The Roger Smith Hotel ~ Offline service to online success.
I am writing this blog post from Lilly’s bar in The Roger Smith Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Now, I am certainly a country bumpkin by all intents and purposes. I’d much rather be standing in a river flyfishing in Montana than visiting the always bustling metropolis of New York but the Roger Smith Hotel really made me feel welcome. Of course much of this was expected as I am very much a social media power user and the hotel has an amazing presence online.
The Roger Smith hotel takes pride in it’s service. From the point you check in to the moment you leave they always make you feel welcome. The room I stayed in was like no other Hotel room I had ever been in. As someone who really dislikes the city, escaping to my room was a real treat. The room had a wonderful big comfy bed and a really homey feel more reticent of a Bed and Breakfast in Maine than a production hotel room at the local Holiday Inn. From what I understand all of the rooms are unique and no two are alike. So much for a branded standardized experience huh? I want to come back just to see what the next room will be like!
So your asking why I am writing a review of a really cool hotel in NY? I mean normally I don’t do this type of thin at the blog right? The fact is these guys and gals are known as the social media hotel. They have carried over their culture of amazing service brought to the online space. In fact when I was eating breakfast this morning one of the staff members was taking a photo of the daily lunch special for their Facebook page.
I had a moment to talk with Brian Simpson @Bsimi on Twitter and Director of Zen Chaos at the Rogers Smith. I asked him one question. “How has the involvement is Social Media impacted the hotel”
“It’s allowed us to make more friends!”
~Brian Simpson
It’s hard work, but the outcome is just really that simple and I think Brian nailed it!
Just take a second to Google Roger Smith Hotel and you will see that they have a deep presence in the social media space. More so than that they really embrace the online culture with their events, specials and staff. There are literally hundreds of articles like this one from patrons that absolutely love the place! So I am going to wrap this up with one point and one question.
Point: It is REALLY important to have a great internal culture before you decide to take your brand to the online space. Social media magnifies your brand, product or service for good and for bad.
Question: How are you taking offline events and content opportunities and bringing them online? Are people talking about you in a good light a bad light or worse, not at all? An offline event may only last one evening, but a one night event that is covered and documented on a blog or social site like Facebook or twitter will live on forever for all to see. A one night event that is covered by the brand, the patrons and shared with fans….. is magical. That’s the Roger Smith!
Keith Burtis is a social media and digital marketing professional. If you or your company are looking to REV THE ENGINE on your digital efforts contact Keith today! Specialties include: Blog design/Integration, Custom Facebook Pages, Social, Digital and Interactive Content strategies.
Comments
Sean, one of the things that I tell clients every day is that right now (Early days) it’s exceptional (another Seth Godin Quote) to be involved and engaged in the social and digital space. However, in my opinion in the next 3-5 years it will no longer be exceptional but rather expected. You can either get fluent now or you can struggle later.
All this and we haven’t even talked about the fact that the web is actually doing your selling for you along with the valuable SEO! Thanks for another smart comment.
keithburtis´s last blog ..The Rogers Smith Hotel ~ Offline service to online success. 
Great post again Keith! More proof that social media can be just as valuable to even the most traditional brick and mortar business as it is to online businesses. I’d argue that it’s more important for the b&m business because at this stage of the game it’s early enough to stand out just by being active (if they have a good existing internal culture as you point out).
This kind of reminds me about a story in one of Seth Godin’s books about how restaurants used to look out for the critics. The fact that this hotel has plent of articles like this one floating around means that they weren’t just great for you because you’re a power user, that’s just who they are!
Sean Stefan´s last blog ..Lots of Small Customers or a Few Big Ones?