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Amy Martin

Surveys Get Social with DoubleTree by Hilton

January 23, 2012

By Kirsten Stubbs

Like eco-friendly light bulbs and stocking up on economy sized packages of paper towels at Costco, even before social media can make you money, they can inherently save you money. And when it comes to market research, social surveying can save brands time and money with significant and valid results from a substantial sample size to help better serve customers.

Such is the case for DoubleTree by Hilton, the socially savvy hotel chain known for its comprehensive social media training at each of its 250 international properties as well as last year’s social-centric nationwide Cookie CAREavan Tour. The brand is now using social media to identify how it can improve travel for guests and continue to deliver the DoubleTree by Hilton brand promises. Additionally, the brand is using this unique method to engage and further enhance their online community.

In support of DoubleTree by Hilton’s slogan “The little things mean everything,” the brand is asking guests to answer a few simple questions on a Facebook tab for the chance to win a tin of their signature chocolate chip cookies. The instant feedback allows DoubleTree by Hilton to get a true sense of how their community defines and experiences travel. The tab is being marketed via promoted tweets and Facebook ads to create a comprehensive campaign bridging all of the brand’s social media platforms in a way that benefits both brand and guest.

The mix of valuable feedback for the brand and a sweet prize for guests, as well as heightened awareness of both, is resulting in exponential growth in DoubleTree by Hilton’s online community. In ten days following the campaign’s start, the brand’s Facebook likes have grown more than 30 percent, Twitter followers have grown more than 15 percent and their weekly ‘People Talking About This’ metric (the brand’s Facebook engagement) has increased by more than 427 percent, now encompassing a staggering 14 percent of their total Facebook fan base.

To hear more about DoubleTree by Hilton’s “Little Things” initiative, follow along with the conversation on Twitter by searching #LittleThings or read the recent HubSpot article featuring the campaign, or fill out the survey  for a chance at winning DoubleTree by Hilton cookies yourself.

Twitter Spreads Its Wings

December 8, 2011

By: Britnee Johnson

Today, my enthusiasm for Twitter has taken on a whole new level of excitement. If you were reading your social feeds this morning, odds are you saw the folks at Twitter chatting about their latest version of the platform via the #LetsFly hashtag. To those of you who are still trying to navigate the new design or are gearing up to explore option-features, I invite you to read below and find out exactly why the new version will have you seizing a pre-holiday thrill.

Prior to the new version, those of us logging into Twitter.com would see a simple feed of all our followers’ activity in addition to a separate feed of your own. Now, users will be exposed to an entirely new interface including tabs such as Home, Connect and #Discover, which provide an enhanced experience.

For the accounts who have enhanced profiles, new features will include:

    • Enhanced profile with option to include an additional image below your profile avatar
    • Ability to highlight the most engaging content to existing followers by ‘pinning’ a tweet to the top of your profile page
    • Access Twitter Analytics for brand accounts that have enhanced accounts

Key takeaways for the everyday user will be that they receive the latest version of the platform equipped with the newest tab features and search options (equipped to lure in all social addicts) in addition to finding out the amount of retweets and favorite per tweet. The enhanced profiles will allow users and brands to better market to their audience through the second image (think spot for hashtag or ideal real estate for branded message) and added analytics. If you’re like me, you’ll find yourself even more excited about connecting with tweets, as there are added features like drop down selections for viewing multimedia in addition to a new user-friendly layout. As for marketers, it’ll be a big win if they know how to play their social media cards just right and creatively optimize the space.

Just from the looks of things, my social wheels are spinning. I’ll assume if your reading this, yours are, too. For more information, check out the Twitter tutorial, here.

Google+ Makes Strides with New Brand Pages

November 10, 2011

By Alana Golob

Although the fate of Google+ and its 40 million users may be unknown, the platform has been making big (and quick) strides this week with the roll-out of the new Google+ Brand pages. Similar to Facebook, Google+ Brand pages allows brands to develop pages to publish content including photos, videos and links. Users can now add their favorite brands, teams, athletes and celebrities to their Circles. One added perk of Google+ Brand pages is the ability to have an animated photo strip. For a great example, check out what Red Bull did.

Google has successfully developed a platform that is focused on the elements that enhance communication and interaction, whether it’s between family members or a brand’s loyal consumers.

The following are key takeaways from the Google+ platform:

Google+ Circles:
My husband knows better than to talk to me about fishing, because it’s a guarantee that I’ll stop listening within the first 2.3 seconds. The same goes for me and talking to him about my favorite reality TV shows. Google has taken this basic communication principle and developed Google+ Circles. This feature allows brands to segment their audience based on demographics/geographics by adding them to specific Circles. Marketers then have the ability to control the content that their audience digests and deliver value that is relevant to a specific audience (circle).

Google+ Hangout:
As technology progresses, human interaction will continue to decrease at the same rate. Nothing will ever replace the power of face-to-face interaction, and Google+ Hangouts makes an attempt to fill that void. The feature allows brands to have live video interaction with their consumers, guests and fans. Imagine the relationship potential there.

Founder of Digital Royalty, Amy Jo Martin, had the opportunity to take part in a G+nius Women Panel hosted on Google+ Hangout prior to her speaking at an upcoming TEDxRainer event. Five speakers participated with one moderator. Although Google+ Hangouts limits session to 10 individuals per Hangout, the cool factor is that the one-hour panel discussion was recorded and repurposed on YouTube so it could be shared with thousands and watched, here.

On a larger scale, Will.i.am gave exclusive backstage access to fans through Google+ Hangouts On Air that was broadcasted live on YouTube back in September.

Google+ Badges:


Following the Brand page roll-out, Google+ did a quiet roll-out of their Google+ Badges. The Badge signifies which of your friends have given a “+1” to a website, or in other words given their recommendation. It connects your Google+ brand page with your website. The Badge also gives the user the opportunity to add a site to their circle. This increases visibility to your site, which ultimately leads to higher web-traffic. A brands potential reach of +1 doesn’t end with the 40 million users on Google+, but the billions of people that visit Google each day.

It’s your move, Facebook.

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