The Year of The Visual

I've begun to notice a shift... a big one too. Long gone are the days of images being upload to Facebook, and hours upon hours spent only on Facebook to find anything and everything. The younger generation has left Facebook in the dust, and fast.

It's a great thing they acquired Instagram, otherwise they'd be in real trouble. The younger generation usually seems to become enamored with a new app/social media channel quickly, then all of a sudden you hear it's the new "place to be".

I'm not sure if Facebook's focus on imagery wasn't enough, or if we've all become so overloaded by information and status updates that we want to get back to the time where a picture was worth 1,000 words! Between Pinterest, Instagram and Snapchat, if you're not collecting inspiring visuals and focusing on image-heavy content... you're doing it wrong.

Eventually, there will be another new and hipper channel (videos? wearables?) but for now, images rule the web.. and for good reason too!

The Importance of User Generated Content

User generated content is a growing trend that is currently undervalued in many industries and it’s always interesting to see what large brands are making the most of UGC and how.

User generated content can be absolutely free, and equally as effective in promoting your brand, identifying or creating brand ambassadors as well as a helpful tool for listening in the spaces where your customers currently reside.

Paid media can be effective when done right, but UGC seems like a unique opportunity to reach customers in a different way without having to do anything. If you’ve got a great company, people of all ages, especially millennials, will share and create content about you that can come across as much more genuine than your expensive online advertisements can.

It’s important to leverage this content any way you can. How do you track and promote user generated content that’s relevant to your company? 

Your Customers Are Pinning, Are You?

Who knew Pinterest was going to blow up like this? I suppose you did... if you've been pinning since the beginning days and knew how easily you could be sucked into the website for hours upon hours.  I think Pinterest is a great idea, especially for us Type A's who love organizing our thoughts, ideas, recipes, etc in a manageable fashion. Pinterest is such a great idea for so many types of businesses, both large and small and it's going to be interesting to see who realizes that their target audience is waiting for them here, and how they're going to interact with them in a positive way instead of driving them away. 

Since I work in the hospitality industry, I've been keeping a close eye on Pinterest and what it can do for hotels and have realized there are so many options if you're willing to put the time into it. There's something here for everyone, whether your customers are foodies, adventure junkies, newlyweds or family focused! Yes, there are a TON more women than men pinning away, but that's not a bad thing, is it? You customers are pinning at least a few times a week, for an average of 15 MINUTES.... but honestly, you know it's much longer than that. It's easy to break up what customers are interested in and the specific audiences that can be found here, and there are a few that just pop out to me as the most relevant audiences for the hospitality industry. 

1. Foodies

Spend 10 minutes on Pinterest and you'll notice that all your foodie friends are pinning recipes, favorite foods, favorite restaurants along with some incredibly appetizing photos! So give them what they want, you have at least 5-10 chefs staffed at the hotel each day, ask them to share some showstopper recipes and take a few great photos and throw them up there. If you already have fans of your hotel's restaurant, it won't be hard to get customers to pass those photos around and click through to your hotel's website/blog/Facebook/anything related to you. 

2. The Travel Obsessed

Ask your Concierge Team to list their favorite recommendations and create a board listing top 10 or 20 destinations in your area, both well known and off the beaten path. It's not hard to find other pinner's recommendations to share as well (Millennium Park, Central Park, Top Art Museum links, etc) so that you can not only feed customers what they want, but interact by repinning and making them feel special. 

3. The Wedding Planners

Most women dream about their weddings from the time they're just a little girl, so Pinterest is perfect for searching for EVERY aspect of their wedding and organizing it into simple boards instead of having to save each photo or link, bookmark them for later, print them out and add into a bulky binder and research intensely. Participate in their conversation and recommend your own venues, cakes, catering and who knows what you'll end up with. 

4. Family Focused 

Many mothers also find time to browse Pinterest searching for family friendly brands, activities, recipes and tips. Show off your hotel's family friendly side to them and you could find yourself booking reservations for them in no time! 

Yes, Pinterest could be labor-intensive for an employee and take up tons of time, but it's still so young that you don't really know where it could go, and you don't know how much it may potentially help your big or small business. Give it a try, see what happens and if it's not worth it you can always walk away.