A peek inside Marriott and Ritz-Carlton's social media strategies

Hotels are increasingly leveraging the power of guests’ social media posts as a form of organic marketing, extending from pre-arrival to well beyond the end of their stay. Building a strong relationship with the guest from the outset will deliver a full guest experience and be rewarded through social media engagement and positive guest reviews.

Following, engaging with and promoting guests’ social media activities is a great way to not only integrate customer stays into a wider online experience but also invite them into the hotel’s digital community.

One of Marriott’s core marketing principles is that customer-driven content is king. From its M Live social hub in London, the brand is able to monitor which hotels or aspects of its service are trending. From this data, Marriott can identify the biggest influencers and actively engage with their content, even enriching customers’ experiences as they are happening. The brand can then promote this content through its own channels.

Ritz-Carlton uses social media to build a deep engagement with guests, leveraging its excellent customer service to create lifelong memories shared on social media. Ritz-Carlton customers form a community or “global affluent tribe” sharing their unique experiences. A more creative way of engaging social media and enriching the brand experience might be through high-visibility competitions such as Ritz-Carlton’s “The Stay” campaign in which creative customers were invited to submit ideas for short films based on a stay at a Ritz-Carlton hotel. The competition first attracts social engagement through its call to action and then with highly shareable user-generated content that explores the relationships between customers and brand.

Social media is a powerful marketing tool to extend guests’ experiences well beyond their actual stay, build powerful relationships and communities centered on a brand, and provide a never-ending rich source of organic, user-generated content.

By inviting guests into the hotel community from the outset, you are starting a dialogue that provides an opportunity to request a guest review at the end of the stay, giving the chance to earn more positive reviews through improved guest satisfaction.

How Criton can help you

Criton is an award-winning technology provider which enables hotels and serviced apartment operators to take the guest experience to the next level with a sophisticated mobile app. Criton helps hotels to streamline the entire guest journey and maximise in-stay revenue. Get in touch today to find out how we can help your business.