You know how people like to share photos of their vacations to wherever on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram? According to a new report from USA Today, they might not be doing that to show off and make you feel like your life is terrible. A recent program aimed at generating free press on social media platforms among multiple hotels could be to blame.
Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants has launched a new program, the Kimpton Karma Rewards program, to reward their guests and potential customers for sharing positive news relating to their business on the world’s most popular social media platforms. Social media statuses, reviews, tweets and pictures of their hotel rooms — any of these actions will earn customers points towards discounts, complimentary stays and meals, and more. Kimpton joins the likes of Delta Airlines, Club Carlson, and others who reward customers for generating some buzz for them online.
Social Media Increasingly the Place to Get Noticed
Pushing customers to generate social media buzz for their brand is an extremely savvy move. Facebook, for example, had 1.28 billion active users as of March 2014, according to the company’s latest statistics. If Kimpton and others can promote growth in visibility on an ever more central stage — effectively for nothing — why not?
Pairing Social Media with Loyalty Programs is a Small Stroke of Genius
Promoting customers’ usage of social media and pairing it with a loyalty program may just be one of the smartest marketing ploys businesses have had in a long time. According to a study on the effectiveness of the popular Stash Rewards Program, for example, loyalty programs increase usage of hotels and the amount spent on those hotels significantly. In fact, nights spent per year jump by 49% among hotels that use a loyalty program. All of this to say that putting the biggest social technology together with a very effective marketing stratagem will likely yield huge dividends for Kimpton and anyone else jumping on-board.