On Feb. 24, HSMAI University kicked off its 2011 webinar series with the first session of a three-part series on advanced social networking strategies by Gordon Liametz, founder and CEO of Revenue Performance.

As social networking continues to gather steam, Liametz told participants on the "Advanced Social Networking Strategies" session, it is important to create a strategy that fits your hotel or CVB, noting that every company and its social networking objectives will be different.

Session highlights:

* In setting strategy and implementing the social networking platform, it is critically important that your company's guest services, public relations, marketing, HR/legal departments and ownership be involved to provide the appropriate guidance, insight and support for the plan.

* Pinpoint what you hope to achieve and choose the appropriate channels to help meet your expectations. Social networking success isn't as simple as accruing a lot of followers or "likes". You need to engage the audiences with relevant content that matters to them and encourage them to take action. Promoting your property just isn't enough, Liametz said.

* There are six primary tactics that deliver social networking results-social sharing, pitch bloggers, contests, discounts, reviews and generating links-and the key is to blend them into a cohesive plan that will maximize your investment and the results.

* Building your brand, revenue and more loyal customers are among the benefits of a strong social marketing strategy. Depending on the goals you set, you may find you need to filter out channels that can't help you achieve them or that don't work or measure up to your expectations.

* Content must be relevant, reflect your brand and give the viewer a reason to stay engaged. If you don't have the right content, you won't be successful. But you also must have a great "personality" on social networking sites. Make sure whoever is writing blogs and updating the Facebook page, for example, is applying the voice and personality of the message.

* Integrating your offline and online advertising is critical, and Liametz finds a lot of hotels are falling short. Whether it's the look and feel of the website or the slogan and message, everything should be cohesive-and consistent. While the message may be the same, the style in which it is presented will change, depending on the channel.

* Tracking the impact of your campaigns must be an ongoing process, and it is important that you re-evaluate your programs about every three months to make sure they're working, and if they are not, to fix what's broken.

This webinar was part one of a three-part series. Part 2: Social Networking Best Practices was March 8 and Part 3: How to use Geolocation Sites to Build Your Hotel's Presence will be March 22. To learn more and to register, go to www.hsmaiuniversity.org. To purchase a recording of this webinar or any previous HSMAI University webinar, go to http://eo2.commpartners.com/users/hsmai/index.php.

The results of the latest HSMAI eConnect poll are in.

Poll: Which social media channel is best for hotel marketing?

Twitter: 18%

Facebook: 62%

LinkedIn: 15%

Other: 5%

Do you agree? Join the discussion and share what you have learned about hotel marketing via social media.

HSMAI had the chance recently to discuss web analytics, hotel marketing, and visitor acquisition with Avinash Kaushik.

Avinash, a keynote speaker at the HSMAI Digital Marketing Strategy Conference, February 1, 2011, is the "Analytics Evangelist" for Google and co-Founder of Market Motive Inc. Through his blog, Occam's Razor, and his best-selling books, Web Analytics: An Hour A Day and Web Analytics 2.0, Avinash has become recognized as an authoritative voice on how marketers, executives teams and industry leaders can leverage data to fundamentally reinvent their digital existence.

HSMAI: So, what does an "Analytics Evangelist" do?

Avinash: I passionately believe that the web has been (and will continue to be) massively disruptive in terms of how we find, connect and acquire customers. One major gift of that disruption is the possibility, finally, for Senior Business Leaders to move from faith based decision making to data driven decision making.

In that context, my role as an Analytics Evangelist for Google has two facets. Work with the various teams at Google that provide data to Google's customers to help make the tools more useful, the data more relevant and provide meaningful insights. Second, to work with companies that use the web to provide ideas, frameworks and recommendations that aid in making better decisions related to their marketing spend and customer-centricity.

HSMAI: What tools should hotel and travel marketers use to be more data-driven in their decision-making?

Avinash: My second book Web Analytics 2.0 recommends an expansion of our view of what "data" is online as a way to make significantly more intelligent decisions.

It is clickstream data (Google & Yahoo! Web Analytics).

It is qualitative data like surveys (4Q, KissInsights etc) and online usability (UserTesting, Loop11 etc) data.

It is the mix of qual and quant data like experimentation and testing output (using Google's Website Optimizer).

It is using competitive intelligence data to learn from the accomplishments and failures of your direct competitors (using Compete & Insights for Search & Trends for Websites etc).

Travel companies that have a clear Web Analytics Measurement Model and leverage the relevant tools above will win. Win big.

HSMAI: You wrote in a recent posting on your blog that "We tend to be far too obsessed about Search Engines and Twitter and the Next Shiny Object" when it comes to visitor acquisition. What are better metrics for a successful visitor acquisition strategy?

Avinash: Companies that focus on "buzz" and "virality" and visits to the site, etc are doing great stuff. But I obsess about Outcomes. You got a million people to the site, so what?

Metrics that answer the so what question should be a critical part of your measurement strategy (ROI, baby!).

Here are some of my favorites: Bounce Rate. Task Completion Rate. Impact on Visitor Loyalty. Per Visit Goal Value.

HSMAI: What can conference attendees plan to take away from your presentation "Rethinking Online Analytics: Customer Centric Data Driven Strategies"?

Avinash: My hope is to share specific ideas connected to the travel industry related to 1. new and interesting ways of using online data 2. my Clear Line of Sight Model to choose optimal set of metrics and 3. creating truly customer centric web experiences.

Hear more from Avinash and other digital marketing experts, including Peter Shankman, Entrepreneur, Adventurist, Founder of Help A Reporter Out, and CEO of The Geek Factory, and Simon Breakwell, Co-founder and CEO, TravelPost, at the HSMAI Digital Marketing Strategy Conference. This unique one-day interactive program, the day after the HSMAI Adrian Awards Gala, will feature thought leaders and subject-matter experts in various components of digital marketing. Hot topics will include measurement and ROI, selecting and working with an agency, mobile and location based marketing, social, digital strategic planning, web analytics, and case studies from HSMAI's Adrian Awards Digital Marketing award winners. The event is designed for digital marketing, ecommerce, or distribution management professionals from hotel brands, hotel management companies, hotel ownership groups, destinations, and independent hotels and resorts.

The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) and VIZERGY® developed this survey to provide you:

• Insight on branded and independent properties' online marketing spend and strategies
• An overview of hoteliers' thoughts on 2010
• Tools and suggestions on making strategic marketing decisions
• Survey closes Friday, April 16; whitepaper study released early summer

Be the first to receive our comprehensive and detailed study that's based on the survey results. It will be presented in whitepaper and Webinar formats, and is specifically designed to help increase your property's online revenue generation.

Please take five minutes to complete our brief survey, and feel free to pass it along to other hoteliers. Your contribution will help us provide the most beneficial hotel marketing study of 2010.

Click here to take survey.

Just-announced: Best-selling business author Rafi Mohammed will deliver the keynote address on "How Successful Companies Use Price to Profit and Grow" at the HSMAI Revenue Management & Internet Marketing Strategy Conference, co-located with HITEC, in Orlando, Florida, June 21.

Rafi will be discussing the premise of his latest book, The 1% Windfall, regarding how even a 1 percent increase in price can create billions in new profits. His work aslo offers a sophisticated approach to analyzing the profit disconnect that exists in business today and a sound strategy for figuring out how value and price play an important role in creating products and prices that satisfy all of a company's customers.

His debut pricing book, The Art of Pricing (Crown Business, 2005), has been translated into seven foreign languages and earned rave reviews from The New York Times, BusinessWeek SmallBiz, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Forbes.com.

Rafi Mohammed has been working on pricing issues for the last 20 years. Rafi is the founder of Culture of Profit, LLC, a business consulting company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts that works with companies on their pricing strategy. He also holds the title of Batten Fellow at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business. A frequent commentator on pricing issues to the print media, Rafi has also made prime time appearances on CNBC as an expert pricing commentator.

HSMAI's Revenue Management & Internet Marketing Strategy Conference is brought to you by the thought leaders at the forefront of the increasing convergence of the revenue management and Internet marketing fields within the hospitality industry.

You'll learn about the latest trends and best practices in these two important disciplines and how you can leverage them to drive business from the industry experts behind resources such as the Top 10 Revenue Management Opportunities for 2010, and the Travel Internet Marketing White Paper Series.

Click Here for more on the conference.