Social – the great leveller

Like, share, win.

In the new world of Comping, social is King. From ‘explaining-in-five-words-why’, to ‘share-for-a-chance-to’, news feeds are constantly spammed with an oft-overwhelming stream of noisy brands’ attempts at eliciting a response. Some do it in a slick, clever way, some make you want to poke yourself in the eye.

The beauty of social is the levelling of the marketing playing field. Not just for the big boy brands with the huge marketing budgets, a well-run, brand-aligned social strategy is within the reach of any business that bothers to invest and nurture it.

Birchover Hotel Apartments is a small, family-fun company of two boutique hotels. Boasting an impressive awards resume, the Derby hotel is also ranked in Trip Advisor’s Top 25 Hotels in the UK 2015 and the Nottingham branch, #1 on booking.com, despite opening a mere 11 months ago.

Beautifully decorated suites, spa-like tubs and all the added luxury you’d expect, the hotel aesthetic doesn’t disappoint.

Competitive advantage? Not a bit of it.

So how to differentiate?

Birchover’s latest Facebook comp is an opportunity to win a weekend break. So far, so same. To enter, you must nominate a special person who deserves a break. Don’t want to put it out there for all to see? The option’s there to email direct.

Nice touch.

After emailing off my entry, I get a ping straight back. From the owner. At 10pm.

Warm, grateful and sympathetic, Carl thanks me for entering the competition and shares personal information. Unexpected and delightful, it’s a real warm-fuzzy moment of insight into the brand.

Head on over to Tripadvisor and the brand promise continues to ring true. Excellent reviews, personal thank yous and honest conversations that build real relationships.

As the popularity of weekend breaks and staycations continues, the-beautiful-weekend-retreat finds itself in an increasingly competitive market. Differentiation on price isn’t sustainable, devalues luxury positioning, and before you know it, you’re into Groupon territory.

What owners Carl and Lisa have done beautifully is to capitalise on and invest in the opportunity to speak directly to customers and to listen when they speak. And the results speak for themselves.

Retention is cheaper than recruitment and the power of Word of Mouth is amplified exponentially across social. Invest in this, nurture it, do it better than your competitors.

Bottom line, you’ll do better than your competitors.

Tags: brand promise, competitive advantage, customer retention, positioning, social