3 Key Takeaways from Everything Content & Social Summit

Last month members from our marketing team attended a one-day event, Everything Content & Social presented by Denver Digital Summit. The event featured several workshops and lectures focused on all things related to content and social media. Here are our three key takeaways that will be important to consider for your property’s business this year.

Capitalizing on the “experience economy”

The term “experience economy” was discussed at length as not necessarily a new term but a re-emergence as a distinct economic contribution, separate from goods and services.

It was quoted that, “72% of millennials would rather buy experiences over physical goods,” a strong indication of where customers are willing to spend their money. Spending has shifted from a product focus to experience focus. In fact, when looking at the different categories for which people are spending their money, vacations and tourism saw an increase of 27.3% since 2013, the second fastest growing category, closely following leisure and entertainment.

With the rise of social media also came the rise of a cultural phenomenon called FOMO (fear of missing out). Understanding this cultural shift, as a property owner, you must start thinking about how you can create an experience that guest will want to experience for themselves and share with others. Creating an experience that a guest wants to share with their envious friends is one way in which you can stand out from the crowd and gain additional exposure and customer loyalty. The key to creating this experience is identifying what makes your property unique. Once you have that identified it is simply a matter of showcasing your uniqueness and getting your guests to do it as well.

Just do it: social video

You’ve heard us talk about video and the importance of this sharing medium. The Summit stated that “81% of internet traffic in 2020 will be video.” For most, the idea of creating a video can seem a bit daunting. Thoughts of a budget, no experience, and just general lack of time always create reasons for not doing video. But the reality is, businesses can’t afford not to do video. We aren’t all movie stars and video producers, but your guests don’t expect you to be. Perfection is unobtainable, so set aside the excuses, embrace all the reasons you should employ video, and just press play. You must start somewhere!

It pays to be human

In this digital world, people still gravitate towards businesses and products that come across “more human”. Through the advancements of email, messaging apps, social media etc. it is easy to think the human touch has escaped us when communicating with customers.

Think of your overall business as having these human traits (listed below), such as emotional intelligence and vulnerability. By leveraging these traits in the form of your business, you will be able to create a brand/business that is more relatable and more memorable to your guests.

• Cultural consciousness –
  • Leverage brand purpose or values
  • Rethink your insights
• Perspective –
  • Insert a POV (point of view) into your brand story
  • Use your POV to join in on other conversations
• Principal behavior –
  • Rally around relevant cultural topics
  • Give without asking
• Emotional intelligence –
  • Use your own data to create empathy
  • Develop a distinctive voice
  • Don’t push your own agenda
• Vulnerability
  • Embrace your flaws
  • Engage in honest conversations
  • Exercise self-awareness

Watch for other conferences and workshops the rezStream team will be attending in 2019 and subscribe to our monthly blogs to stay up to date with the latest information.