In a day when web access is clearly important no matter where you are, the ability for your customers to access your site at their convenience is vital. However, making your site user friendly on a computer is one thing – making sure your site is available from a mobile platform is another. Currently only around 5% of online businesses have a mobile compatible website.

Creating a mobile version of your site doesn’t have to be painful or expensive. In fact it’s typically just a smaller version of your existing website with a more simplistic design. Here are some points to consider:

Bad Viewing Experience-
Have you tried loading a website using your smart phone and it just doesn’t look right? Have you had to zoom in and out to find the information? Have you ever clicked on the wrong link because the font is small because it’s optimised for a desktop computer? What about load times, mobile phones traditionally don’t have the same Internet access speeds as a desktop?

A website created specifically for mobile usage loads faster, uses the correct size font and only displays necessary information for quick browsing. No need to zoom in and out or any chance of clicking the wrong link.

Read more at eTourism

• like a page
• post on the page wall
• like a post
• comment on a post
• share a post
• answer a question
• RSVP to a page’s event
• mention the page in a post
• tag the page in a photo
• check in at a place
• share a check-in deal
• like a check-in deal
• write a recommendation

Whenever a person takes one of these actions, it counts toward People Talking About This. If a user posts a status update about going to a restaurant, that will not affect People Talking About This unless the user uses the @ function to tag the restaurant’s page or checks in to the restaurant from a mobile device.

People Talking About This is an important metric because it emphasizes interactions beyond an initial Facebook Like. Pages that create posts that fans enjoy will benefit. When people interact with pages in ways that generate stories, pages reach an audience beyond their existing fan base. Users benefit, too, from pages providing more relevant content. Pages that have been focused on gaining Likes without an engagement strategy to follow it will suffer from the disparity between the number of Likes and People Talking About This.

Read more at Inside Facebook

The new Google+ search integration comes with a kind of on-off switch, making it possible to switch back and forth between the classic Google view of the world and a more personalized version. Users who opt for the personal approach will get to see relevant posts from the people they have added to their circles as well as pages from brands and celebrities relevant to their search results.

Google has also added Google+ profiles to its auto-complete results. Search for a name, and a direct link to a person’s Google+ profile will show up after entering just a few letters. This works for both people you’ve added to your circles as well as blog authors and others that are part of Google’s authorship pilot program, and whose Google+ headshots have been showing up in search results for a while.

This kind of tight integration of Google+ and Google’s search is a remarkable step for the company, because it once again shows how Google+ is becoming a centerpiece of its web strategy.

Read more at GIGAOM

Two studies that were done this year aim to answer this question. According to Ogilvy’s recent study “Does investing in social media create business value?” social media indeed has a strong impact on sales as well as brand perception.

It found:

Social media exposure is directly linked with increases in sales.

Integrated social media (social content + one or more channels) exposure is linked with significant increases in spend and consumption. For example, social media + PR exposure was associated with a 17% spend increase compared to the prior time period without these.

*Those exposed to social media + PR increased their spending by 17% over the previous time period.

*Those exposed to social media + TV were twice as likely to buy.

*Those exposed to social media were 7 times more likely to spend more.

*Social media + OOH exposure was linked to 1.5X higher likelihood of increase in spend.

*Exposure to multiple channels was most often associated with sales impact.

*Integration matters. Exposure to social content was most consistently effective when it was combined with exposure to other types of media channels.

Social media is the top driver of impact.

Out of 20 channels analyzed, social media was number 1 or number 2 in magnitude of impact on spend and consumption.

Social media exposure is directly linked with changes in brand perception. Social media by itself is particularly effective and appears to be most effective at rapidly impacting brand perception. As marketers we consistently ask ourselves what value social media brings to us internally. According to eMarketer, a recent study by CMO Council and social CRM firm Lithium aimed to answer those questions.

The study found that in addition to building loyalty among customers, social media outreach has influenced marketing operations. Of those marketers surveyed, 55% said social media improved customer listening, engagement and conversations, and another 55% said it opened new avenues to gather and further market insights. Five percen said it helped lower the cost of customer service.

Read More on MediaPost

And it is also equally important to evaluate how to go about social media marketing– how much to control within an organisation and if being outsourced, then how much reliance on such external partners in order to make the most of such efforts. Some travel companies believe that they know their guests/ passengers best and want their culture and brand attributes to come through naturally to customers on social platforms. For others, it could be better to outsource if social media is not a natural extension of how you have typically operated with your customers as a brand. In addition to this, travel companies have to approach it as an ongoing initiative considering that social media belongs to a dynamic space.

Despite doing all of this, practically speaking one needs to understand that all of this “actually takes time and commitment”, as Barbara Pezzi, Director of Analytics & Search Optimisation, Fairmont Raffles Hotels International says.

“(Social media’s) It’s effectiveness is tightly related to how it is being used, rather than any inherit fault with the channel itself,” says Pezzi,who is scheduled to speak at the forthcoming Social Media and Mobile Strategies for Travel USA 2012, to be held in San Francisco (March 5-6) next year.

As Pezzi explained in an interview with EyeforTravel earlier this year, marketers shouldn’t be obsessed with the amount of followers or fans. The metrics and KPIs are to be related to the chosen business goals. There are some “standard “metrics, but in most cases each organisation will need its own unique list of metrics. The goal is not measuring for the sake of measuring or reporting, but to gain actionable insights to help you achieve your business goals.

According to Pezzi, there are three main types of metrics: Revenue/Business Development (sales, average order value, request for proposals, etc), Cost Savings (recruitment savings, online media mentions vs PR agency fees, online customer support vs call centre fees, etc..) and then a set of typically qualitative metrics, be it share of voice, brand awareness, NPS (Net Promoter Score) and so on, which should ideally be benchmarked before you start your social media efforts, for pre/post comparisons. The latter group is very relative. If you cannot measure your NPS, focus on what you can measure and makes sense to you, based on the tool and resources you have available.

Read More at eyefortravel

1. Claim everything: Your brand is your identity in business. If you haven’t already taken the steps to protect it and claim your username throughout the Web, start the year off by doing just that. Knowem is a fantastic service that allows you to easily search and claim more than 550 popular social networking sites at little cost. Even if you don’t plan on using all 500 (or even five) of these sites, protecting your username will ensure that you’re able to use them in the future should you change your mind AND that no one else can hijack your brand’s identity and speak to your customers. It’s your first step to social media success.

2. Pick two social media sites and focus on them: Just because Knowem allows you to claim more than 500 social media profiles, doesn’t mean you have to use all of them. Instead, focus on 2-3 social media sites, sites where you know your audience is and that may already be delivering traffic, and really invest in devoting time there. For example, maybe you’ve found that you get a lot of traffic from Yelp. Why not invest more in that site by optimizing your Yelp profile, using their analytics, and taking advantage of their specials? Instead of worrying about being everywhere, focus on developing a strong presence where it counts for your business. Once you get the hang of those first two sites, you can spread your wings to some of the others.

3. Build ears: Before you really engage, work on building your ears. Listening in social media will help you identify the people you want to be talking to, the conversations worth your time, and may just prevent you from royally putting your foot in your mouth. If you need help, iGoogle can help you build a free social media dashboard or check out a service like Trackur which has cost-effective plans to help SMBs stay in the loop.

4. Agree to schedule social media into your day: If 2012 is the year you’re finally going to get serious about social media, then you really need to get serious about it. And you do that by scheduling social media into your day the same way you schedule all of your other tasks. Because that’s the only way it’s going to get done. Find a way to dedicate 30 minutes a day into updating Twitter, responding to people on Facebook or commenting on industry blogs. If you don’t schedule it, you won’t do it. It’s as simple as that.

Read More at SmallBusinessTrends

Kinnitty Castle, Co.Offaly celebrate their 19^th week at the top of the list, Well done.

Download the list as a PDF here

(List correct as of 19^th December 2011)

The list is by no means final so if you feel we’ve missed you out, please let us know by commenting below and your hotel/group could appear on next weeks list.

The list is based on the number of fans the Facebook page has and is open to all hotels in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

This list only considers Facebook Pages as opposed to groups and personal profiles.

A Page or a Group, which is better? Well the answer to that depends on you and what works for your business.

Facebook Groups:

1. Set up for more personal interaction, they are highly active and require constant engagement.
2. Connected to the profile of the people who administer them.
3. When you post something as a group administrator, it appears to be coming from you and is attached to your personal profile.
4. Groups are great for organizing on a personal level and for smaller scale interaction around a cause.
5. If the group is under 5,000 members, group admins can send messages to the group members that will appear in their inboxes.
6. Permissions settings make it possible for group admins to restrict access to a group, so that new members have to be approved.
7. Groups can’t host applications.
8. You can advertise your group.

Facebook Pages:

1. Access to a Page, however, can only be restricted by certain ages and locations.
2. Page admins can send updates to fans through the Page, and these updates will appear in the “Updates” section of fans’ inboxes.
3. There is no limit on how many fans you may send an update to, or how many total fans a Page can have.
4. Pages can host applications, so a Page can essentially be more personalized and show more content.
5. Pages can benefit from social ads that publicize the fan connection between a Page and a specific user.
6. Pages are better for brands, businesses, bands, movies, or celebrities who want to interact with their fans or customers without having them connected to a personal account, and have a need to exceed Facebook’s 5,000 friend cap.

Neither Groups nor Pages have great moderation features. If someone posts spam on your Group or your Page, you have to remove it manually, and you can also remove specific members.

So it’s up to you who best suits your business right now and going forward.

Be sure to check back every Monday to see if your hotel has made the list!

Kinnitty Castle, Co.Offaly celebrate their 18^th week at the top of the list, Well done.

Download the list as a PDF here

(List correct as of 12^th December 2011)

The list is by no means final so if you feel we’ve missed you out, please let us know by commenting below and your hotel/group could appear on next weeks list.

The list is based on the number of fans the Facebook page has and is open to all hotels in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

This list only considers Facebook Pages as opposed to groups and personal profiles.

A Page or a Group, which is better? Well the answer to that depends on you and what works for your business.

Facebook Groups:

1. Set up for more personal interaction, they are highly active and require constant engagement.
2. Connected to the profile of the people who administer them.
3. When you post something as a group administrator, it appears to be coming from you and is attached to your personal profile.
4. Groups are great for organizing on a personal level and for smaller scale interaction around a cause.
5. If the group is under 5,000 members, group admins can send messages to the group members that will appear in their inboxes.
6. Permissions settings make it possible for group admins to restrict access to a group, so that new members have to be approved.
7. Groups can’t host applications.
8. You can advertise your group.

Facebook Pages:

1. Access to a Page, however, can only be restricted by certain ages and locations.
2. Page admins can send updates to fans through the Page, and these updates will appear in the “Updates” section of fans’ inboxes.
3. There is no limit on how many fans you may send an update to, or how many total fans a Page can have.
4. Pages can host applications, so a Page can essentially be more personalized and show more content.
5. Pages can benefit from social ads that publicize the fan connection between a Page and a specific user.
6. Pages are better for brands, businesses, bands, movies, or celebrities who want to interact with their fans or customers without having them connected to a personal account, and have a need to exceed Facebook’s 5,000 friend cap.

Neither Groups nor Pages have great moderation features. If someone posts spam on your Group or your Page, you have to remove it manually, and you can also remove specific members.

So it’s up to you who best suits your business right now and going forward.

Be sure to check back every Monday to see if your hotel has made the list!

Joanna Shields, VP and managing director for Facebook Europe, Middle East and Africa announced the program at Le Web in Paris on Wednesday, according to TechCrunch. Such a plug-in would let visitors hit a button to subscribe to that site’s updates on Facebook.

Facebook began offering the option to subscribe to public figures and journalists, among others, in September. Meanwhile, users who are interested in getting updates from organizations, like for instance The New York Times, can do so by “Liking” it.

In practice, the Subscribe button will act very much like Twitter’s Follow button does for websites. If you want to get all the latest news from, for instance, The Washtington Post, via Facebook, then you can just hit the Subscribe button.

Read More at Mashable

Kinnitty Castle, Co.Offaly celebrate their 18^th week at the top of the list, Well done.

Download the list as a PDF here

(List correct as of 5^th December 2011)

The list is by no means final so if you feel we’ve missed you out, please let us know by commenting below and your hotel/group could appear on next weeks list.

The list is based on the number of fans the Facebook page has and is open to all hotels in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

This list only considers Facebook Pages as opposed to groups and personal profiles.

A Page or a Group, which is better? Well the answer to that depends on you and what works for your business.

Facebook Groups:

1. Set up for more personal interaction, they are highly active and require constant engagement.
2. Connected to the profile of the people who administer them.
3. When you post something as a group administrator, it appears to be coming from you and is attached to your personal profile.
4. Groups are great for organizing on a personal level and for smaller scale interaction around a cause.
5. If the group is under 5,000 members, group admins can send messages to the group members that will appear in their inboxes.
6. Permissions settings make it possible for group admins to restrict access to a group, so that new members have to be approved.
7. Groups can’t host applications.
8. You can advertise your group.

Facebook Pages:

1. Access to a Page, however, can only be restricted by certain ages and locations.
2. Page admins can send updates to fans through the Page, and these updates will appear in the “Updates” section of fans’ inboxes.
3. There is no limit on how many fans you may send an update to, or how many total fans a Page can have.
4. Pages can host applications, so a Page can essentially be more personalized and show more content.
5. Pages can benefit from social ads that publicize the fan connection between a Page and a specific user.
6. Pages are better for brands, businesses, bands, movies, or celebrities who want to interact with their fans or customers without having them connected to a personal account, and have a need to exceed Facebook’s 5,000 friend cap.

Neither Groups nor Pages have great moderation features. If someone posts spam on your Group or your Page, you have to remove it manually, and you can also remove specific members.

So it’s up to you who best suits your business right now and going forward.

Be sure to check back every Monday to see if your hotel has made the list!