We’re entering a new age in luxury hotel marketing. Top-tier hotels are now using Twitter for concierge services, social geo-locating platforms to unlock free gifts, Facebook for customer service and YouTube to showcase unique properties. They are finding new, large and responsive audiences across the social web. No doubt, luxury travel’s latest destination is online.
Yet who is leading the charge in this recent wave of innovative hotel social media strategies? What are their methods and how are they finding success? In our ongoing series “Luxury Hotels & Social Media,” Pursuitist is interviewing the top luxe hotel leaders (The Peninsula, Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons and many more) to gain insight into the online strategies of the industry’s elite.
Today’s interview is with Carlisle Connally, Director Online Marketing, Luxury & Lifestyle Brands for Hilton Worldwide.
Q. Why is Social Media important for your company?
A. The importance of social media for Conrad Hotels & Resorts and Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts social embassies is to provide our guests with luxury service online and offer them unique, targeted experiences and engagement they can’t get anywhere else. The Conrad and Waldorf Astoria pages are as individual as the brands themselves.
For example, to provide our Conrad fans and followers with a smart luxury experience online, we offer tips on the latest technology for travelers. Waldorf Astoria community members enjoy truly inspired luxury with singular experiences online such as profiles of our destinations, links to cultural highlights and real-life opportunities.
In the past month, we asked our Waldorf Astoria community to tell us why they would be a good reporter at the Sundance Film Festival and sent the winner to the festival to live tweet and blog for our community. This enabled our community to experience Sundance in a way that is exclusive to Waldorf Astoria.
Q. How many people manage your social media channels & what types of tools do you use?
A. We have dedicated resources that manage our communities and use management and measurement tools to ensure that we’re bringing the best online experience to our guests.
Q. What has been the most effective content to engage users?
A. Our Conrad and Waldorf Astoria online community members enjoy experiencing our luxury hotel properties and the surrounding culture from across the globe. Amplifying content from the Waldorf Astoria and Conrad properties online brings to life the unique experiences of our global hotels for our community.
Our community managers are always in touch with our properties to learn about local flare, experiences and cultural highlights in their cities. Using these trusted travel resources as our guides, our pages offer culture and lifestyle content regarding where to go and what to do when visiting a particular destination. This inspired content sparks two-way conversations within our community around topics ranging from their favorite vineyards to the latest Michelin-starred restaurants.
Through our Luxury Manifesto tabs on both the Conrad and Waldorf Astoria Facebook pages, we also bring our fans exclusive discussions regarding the status of luxury. The video series, hosted by John T. A. Vanderslice, Global Head of Luxury and Lifestyle Brands for Hilton Worldwide, features intimate conversations with luxury luminaries including Ferruccio Ferragamo of Salvatore Ferragamo, restaurateur Danny Meyer and Steve Sadove, CEO of Saks Inc., among others and helps to examine modern luxury for our consumers online.
