Whats the value of your Twitter strategy, $445,688?

Are you struggling to work out how your Hotel’s Twitter account will deliver bottom-line value? Ever wondered which hotels have mastered their Twitter strategy creating enormous value for their property? Why not learn from the most successful Hotel’s best practises?  Are you struggling to work out how your Hotel’s Twitter account will deliver bottom-line value? Ever wondered which hotels have mastered their Twitter strategy creating enormous value for their property? Why not learn from the most successful Hotel’s best practises?

I’ve just finished reading SeventhArtMedia’s whitepaper - Hospitality brands and Twitter: Creating a Valuable (Bottom-Line) Asset. The #7AMedia report is an objective performance-focused survey based on over 120,000 tweets posted over a three-month period (November 1, 2010 to January 31, 2011) and examines how over 120 accounts engage with their guests and create amplification for their brand. 

13 takeaway points from the white-paper.

1. While distribution is readily available in the online space, attention and exposure are not only more critical to your Hotel’s bottom-line success, but also far more difficult to achieve
2. A long-term outlook is the first factor of Twitter success
3. Facebook and Twitter efforts are complimentary, but should not overlap
4. Twitter offer a low-risk/high reward opportunity for hotels
5. Amplification of your brand, your hotel property, deals, events, etc. are goals to aim for when using Twitter
6. Twitter-specific hotel deals tend to be the least effectively amplified content types. Individuals tend not to share them and the accounts that re-tweet or pick up the offer are typically deal specific accounts where special offers are lost in the noise
7. A referral is a specific recommendation to stay at a particular brand or hotel, a mention is a tweet that simply mentions the brand or hotel. A referral is much more valuable than a mention
8. #7AMedia developed a valuation model for Twitter accounts with @cosmopolitan_lv valued at $445,688
9. The analysis shows that those accounts that engage with their audience earn all the rewards and those that use Twitter to simple broadcast may be broadcasting into the equivalent of the Twitter ether - the non-preforming and self-perpetualising spam, promotional and bot accounts
10. Klout scores are not a good representation of a Twitter account’s economic value to your hotel
11. Hotel brands cannot simply expect people will sign up and value their content. The content needs to connect and in the world of twitter that means one thing: engagement
12. The question is not “how many followers do I need” but “how do I get the right followers”
13. Creating a high performing Twitter account requires committed engagement and follow-through with the network. This isn’t as hard as it sounds. Hotel brands and properties can drive the conversation, but it must be relevant and designed to attract and retain a quality following that cares more about your brand than discounts. 

I recommend every hotelier thinking of implementing a Twitter strategy or even if you have a Twitter strategy read Hospitality Brands and Twitter: Creating a Valuable (Bottom-Line) Asset.