Research On Issues That The Hospitality Industry Face In Terms Of Marketing or Digital Marketing

Abstract:

The study investigated about the key issues while using different marketing tools that are digital marketing and social media in the hospitality industry. The paper tried to explore issues of the techniques and identified possible solutions for the underlying problems through new technology. The study included both primary and secondary but for the investigation the data was collected through qualitative research that included interviews taken from the hotel management of the different hospitality companies in the country. The main issues that were identified by the researcher were negative feedback, changes in technology and irrelevant content on the different social media platforms. The solutions for the identified issues included professionally handling the customers to address their problems regarding the hotel, the use of e-marketing for a prompt reply to the customers and creative content to engage the customers.

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1. Introduction

1.1. Motivation:

1.1.1. Aim:

The aim of this research study is to explore different complex issues that the hospitality industry face in terms of marketing or digital marketing.

1.1.2. Justification:

This era is all about technological advancements since the beginning, it has seen many innovative technologies changing the world. One such technology is social media and digital marketing that helps the companies attract their target audience in a smart way. The hospitality industry has also started to use this technique to target the tourists during peak seasons. However, the use of the marketing tools can have a negative impact on the organization and can become a complex issue for the company. This paper will explore the problems that the organizations in hospitality industry face while using marketing tools.

1.2.  Research Objectives:

• To investigate the complex issues regarding digital and social media marketing that the hospitality firms face.
• To explore solutions for the marketing issues with the help of different technology.

1.3. Research Methodology:

The research methodology used for the study is a qualitative study that involves several open ended questions. The interviews conducted were taken from the hotel management of some reputable hospitality organizations in the country. The reason for opting this method was to investigate how do the companies in the industry often face the issues relating to marketing tools that are social media and digital marketing. Moreover, through interviews the researcher can find some valuable information that isn’t available through the academic literature.

1.4. Organization of the thesis:

The thesis is mainly distributed in six sections that are Introduction that introduces the readers with the topic that is going the researcher is going to analyse in the later sections. The second section entails a Literature Review which includes previous academic literature about the topic and what other scholars have reported about it. Then comes the Methodology that tells the readers how did the researcher collect the data, how did she analysed it and what were the instruments used to accumulate it. The succeeding two sections are very important that are Results and Discussion, the former section involves a summary of answers given by the interviewees. On the other hand, the latter section analyses the results and links the data with the literature review. The next section includes Conclusion & Future Work provides the summary of the whole research paper along with the future work that can be done on this topic. The last section includes a brief Proposal for Future Study that will give a start to the future researchers.

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2. Literature Review:

Hospitality industry is booming with each passing day, this is due to the fact that tourism sector is developing every day. Tourism sector has been opening different opportunities for tourists to visit different locations all around the world. To accommodate the tourists the sector needs the help of hospitality organizations. Hospitality industry then utilizes different marketing tactics to attract the tourists to approach the specific organization during their visit in a particular location (Tsai, Song & Wong, 2009). Multiple companies use new techniques to target their audience, social media is utilized by the organizations to smartly reach their customers and attract them. Conventional marketing tactics like fliers and pamphlets are not actively marketing the brand image and name to the tourists globally. The companies are learning to adapt the new technique of going online interacting with their target audience (Chan & Guillet, 2011). Through social media it is easier for the hospitality companies to communicate with the customers frequently and warmly welcome them virtually. However, when there are advantages for using social media to attract customers there are also some negative impacts of the utilization of this marketing technique. For example, negative comments on any social media platform or in any case the customer isn’t replied with in a specific amount of time then that can imply a non-serious attitude from the hotel (Hashim & Fadhil, 2017). There are not only positive side of using digital marketing approach to increase a company’s reach. This era is surrounded by technological advancements, in every sector the use of different marketing tools to increase the sector’s sales is used. However, for a company to market itself it needs to take into consideration the disadvantages of using marketing tools. This study will show how can digital marketing and social media can be seen as intricate issues in the hospitality industry.

2.1. Impact of Social Media Marketing:

Social media is referred as “a second generation of Web development and design, that aims to facilitate communication, secures information sharing, interoperability, and collaboration on the World Wide Web” (Paris, Lee, & Seery, 2010, as cited in Gupta, Agarwal & Chauhan, 2018)). An individual uses social media websites for 5.5 hours in a day on average (Nelsonwire, 2010). Social Media Marketing is now being used by many companies to grow their business or to start their new venture. Moreover, this technique is described as “a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through” (Applbaum, 2004, p. 24). Chan and Guillet (2011) in their paper investigated social media marketing in case of hospitality industry of Hong Kong. Moreover, they also presented the negative influence of social media marketing on the organizations. The paper included multiple negative aspects, firstly there is not enough communication between the hotels and the customers, this entails that there is no proper means of communication between the two important stakeholders. The hotels in the country only promote their services and ignore the customers in process. Secondly, the hospitality organizations are not committed towards social media marketing as they should be. They just have several social media accounts and upload content but aren’t truly dedicated to it. Lastly, not enough information about the hotel is given on the social media platforms. These can have a negative influence on the hospitality industry and its reputation. The use of social media marketing to attract customers isn’t enough but other things related to it like communication and handling the customers online is also important. This study shows that the wrong use of the marketing tool can have great negative impacts on the organizations like negative feedback from the customers.

2.2. Marketing Performance:

Marketing performance mechanisms can help the managers of the companies to attain additional information about the market in the industry. Marketing performance is customer centric, this includes to detect, measure, interact and report economic data related to a customer (McManus, 2013). In other words, this factor is used to measure the performance of the hospitality industry in terms of customer potential. This performance measures the enhanced brand image, customer satisfaction and loyalty (Gray, Matear & Matheson, 2000). The hospitality industry can satisfy a customer through innovative services like prompt feedback which creates customer loyalty.

2.3. Approaches to Marketing:

There are multiple ways to a marketing approach that are (i) commitment from senior management, (ii) Operational management, (iii) Customer positioning, (iv) Digitalization and (v) Innovation (Rendon, Martinez & Flores, 2014). For this paper, digitization is important because the paper explore the issues relating to digital marketing that is endorsing a brand’s image through the use of technology. Today’s hospitality industry is transitioning into a such a new one, digitalization has allowed the industry to reach their target customers. Digitalization permits the industry to be prompt (Kansakar, Munir & Shabani, 2019).

2.4. E-Marketing:

This technology has been invented to ease up the business processes between companies. This technology is also used to be apt in addressing the customers’ queries about any service. E-marketing has also been used in the hospitality industry to enhance customer loyalty (Gayu & Stringer, 2011).

Multiple firms have the view that online techniques are beneficial technique through which the companies can have several advantages. Firstly, the firms can attain huge amount of customer feedback about their goods and brand through measuring online customers’ discussions that helps the companies to solve issues rapidly and improve themselves to enhance performance in the future (Madpu, 2006 as cited in Kang, 2011). On the other hand, if a company wants to dynamic in web settings, contributing in online societies should be emphasized in the company’s business framework. Establishing links and agreements in social media sometimes is awarded by intellectual concept of interpersonal capital (Ganley, 2009).

The mechanism of online connections has the utmost impact on producing interpersonal capital. This theory is significant in producing sustainable and advantageous society (Ganley, 2009). According to Salkhordeh (2009) social media is really helpful for the hospitality industry to grow and attract new customers while there are disadvantages for the companies in the industry to use the marketing tool. He reports in his study that the main issues regarding social media networking in the hospitality industry are having enough resources, not enough creative content, training, knowledge of the staff, experiencing risks, no privacy, restricted access to social media marketing in majority of the corporation and interference of customers dialogues by corporations. Another main concern due to the use of social marketing or digital marketing is the trust issue with these tools of marketing. Many of the customers trust the social media content the organizations in the hospitality industry put up but when they are not met with their expectations that can create problems for the business (Varkaris & Neuhofer, 2017). Facebook in this era has become an important social media platform where organizations can market their services and brand image. However, if a customer is unsatisfied from the hotel’s service, any negative comment on the company’s page can influence the decision of other customers. This can lessen the attractiveness of the company and can demotivate the consumers to opt for the hotel (Kang, 2011).

3. Methodology:

3.1. Research Method:

The research method used for this study would be a qualitative method, the approach used is derived mainly by examination of the purpose of research that is an exploratory strategy to showcase clearly the main intention of the research (Flick, 2015). The researcher conducted interviews from the hotel management of different hospitality organizations. The questions in the interviews included a list of open ended questions relating to the issues of social media and digital marketing they face in their respective organizations. The duration of interviews was of fifteen minutes that allowed the researcher to explore different areas of marketing tools and how does the management tackle the issues. The sampling technique used for the collection of data was purposive sampling technique, this is helpful in interviewing people who have knowledge about the topic. These types of individuals have an extensive understanding about the issue due to their position (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2013).

3.2. Data Description:

The data was collected from management of different hospitality organizations, the management answered the researcher precisely and provided some new information that was not present in the previous academic literature. A couple of forms were provided to the interviewees to get their consent about the interview and to guarantee them that their personal information or the company they are working for won’t be leaked. The data gathered for the research are answers provided by the interviewees for the questions asked to them, the management gave an insight about what they do to tackle any difficulty while using marketing tools. The answers given were quite lengthy that helped the researcher to distribute the data into themes and codes to further analyse it. The raw data coded is shown under Appendices to show how the data was collected through identification of themes and codes.

3.3. Data Analysis:

The data was analyzed through thematic analysis, this type of analysis is utilized to examine categories and current themes that connect with the data. It presents the data in extensive details and interacts with variety of subjects through interpretations (Boyatzis, 1998 as cited in Braun & Clarke, 2014). This analysis permits the researcher to regard an “analysis of frequency” of a specific theme with one of entire data. The analysis produces accurate and intricate information as well as improves the researcher’s entire meaning for collecting the data. Qualitative research includes accumulating and understanding various features and information (Alhojailan, 2012). To analyze the data, transcripts were written first of every interviewee. Then these transcripts were examined and given multiple themes, the similar questions were given one theme and their answers were coded. Once, themes are identified then it is easy for the researcher to analyse the data and interpret the results. The interviews conducted were extensive and the management provided with an in depth insight of their organizations. The theoretical framework in Appendices best describes the multiple themes talked about in the paper.

4. Results:

The data was analysed on the basis of thematic analysis, the researcher divided the data into several themes. The themes for the qualitative research methods are given below:

4.1. Marketing Techniques:

The marketing techniques used by the hospitality organizations are either for advertising or for public relations. The marketing techniques used for advertising includes both traditional and modern types of tools. The former includes printing of pamphlets and fliers whereas the latter includes social media and digital marketing that are the various social media platforms that are Facebook, Instagram and others. The hotels emphasize on social media for public relation technique.

4.2. Challenges:

When asked about the challenges faced by the hospitality organizations from the respondents, every one have experienced different challenges while using marketing tools. For instance, many respondents said that the tool is changing every day due to the technological advancement and it is quite difficult to keep tabs on the advancements. Another main challenge that the firms are facing while using the marketing techniques is negative feedback from the customers. One of the respondents quoted that “reading the negative reviews that are highly negative and versus page follow positive I think humans are they get it they get that it may intentionally really not gonna switch completely at that they have pay for negative review…yes it absolutely impacts”. Other challenges are also specified that would be discussed in the discussion section.

4.3. Marketing Team:

When asking questions about the different strategies or issues the hotel management face, all of the respondents mentioned about their marketing team. In every hotel, there is a marketing team that is handling all the social media platforms and utilizing digital marketing tools to attract the customers. The management was appreciating of having the luxury of a marketing team.

4.4. Creative Online Content:

The management was asked that through the use of digital marketing tools how do they create the content attractive. Majority of the respondents answered that they put up creative posts about their services, hospitality products, their rooms and much more. Moreover, some of the hotels also sponsor some non profit organizations so they easily get the idea of creating content other than the hotel’s services. One of the respondents claimed that “we would sponsor the e the Child Cancer Foundation and we would put forward a donation ehm for a sudden talk show or something to that effect, and when that’s put out there we get content from the event from the people who won the prize and we post that in to social media on to Facebook in to emm into Instagram and link ourselves up with different emm causes which is really close to our heart”. This also reaches their target audience and attract them to visit the hotel because of the “good deed” they are doing.

4.5. Strategies for Digital Marketing:

This is the most important question among all others, the respondents were asked about the strategies used by the hotel organizations for digital media. Some said that social media is used as a strategy due to the high end tools utilized in each of the platform, for instance one of the respondents stated that “Social media is a great one because on Facebook you get these fantastic analytics as to what the reach has been, how many people have been directed with the post, you click right and all that type of thing and it is really easy to engage with whether it is a good post or a not so good post”.

4.6. Negative Impact of Social Media Marketing:

Another main question asked from the respondents was that was there any negative influence on the hotel  due to the use of social media marketing. One of the respondents answered that the habit of clicking pictures of any other hotel and claiming that the specific product is of their hotel which would impact the hotel. Another main impact of this type of marketing are the negative feedback or reviews various social media platforms of the hotels can pose a threat to the reputation of the hospitality industry.

5. Discussion

The Hospitality Industry also has adapted different marketing tools to attract their target audience globally. These tools include digital marketing and social media marketing through which the organizations can reach their audience smartly. However, while using these tools the companies also face some issues that can ultimately have a negative impact on the hotel. Moreover, this study has conducted interviews with the hotel management working in different hospitality organizations who face issues regarding marketing tools. The study tried to explore the issues and how to solve these intricate problems.

5.1. Analysis of the Issues:

The interviewees were first asked about the marketing techniques that the marketing team in their organization utilizes to impress the customers. The respondents answered that they use traditional marketing techniques like pamphlets and fliers to advertise. Chan and Gulliet (2011) also claimed that the hotels use conventional marketing tools to advertise but they stated that this isn’t as beneficial as the modern type of marketing. Other interviewees also reported that they use social media for public relations that means, this tool is used to communicate with the customers. Social media is utilized to efficiently address the issues of any customers relating to the specific organization. Many prefer social media against conventional marketing technique to target the audience effectively. Nevertheless, social media doesn’t only have positive side but also has a negative one that can greatly impact the hospitality organization. For instance, under the themes of challenges and impact of social media marketing. The respondents specified about the online negative reviews and feedback through social media and digital marketing. Hashim and Fadhil (2017) stated that through social media, customers can post a negative review on the hospitality organizations’ pages. This can badly impact the reputation of the hotel as customers now a days observe the webpages or social media pages of the companies and if there is a negative comment on any of the company’s post then the individuals won’t consider to visit that hotel.  Varkaris and Neuhofer (2017) investigated in their study about the negative aspects of social media marketing. They stated that customers online trust every thing about a company on social media that means that any negative comments will also be seen as reality the feedback is even fake. Talking about creative content, the content produced on the social media is also a challenge because people are drawn towards mesmerizing posts. The beautiful pictures of the beach near the hotels, the cleanliness of the rooms and other parts of the hotel. Moreover, the companies also sponsor some foundations to raise charity, this decade has been all about caring about the ill and the poor. This attracts the customers to visit the hotel and to join in their cause. There have been different challenges that the hotel management have faced because of social media, many of the respondents said due to wrong content can influence the reputation of the hospitality organization. One of the quoted that “I have had people check-in and post photos of my hotel and it’s not my hotel, I have got no idea where they stay, that photos look like nothing like what my hotel rooms look like. So… so that misrepresentation can be quiet damaging as well.” This indicates that a wrong content on any of the posts can seriously damage the repertoire of the organization. The mistake of posting wrong content was also answered when the respondents were asked about the negative impact of social media marketing. Chan and Gulliet (2011) also specified the hotels in the Hong Kong hospitality industry that weren’t committed towards good content and didn’t post engaging which impacted the reputation of the hotels.

5.2. Analysis of the Solutions:

The interviews were in depth that indicates that the researcher explored even the small details to have a better view of the different marketing issues. Along with the issues the respondents also provided some solutions to tackle the problems. For instance, many of the respondents provided solutions with for how to tackle negative reviews and feedback online. One of the respondents claimed that to overcome the bad review, the management should be prompt in replying to that particular comment professionally. Ganley (2009) also focused on the importance of effective online communication with the customer. The interview quoted that “So if I get somebody’s saying “I really didn’t like the, you know, the swimming pool. The swimming pool is out of standard of what we expected”. I will go back and say “Thank you, (name), for your comments, emm, unfortunately I think you may have the wrong hotel, as we don’t have swimming pool facilities, but we do have, we can recommend a local swimming pool close by which is…you can get to by taxi or anything like that”. This reply would easily make the customer aware that they are apt in replying to all the negative feedback. The different themes can also act as the solutions for the issues faced by the management, like creating engaging content that does not only includes services of the hotel but also other social activities of the hotel. For instance, a sponsorship to raise charity for some foundation. For any company, a marketing team is necessary to handle all the social media and digital marketing so that the management is dedicated to their work. One of the respondents felt lucky to have an expert marketing team in their own company that handles all the marketing technicalities whereas there are some small scale businesses who doesn’t have a team but their staff have to handle it along with other responsibilities. E-marketing can be used by the hospitality industries to be prompt in addressing customer feedback either negative or positive as stated by Gyau and Stringer (2011) in their paper.

To summarize the key findings, the study explored different issues but the main problems that the management experience through the use of social media are negative feedback from the customers, incorrect content about the hotel social media to damage the reputation of the hotels and the changes in technology with each passing day. However, the respondents also provided solutions for issues like hiring a marketing team, replying to the feedback professionally and the use of e-marketing.

6. Conclusion:

In conclusion, marketing tools and techniques are used by the hospitality companies to grow their business and to attract the customer. The research conducted to explore the underlying issues because of social media and digital marketing that isn’t researched much by the previous academic scholars. The study conducted a qualitative research that involved taking interviews of the hospitality management working in different hotels. A thematic analysis was utilized to analyze the raw data to identify themes and codes. Various themes were detected through the primary data, one of the major issues that was stated by every respondent was negative online review and feedback through the use of social media. Another issue while using marketing tools is the use of incorrect content for different social media platforms and digital marketing. The solutions were also mentioned by the respondents that were to appoint a marketing team, reply to the negative feedback professionally. Solutions for the issues weren’t given in the previous literature along with the in depth knowledge of the different problems faced by the hotel management. The future studies should emphasize on providing solutions for the different issues identified while using marketing tools. The use of e-marketing should also be promoted by the managers and researchers to be more apt in providing response to the customers and their feedback.

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7. Proposal for Future Study:

• Purpose:

The purpose of the study is to aware the hotel management and researchers of the underlying issues related to the marketing tools that are social media and digital marketing. Moreover, the solutions for the identified issues must also be provided by the researcher.

• Objectives:

 The main objective is to aware the stakeholders of the different intricate issues that they face through the use of marketing tools.

• Methodology:

A mixture method that include qualitative research as well as quantitative research, the first step would be conduct qualitative research through thematic analysis. Then the quantitative research would be conducted on the basis of the research achieved through the qualitative research. For the quantitative research, a survey method would be conducted with themes as questions and codes as options.

• Potential Contribution:

 The study will contribute greatly to the literature review that would be an addition to the future studies. This research would also be used as a basis for future studies in the same field.

References:

Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2013). Research methods in education. Routledge, doi: 10.4324/9780203224342

Flick, U. (2015). Introducing research methodology: A beginner’s guide to doing a research project. (2^nd ed.). London, UK: Sage, doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2012.01382.x

Ganley, D, Lampe, C. (2009). The ties that bind: Social network principles in online communities, Elsevier, 47, 266–274, Retreived on 11 Ju;y 2020 <https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1259&context=gradconf_hospitality>

Kang, J. (2011). Social media marketing in the hospitality industry: The role of benefits in increasing brand community participation and the impact of participation on consumer trust and commitment toward hotel and restaurant brands, Dissertations, Iowa State University, 1-171, Retrieved on 11 July 2020 https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1384&context=etd

Nelsonwire, (2010). Led by Facebook, Twitter, global time spent on social media sites up 82% year over year. Retrieved from http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/global/ledby-facebook-twitter-global-time-spent-on-social-media-sites-up-82-year-over-year/

Rendón, O. H. P., Martínez, R. M., & Flores, M. S. R. (2014). Marketing strategies for hotel industry internationalization in Morelia. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 148, 271-279, doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.07.043

Salkhordeh, P. (2009). Key issues in use of social networking in hospitality industry, 1-8, Retrieved on 11 July 2020 < https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1259&context=gradconf_hospitality>

Varkaris, E., & Neuhofer, B. (2017). The influence of social media on the consumers’ hotel decision journey. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 8(1), 101-118, https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-09-2016-0058

Appendices:

Raw Coded Data:

Transcription	Page No	Comment Scope	Comment Text	Coder	Date
2017_T1_2	1	Depends on what they are obviously, my property is 20 years old I did a refurbishment in 2011 so I am getting a bit of feedback now. I as a business operator try and jump and proceed things before I get told	Solution for negative feedbacks	Saarah Saleh	27th March 2018
2018_T2_1 2016_T3_1	3 15	We use print, ehm, we use radio, we use advertising opportunities, we use social media, we are on Instagram, we are on Facebook and and we are re ally proactive on our  sponsorships  as well which emm often get user generated material. its always again every hotel is quite different some focus more and some focus less. I guess the biggest thing right now is social media, everything is out everything is you know it’s straight away, it’s consistent. So, a social media is a big symbol. You know, I surprised if there was not any hotel where marketing person has facebook page has private account and e-mail does promotions through it. So, quite few hotels use their facebook as a big took and they advertise their brand and you know like such a (inaudible) give a (not audible). So that would be the strongest thing that’s happening now a day in terms of other marketing tools. Its (inaudible) we still use print media so we will type magazines, use papers. It is more for online work we really do.	Marketing techniques used to adverstise	Saarah Saleh	26th July 2018
2018_T2_1	3	Our social media we focus on three different pillars, three key pillars uhm which we think our guests want to know about when we’re talking about our property. So that’s the People, so that’s myself, my staff, our local suppliers telling their story uhm putting posts about employee of the month or uhm you know if our chef’s created a really delicious dish putting a photo of the chef up with the dish and the menu on how to create it..we think it’s quite attractive for our guests	Ways of attracting guests through social media	Saarah Saleh	26th July 2018
2018_T2_1	3	So we look at..obviously we’re a hotel we sell beds so we look at uhm making some really fun and interactive posts about our hotel rooms uh that also includes our food and beverage outlet as well so any delicious dishes and great cocktails, new wines that type of thing falls under the category of product and then the next P is we focus on Place.	Type of content posted on social media	Saarah Saleh	26th July 2018
2017_T1_2	10	The negative of social media for our customers, probably the pressure that, emm, that  everybody has to take an Instagram or photo of  their meals, emm, that, that type of time constraint, emm, for our guests, that could, that could probably be a negative for our customers, there would also possibly, emm, depending on what form you are looking at, they may get, emm, a distorted impression of the hotel, if, for example, there is content up there that’s not even photos of my property, or, emm, you know, complaints about the swimming pool. We don’t have a swimming pool at the hotel, so I’m not sure where they stayed. So when I see that type of thing they might get the wrong impression about the hotel standard of the rooms, or facilities, or the services, so that would be a bit of a negative for them.	Negative impacts from social media
2018_T2_1	4	So, we’ve got comedy festivals, film festivals and documentary festival recently. We post content up about those great things that are in close proximity to the hotel. Uhm so that while you’re here you can see a post and think like I might go ahead and see one of those shows or I might go and see one of those local attractions. It tells more of a holistic picture about what to do while you’re here as well.. So that’s how we structure all of our social media content uhm at our hotel we have basically anybody from our room attendant, our food and beverage attendant, myself we can all come up with content to uhm for our Facebook page	Content which are posted on the social media platforms	Saarah Saleh	26th July 2018
2018_T2_1	5	I think that the big thing with digital marketing is that it is always changing ,what is current at the moment may not be current in a month’s time, a week’s time, a year’s time. Everything that that space is continuing to grow and its really important that we stay current. Wth that move in technology in particular in the digital space social media I mean if you’d ask me 10 years ago if our hotel would have social media page or Facebook, or Instagram I would say no way but now it’s a huge focus of my day	Challenges faced when advertising through digital marketing	Saarah Saleh	26th July 2018
2018_T2_1 2017_T1_2	2	so the best thing is really prompt feedback. So I jump on that as quickly as I’m able to. And, emm, all of my feedback is personalised to the comments that the individual has made. So if I get somebody’s saying “I really didn’t like the, you know, the swimming pool. The swimming pool is out of standard of what we expected”. I will go back and say “Thank you, Joy, for your comments, emm, unfortunately I think you may have the wrong hotel, as we don’t have swimming pool facilities, but we do have, we can recommend a local swimming pool close by which is…you can get to by taxi or anything like that”. So we, we, we put them  straight in a really polite professional manner, emm, and just make sure that any misconceptions are clarified really quickly. Another one said “Yaa so with negative reviews aam… we would always prefer the forum to actually have them offline so a lot of that work goes into what we do on the property on day to day basis. Obliviously try not to get that point whether online aam if they are online aam our preference really is always address the key point and always address you know the issues and the items of concern. Actually acknowledge them  and then you can also ask  for the you know to communicate with them on the right email so you can take it offline . But you still you know you always have to come up with resolution and basically to resolve that complaint”.	Solving Negative feedbacks	Saarah Saleh	26th July 2018
2016_T3_1	5	We are really fortunate that we have a centralised marketing team uhm that are experts in the industry in that area. We are very fortunate in Scenic to have that and obviously the larger international chains also have that. Some of the smaller boutique hotels in those that belong to smaller chains don’t have access to that type of  expertise. So you find that an owner operator is also, you know, Jack-of-All Trades. They’re making the bed. Also in charge of all the social media content and online feedback reviews that type of thing. So, so we are really fortunate at the Scenic that we have those expertise on hand.	The marketing team who handles the social media platform	Saarah Saleh	26th July 2018
2016_T3_1	7	Our reputation, like protecting our reputation. Guest feedback, and making sure that it is responded to, your know that response time within a reasonable time frame.	Major challenges faced through Social Media Marketing	Saarah Saleh	26th July 2018
2017_T1_2	8	Incorrect content as well, actually. I have had people check-in and post photos of my hotel and it’s not my hotel, I have got no idea where they stay, that photos look like nothing like what my hotel rooms look like. So that misrepresentation can be quiet damaging as well. Also you know if they are posting anything around, like a negative experience we will want to make sure that we are able to handle that and resolve those issues quickly and if it is put up online sometimes it can be taken out of context or blown out of proportion	Issues in meeting customer expectations	Saarah Saleh	26th July 2018
2016_T3_1	2	People want to share that content. They want to share that beautiful plate and the presentation and keeping up to speed with that as well, making sure that your menus are current and always changing and you’ve got, you know, the greatest… the latest and greatest products stopping your challenge is all that type of thing is it does become hard to keep up with.	Challenges	Saarah Saleh	26th July 2018
2017_T1_2 2018_T2_1	13 11	Then if I’ve got something up my sleeve to fix the situation in the  future, like we do at the moment with  the refurbishment, I will then post, um, “So that you are aware that we are currently going through a refurbishment, which is going to see double-glazed windows installed that our historic building. That is going to make a significant difference to the amount of street noise heard in each room”. So, so that type of thing showing that you understand, you empathise, and that you’re taking it seriously, you’re looking for a solution, in the short-term. Be it sleeping, you know, being allocated on the other side of the hotel. And in long-term, is that we gonna be installing double-glazed windows, so that they won’t be able to hear that noise next time they stay. So those are the different. That’s how we manage, is just responding in a very polite professional manner, and ensuring that we really listen to what our guest feedback is, because that helps us tailor our services to make sure we are doing our very best that we can for our guests. yeah..(aahhhmm) probably equally both..(ahhmm) reading the negative reviews that are highly negative and versus page follow positive I think humans are they get it they get that it may intentionally really not gonna switch completely at that they have pay for negative review…yes it absolutely impacts but I thinks.43	Managing fake reviews and negative reviews	Saarah Saleh	26th July 2018