Everyone loves great customer service, and in the meetings and conventions market, customer service is a major factor for meeting planners when choosing suppliers and destinations in which to hold their event. In August, we ran a social listening campaign on behalf of the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau (Dallas CVB), during the annual American Society of Association Executives (ASAE).
Conferences are usually a peak time in social media mentions for a destination and we wanted to capitalize on this to make lasting impressions on conference attendees.
The ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition 2012 was expected to draw approximately 6,500 people to Dallas. Attendees at this conference carry a great deal of influence on where their associations host meetings, making it a fantastic time to show the conference attendees the remarkable experiences and southern hospitality of Dallas.
The Process
Whenever we found a question, request, or need online that seemed opportunistic for Dallas CVB, we notified a staff member who was then responsible for addressing the comment. In total, five individuals were provided with something extra special during their time in Dallas as a result of the social listening campaign.
The ‘WOW’ Factor
Using Twitter to listen to conversations, @Visit_Dallas identified five attendees who sounded like they needed a little extra love in order to ensure that they had an incredible time in Dallas. Below are some of their stories.
On arrival to Dallas while going through the airport, Christy Jones broke two nails. We were quick to react, and organized a manicure for her. We continued the conversation with her over the next few hours, and the next day we dropped off the manicure certificate at the reception desk of her hotel after finding out where she was staying.
Up next were Mandy Stahl and Jessica Levin. Listening in on the first day of the conference, we intercepted a conversation between these two attendees who were talking about the cold temperature.
For more detailed information about Jennifer’s experience in Dallas, visit her blog at http://sevendegreescommunications.com/creating-special-moments-through-social-listening/
Another individual that received an unforgettable experience was Stefanie Reeves of Washington, D.C. We heard that she wasn’t having the best time on arrival to Dallas, and we wanted to make sure that we changed her mindset by the time that she left.
We monitored Stefanie over the next couple of days to see if there was an opportune time to step in and change her mindset about her time in Dallas. A couple days later, when she asked us a question about what was the most economical way to get to Cowboys Stadium, we quickly jumped at the opportunity to help her out, by sending a chauffeured limousine to her hotel.
For more information about Stephanie’s experience in Dallas, visit her blog at http://stef73.wordpress.com/2012/08/17/asae12-the-aftermath/
Results
The above image shows the hashtag trending in different American cities.
We definitely succeeded in providing great customer service to the attendees of #ASAE12. We also proved the importance of social listening, and the value of social media to the meetings and conventions marketplace.
We reached 177,523 people and registered a total 474,464 impressions on Twitter during the campaign. Best of all, the official conference hashtag #ASAE12 was trending in different cities across the United States throughout the week, primarily in Dallas and Washington, D.C. Other destinations included Los Angeles, Chicago, Orlando, Topeka, Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta.
We surprised five people with incredible customer service, listened in on 14,000 conversations between 1400 people attending #ASAE12 over the course of five days.
A month later, people are still talking online about the amazing time and great service that they received while in Dallas. We would like to congratulate Dallas CVB on hosting an exceptional event, and allowing us to help wow people along the way.
