Pinterest: The Pinning Platform that Helps to Plan Perfect Weddings can Help Hotels Too
Most large hotel companies like Intercontinental Hotels Group (“IHG”) or Marriott own a very small percentage of their properties and derive their profits from management and franchise fees, both of which are based on revenues. Thus, hotel companies are looking for ways to distinguish themselves from their competition to ensure that their occupancy rates remain high. This has been a particular concern since the recession, given that consumers have reigned in their spending and taken fewer vacations. As a result, hotels have looked to non-room sources of revenue, and hotel sales departments have focused on booking larger-scale events such as weddings and business meetings. Such events not only allow the hotel to derive revenue from its event/meeting venue space but also help to increase the hotel’s occupancy rates, as attendees often book a hotel room at the same hotel as their event.
In light of the shift in focus, IHG should take advantage of the new social media platforms that have emerged in the past few years to better advertise its venues. In particular, IHG should use platforms like Pinterest given its immense popularity among women who are planning their weddings. There are a number of steps that IHG can take on Pinterest to increase its visibility with wedding planners and brides-to-be about its hotels and venue space.
1. Reaching the Right People/Pinners: First and foremost, IHG needs to reach the right audience. To do so, it should consider using group boards and strategically collaborate with popular pinners who already have a large following to expose its content to more people and increase its following.
It is important that IHG properly vets who it decides to collaborate with, however, as what its collaborator pins can be a reflection on the company’s brand. Hence, the collaboration must make sense for both parties, and should be built based on content that is relevant. One idea, for instance, is for IHG to collaborate with popular wedding planners. These people are considered an authority on all aspects of weddings, from venues to invitations, and thus will have many followers. In addition, IHG can consider partnering with well-known florists and wedding cake makers, as pinners will also be looking to these authorities for ideas for planning their big day.
2. Drive Traffic to Its Site. In order to drive traffic to its site, Pinterest users must find IHG’s content attractive enough such that they want to repin it to their boards. These pins must combine great images with content, and should inspire pinners or offer them something desirable.
Some ideas are for IHG to show photographs of its venue space when it is fully decorated for a wedding, for example, while also providing information about the square footage of the hall, the number of guests that can be accommodated, and the number of available hotel rooms for guests to stay in following the festivities.
Such content will enable brides to envision what their special occasion could look like in an IHG venue, as it gives them an opportunity to get a better sense for what their special day will look like: they can see table settings, décor, flowers, lighting, and the dance floor.
Similarly, IHG could also feature couples that have been married on their properties, thus showcasing the scenic views of their property. This allows future couples to get a sense of what their wedding photographs will look like, as selecting a venue is not only based on the actual hall where the reception will be shot, but also about the hotel and its surrounding property. This will especially be of interest to couples that are considering a destination wedding and are looking for resort locations.
3. Measure Impact. It is important that IHG track whether its Pinterest marketing tactics are working for them. Specifically, Pinterest offers useful tools that allow you to measure the reach of your content. The Pinterest Pin Count tool, for example, allows you to see the number of times that a page or blog post from your site has been pinned and repined within Pinterest. By tracking reach, IHG can assess whether the content it is generating on Pinterest is reaching its target audience and can plan its future posts accordingly.
While the strategy that is outlined above has been described for one target audience in particular (i.e. those planning a wedding), this strategy can be modified to reach different audiences as well. For example, IHG can consider using Pinterest to market to event planners that are looking for venues to host banquets or to meeting planners who are planning conferences.
This post is part of a blog series for a Social Media Management course that I am taking at MIT Sloan School of Management. For this blog, we were asked to look at a social media platform that we do not personally use from a firm’s perspective and outline a strategy that best fits the firm’s business goals.
