Superior Room
With the steady growth in popularity of social media, social media channels like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are increasingly being adopted by companies seeking to start a dialogue with their consumers. Social media advertising is a relatively low-cost and targeted channel that has been popular with small enterprises and F&B outlets, enabling them to draw traffic and awareness to their brands. However, in recent months, these channels have also been rapidly adopted into the communication plans of MNCs like Samsung, Dell and LG, even government bodies like The Singapore Police Force and Singapore Tourism Board are jumping on the bandwagon. Facebook pages created by companies and organisations go beyond purely advertising and are increasingly used as a key tool for relationship management and to speak directly to their customers.
Within the hospitality industry in Singapore, adoption of social media as a part of relationship management has not taken off as yet. Hotel Re! a Modern Retro themed boutique hotel has embraced social media and actively uses its Facebook page to reach out to customers not just in Singapore but also other parts of Asia and even in the United States and Europe. “As an independent hotel, social media is an ideal channel for Hotel Re! Especially being a boutique hotel with such a unique product, we have been successful in capturing the hearts and minds of our Fans through our Facebook page. Fans are also able to share their honest feedback of their stay at Hotel Re! and this helps us understand what is important to our customers and improve our service and product offerings,” notes Ms. Jessica Loo, Marketing Manager of Hotel Re! who spearheaded the creation of the hotel’s Facebook page in March 2009. Since creation, the page has attracted 1500 fans in 5 months. The hotel also periodically holds lucky draws to reward fans for their support. At present, the hotel seeks to attract 5000 fans by the end of the year and if that target is achieved, every fan will receive a voucher and a grand lucky draw will also be conducted.
Other hotels in Singapore with Facebook groups or pages include Shangri-la Singapore with 365 fans and Naumi Hotel’s group with 253 members. The Hilton Group has seen the most success from its Facebook group with 22,070 fans on its page to date.
Visit Hotel Re!’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/
