Social Media Engagement
We’ve always believed that page likes and followers don’t matter in your Social Media strategy. But what does matter is the level of engagement and interaction you can get your customers to have with your brand. I recently saw a hotel run a contest on their Facebook page that spiked the interactions that their customers were having with their brand. It was interesting how the brand also seemed to be having fun back with them.

Hotel Case Study
At about 12:30pm on Thursday afternoon they posted the following on their Facebook page:

TIME TO BID! Friday night full ocean view Jacuzzi Suite up for grabs. Bid starts at $20. Cut off time is 12:00 (noon) Friday, September 25. Winner must hold on to bid for 5 min. or time keeps on going past cut off. taxes not included.
Only to be used This Friday! Good Luck!

The hotel had 1,658 likes on their Facebook when they posted the above. While some people jumped in and posted a number (21, 24, then 26 and so on), others asked questions on the post while the bidding was going on. The hotel was on top of it, posting responses, reminding people of the time left to bid etc. Both bidders and the hotel were bantering back and forth.

The fact that the hotel room ended up selling for $51 might be disappointing to the hotel, but I don’t think so… they had inventory available and used it in a creative way to engage with their followers and fans on their Facebook page. Next time people are in the area do you think this hotel will be front of mind for a reservation?

Golf Courses Could Run This Facebook Contest
The next time you have three or four open times in a row (make sure the weather is decent), post the following at noon the day before the tee time you have selected (a foursome):

TIME TO BID: Tomorrow at 1:30pm we have a foursome up for grabs. The bid starts at $25 (or whatever you want but remember this about gaining engagement not making money. Think of it as marketing). The cut off time is 8:00am tomorrow (date). Winner must hold the bid for 5 minutes or time will continue past the cut-off. The successful bidder can only use their winning bid for (date) at 1:30pm. Bids can be entered in the comments below. Good Luck!

If you try this we would love you to post your feedback on how it went in the comments below.

We, Jeff & Tara Ciecko of CK Golf write two blogs, one is our 19th Hole Blog where we share personal experiences and the other a Biz Blog where we comment on general business and internet marketing best practices, golf course marketing and give golf industry related opinions. We have owned CK Golf  for 8 years and provide marketing, social media and business services to the golf and other industries. Our 19th Hole Blog is about the places we visit and the things we do. When we say that we like or dislike something or have a good or bad experience this is our opinion and the truth as we see it, not something we have been paid for. If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact us anytime.

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