A social media case study by Windchimes Communications that highlight how India's leading hospitality brand ITC WelcomGroup used social media to engage with its guests - existing and potential - in the online space.

1. A Social Media Marketing Case Study

2. Objectives

3. How did we do it ?

4. Platforms Identified

5. Stage I Reviving Presence

6. Restarting Conversations Reviving interaction by sharing interesting information from the ITC – WG blog – WelcomZest

7. Making presence felt on Twitter Connecting with Tweeple interested in the brand and the sector Tweeting interesting information to revive interest in the brand and get the conversation started!

8. Customizations for ITC - WG Testimonial Tab on Facebook

9. Fans interacting on Facebook Tabs Leveraging celebrity power to communicate the popularity of ITC - WG Many comments received on the testimonials by fans of ITC - WG

10. Customizations on Twitter Achieving uniform look and conveying common branding across social media platforms

11. Stage II Awareness Informing people about various events and offers from ITC - WG

12. Leveraging Social Media Releases Shared social media releases on unique offers by ITC – WG to spread awareness. Received over 1500 views in a month!

13. Creating Buzz around Welcomcuisine Sharing regular information on food festivals & deals, helped increase walkins to the restaurants

14. Creating excitement around special food-led events Fans expressed interest in the food festivals , with many saying that they would visit ITC – WG hotels!

15. Fuelling fans’ imagination with stunning visuals Effectively leveraged the power of visual imagery to capture fan attention & spark off conversations!

16. Riding on the celebrity quotient to create awareness for ITC WG - properties

17. Tapping into the power of Influencers

18. Engaged with top bloggers to experience ITC – WG hospitality and write about it

19. International Influencer Engagement Engaged with Nellie Huang, one of the world’s top travel bloggers, to stay at ITC – WG properties during her visit to India, garnering major international publicity in the process

20. Review of ITC Grand Central on Wild Junket The post was retweeted by fans Led readers back to ITC-WG website

21. Nellie highlights unique aspects of ITC - WG Excellent reviews of the restaurants

22. Nellie brings alive ITC – WG hospitality for her readers

23. Highlights of the review Nellie writes about the highlights of the properties visited by her – the architecture…

24. Highlights of the review And goes on to give rave reviews on the spa

25. Nellie Huang, top travel blogger with 4500 followers tweets about ITC-WG! Recommended restaurants at ITC-WG Praised the hospitality shown by the hotel Exchanged tweets about ITC-WG with fellow tweeple

26. ITC – WG Pictures tweeted by Nellie registered over 1000 views

27. Stage III Engagement Encouraging & incentivizing audiences to respond Responding to and addressing customer queries and issues

28. Contests to drive the popularity of events held at ITC-Welcomgroup Hotels The contest was built around the idea that users first had to ‘like’ the page to register & also spread the word by tagging ITC - WG in their entries Contest received over 70 entries in a week!

29. Using Polls on Facebook Poll on Favorite Luxury Collection Hotel drew 242 votes Users were asked to tag their favorite hotel in a photo album

30. Customized Application to reinforce the connect between ITC – WG & its green initiatives The results when published gave out the ITC low carbon footprint message 400 users of the application!

31. Addressing queries on Facebook Facebook Fans now regularly ask queries regarding services and events of ITC-WG

32. Addressing queries on Twitter Users regularly tweet queries which are answered immediately providing for enhanced customer experience

33. Engaging with Customers on Twitter Searching for users talking about ITC-Welcomgroup & then engaging with them to learn about their experiences & give recommendations

34. Stage IV Participation Participating in conversations online

35. Participating in conversations with guests over Twitter ITC – WG guests on Twitter, impressed that ITC-WG is using social media to converse with its guests

36. Establishing the connect between online presence & actual experiences at the hotels Engaged with an international guest tweeting about ITC-WG, & followed it up with a special welcome for him the next time he checked in Converting a guest into a brand loyalist

37. Participating in Discussions Took part in relevant conversations and informed interested travellers about options available at ITC - WG

38. Results

39. Increase in Fans on Facebook A 100% increase in the no. of fans since March 2010!

40. Exponential jump in interaction levels on Facebook Nearly 600% increase in the interaction levels

41. Phenomenal growth on Twitter Over 300% growth in the number of followers

42. Thank You www.windchimes.co.in