Luxury Hospitality Brands Play Catch-Up on Social Media

Hospitality brands should arguably be the most personable and refined of communicators on social media, but translating the in-person service to digital is not always a straight path. Within the luxury space, hospitality brands have unfortunately been known to lag behind leaders in fashion and accessories when it comes to social intelligence. A new report from social analytics company Netbase, Social Media Industry Report 2018: Luxury Brands, examines the state of luxury brands’ social acuity. In a ranking of 100 brands, only two hospitality brands — Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company — ranked among the top 50 luxury brands on social. Netbase used conversation volume, awareness as measured by earned impressions, reach as measured by owned impressions, net sentiment, and brand passion to measure the different companies. To better understand this analysis, we look at how luxury hotels are capitalizing on social media interactions to build up brands and foster customer relationships — especially in relation to other luxury brands outside the travel space. Utility First and Foremost Hotels account for only 4 percent of measured conversations compared to automobiles, which account for 45 percent, or high-end brands, which account for 40 percent, of share of voice in the report. This