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2017 Digital Trends for Hoteliers -Must Read!

The New Year welcomes a clean slate for new goals and aspirations for the year to come. These 2017 digital trends are key to upping your game in the hotel and lodging industry this year! 2017 is looking to be an exciting year in Wisconsin’s hotel and tourism industry and here are some of the helpful ideas and digital trends that are sure to get you noticed.

Domestic Travel

 The independent lodging industry is in for a treat in 2017. Domestic vacationing is one of the hottest trenSunny Country Road Sceneds of the year, and what an ideal trend for the hotelier! Travel agents in the United States are expecting to see an increase in domestic travel in 2017.  This means that your hotels, resorts and lodges could see increases in travelers staying at your properties, so how do you prepare? The first thing to do is realize that domestic travelers are looking for quick and easy trips. This means that weekend packages are going to be a hit. Partnering with local business to create packages to offer your guests, or offering incentives for booking at your hotel or lodge are two cost efficient ways to bring travelers to your hotel. Offering these in your website and integrated into your booking engine will help convert this coveted type of booking. Give it a try!

Look the Part 

Keep in mind that the website for your lodging property isn’t the only place that travelers are seeing who you are. Online travel agent websites such as TripAdvisor, Expedia, and Kayak are great places to get your hotel or lodge noticed by travelers. When your hotel or lodge is featured on an online travel agency site, there is a chance the traveler might not make it to your website before booking your hotel. What does this mean? It means that hoteliers need hedge their bets by looking their best on all websites promoting their hotels. Be sure to update and add recent professional photos to your online travel agency websites as well as your own website! Hoteliers that actively add current photos to their online travel agency sites saw increases of 138% in customer engagement. A simple task with a great return! By consistently updating photos to your own websites and to your booking agents’, the customer engagement can only rise.

Get Found

So your hotel can be found on a physical map but there is an even better way to get your hotel found by a huge potential client base. Google likes to rank websites based on their SEO (search engine optimization) rank, or the specific keywords that are used on your websites to get it noticed. So how do you get your property’s site noticed and found on the Internet? The first thing to do is Finger Pointing on a Mapto continue maintaining your website. Keeping your website current and updated will help you maintain control of what the customer sees when they visit your site. Next, you need to continue adding good solid content to your website. This means blogging about things that interest your guests and updating the content that is on your site. A helpful hint when blogging and adding content is to be as specific as possible! This means that instead of saying ‘hotel’ you will want to say ‘hotel in southern Wisconsin’. The more specific you are, the better luck you have of a search browser indexing your website content. The last key item to remember in regards to getting your website found is to keep up with the ever-changing world of technology. Updating your website to include the newest technology will only benefit your website when Google’s crawler visits and then decides who has earned the top spots on their search pages. If you can do these things to your website you are sure to see improvement and have guests finding you online.

Be Mobile

We warned you, the mobile era is here and there is no way to avoid it! In our blog Google Mobile, Goodbye Desktop—Hello Mobile Ranking, we talked about the importance of optimizing desktop websites so they can be easily accessible and user-friendly on mobile devices. One of the big trends for hoteliers to be aware of in 2017 is how the user utilizes both the desktop and mobile websites when booking. Travel agents are finding that nearly 90% of travelers jump back and forth from desktop to mobile websites when booking, making it critical for both mobile and desktop websites to operate with ease. What does this mean? The first thing to do is to ensure you also have a mobile-ready website for your hotel. Mobile-first design has actually taken over in priorities over desktop. Sites that are designed responsively, like the ones we create, do that mostly by default –and in tandem. That said, some final tweaking will still be needed make sure everything looks attractive on all devices and proper content is optimized for each.

By understanding these trends and maximizing this knowledge, hoteliers will start the 2017-year on a very strong foot! Interested in implementing one or more of these strategies? Give us a call, we’d love to help you with that.

Resources and recommended blogs: Words of VikramHotelMarketing.com

10 Alternatives to TripAdvisor Connect

This is the final part of our 4-part series. Our first 3 articles focused on how TripAdvisor Connnect is likely to impact the marketing plans of independent hotels and lodging properties. Now, it’s time to look at alternatives to TripAdvisor Connect. Of course, there are many things one can do instead of placing your business at the mercy of these large behemoth companies. Here we’ll look at a few of those options.  TripAdvisor Business Listing Pricing

As we wait to learn the final details of TripAdvisor Connect, it’s interesting to see how they are currently positioning themselves. I just discovered that TripAdvisor has doubled and tripled its Business Listings in preparation for their launch of the new TripAdvisor Connect. This is what a client was recently told, “With the introduction of TripAdvisor Connect and new property specific pricing, your Business Listing price has significantly increased as of October 1st. The rise in price reflects the increase in subscription value and highly qualified traffic, which means an increase in your property’s direct bookings and revenue.” They were then directed to a pricing wizard that spits out a price based on the Trip Advisor profile of the hotel. I understand this is based on ranking and number of rooms. Find the the price of your Trip Advisor Business listing here. Surprised? The writing is on the wall, prices are going up. How will this price increase affect your lodging in property’s ROI?

So what’s an Independent Lodging Property to do?

My advice, whether you go with TripAdvisor Connect or not, is to broaden your marketing base. As OTAs and TripAdvisor struggle to increase their profits, it’s more important than ever to create a strategy that gives your hotel wide exposure with multiple online sales channels.

The goal is to refine that mix over time until it returns consistent acceptable ROI, is affordable, and doesn’t suck all of your time. The entire list would be exhaustive, but here are a few suggestions.

1. Sign up with traveler experience and review sites like LonelyPlanetGogobot.comIgoUgo.com, TripWolfYelp!, HolidayTruths.co.uk. Many allow you to create a free listing for your hotel. So split your reviews between the ones that fit your demographic best. Ask some of your guests to provide feedback on some of these select sites, instead of Trip Advisor.
Try to sign up with Oyster.com. This is a revolutionary, professional review site brought to us by the Travel Channel. Their team investigates, reviews and rates each hotel. If your hotel is less than honest in its advertising they will expose that, too. So proceed with caution. Is your property up to snuff?Oyster.com

2. Buy annual commission-free subscriptions to sites like HomeAway.com, VRBO, or FlipKey (a TripAdvisor company). If your property fits into their business model (meaning- is your property set up so that you can advertise with a single room in mind? i.e. cabins and suites that resemble a condo experience) this can bring in excellent leads.

3. Encourage your guests to review via Booking.com and/or Expedia. Guest reviews on these sites are generally seen as more credible. Unlike Trip Advisor, these reviews can only be submitted by people that have actually stayed at the hotel. Good reviews here will also advance your ranking for better conversion on actual bookings.

4. Run a promo with your OTA partner (Expedia or Booking.com, etc.). Recent online development on these sites now include promotional wizards that you can set up on their Extranets and link directly to your PMS.
Run a sale and let those reservations feed into your system automatically. Some of these include:  Early booking, Minimum Stay, and Last Minute deal promotions.

5. Maximize your SEO to get found on the 1st page of Google & Bing. Obviously, the best lead for your business is one that links that guest directly to you. Approach SEO with a long-term goal of establishing a solid online presence and reputation and this will feed your hotel direct sales for many years to come. Start a Google+ Business page (Build your Google presence and gain even better SEO to drive guests to your website = no commission).

6. Register with online directories, like SuperPages and Hotfrog, that offer great exposure and valuable backlinks. Many travel-specific sites are available that achieve great position in Google for little to no money. Some examples of great local sites include RelaxWisconsin.com, Mexican Caribbean, and Stowe Travel Guide.

7. Become active on as many social media networks as you and your staff can manage. Of course, Facebook and Twitter are vital and basic. But for hotels, focus on sites that focus strongly on photos like Pinterest and Instagram. Photos are simply the best conversion vehicles.

8. Encourage guests to review your hotel on Google Local (formerly, Google Places). Make sure that your listing is complete with lots of photos from your property.Reputation

9. Run a group promotion like LivingSocial Escapes or Groupon Getaways. If accepted, these can really give nice returns. It may seem like you’re giving away your rooms too cheaply, but understand that many of these vouchers go unused which relates to free money in your pocket.

10. Keep nurturing your Trip Advisor rank, BUT simply allow your bookings to flow through to your from your OTA partners. Yes, you pay the commission but as we’ve shown you in a previous article, this may be the better alternative. The Show Prices button sends your potential guest to your page on the OTA, where they hopefully book and then you pay the commission on an actual booking. That might be more affordable than trying to buy all those clicks!  (Con- The thing to watch here is to check that the link goes to a specific page of yours and doesn’t send them to a menu of other hotels. This can happen when/if you’re not doing business with the winning CPC bidder. Its bait and switch at its finest.)

After you’ve broadened your online presence, then it’s time to track your progress. A vital part of achieving your goals is in choosing a PMS that supports various marketing channels and allows your bookings to be tracked for accurate measurement. You will need to continuously measure and refine, but over time you will be able to see exactly which channels are paying off. You’ll need a system that allows this to be done without being labor intensive. Give me a call. I’ll be happy help you explore your options (I do not charge for initial PMS consultations).

As an e-business advisor to the hospitality and leisure industry, Social Energizer helps with the selection, integration and implementation of property management systems, online sales channels and social media networks with a special focus on independent hotels, inns, resorts, and campgrounds.

Social Energizer integrates inbound marketing techniques into each marketing plan, creates dynamic and affordable websites fully optimized for Search Enginesthen utilizes digital channels and strategies like BlogsTwitterFacebookLinkedIn, and web-integrated Email Campaigns.

15 Trending Travel Terms

Moving your hotel to an automated, online integrated system is a big step.

Here are 15 Trending Travel Terms to help you with some of the new lingo.Reception

Property Management System (PMS)

The application used by the hotel to control onsite property activities such as check in/out, folios, guest profiles, room status, requests, etc. PMSs can have interfaces between other applications such as the hotel point-of-sale (POS) or central reservations system (CRS)

Central Reservation System (CRS)

The application used to manage a hotel’s distribution and hotel room bookings. Typically will be used to reach guests via multiple distribution channels such as travel agencies (via GDS), online travel agencies (such as Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, Priceline and others), direct to the hotel website, and telephone (either via call center, direct to property or both).

GDS (Global Distribution System)

Reaches 300,000+ IATA registered travel agents powered by four networks: Sabre, Amadeus, Worldspan and Galileo. Agents use one of these systems to book airline, car, hotel and other travel arrangements for their customers. OTAs also use one or more GDS to power some or all of their content on their site. Partner hotels easily keep up-to-date GDS / ODD room inventory and rates, and any travel agent or online customer can retrieve real time rates and room inventory and book instantly via GDS and ODD networks. Alternatively, Pegasus ODD (Online Distribution Database) connects 100’s of Internet travel portals or OTA’s (online travel agents) such as Orbitz, TravelNow, Expedia, and Hotwire.

Online Travel Agencies (OTA)

Websites offering comprehensive travel shopping and Reservations Solutions to consumers. Examples include Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, Priceline, and many local and regional sites.

Review Sites

A travel website that assists customers in gathering travel information, posting reviews and opinions of travel-related content and engaging in interactive travel forums.

TripAdvisor was an early adopter of user-generated content. The website services are free to users, who provide most of the content, and the website is supported by an advertising business model. Other popular review sites are IgoUgo,

Rate Parity

The strategy that all distribution channels of a hotel should reflect the same rate for the same conditions for a particular room type. Rate parity strengthens customer loyalty and encourages guests to book directly with the hotel where terms/policies may be more flexible, given the same pricing as in other channels.

Smart Hotel Website

A collection of well-designed web pages that communicate the essence of the hotel –online. Used as the focal point for guest information and holding the Web Booking Engine (WBE), it is the core of a hotel’s online presence. Smart websites pull in visitors through search engine marketing (SEO) that book directly with the hotel, potentially reducing commissions to OTAs and GDS channels.

Web Booking Engine (WBE)

An application residing on a hotel’s website, which allows prospective guests to shop for rooms and complete reservations.

Domain Name

A domain name is simply a website address, e.g. www.mycompany.com is a domain name. This is also sometimes called a URL.

Web Analytics

The process of analyzing visitor activity on a website. Web analytics also includes the measurement of metrics to determine site effectiveness.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)SEOProcess

The process of increasing the amount of visitors to website or page by ranking high in the search results of a search engine. The higher a Website ranks in the results of a search, the greater the chance that that site will be visited by a user. SEO helps to ensure that a site is accessible to a search engine and improves the chances that the site will be found by the search engine users.

Balanced Distribution Strategy

Determining when and through what channels to sell rooms based upon the cost of acquisition of the individual channel. By driving business to lower cost acquisition channels during high demand periods, hotels can maximize their profitability.

Occupancy

“Fill” measure of a hotel calculated by dividing the total number of rooms occupied by the total number of rooms available times 100, e.g. 75% occupancy.

ROI

Return On Investment is the measurement of costs minus income for a particular investment item.

Guest

The people who pay your salary. Your customer, the reason you do what you do.

Today’s Travel Decision Cycle [TRAVEL INFOGRAPHIC]

Today, we look at how travelers increasingly use online media and mobile technology throughout the various stages of travel. The art of travel has changed and the Travel Decision Cycle has evolved. The former model that usually included a travel agent and resources like the OAG (Official Airline Guide) no longer fits. Today’s model includes much more depth and social interaction in the ‘Planning’ stage, more automaton of the transactional ‘Booking’ stage and once again, more depth and social interaction in the after-travel phase of ‘Sharing’.Travel Decision Cycle

Travel Decision Cycle 

The stages of the Travel Decision Cycle are:  Dreaming, Planning, Research, Travel Reviews, Booking, Experiencing and Sharing. The travel infographic below shows some of the online companies that support this market. Some companies, like Trip Advisor, Facebook and Pinterest have services that support more than one stage.

Top Online Travel Companies

As of this writing, these are the big players in travel: TrippyPinterestGogobot, Citybot, Tripline, TouristEye, Worldmate, Tripit, RelaxWisconsin (a product of SocialEnergizer.com), Momando, Virtual Tourist, Facebook, Fodor’s, Yelp, Trip Advisor, Google Places, IgoUgo, Yahoo Local, Kayak, Hotwire, Travelocity, Expedia, Priceline, CheapOAir, Hotels.com, Hipmunk, Booking.com, Orbitz, Hotel Website Booking Engines, FlipKey, AirBNB, HomeAway, VRBO, Foursquare, Tripwolf, and Flickr.

Watch for future articles on each of these providers and the roles they play in each part of the travel cycle. Do you know of some we’ve missed? Please add them in the comments and we’ll add and update the infographic.

Is Your Hotel Facebook Nearby Ready?

Facebook Nearby is picking up momentum. It raises some important questions for hoteliers.

  1. Does your hotel have a Facebook Page optimized for business?
  2. Can people ‘check-in’ to your hotel on Facebook?
  3. How important are guest reviews to your business?
  4. Do you actively manage your reviews? And seek new ones?
  5. Will Facebook ‘Nearby’ be able to pick up your location?
  6. Is your site mobile ready?

Below are a couple of excerpts on a post from Revinate (via Are Morch) on new features from Facebook that will be vital for hotels.

“What Hotels & Restaurants Should Know About Facebook Nearby Upgrade

Photo (1)Yesterday, Facebook announced upgrades to their mobile application’s Nearby functionality for both the iPhone and Android. This upgrade now positions Facebook’s mobile app much closer to Foursquare’s recent local recommendation terrain, as users can search and find local businesses to visit, based on their proximity, by name or category. In addition to enhancing the application’s local discovery functions, Facebook’s Nearby also now comes with a 5 star ratings system for local businesses that is noticeably comparable to both Yelp‘s 5 point scale as well as Foursquare’s recent 10 point rating system.”

“Action Items for Hotels & Restaurants

PhotoWith about one out of four Facebook users worldwide tagging at least one of their posts each month by location, the now two-year old ability to share your mobile check-in with others has clearly reached a critical mass. With half of Nearby visits coming from mobile users, Facebook has additionally overhauled the Places Pages design for mobile as well, which means more changes to pay attention to that have direct hospitality implications. Accordingly, here are some action items to tick off when conducting your audit of your hotel or restaurant’s Facebook Places page.

  1. Update Your About SectionFor hotels, this section must include all of your basic information (phone number, physical address, email address, description of your property and general facility information) as well as the all important website link. Be sure that this website link direct users to your mobilly-optimized website so that you don’t miss the opportunity to capture more mobile traffic to your site. For restaurants, the same basic information from above applies, as well as ensuring hours of operation, price range, specialties, attire, services, and payment options are all up-to-date. While these categories do not differ from your desktop-accessible Facebook Business Page, they’re important to review as the likelihood of receiving a positive rating may be contingent on these basic pieces of information.
  2. Update Your CategoryThis may sound self-explanatory, but particularly in the case of restauranteurs, categorizing your business can have a huge impact on the foot-traffic your dining establishment may receive. With over 20 subcategory options to choose from, make sure you’re accurately representing the restaurant cuisine experience so not to disappoint the customer.
  3. Encourage Ratings & Reviews: As is the case with every social media and online reputation management practice, the best way to generate more interest in your business is simply by asking. Don’t shy away from encouraging your consumers to like, check into, rate, and recommend your place. Like Yelp, these ratings can have a significant impact on the consumer’s likelihood to visit your establishment, as they are prominently displayed directly on the landing page of the business listing.

If you find your hotel or restaurant is on Facebook Nearby but has not been merged with your brand’s Facebook Business Page, OR is simply not showing up on Nearby at all, do not fear! To remedy this dilemma, Facebook offers a great couple of resources to help assist with this issue.”

Click here to read the full article at Revinate.

 

Additional Revenue Model for Hotels

Catalin calls this hotel strategy The Catwalk Concept. It is fundamentally an additional revenue model for hotels that uses the concept of sponsoring brands that may be used within the hotel.Catwalk

Excerpt from Catalin at Cain:

“A branded hotel can take three specific steps to capitalise on this opportunity:

  • First, conduct research to identify specific brands of other products and services that appeal to their guests, for example, one such brand could be a particular type of flat-screen television whose design and price tag has been targeted to a specific type of customer.
  • Second, explain to the companies identified the benefits of gaining access to their guests; the hotel could build guest market profiles to support the claims that its guests fit the profile of the flat-screen television’s target audience.
  • Third, find inconspicuous ways to grant these companies access to the guests, for example, the hotel could agree to display the flat-screen televisions in its rooms so that the guests interact freely with the product, without ever feeling part of a marketing campaign.”

Just like pro-fisherman and Nascar racers, who rely heavily on sponsorships, hotels are in the position to heighten the visibility of certain branded products that they use. Presenting an even better opportunity, is the ability to actually put that brand in a potential customer’s hands. Need a new mattress? Try it out at a sponsored hotel. Love the sheets? Buy them directly from the hotel.

Some of the larger hotel chains, like Hampton Inns, have been selling their bedding for a while now. How could this work for small to medium-sized hotels? Is anyone doing this now?

Here’s a shout out to brands that supply hotels -is this an attractive proposition for you? What would a hotel need to do to begin this partnership? I’m thinking that for a brand there is great potential here for some very valuable social media interaction.

Find the full article at Cain, a Strategy and Innovation Agency located in the United Arab Emirates.

Naked truth about online hotel reviews [INFOGRAPHIC]

A great article and infographic on the nature of online hotel reviews. I find these statistics interesting and feel likely that they are accurate.Traveler review graphic

The most interesting points here are that 81% of travelers find reviews important and 49% of travelers won’t book a hotel without reviews. This means that an important part of any hotels marketing strategy needs to pay attention to the amount and quality of incoming reviews and have a plan in place to keep reviews positive and accurate.

It came as no surprise for me that women were the most likely to leave a review (53% over men at 47%), because women are also most likely to plan the trip and complete the reservations.

What I’d like to see is information on how reviews increase sales. We find that our clients’ sales increase remarkably as their review rankings increase. When managed well, reviews can be a controllable sales factor and I urge hoteliers to put a strategy in place to maximize good reviews and address any negative reviews positively and quickly because, as they say, this is the ‘Naked Truth about hotel reviews’.

Naked truth about online hotel reviews [INFOGRAPHIC] | Tnooz.

Howard Schultz’ Conversation With America -An Update

Social Energizer’s blogging goal is to bring attention to trends and issues that matter to small and medium-sized business owners. Although our intent is to be non-political, matters of national interest affect small and medium-sized businesses far more often than we’d like. That is why last month, in The Coffee Party Anyone? Howard Schultz of Starbucks”, we covered the story of CEO Howard Schultz of Starbucks asking fellow business owners not to contribute to national political campaigns “until a ‘fair bi-partisan long-term fiscal plan’ is created and in place.”Congressional Funding Fall 2011

Guess what? Today, I’m happy to report, it seems to be working! Last night, CBS Anchor, Scott Pelley reported, “In the third quarter of 2007, congressional reelection campaigns took in $201 million in contributions. Our Washington bureau crunched the numbers for the third quarter of this year and it`s just $69 million.”

Their report did not link the possibility that perhaps, Mr. Schultz’ combined efforts with No Labels, a non-political reform-oriented organization, is indeed having an affect on national politics. To be fair, there is a lot of similar sentiment in America today, but I think these numbers clearly show that the efforts of Mr. Schultz and his movement have had a measureable impact.

As I write this article today though, I am concerned. There does not appear to be significant recent online postings or much news coverage since the ‘town hall’ meeting in mid-September that started a conversation on partisanship, the national debt and the economy. Please, as so often happens in America, we cannot stop our efforts until we have accomplished what we have set out to do. Undoubtedly, there are more businesses to align with, more events that can bring impactful awareness.

Yes, Mr. Schultz, I believe it is working! You have created a powerful movement and started to move the needle. But, the movement has not yet accomplished its goal. We almost have it, let’s keep it going. Now is the time to get out and beat the drum even more loudly.

Social Energizer’s purpose is to help companies develop lasting relationships with their customers and increase their visibility online.

In addition to building dynamic and affordable websites, we integrate inbound marketing techniques into each business’ current marketing plan and utilize digital channels and strategies like Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Search Engine Optimization, and Web-integrated Email Campaigns.

Give us a call today!

Wisconsin’s Herb Kohl on Monopoly-Busting Google

This just in…
Herb Kohl’s office released this press release yesterday. Below are excerpts from his Opening Statement Of U.S. Senator Herb Kohl For The Of Hearing, “The Power Of Google: Serving Consumers Or Threatening Competition?”

Herb Kohls Senate Webpage image

“The basic premise of Google at its founding was that it would build an unbiased search engine — that consumers would see the most relevant search result first, and that the search results would not be influenced by the web page’s commercial relationship with Google. Its goal was to get the user off Google’s home page and on to the websites it lists as soon as possible. As Google’s co-founder and current CEO Larry Page said in 2004, “We want you to come to Google and quickly find what you want. Then we’re happy to send you to the other sites. In fact, that’s the point.”

However, as Internet search has become a major channel of e-commerce, Google has grown ever more dominant and powerful, and it appears its mission may have changed. For the last five years or so, Google has been on an acquisition binge, acquiring dozens of Internet-related businesses, culminating most recently with its proposed acquisitions of Motorola Mobility and Zagats. It now owns numerous Internet businesses, including in health, finance, travel, and product comparison. This has transformed Google from a mere search engine into a major Internet conglomerate. And these acquisitions raise a very fundamental question — is it possible for Google to be both an unbiased search engine and at the same time own a vast portfolio of web-based products and services? Does Google’s transformation create an inherent conflict of interest which threatens to stifle competition?

In the last few years, Internet businesses that compete with Google’s new products and services have complained that Google is now behaving in a way contrary to free and fair competition. They allege that Google is trying to leverage its dominance in Internet search into key areas of Internet commerce where it stands to capture from its competitors billions of dollars in advertising revenue. Rather than fairly presenting search results, these critics claim that Google has begun to subtlety bias its search results in favor of its own services. This conduct has the potential to substantially harm competition for commerce on the Internet, and retard innovation by companies that fear the market power of Google.

Antitrust scrutiny is not about picking winners and losers, but is about fostering a fully competitive environment so that consumers can fairly pick winners and losers. As more and more of our commerce moves to the Internet, it should be the highest priority of antitrust policymakers that the Internet remains a bastion of open and free competition as it has been since its founding. We need to protect the ability of the next Google to emerge, the next great website or application being developed in a garage in Silicon Valley or Madison, Wisconsin.”

I’m glad our legislators are looking into this subject. I’ve long thought that Google is the ‘new Walmart’, but I’ve been hesistant to say anything. (Google controls my SEO). As you know, I’m always on the side of small and medium-sized businesses. I think Mr. Kohl, once again, has taken the lead on a difficult, but timely subject. What do you think?

The World Media Awards: Why YOU Must Enroll

World Media Awards Logo

I was recently asked by Murray Newlands to support the World Media Awards coming up February 25, 2012 in San Francisco. I am often quite a skeptic and I try to look things over carefully (maybe it’s my german heritage upbringing and living in conservative Appleton, WI. And getting spam-scammed online recently). So I took a good look at the whole project and the people involved. All I can say is, the more I look things over on this subject the more excited I get. This is going to be BIG!

Here’s what Murray had to say about the upcoming Media Awards:

There are lots of remarkable bloggers and publishers doing outstanding work, and those who stand out deserve to have their hard work recognized, associate with each other, and see their readerships grow. That’s why the World Media Awards exist- to recognize and reward great contributions to media from bloggers and publishers.   In my own career, I’ve learned and benefited so much from others that I wanted to help establish some way to give back to an industry I love and show appreciation to the up-and-coming leaders. The World Media Awards will culminate in a one day event in San Francisco that will celebrate the best in blogging, forums, publishing and media from around the world.

So if you are a first class blogger, why should you enter?

1. Get Recognized- You Deserve ItWorld's Best Tile

You put a lot of effort into making your blog amazing. You know it and your readers know it. The World Media Awards is a way for you to get authoritative credit from other bloggers and industry experts. That recognition will help you develop your readership, make new collaborative connections, and hopefully have a few warm fuzzy moments that make all the late nights even more rewarding.

2. Meet Other Bloggers Who Care

Blogging, forums and most other online media is about conversation and interaction, but sometimes it’s easy to end up pecking away behind a monitor in your office or home all alone. Meeting other bloggers and publishers keeps the fire lit and the conversation going. When you enter the World Media Awards, you’ll be listed alongside other bloggers and publishers who put the same level of pleasure, attention and effort into making their blog top notch.

3. Expose Yourself to New Partners

If your blog or forum is part of your business, being part of the World Media Awards will increase your exposure by putting your name in front of countless visitors to our site and the award ceremony. That means you can find out who else is doing very good work, strut your own stuff, and expand your network of contacts and collaborators.

4. Make Yourself Irresistible to Clients

What helps your chances at winning that next pitch more than extending your network? Telling that network that you are the winner of a World Media Award. Winning an award shines a light on your success, and it serves as an example of the commitment, engagement and exacting standards you apply to your work.

5. Be Part of the Beginning of Something Big

Because 2012 is the first year for these awards, you have the one-time chance to be the inaugural winner and set the standard for the World Media Awards in your category. Getting in on the ground floor of these awards will open doors for you as a blogger and a publisher.   The bottom line is, the World Media Awards will shine a spotlight on the year’s most successful bloggers and publishers, and on the businesses that serve and interact with them.

Now is your chance to be one of them.

Twitter hashtag #wmads

The sponsors include GrowmapPace LattinVigLink and Trancos. World Media Award judges include Steve Hall, Sarah Austin, Chang Kim, Julie Wohlberg, Pierre Zarokian, Ivka Adam, Cheryl Contee, Krystyl Baldwin, Adrian Harris, Jeremy Wright, Rob Bloggeries, Dave Duarte, Tanya Alvarez, Dana Oshiro, Tom Foremski, and Judith Lewis.

Media partners include Adrants, Bloggeries, MediaVision, The Affiliate Marketing Awards, Read Write Web, My Blog Guest, Web Traffic Control and FeedBlitz. Murray Newlands is author of How to Make a Blog Book and Online Marketing; a User Guide. He is also founder of the Affiliate Marketing Awards. Born in the UK, he now spends his time in San Francisco and New York. Murray works for Audience Mindshare and consults for Trancos Ins as well as being an advisor for VigLink. Actually he is working on his new book: The Email Marketing Book.

Social Energizer’s purpose is to help companies develop lasting relationships with their customers and increase their visibility online.

In addition to building dynamic and affordable websites, we integrate inbound marketing techniques into each business’ current marketing plan and utilize digital channels and strategies like Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Search Engine Optimization, and Web-integrated Email Campaigns.

Give us a call today!