Grand Sierra Resort Excels in Customer Service via Twitter

One night one of my friends tweeted to me and said “Hey Kristin, you should interview the @grandsierra because they do an excellent job with their social media.” Before I could even respond, Ian and I already had a response from Grand Sierra thanking us for the compliment! So of course, I headed to Grand Sierra Resort to meet the face behind GSR’s social media.

The Grand Sierra Resort towers 26 stories and 1,990 rooms over Reno, just 3 miles east of Downtown. You may have once known this property as The Hilton, prior to that as Bally’s Reno, or even before that as the MGM Grand Reno (Hello Hollywood Hello, anyone?). The GSR still has a preserved chandelier from the MGM. The Meruelo Group saw the great potential in GSR and bought it in February of 2011.

Today, the GSR is undergoing a $25 million renovation. Many customers expressed concern with the lighting in the building as well as a need for more nightlife, and GSR is responding. Changes being made consist of: brighter carpet, more lighting, vibrant colors, Wet Ultra Lounge, the casino floor, an enclosed VIP Lounge, and much more. The GSR is thrilled to unveil the changes, which have all been requested by their guests. The GSR staff prides themselves in their ability to respond to customer demand. GSR has even given each individual the power to receive virtually instant answers via Facebook, Twitter and Miss Sara Robbins.

Sara Robbins, Las Vegas native, UNR graduate and GSR’s Social Media Manager- is the bubbly voice behind the 23,098 fan-based Facebook and 2,853 following on Twitter.  Being a social media manager isn’t just any position at the GSR, it’s an around-the-clock voice for the cusomers. Just last week, Sara attended the Florence and The Machine concert at GSR. While she was enjoying her evening rocking out to one of her favorite bands- her IPhone never left her hands as she instantly responded to the over 50 tweets from guests at the concert. Always within reach for Sara: IPhone, IPad and laptop.

“If our guests have questions, we have to give them answers. We don’t have a Facebook and Twitter just to have one. We utilize these tools to engage with our fans and customers. It’s also a way to monitor what people are saying about us- good or bad, so we can respond accordingly. It’s part of our success!”

The importance of having someone monitor all of a company’s social media sites is so crucial- and often overlooked. The GSR monitors Mapquest, Yelp!, Travelocity, any and all review websites, Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter and blog…just to name a few! Sara has been designated the responsibility of assuring that each and every channel of info for the GSR is accurate, providing their guests with answers. Got a question or a comment? Tweet @grandsierra or post on their Facebook and you will hear back soon with an accurate answer.

As GSR’s Social Media Manager, Sara takes pride in her work. She can remember occasions when she would tweet to her favorite bands or Verizon- and they would reply instantly to her.

“It’s a great feeling when you get an instant response from an organization or business, it makes you feel so connected to that brand. I want to offer that to our guests. If I receive a question that I can’t answer, I will go find someone who can.”

The Grand Sierra resort is leading by example in the world of social media customer service. Hats off to GSR and Sara Robbins for providing a means for their fans and customers to get instantly connected with this resort and casino.

Leveraging Social Media to Display Your Community

A Facebook page for your business should be viewed as a window into your company’s soul. Now-a-days, when people Google your business (or even just YOU… creepy…) they will select your Facebook page over your website. Why? When individuals view Facebook pages, they are viewing actual human interaction, feelings, personality, professionalism, customer service and all! Also, Facebook is much more “now” than compared to a website. Customers want to see fresh content. Think about it: how often do you update your website, a couple times a year? How often do we update our Facebook pages? For some of us it’s hourly! So because Facebook pages are starting to become equally if not more prevalent than websites, I can’t stress enough how important it is to create a community on your page.

Each and every business has it’s own culture, it doesn’t matter if you sell pencils or are the hottest nightclub in town- every company has a culture. Here is a list of things to think about: your personal story, your beliefs, your employees, your product, your service, your mission statement, transparency, your physical business presence, the city and state you operate out of, YOUR CUSTOMERS, their story, their kids, their pets, THEIR testament as to why they love YOUR business. All of these things are factors, which create your business’s culture. In Jason Falls’ and Erick Deckers’ book, No Bullshit Media, they discuss the idea of “creating a kumbaya effect.” You got it. Think of everyone gathered around the campfire, swaying back-and-forth, maybe holding hands, and singing kumbaya. Develop a strategy to show your “kumbaya” culture on your Facebook to create an online community.

How would a business exude their culture online? Here are some ideas:

• PICTURES: Include your staff, YOU, your physical location, your product or service, your logo.

• Videos: Nothing is more powerful than a message delivered via video. YouTube anyone?

• Content: Encourage customers to leave comments, let them tell everyone else how good your business is. Post valuable tips or advice related to your industry. DON’T SELL. Focus 80% of your content on your fans, and 20% on you and your business. Ask questions; open all kinds of doors that will allow your customers to respond.

• Provide and nourish a place for your fans to interact.

• Timeline Photo: This is a new tool, which Facebook recently added. This is the first thing a person will see when person looks at your page. Make sure the picture clearly depicts what your business is all about. See examples below.

Some Reno businesses that are doing a great job displaying their community:

• Campo-Reno
• BoBo’s Mogul Mouse
• Squeeze In

Check out these pages and let me know what you think. Do you feel what their business is all about? Do you sense a community amongst their fans? When you leave these business pages you can have a pretty good understanding of what it would be like to step into their business- and that my friends, is a display of culture well executed.

Social Media Marketing for Dummies

I really don’t want to leave anyone in the dark here. I am going to take a moment to give a brief over view of the different social networking platforms that I will be discussing in future blog posts.

Here’s an extremely simple example of traditional marketing:

“Buy Toms.”

Here’s an extremely simple example of social media marketing:

“I love my Toms, look at how cute they are on me (insert picture here).”

Who are consumers more likely to listen to? The billboard sitting on the side of the road telling them to buy the Toms? Or to their friend who just posted about their recent Toms experience, all over their Facebook page- where all of their friends have now told them how great they look? Basically, social media marketing has given us the ability to set up a free booth, marketing ourselves, our product or service in front of millions and millions of people. During this time, we also get to witness everyone’s reaction and interact with the consumers. Did I mention it’s free? Here is a brief break-down of some of the social media platforms available to us:

Myspace: Once upon a time there was this networking tool called Myspace. I once referred to Myspace with my 9-year-old cousin this past year, and she looked at me in disgust and scowled, “What. Is. THAT?” Well my dear, it’s Facebook’s very old and tired big sister. However, Myspace is nothing less than a cultural phenomenon. Myspace was the first time I witnessed a personal media-hosting site where I could create “my own space” on the World Wide Web. It ‘s still very much apart of the social networking world, but in 2008 Myspace showed a major slowdown.

Facebook: Whether you buy into this social-networking-craze or not, please go see the film The Social Network. It’s a great story of how Facebook was born into the hands of Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook has +300 million users. Everyone is on Facebook for their own reasons, but either way- everyone is on Facebook, and they all want to talk. It’s not just for college students anymore. This social site is made up of 4 components: profiles, groups, pages and events. Each of these components can be utilized to market who you are, and/or what your business has to offer. I solely blame Facebook for reconnecting me with all my childhood and high school friends, if you don’t have a Facebook you aren’t cool.

Twitter: I am new to Twitter, I was not cool. I will admit, I thought it was juvenile. The only exposure I have had to Twitter is listening to my 19 year-old sister giggle every time Kim Kardashian or Joe Jonas “tweeted” something useless about their lives.  I gave in, and now I kind of love it. This is all it is: You get 140 characters to announce or “tweet” to your followers anything you want. When you hit the send button, your followers have your words right in their hands via text. I personally select to follow people who offer valuable information to me; it’s like an infinite blog roll of things I actually care about.

LinkedIn: Is a social networking platform for professionals. LinkedIn is your profile on steroids, with a lot less capabilities than Facebook.  LinkedIn definitely lacks that “now” affect which most of the other sites have, you could update your info on this site once every 6 months and still be current. Be careful, your past, present and future bosses ARE on LinkedIn, be good.

Google+: I am very new to Google+, however so is everyone else. I haven’t decided how I feel about it. Google+ does have the “now” effect. You can connect with others and form circles- it is very clean and professional. According to my professor, Dr. Bret Simmons, Google+ will dominate Facebook in a couple years, as Google+ has more capabilities.

Pinterest: This site cracks me up. Everyone has the ability to “pin” to their categorized profile. You would pin pictures you take, a cool quote you read, maybe a great idea for a bride, or a tasty recipe you just saw in a magazine. Others can look at your profile too and “pin” your ideas to their wall, everyone can leave comments and thoughts. User be aware: Pinning is addicting. Can’t. Stop. Pinning.

Blog posting: The wonderful world of blogging is a MUST. If you have a passion, interest, or great idea- tell the world about it and blog. Simple sites such a WordPress.com offer free (there’s that lovely word, again) hosting capabilities where you start with a cool little template and you can turn your site into whatever you want. Look at my blog, looks ok right? I had no clue what I was doing, I still have no clue what I am doing, and this is what happened! It’s foolproof really. You want to utilize the “now” platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to direct people to your blog. This is the ultimate goal for everyone, especially business owners- DRIVE THE TRAFFIC TO YOUR MAIN SITE. The blog is your home base where you give away the bread and butter, and pull people in.

That’s social media, for me- in a nutshell.