How Hotels and Travel Companies Are Nailing Social Media

Via Scoop.it – Digital Developments in Hospitality

It might be scary to share all your online reviews, but some hotel and travel destinations have embraced social media chatter – good and bad – and seen surprising results.
Show original

Social Loyalty Startup Topguest Launching White Label Service With Facebook Integration

by Sarah Perez

Topguest, the hot loyalty program which rewards users for engaging with brands on social networks, now has 5 million Facebook users in its database, the company has just revealed. These customers are collecting airline, hotel and other travel rewards points for their social networking activity, like Foursquare and Facebook check-ins, for example.

Today, the company is announcing a new product that will make Topguest not just a social loyalty program, but a full-fledged social loyalty SaaS company. This fall it will debut a white-label service that will allow brands to customize their communication with each of their customers, based on their social networking activity. Topguest’s first partner with this effort will be Hilton HHonors.

Hilton’s new social loyalty program, powered by Topguest, will be available at www.socialhhonors.com (site is not yet live). Members will receive 2,500 points simply for connecting their Facebook account, and will then have the opportunity to earn even more points for further engaging with the brand.

Get the full story on Tech Crunch

The Power of Foursquare and Location-Based Services [Presentation]

by ReviewPro

Take a look at the presentation below to see:

– Why location-based services are best example of the “SoMoLo” digital trifecta today: Social, Mobile, Local
– An interesting example of the Corocan Group (real estate) providing neighborhood tips to increase brand visibility
– Suggested types of special promotions you can run to attract customers and encourage loyalty
– Common pitfalls to avoid when using location-based services

Get the full story on ReviewPro

Google Maps rolls out business interiors in Street View

by Meghan Kelly

Google is taking its Street View feature indoors. The company announced last May it would be taking interior shots of stores, but now it is moving out of its pilot phase with more 360 degree interiors cropping up online.

Street View on Google Maps has provided many hours of novel entertainment in looking up houses, friends’ houses, your elementary school, that park you fell asleep in that one time. But satisfying a small bit of voyeurism is not all Street View can accomplish.

Now Google is using these images as a marketing tool for businesses that want to show off their interiors.

Get the full story on Venture Beat

*************** DDIH Question *****************
Will Street View feature indoors impact hotels in a positive or a negative way?

Share your ideas

Klout Tweak May Affect Your Score

by Todd Wasserman

Klout has tinkered with its method for determining social media influence and it may affect your score on the platform.

The new scoring model “represents the biggest step forward in accuracy, transparency and our technology in Klout’s history,” Ash Rust, director of ranking, announced on Klout’s post Wednesday. CEO Joe Fernandez outlined the thinking behind those changes in a blog post last week.