NEWSLETTER

Josh Bolton

Cedar City, Utah

Marketing

Creativity

Strengthening a Business: Social Media Marketing

My project involved managing and improving two local Best Western hotel social media pages in order to help the hotels become more successful. Success in this project was defined as positioning the hotels, using various online methods, as premier lodging businesses in Southern Utah. Along with creativity aspect of the social media pages of the hotels, there was also a secondary focus on strengthening the community by posting promotions about local attractions. The main idea was that by creatively promoting the hotels I could in turn improve the overall community.

                The primary social media platforms used were Facebook and Instagram but we also used software such as Hootsuite and Mailchimp as well as various review websites in order to improve the SEO of the hotels and put the brand out there. Paid advertising known as “boosting” was used through Facebook to promote the hotels often using types of giveaways in order to engage people. For example, a Facebook post promoting the upcoming holiday season was used in order to get people to like, share and comment on the post as well as visit the hotel page. This strategy allowed the existence of the product to be more widely known. We also focused on certain demographics such as age and geographic location depending on the contents and intent of the specific post. Many social media sites allow you to easily target your intended audience.

                Inspiration for the project started at the front desk of the Best Western Plus. I used to work there as a front desk clerk and I occasionally got the chance to view how the hotels were operated from a managerial standpoint. Both the Best Western Plus and the Best Western Town & Country were top 5 ranked hotels in the local community as far as quality and customer service was concerned. Even with all the success that they had, there was still room for improvement. They are both located in the busiest corner in town but there were still many nights, especially in the winter, when the hotels’ room occupancy suffered. After no longer working there as a front desk agent, it was a great experience to be able to come back and view the hotels from a unique standpoint. I used my creativity and knowledge learned in the school of business in order to make a success become even more successful.

                Fortunately, there were not too many setback and challenges in completing this project and achieving the goals I set. However, there were several minor difficulties along the way. As I was researching how to improve the hotels’ online presence, I found it difficult to decide exactly how I wanted to do it. There were so many websites and videos to investigate to see what I could do, but in my head I was worried about portraying the hotels’ image in a way that wasn’t perfect. This was a company that I had previously worked for so I wanted to do it right. I finally thought that if I wanted to do the hotels’ the justice they deserved, I needed to not be afraid to be creative. Along with that, I still decided to ask hotel managers what they thought were the best parts of the hotels to promote.

                There was also some local competition. The Best Western Plus was more of a high-end hotel, at least in Cedar City standards, while the Best Western Town & Country was still good quality but positioned as more as an affordable option. Certain hotels like the La Quinta and the Marriott Courtyard and Springhill hotels were competitors seeking the same type of guests as both Best Westerns. Only one hotel however used social media marketing in such an aggressive way as I did; that hotel was the Abby Inn. They also strived to expand their loyalty base by product promotion though paid advertising, discounts and giveaways. Looking back, it was actually enjoyable competition to try to figure out how I would best their dedicated marketing team.

                I feel like this project was a benefit to many different groups of people. First of all, this project greatly improves the online presence of the hotels, which creates revenue as people know to stay more at the Best Western Plus and Best Western Town & Country because of the great amenities and service provided. Second, this project benefited local businesses and Southern Utah tourism itself. A specific social media marketing campaign we did was called ‘Local Business Highlights,’ which promoted local restaurants and other businesses. I received personal thanks from several businesses such as The Tiki Shack and Charlie’s Barbecue.

                Finally, this project benefited myself. By studying how to apply which marketing tactics I was able to learn real-world application to improve a business. Many of these tactics used reinforced principles that I learned in my business classes too. I learned to understand the importance of competition and the benefits when you try to improve your business by strengthening other businesses in the community. I was able to use my creative abilities as I strived to promote Cedar City. It was truly a pleasure to engage in a project that allowed me to acquire applicable knowledge for myself as I strived to help others.

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“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of others” – Charles Dickens

 “I often find the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” – Thomas Jefferson