Social Media in Revenue Management

Question:
What is the relevance of social media to revenue management?

-Revenue Manager in a city hotel

Our Answer:

Depends. If direct or retail or leisure or FIT (fully independent travelers) comprise a significant part of your revenue mix, then you’ll want to know how your brand is being perceived versus your competitors when you’re making rate changes. As consumers have choice and they shop around for value, you have to be constantly aware of the perception of the value you bring to the table versus your competitors.

Current revenue management takes into account demand and seasonality, but very few take into account perception data as that’s really never existed before until now. Hence Revenue Managers who are able to figure out the relationship between the social media perception of their brand with their direct business (e.g. branded website conversion) will be a step ahead in terms of being able to compete analytically.