The Use of Social Media on Small and Medium Hospitality Enterprise - Essay Example

 Table of Contents Introduction 4 Literature Review 5 Increases Brand Recognition 5 Improves Brand Loyalty 6 More Opportunities to Convert 7 Higher Conversion Rates 7 Higher Brand Authority 8 Increased Inbound Traffic 8 Decreased Marketing Costs 9 Better Search Engine Rankings 10 Richer Customer Experiences 10 Improves Customer Insights 11 Case Study 12 Current Scenario 12 Problems Identified 14 Solutions 14 Discussion and Conclusion 16 Discussion 16 Recommendations 18 Conclusions 19 References 21 Introduction The prime intent of this essay is to critically evaluate the use of social media on Small and Medium Hospitality Enterprises (SMTEs). In this regard, High Beeches B&B has been selected as one of the SMTEs for critical evaluation of the above stated subject matter of the study. Evidently, High Beeches B&B is regarded as one of the finest and beautiful Edwardian resorts in the Southern Edge of Bath in the United Kingdom. It highly attracts the tourists because of the natural beauty surrounding the resort. Apart from this, the organisation also attracts the tourists for its peaceful environment and the possession of comfortable accommodations. Moreover, all the bedrooms and other hospitality services of the organisations are highly decorated that would attract the tourists at large. It is also observed that High Beeches is one of such SMTEs, which extensively used the notion of social media in order to generate greater awareness about is respective products and/or services to the worldwide customers. Besides this, the organisation has also undertaken the strategy of promoting its products and/or services by selling and distributing through Trip Advisors and others (High Beeches, 2014). Contextually, in order to undergo a successful study of the topic with regards to High Beeches B&B as the organisation, a literature review is performed through the support of relevant and recent scholarly articles. Furthermore, a case study upon the selected SMTE i.e. High Beeches B&B is conducted by using the approach of qualitative methodology with greater focus on secondary sources. In this regard, for the successful completion of the case study, the current scenario of the SMTE has been comprehensively studied. It also includes the identification of the problems faced by the SMTE relating to the use of social media for promoting its respective products and/or services. Finally, certain effective solutions have also been framed for resolving such problems in the form of providing recommendations and a valid conclusion has been made in the lasts section pertaining to the case study. Literature Review In this modern era of competitive business environment and the evolution of pioneering technological advancements with regards to communication, it is often observed that a majority of the corporate houses of this contemporary world use social media networking sites to promote their respective products and/or services. The use of social media for promoting the products is equally applicable for the SMTEs. In this regard, the varied uses of social media based on the selection concerning a hospitality organisation developed for the case study have been elaborately discussed in the following: Increases Brand Recognition According to Anjum (2013), social media networking sites are of greater importance from the perspective of a SMTE, as these are largely used for increasing brand recognition. It can be observed that most of the people in the UK access distinct social media networking sites including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter among others. It is also important to note that the customers spent a significant amount of time in accessing the above stated social media networking sites. Thus, any promotion make by the SMTEs by using these sites is more likely to be viewed by the prospective customers, which is the ultimate objective for promotion. Furthermore, it is also observed that most of the SMTEs have their own online pages in different social media networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instragram and LinkedIn among others. These are extremely useful to the hospitality-based organisations for promoting as well as selling and distributing their respective products and/or services (Anjum, 2013). Thus, it is asserted that the social media is extremely useful from the perspective of SMTE in order to increase brand recognition amongst the targeted customers. Improves Brand Loyalty According to Metz (2011), social media is highly useful in increasing the brand loyalty of the SMTEs, which eventually support these to attract huge figure of customers and thus attain superior competitive position as compared to chief business market competitors. The prime reason for the increase in brand loyalty by the use of social media is generating maximum promotion and appealing customers regarding a specific product and/or service. It is generally observed that the customers are more likely to remember such brands that have been highly promoted and viewed maximum number of times. This certainly increases the brand loyalty of the customers towards a specific SMTE. Moreover, it is also important to note that majority of the social media networking sites provide active support to the organisations in reaping the prospect of gaining feedbacks from the customers. This can be duly considered as the most commonly observed elements in relation to the use of social media (Metz, 2011). Based on the understanding of Metz (2011), it can be ascertained that most of the customers after viewing positive feedbacks in the comments column presented in varied social media sites are more likely to be loyal to a brand or an organisation. Thus, it can be asserted that the approach of promoting product through the execution of social media in SMTE sector greatly increases brand loyalty of the customers at large. More Opportunities to Convert Based on the viewpoints of Safko (2012), the major importance and usefulness of social media from the perspective of modern day organisations including the SMTE sector can be determined as converting the customers towards procuring brands in a regular or repeated manner. Thus, it can be found in this similar context that promotions through social media are highly appealing to the non-customers as well. The non-customers after viewing the likings of the brands eventually perceive the same to be of superior quality. Apart from this, it is also observed that most of the SMTEs such as High Beeches B&B in this modern day context often prefer to provide detailed information regarding the products as well as the costs associated with the same. The non-customers on account of obtaining such information are able to undergo comparative analysis with different other organisations operating in SMTE segment. This eventually creates a higher opportunity for the conversion of non-customers to customers, if the same perceives higher worthiness in the new brand (Safko, 2012). Higher Conversion Rates Goward (2013) observed that most of the organisations operating in the SMTE sector using social media networking sites for promoting their respective products and/or services have higher conversion rates. The prime reason behind this is that the promotional tool of social media appears to be highly appealing for the prospective customers. The customers often receive detailed information about their preferred products and/or services in the blogs and pages of the social media networking sites. This greatly influences the customers to select their preferred brands. It is also perceived that most of the customers remain highly influenced by the presence of likings in the brands by their friends and others (Goward, 20130. Higher Brand Authority According to the viewpoints presented by Post (2011), a majority of the organisations associated with SMTE segment use social media platform to promote their products with possessing higher brand authority. It is often observed that on account of the promotion made through the social media, the customers largely rely on the brands. This is prominently because of the observance made by the customers that many of their friends and relatives prefer such brands in frequent occurrences or at regular intervals. In this similar context, Post (2011) noted that the customers perceive the products and/or services to be of high standard and largely satisfying after seeking responses from their respective friends or family members who also accesses varied social media sites. This higher brand authority is extremely important for a hospitality enterprise, as this ensures long-term sustainability of the same by a considerable extent (Post 2011). Increased Inbound Traffic Qi & et. al. (2013) observed that social media networking sites play a key role in increasing the inbound traffic of customers towards the business enterprises. This is equally observed in case of a SMTE. The prime reason behind the increase in the inbound traffic of customers is the reach of social media to them. The social media, in this present day context, is at the reach of distant people. It communicates with mass in a very short period. The communication procedure develop by social media is also proved to be highly effective in this modern business settings. This is extremely important to a hospitality enterprise, as the customers are located at distant places and tend to visit for any specific purpose. Moreover, the customers often find the pages in different social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter among others that enable them to gather any sort of information regarding the visit to any hotel worldwide (Qi & et. al., 2013). This certainly increases the inbound traffic of the customers towards the respective organisations. Thus, it is extremely from the perspective of a SMTE in increasing its customer base. Decreased Marketing Costs According to Rucker (2012), social media is of extreme importance and useful in decreasing the marketing costs of the organisations. This can be justified with reference to the fact presented by Qi & et. al. (2013) that promotion through the use of other media like television is extremely costly. This often becomes unaffordable to a majority of the SMTEs in the world including the UK. The other promoting tools like radio and the promotion through magazines and newspapers are also highly expensive in the UK and other parts of the world. However, it is important to note that promotion through the use of social media platform is comparatively of less expensive than the other aforementioned tools of promotion. This gives high cost benefit to the SMTEs that adapted the strategy of promoting its products through the use of social media. Furthermore, in this similar context, Rucker (2012) observed that the SMTEs use social media to sell and distribute its products in a cost-effective manner. The selling and distribution process through the use of social media also provides cost benefits to the organisations in terms of lessening marketing and related operational costs (Rucker, 2012). Better Search Engine Rankings As per the viewpoints of Dover & Dafforn (2011), social media networks are most prevalent in this modern and competitive business setting. Justifiably, people spend most of their time in accessing varied social media networking sites, which eventually signifies wider access of internet. It will be vital to mention in this similar context that a majority of the customers are more likely to view the posts of SMTEs, as they intend to visit the same for business or any other purpose. Dover & Dafforn (2011) observed that the posts and updates make by the SMTEs are highly interesting and attractive. These organisations primarily focus on the natural beauty of their surroundings and the luxury items that are provided to the customers for complying with their needs. These are highly liked by the customers are often shared with others. This subsequently attracts the other customers (Dover & Dafforn, 2011). Thus, it can be rightly asserted that the social media posses a better search engine ranking, which is of extreme benefit to the SMTEs in the UK and other parts of the world. Richer Customer Experiences According to Cantoni (2013), social media networking sites support in enriching customers’ experiences for majority of the organisations in this modern day context. This is equally applicable to SMTEs that tend to perform varied operational functions for gaining superior competitive position. It is observed by Post (2011) that the SMTEs operating in this competitive landscape significantly use social media platform to portray their respective products and/or services in front of the customers worldwide. It has been earlier mentioned that the SMTEs primarily use natural beauty of their surroundings for attracting the customers, which in turn, results in enriching customers’ experiences at large. Moreover, it is also observed that the SMTEs use social media platform extensively in order to portray the luxury accommodations for the customers. These organisations also depict higher comfort and peace that the customers would derive from their experiences. This also greatly enriches customers’ experience based on social media platform. Moreover, it is also observed that there exist several SMTEs that display the reports concerning the satisfaction level of their existing customers who possessed such experiences (Cantoni, 2013). Improves Customer Insights According to Rand (2013), social media is extremely important in developing customers’ insights towards a particular brand. In this regard, it is observed that the organisations uses social media platform for generating greater awareness about their respective products and/or services to the customers. Rand (2013) stated in this context that generating such awareness is extremely important from the perspective of an organisation, as this aids in attaining maximum brand and customers’ loyalty. This is equally applicable in the case of SMTEs. The reason behind this is that these organisations are located at prime tourist locations. The attraction of the tourists towards the spots generally increases the possibility of sales of the hotels. Thus, it is of extreme importance for the hospitality organisations to promote their location through the social media. This leads to greater increase in customer insights as well. Further, it is also observed that the objective in providing knowledge to the customers is not only limited to the tourist spots, but also with regards to the added satisfaction that the customers would reap from the experiences. The SMTE organisations provide relevant information regarding the luxurious and comfortable accommodations that the customers would derive. This knowledge to the customers is of extreme importance, as it leads SMTEs to gain superior competitive advantage as compared to others (Rand, 2013). Case Study Current Scenario With regards to evaluate the use of social media on SMTEs in the form of a case study, a particular hotel namely High Beeches B&B has been taken into concern. In recent years, it can be ascertained that the hotel has adapted the strategy of using varied social media sites including Facebook and Twitter for the purpose of promoting its respective products and/or services to the worldwide customers. This strategy used by the organisation is proved to be highly effective. The several posts and updates made by this hotel in distinct social media platforms have certainly attracted the customers by a considerable extent. Notably, High Beeches B&B largely used several photographs and videos in the social media networks. These videos and photographs are highly liked and shared by majority of the customers (High Beeches, 2014; Hudson & et. al., 2013). Furthermore, it can also be apparently observed that High Beeches B&B being a SMTE is able to reduce its promotional costs using social media platform by a certain degree. Evidently, the organisation does not possess enough capital to promote its respective products and/or services through television. Thus, the strategy of using social media as a platform to promote the products of the organisation proved to be highly effective. This strategy of promoting the products through social media raised opportunity for this hotel in terms of raising brand recognition. It has been perceived that the hotel developed its brand recognition over the years by using social media in the UK. It is also observed that although the organisation possessed limited number of customers in the UK, these customers remained highly loyal towards the organisation (High Beeches, 2014; Hudson & et. al., 2013). By taking into concern the fact that the hotel High Beeches B&B has extensively used social media in order to promote its products, a greater attempt has been made by the hotel towards forming effective communication with the worldwide customers. The prime objective of the organisation with regards to the promotion of its products and/or services through social media is to portray the facilities that it provides to the customers. Correspondingly, the organisation portrayed natural beauty of its surroundings in distinct sites of social media for attracting the customers. This can be justified with reference to the fact that the hotel has portrayed the beauty of its city Bath in the pages of Facebook and Twitter. In this regard, the hotel portrayed the beauty of Abbeys and Cathedrals, Architecture and Monuments, Historic Attractions, Parks & Gardens, Museums, Falconry and The Cross Keys among others for attracting the customers. Apart from these, the organisation also depicted several items of the breakfast meals in varied social media pages. This also highly attracts the customers. Some of the items depicted by the hotel in the pages of distinct social media sites include fresh fruit juice, yogurt, fruit, toast, cereals and hot drinks among others. In addition, the organisation also depicted Full-English breakfast and Continental breakfast items in social media pages (High Beeches, 2014; Mair, 2013). Problems Identified There lay certain crucial issues that can be apparently observed to be persistent within the hotel High Beeches B&B in relation to the use of social media platforms. It will be vital to mention in this similar context that the organisation is incapable of attracting the customers outside the UK. Although the organisation holds a few of the customers outside the UK, still the number is negligible. Moreover, it is also observed that the organisation has used one of the social media platforms like Instagram in a limited manner. Conceptually, Instagram is regarded as a new social media platform, which became highly popular in this modern day context. It is quite important to note that the use of the social platform of Instagram is extremely important for a hospitality enterprise like High Beeches B&B, as it aids in portraying images efficiently. In this regard, portraying of images of the resort as well as the city Bath is of higher importance for the organisation from the perspective of ensuring long-term sustainability (High Beeches, 2014; Rajagopal, 2013). Solutions In relation to the above scenario, it can be ascertained that the hotel High Beeches B&B underwent through various issues while using social media. One of such vital issues can be traced as limited use of the social media platform i.e. Instagram. Thus, in terms of providing solutions, it is suggested that the hotel should introduce Instagram account after acquiring a detailed understanding about the same. The organisation must also consider in establishing the account containing detailed information through images. Besides, it is also advisable that the organisation should also consider strategies to attract customers outside the UK. In this regard, it can be affirmed that the organisation should modify its social media accounts and pages to reach the customers outside the UK. The organisation should also influence the customers outside the UK to view, like and share the social media pages and updates in the form of devising any sort of promotional strategy. It is worth mentioning that the introduction of mobile applications can be duly considered as one of such strategies, which would derive easy access to information regarding the products and/or services offer by the organisation to the customers. This would be highly attractive to the customers of the organisations outside the UK (High Beeches, 2014; Minnaert, 2013). Furthermore, another strategy, which can be suggested to the organisation, in order to attract more customers outside the UK, is providing the links of the organisation in social media pages. This would certainly lead the customers of the organisation to directly access its websites through the links provided in the pages of the social media platforms. It is worth mentioning that the organisation should also implement strategies for search engine optimisation. This is extremely supportive in attracting customers at large. Although this strategy is highly expensive for SMTEs like High Beeches B&B, it seems to be highly effective in attracting the potential customers. In this regard, it is observed that majority of the people of the world prefer to visit first few pages or web links of the search engines like Google for having better understanding of the products and/or services offer by the hotel (High Beeches, 2014; Minnaert, 2013). Discussion and Conclusion Discussion From the above discussion, it has been quite evident that varied social media platforms are used by the hospitality organisations for promoting their respective products and/or services. The use of social media is equally important for SMTEs like High Beeches B&B as evident from the case study designed above. Based on the case study designed, it can be ascertained that the organisation has extensively used different social media platforms for making effective long-term growth and development. Moreover, it can be affirmed that the organisation has been able to understand the need and importance of social media in the modern era of competitive business environment for ensuring long-term sustainability. The organisation has also understood the scope and prospect of promoting its varied products and/or services through social media. Hence, it has implemented the strategy of promoting its products through the use of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Moreover, the organisation has also grasped the opportunity of portraying its products in details through images in Facebook as well as in Twitter. The organisation has extensively used the social media pages in portraying the beauty of the City Bath. This is of extreme important for the organisation, as this would lead towards increasing knowledge regarding the beauty of the city and the other assets that attracts the tourist travellers. Moreover, the organisation has also grabbed the opportunity to portray the surrounding beauty of its resort in the social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. This also has been highly effective from the perspective of the organisation in attracting the customers. The resort has a very attractive natural beauty in its surroundings and hence, portraying the same is a very wise decision. Further, it is also worth mentioning that the interior decoration of the organisation has been highly attractive. In this regard, it can be apparently noted that the organisation has effectively used social media for portraying various accommodations through several images and videos in the social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Furthermore, the organisation also deciphered its dining facilities depicting all items that are served in meals. This strategy certainly proved highly beneficial from the perspective of the organisation in terms of attracting customers by a considerable extent (Sosinski, 2011; Bahadur & et. al., 2011). From the case study of High Beeches B&B, it is evident that the strategy of implementing social media platform for promotion has been highly effective. In this regard, it is observed that the organisation has been able to reduce the cost of promotions extensively through the use of social media platform. It is also evident that the organisation has been highly effective in enhancing inbound traffic through the use of social media as a promoting tool. This has significantly leaded to the growth of the organisation. Specially mentioning, with the use of social media, the hotel has been able to satisfy huge figure of customers. Moreover, it is also observed that the customers within the UK remained highly loyal to the organisation. This is prominently because of wider access of social media by the UK customers. It is worth mentioning that with the use of social media, the hotel will remain highly effective in enhancing customer experiences. Identifiably, the organisation has implemented all the possible measures to increase customer experiences. In this regard, it has uploaded quality images and videos about the products and/or services in distinct sites so that the customers’ satisfaction level can be enhanced by a greater extent (Lickorish & Middleton, 2013; Woodside, 2010). Although the hotel i.e. High Beeches B&B remained much effective in attracting the customers within the UK, it has not been able to attract customers outside the UK due to low level of usage of social media sites (Rajagopal, 2013). Recommendations From the case study designed, it can be found that the hotel High Beeches B&B remained much ineffective in attracting the customers outside the UK. One of the major reasons in this regard can be lack of using several other social media platforms for the purpose of promotion. Hence, it is advisable to the organisation that the organisation must use other platforms of social media that are widely accessed by the people outside the UK. One of such sites can be ascertained as the Instagram. It has been earlier mentioned that Instagram is highly effective for a hospitality organisation like High Beeches B&B in terms of attracting the customers by uploading relevant images of their respective products and/or services. Besides, it is recommended that the SMTEs like High Beeches B&B may also take into concern the use of mobile applications for fulfilling their desired requirements. This is because the mobile applications are highly useful as it is more convenient to access valuable and relevant information. It is observed in this context that a majority of the customers of this present day context use mobile phones at large. Thus, promotion through the use of mobile phone applications will be highly effective for High Beeches B&B. Apart from this, it is also advisable that the organisation should implement a strategy of introducing its links in diverse social media platforms, so that the customers can directly access to the same with ease. This is highly effective for any of the organisations like High Beeches B&B, as it tends to satisfy the customers in obtaining in-depth knowledge about the kind of products and/or services that are served to the global customers. It can be found that certain portion of the people of the UK and outside the nation do not possess adequate knowledge about the websites of High Beeches B&B. Thus, the introduction of links in the social media pages would be highly effective in attracting these sorts of customers. Moreover, it is also essential that the organisation should implement the strategy of using search engine optimisation. This strategy has been highly effective for most of the organisations operating in dissimilar industries towards attracting the customers. This is equally applicable in case of High Beeches B&B hotel. It can be determined that the customers mostly prefer to visit such websites or links that are displayed in the first page of a search engine. Thus, this strategy of using search engine optimisation will prove to be highly effective in attracting customers for the hotel. However, it cannot also be denied that using such tool for promotion is highly expensive. Conclusions Based on the above analysis and discussion, it is quite clear that the use of social media is significant for any hospitality organisation in this modern day context. This is equally useful to a SMTE in order to promote its products to the customers. Social media platform is extremely important and useful for SMTEs particularly in the domains of brand recognition, brand loyalty and brand authority. It is also useful in developing customers’ experiences towards embracing the products and/or services of an organisation. Specially mentioning, as per the case study designed, extreme use of social media is also useful in increasing the inbound traffic of the customers with providing extreme level of cost benefits. In relation to the above context, the designed case study depicts the usefulness of social media to High Beeches B&B. In this regard, it is observed that the organisation faced certain issues with regards to the use of social media by the customers residing outside the UK. Hence, certain recommendations have been drawn that might aid in addressing such issues by a certain extent. One of such recommendations is the use of other social media platforms including Instagram. It is also advisable that the organisation may also promote its respective products and/or services through the use of mobile applications. Apart from these, the other recommendations included introducing links in the social media pages and also promoting the aspect of search engine optimisation at large. Thus, in conclusion, it can be affirmed that the better use of social media by considering the above-discussed aspects would certainly help the SMTE i.e. High Beeches B&B to attain its predetermined targets in long run. References Anjum, A. H., 2013. Social Media Marketing. GRIN Verlag. Bahadur, G. & et. al., 2011. 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