seven key components of a strong social-media program:

1. Product alignment

Buckhiester stressed the importance of knowing value scores on websites such as TripAdvisor. Most hoteliers are familiar with where they stand in the rankings, but value scores provide pricing signals. If a hotel has a higher value than its competitors, it’s revenue manager should be pushing higher prices.

Consumers are getting hyper-details about hotel guestrooms before they even check into hotels. Some hotel sites even allow guests to see the view from each room online. When the consumer has hyper-details such as these, revenue managers will have to watch RevPAR by room type much more closely.

2. Competitive benchmarking

“Social media is changing the whole way we approach benchmarking,” Buckhiester said. Websites such as Chatter Guard and Market Metrix help revenue managers manage and understand what is being said about their properties online. The new metrics to track and evaluate are reviews on online travel websites, videos, Facebook fans, Twitter, photo shares, bookmarks and blog entries. Buckhiester also suggested cross-comparing social-media metrics to market share performance.

3. Strategic pricing

Consumers are intrigued by new retail concepts that offer members-only deals, flash sales, group buying and auctions. The key is to focus on value instead of price. There are websites that show consumers exactly what they are getting for the price they are paying. Value seekers will pay more if they are getting more and then move on to social-media networks to spread the word about the great value.

If revenue managers decide to start a social-media initiative involving pricing, it is imperative they have sufficient staff to handle questions as they start coming in.

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