Published: 07 Jan 2009: Lodging Interactive has rolled out its travel 2.0 marketing services for hotels.
The HuBBub social media platform is a turn-key marketing service which leverages travel 2.0 technologies to extend a hotel´s online branding, marketing and communication strategies.
HuBBub combines blogging, RSS feed syndication, Twittering and email harvesting with hotel profiles on Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, Twitter, Photobucket, Squidoo, Wikipedia and others.
"Research indicates there are over 72 million registered users who interact on social media websites at least once a month. And, 89 percent of US online buyers read customer reviews before they make a purchase," said DJ Vallauri, Lodging Interactive´s founder and president.
"Social media websites are a viable distribution and marketing opportunity for hotels that will continue to grow. Our HuBBub Social Media Platform maximises this opportunity in a manner that makes it easy for a hotel to ´join in the conversation´."
The HuBBub Social Media Platform resides at the center of it all and provides RSS feed syndication which ´pushes out´ hotel specials, promotions and announcements to subscribers. In addition, HuBBub is fully integrated with the major social media websites via travel 2.0 custom widgets and badges.
Richard Walsh, vice president of business development for Lodging Interactive said the goal as with all online marketing is, of course, to attract potential guests to your website.
"But, it is also an opportunity to create a viral network of guests and potential guests. The unique benefit to social media is the opportunity to build a relationship between buyers and sellers. Your social media relationship will exist prior to the purchase as well as after the purchase, creating a viral network of guests and potential guests. Social Media will not displace commercial advertising or brand standardisation, but it does provide an opportunity for each hotel to deliver its unique sales message, interact with past and future guests, travel agents and meeting planners directly and to build on its presence where shoppers go to make their buying decisions," said Walsh.
