Ryan Thompson, CMO of Blue Heron, joins Social Pros to discuss social strategy in the hospitality industry and why you should keep tabs on what your guests are saying on review sites. Huge thanks to our amazing sponsors for helping us make this happen. Please support them; we couldn't do it without their help! This week: Salesforce Marketing Cloud Airtable    Listen to your customers online! The hospitality industry can use social media to strengthen relationships with existing customers, promote their hotels and attract new guests. However, many hotels haven’t grasped the concept of social as an effective marketing communication tool. While they’re busy catching up, companies like Caesars Entertainment use social to swarm its customers and boost their online presence.  Social is a window into your customers’ lives and if you’re in the hospitality industry, you need to pay close attention to what your guests are saying about you online. 95% of travelers read online reviews before booking. So, if you roam in the travel and hospitality space, you need a frontline social team to respond to reviews whether guests are singing your praises or not. As our guest, Ryan Thompson, says, if you’re doing a good job of attracting the right people with your offering, your guests will help define the voice of your brand. Surprisingly, as Caesars Entertainment has proved, you don’t need an enormous team to surround your customers on social. In This Episode: 06:44 – How to structure a frontline social team and maintain a range of tonality across all social channels 13:01 – Tips to help hospitality businesses improve reach and engagement 16:30 – Why hospitality businesses need to pay close attention to review sites 19:11 – How to work with social influencers and brand ambassadors 24:03 – How email marketing can assist your social strategies 29:16 – How to use geo-based marketing and long-term campaigns to attract customers 33:34 – How to approach budgeting in a multifaceted organization Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce here. Find out more about the community at SocialMedia.org with a special form for Social Pros listeners here. Learn more about Airtable and get your free template here. Listen to this Social Pros Podcast episode featuring Carlos Garcia, CEO of HYP3R – “How Location-Based Social Chatter Unlocks Your Fans” here. Find out more about Caesars Entertainment here. Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.