Exclusive Feature: In yet another push to make social media a more instrumental part of the travel booking business, Marriott announced it will launch a program allowing Marriott Rewards members to collect points by liking, tweeting and checking in on various social media platforms.
The Plus Points initiative is a quick and easy way to reward loyal Marriott members for advocating on behalf of the brand.
According to Mobile Marketer, here's how the program works:
- Enrolled Marriott Rewards members will receive 25 points each time they share content about Marriott Rewards and hotels
- Members will also receive 250 points when they "like" a Marriott hoteląs Facebook page or follow a property on Twitter
- Plus Points are instantly loaded into the memberąs Marriott Rewards account and a confirmation will be sent by email.
- Comparable to the traditional loyalty membership benefits plans, PlusPoints will also allow members to trade in points for retail credit gift cards.
- Members earn a max of 2000 points per every 30 days
According to the Plus Points website, the plan is still in Beta and is rolling out slowly across Marriott brands. The plan seems simple enough: simply like, follow, share, re-tweet, check-in, post or use one of the Marriott-branded hashtags and you'll get points credited to your account.
Seems fool-proof enough, but I wonder how quickly before Marriott changes its points redemption policies to account for the thousands of points its members will start to rack up with this new system?
Still, the use of social media for earning loyalty points is a logical next step for hotels. Aside from simply showcasing their social savviness, Marriott has found another way to encourage brand advocacy through top social media channels.
Seems like a win-win for hotels and guests, at least in the early stages.
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Melanie Nayer is a hotel reviewer and expert on luxury travel around the world. She has covered all aspects of hotels including corporate restructures, re-branding initiatives, historical aspects and the best of the best in luxury hotels around the world.
Melanie writes a weekly exclusive column for 4Hoteliers.com