We have all heard the argument "Social media is not for me," whether it was said by a friend that mistakenly thinks Twitter is for sharing trivial facts about your personal life only, or from a company that believes it has nothing to gain from a social presence.
Well, the David Intercontinental, one of the most exclusive hotels in Tel Aviv, and all of Israel, shows exactly how it's supposed to be done.
While the hotel is active on all social networks including Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and many more, I will focus on my experience with the David Intercontinental on Twitter.
I have been following the hotel for some time and watching how the hotel walks the thin line between tweeting in a boring "professional" manner and being too personal and non-corporate. It is not an easy balance, at all.
This is my experience with the hotel over the past week.
Social
Well, when I recently checked in to the hotel with my family, of course, the first thing I did was check in virtually, as well, using Foursquare. As soon as I did, the hotel reached out to me on Twitter with the tweet below.
When I checked out a few days later, I got this tweet.
Of course, in both cases, the timing was perfect, which leads me to the conclusion that the hotel is monitoring Twitter and the Web pretty much around the clock. As it should.
But again, it is not only Twitter. The hotel told me about its new Tumblr page for the upcoming Olympics. See that tweet below.
And then there is Facebook. Remember, this is a premier and exclusive hotel, and yet, it understands the importance and necessity of engaging with its community
Local
Well in addition to offering top notch real time customer service based on apps like Foursquare, the hotel consistently tweets about local events and venues. That is not something that translates into new visitors to the hotel, is it? So why bother? Clearly, the Intercontinental has understood what many businesses have yet to internalize. It is not all about selling but more about providing real value to the community, which, does eventually turn into "conversions" in the long run.
Mobile
OK, I was obviously already impressed with the speed at which the hotel responded, but it did not end there. As soon as I arrived to my room, the hotel tweeted telling me about their app that would make my stay that much more enjoyable. You can see that tweet below.
The conversation then continued to topics about mobile Web and native apps and how the hotel has covered all its bases. Awesome.
If They Can Do It, Anyone Can
While the David Intercontinental Tel Aviv did all of the engaging I mentioned above in a tasteful and entertaining manner, not in any way leaving me with the feeling that I am being spammed, the kicker was what I saw when I first arrived in my room.
The hotel knew exactly who I was and what my interests were, as is clear from the tweets about the app. But nothing beats the cupcakes they left me in my room. That put me over the edge and made me a long term client of the David Intercontinental Tel Aviv hotel. How is that for the ROI of social media?
