The Found Gen

Marketing That Works.

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Social Media is Transforming the Hotel Industry: Is Yours Fully Booked?

“Yes, we’re on social media. We monitor our Yelp reviews…”

There’s more to social media than customer reviews, especially when it comes to increasing customer engagement. Our hotel clients understand that their best strategy inspires and moves their base to book. Their goal? No reservations. In more ways than one.

If you’re a hotelier wondering how to craft the most intriguing, effective social channel presence, we’ve got a few ideas:

  • Bring your hotel to life. By focusing on events happening in real time, followers are always aware of what’s going on. Not only does this tactic inspire interest and excitement from future guests, it also helps create a visual and interactive cache of accessible and influential content.
  • Start a conversation. Rather than broadcasting your hotel’s content, why not chat with your customer base in an any-place, any-time manner, from pre-booking to post-checkout? Are you there to answer the questions that make customers comfortable enough to book with you? You should be.
  • Embrace video. Your hotel should cultivate an interesting short-lived presence on Instagram Stories and Snapchat. So engaging, in fact, that your followers will experience a heavy case of FOMO.
  • Appreciate user-generated content. Never underestimate the power of location check-ins, selfie photos, and status updates from your client base. Work with those who complement your brand, and encourage them to use an addictive hashtag to highlight your hotel’s brand, and reward its use with reposting.
  • Take good care of your customer service requests and issues. Complaints can go viral in an instant, but maintaining a helpful, there-for-you vibe goes a long way in erasing a misstep or two.
  • Retain your customers’ loyalty. As stiff competition for price-conscious customers increases, customer loyalty becomes more of a challenge. Award bonus points to those follows referring your hotel to their family and friends, while you collect valuable insights from your most engaged users.
  • Don’t just sell your hotel rooms; sell your lifestyle. Partner with your nearby-network of restaurants, local artists, and other like-minded brands, building your own horizontal reach.

Social media trends are moving faster than ever, and users quickly become exhausted by the same-old methods of managing a social media campaign. If you’re ready to reignite your followers and turn them into guests, give us a call. We can promise you’ll have no reservations after hearing our plans for your property.

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Build a Following: How Content Leads to Loyal Customers

It’s more cost effective to hold on to existing customers

It’s easy to get caught up in the thrill of making new sales and adding new customers, but in the long run, long-lasting relationships are much more beneficial.

Hanging on to repeat customers is actually less costly for your business that constantly trying to acquire new ones. Believe it or not, loyal customers will end up bringing in those new customers for you. Word of mouth and good online reviews from customers that love your brand go a long way when it comes growing your business.

Valuable and intelligent content can really help drive this effort. But, how does it work?

Exclusive updates

Good content starts with making your customers feel like they’re getting something secretive and exclusive. Let your returning customers be the first ones to know about a product or service they loved that’s back on offer or a brand-new product or service you’re launching. Adding personal touches to these messages and emails is also a great way to make your customers really feel appreciated.

Build a strong sense of community around your brand

 Brands that create a sense of community are able to create long-lasting relationships with customers. This is a lot easier to pull off nowadays with Facebook and other social media platforms that can provide real-time data. Great content allows your customers to feel involved in your business and brand.

Personalize your customers’ messages by geo-targeting info 

Content that lacks personalization can be pointless. Customers don’t want to receive information that’s not specifically tailored to them. When you send customers irrelevant information, it can seem careless. Show your customers that you’re paying attention to where they’re located and what each time you send out content.

Pay attention to their purchases

By sending customers content that’s based on their recent purchases, you show them that you’re aware of the information they need. This kind of content comes across as more informational and less promotional. By helping customers use your products and services after they’ve already made the purchase, you can build loyalty and show off your expertise.

We know the importance of sharing valuable and intelligent content. If you need help creating content that builds a following around your brand, give us a call.

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Your Blog is Boring. Let us fix that for you.

“No one reads blogs anymore.”

We hear that all the time. We hear how people only consume bite-sized bits of information, so why bother writing blog posts if no one has the attention span to appreciate them?

Well, if that’s true…Why bother installing ovens in our homes? We mostly microwave, right? Let’s close all the libraries and bookstores. Too many pages. In fact, I’ve just decided I have no patience for pants with zippers and buttons. It’s yoga pants from here on out, people.

Sigh. We’re better than that, aren’t we?

We say it all the time: Blogs are there when you’re not. They assure potential clients that your company knows its stuff, that you’re trustworthy, and that you’re here to stay. Also, your blog shows that you’re smart and witty and super likeable. Maybe even exciting.

Is yours doing all that? It really should be. If you need some help with re-energizing your blog, here’s a start:

  • Assess your content. Is your expertise overwhelming the entertainment factor? If you’re an HVAC company, is your blog a primer on circuits and fuses and mechanical processes? Yawn. Tell your readers how to maintain their equipment to save on house calls. Inform them of the latest and greatest in the home improvements that will add to their home values and lower their bills.
  • Assess your tone. Do you sound like an expert, or a trusted friend? We like to skew our content somewhere in between because, well, we’re all in this together, aren’t we? Let’s help each other out.
  • Don’t overthink your word choices. Steer clear of technical mumbo-jumbo. Here’s a trick we use: Pretend you’re in a real conversation with a customer. Now, write that down. (Sound easy? It is for us. Call us and we can show you how to do it.)
  • Expand your topics. You’re not just interested in strictly business matters; you’re a real person with a life and concerns and joys just like the rest of us. Share yourself – your whole self – with the rest of us.

Or, you can forget all of the above, including the stress and extra work, and simply hire it out. Sometimes the one thing that’s holding back your blog from being the boldest and brightest is…you. We get it. It’s hard to be the best in your business AND be a great, engaging writer. Let us do that part for you. You won’t regret it. (Your readers won’t, either!)

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Your Organization is Full of Thought Leaders. Here’s How to Identify Them.

Thought leaders are the people in your company or organization that have informed opinions and are the go-to people in their field of expertise. They’re the people trusted to inspire the company with innovative new ideas.

Customers buy products and services from businesses they know and like. That’s why it’s so important to build your company’s brand in a unique way that is offers value and is personable to your customers. A thought leader is someone you can trust to express their point of view about your business and share industry insights that can help your customers.

Have you considered finding a thought leader for your company? Good news! Your organization is likely full of thought leaders already. Here’s how you can start noticing these thought leaders.

They make your company understandable to the outside world

Sometimes when we only think about the person who knows the most about our business, we miss the mark completely. Your engineer knows all about your products, so you might assume that they would be the best person to talk about your company’s products. But, can they talk about it so that it’s understandable and relatable to your customers?

A thought leader needs to be someone who can talk about your business in a way that makes it easily understandable and interesting to people who know nothing about your particular industry. If the audience doesn’t get it or enjoy it, the explanation doesn’t do the company or its message any good.

They have just the right amount of charisma

The thought leader you pick should have strong communication skills, great energy, and the ability to connect with all types of audiences…but that doesn’t necessarily mean they need to be bursting with charisma. Too much charisma can be distracting and can take away from the personal side of their position. Audiences won’t be able to connect as easily with someone who comes across as perfect or too polished. You don’t want your thought leader’s trustworthiness to be questioned because the audience finds it difficult to connect and relate to them.

They’re passionate about your company and its future

Whoever you choose to fill your thought leadership role needs to be the type of person who can talk for days about the industry’s future. A thought leader needs to show excitement about the possibilities of your company’s future. A great thought leader is someone who isn’t content leaving the company where it is but is always trying to think of innovative ideas. Think about the person who inspires you with their passion and love for what they do and the company they work for.

Choosing the right thought leader for your business is vital. A thought leader should have great ideas and a relatable personality but not overshadow others at your company. A truly great thought leader is the person who is comfortable and excited about their work no matter where you place them in the company.

At the Found Gen, we know the importance of finding the perfect thought leader to add value to your company. Thought leaders help brand your company in a relatable and interesting way for all audiences and customers. Get in touch with us if you think a thought leader could you help share your products or services with more audiences.

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Why You Should Embrace Email Marketing in 2018: Target customers where they are

Apps, push notifications, and social media have taken the business world by storm. But lately, the space has become overcrowded, making it tough for customers to sift through the information overload and pick out what’s truly important. It’s almost impossible to consistently reach the same customers through your app or social media newsfeed these days.

So, why not try email marketing?

Emails were once the most effective means of marketing online…until social media and push notifications arrived. In a digital world that demands all of our attention, people are beginning to ignore their push notifications when they pile up. We want to reach and relate to our customers, not annoy them.

Here are a few reasons why you should embrace email marketing in 2018:

It generates solid ROI

Return on investment is one of the most important elements of marketing. If it requires an investment, it should produce an outcome that justifies that investment, as well as creates profits. Email marketing doesn’t cost much at all: no postage fees, no advertisement fees, no mobile app, and no printing costs. All you need is someone who has the talent for creating relatable content with the right graphics for the right people and a platform to send emails.

 

An extremely important stat for using marketing emails for businesses: 320% more revenue is attributed to welcome emails on a per-email basis than other promotional emails.

 It’s shareable on social media

Nearly 105 billion emails are sent each day.  Emails are easily shareable to social media. Other forms of communication, like in-app messaging or push notifications, are completely private and your customers can’t share them with their friends through social media platforms. You can also post your email marketing content on your social media pages or blog to reach existing and potential customers at once.

It’s completely measurable

No matter which email marketing tool you decide to use, it will provide you with all kinds of details about your emails: total link clicks, people who unsubscribed, time with the most opens, subscribers that opened the email the most number of times, and most popular links from emails. Whatever you want to know, it will tell you. Deep analytics like this enable you to make well-balanced, strategic decisions to make sure your email marketing campaign is effective. Keep in mind that video emails see click-through rates 96% higher than non-video emails, so consider adding video to some of your content.

It’s personalized

Customers prefer companies that they know, trust, and like, which means blasting your emails to everybody and hoping it reaches a ton of people that like your offers and content isn’t going to cut it. Pinpointing information aimed at your target audience is going to achieve much better results because the information will be personalized and specific. You don’t want your customers to start ignoring your emails like they do others’ push notifications and newsfeeds, so focus and divide your users according to demographics, interests, and behaviors so they will act on your emails every time. Segmented email campaigns see 100.95% more clicks than non-segmented campaigns.

Email marketing allows the customer to look at the content when they choose, instead of accidentally ignoring it because they feel bombarded. If you don’t know where to start to create relatable, personal content for your email marketing campaign, get in touch with us. At the Found Gen, we can help you create valuable content that will make a change for the better in your marketing strategy.

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Is Social Media Bringing You Down? You may be doing it wrong.

“Social media makes me sad.”

That is a real quote from one of our favorite clients, and the reason why she didn’t want us to create a social media campaign for her totally kickass company that would totally kick ass on any stream: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

“What? Why?” You know we had to ask.

Long story short, her bad mood was caused by a perfect storm of following the wrong accounts for long spurts of time, and second-guessing what she had to offer the mediums. She determined there wasn’t room for her contributions.

Wow, was she wrong.

See, we explained to her, passive consumption of social media – and also, of the entire internet – brings about feelings of inferiority and underground confidence levels. Not good.

But do you know how to avoid all that? Easy: Actively contribute your own voice. There’s an audience waiting just for you. Here are a few ways to contribute:

  • Provide fresh content. You’re the only you out there, and we know you’re doing cool things, even if you might not consider them cool. Listen: There’s an entire Instagram account dedicated to the detritus a dad finds in his kid’s pockets at the end of each day, and it’s wildly popular. There is room for your detritus. Your audience is curious and hungry for more. Feed them.
  • Share your findings. There’s an old wartime quote that goes “If you see something, say something.” It’s true for suspicious activity and social media! If you find something interesting or thought-provoking or just plain entertaining, share it with your followers. Chances are, they will be moved by it, too.
  • Spread the love. Retweet, like, heart, and always give credit where credit is due. Kindness often gains more loyal followers than any gimmick out there.
  • Stay active. You don’t show up for work every other Wednesday at noon and maybe a Friday here and there, and expect to keep your job. Show up reliably on social media and your followers will do the same.

Consuming too much social media is no doubt bad for your health and may be the reason for your sour moods. There’s a right way to social media, and we at The Found Gen are eager to show you how. Follow us. We promise not to make you sad.