Need PR and Marketing Help? Ask Away! Q&A with Jennifer Rodrigues of TravelInk’d

By Jennifer Rodrigues

Q: Now that most travelers are using the internet for hotel research and bookings, should I bother to advertise my establishment "offline"?

A: Online is where the travel industry lives and thrives. Increasingly, it's also where it's spending its money. A 2010 survey found that 51% of hotel operators polled were shifting their marketing budgets towards the online space.

There's a simple reason for this trend - marketing chases the consumers, and in travel and hospitality, online is where consumers can be found, and more importantly, where consumers are booking travel. Potential vacationers usually want to maximize their time and their dollar so they're more likely to use the internet and other modes of online communication like smartphone apps to make a decision about their upcoming hotel stay. For travelers, overwhelmingly the easiest way to research a vacation, compare prices and finally make a booking is electronically.

The other gift of the internet is the ability to target your audience more specifically than in most offline channels. People reading Newsweek might linger for a moment over a glossy one-page ad for a hotel or airline, but the chances are fairly high that they don't have immediate plans to travel. Online, though, anyone visiting a travel-oriented web site is at least considering a trip somewhere, making a property's ROI much higher on these customers who are already primed to buy.

Additionally, offline advertising often means local advertising. Very few media have the worldwide reach and speed of delivery of the internet. A big ad spread in a city newspaper, for example, is attention-grabbing and impressive, but it only reaches a certain number of potential customers in a certain place. Of course, the same can be said for the splashier (and often, more expensive) forms of offline marketing like billboards and posters.

All of that being said, traditional advertising still has its place in the marketing mix; after all, despite the dominance of the internet, people still read magazines, watch TV and read posters/billboards. These classic forms of marketing can still serve a function, but they should be seen as complimentary to a concentrated online effort - following instead of leading.

Advertising is about making a potential customer familiar with a brand, and the traditional methods can certainly help with that. Well-produced TV commercials, for example, can make a hotel or destination look tantalizing and irresistible. Also, there do remain pockets of specialization in the offline world. There will always be glossy travel magazines like Condé Nast Traveler and any number of TV shows filmed in exotic locations around the globe to tempt potential travelers into booking with a particular property.

But purchasing advertising space in those mediums is usually expensive and can be time consuming to produce, so it is recommended only for those with very large marketing budgets. Even then, the percentage spent on the classic forms of marketing should be comparatively low compared to the online/electronic channels. After all, hotel marketers are wise to concentrate on reaching consumers where they are researching and booking travel: online.

­

Did this information help you?  If you have other questions, I'd love to hear from you - please don't be shy!  Send an email to mailto:jrodrigues@travelinkd.com. 

And don't forget to check back twice a month for more PR and Marketing Q&As.


About Jennifer Rodrigues

Jennifer Rodrigues, Visibility Development Manager with ThinkInk and TravelInk'd, is a seasoned public relations professional with a passion for the hospitality industry, which is expressed in her role at ThinkInk's travel division, TravelInk'd. At TravelInk'd, she is responsible for developing cost-effective and creative public relations and marketing strategies for clients in the travel and tourism, airline, lodging, cruise and meeting/event sectors. For more information on TravelInk'd, please visit http://www.travelinkd.com/ or contact Jennifer at jlr@travelinkd.com. For more news about PR and marketing in the travel industry, follow TravelInk'd on Twitter @TravelInkd and visit the TravelInk'd Facebook Fan Page.

Travel Website Slams Hotel Cleanliness

By Hilary Lehman

On ABC's "Good Morning America" Monday, anchor Juju Chang wrinkled her nose as she spoke about the three dirtiest hotels in the nation -- a sneak peek from travel information site TripAdvisor.com for its list of the Top 10 dirtiest hotels in America for 2011.

"The ceiling was peeling. Walls were cracked. There were cigarette burns all over the room," Chang said, quoting a member review of a hotel as photos flashed on a TV screen in the background.

That review was written about the No. 3 dirtiest hotel in the country, as determined by TripAdvisor -- the Desert Inn at 900 N. Atlantic Ave. in Daytona Beach.

On Tuesday, TripAdvisor released the full Top 10 list. The list is based on anonymous, user-submitted reviews to the site. Out of 260 reviews, 80 percent recommended against staying at the Desert Inn. For the dirtiest-hotels list, only one component of the reviews factors into the rankings -- the cleanliness rating. Since its release this week, the TripAdvisor list has been featured by national TV news shows, newspapers, wire services and websites. As of Friday, the top result on Google News for "Daytona Beach hotel" was a story about the ranking.

HOTEL'S RESPONSE

Desert Inn manager Robin Hof said she and the rest of the staff are devastated by the negative publicity. "It is embarrassing, but we don't deserve the embarrassment," she said.

The staff works hard to keep the hotel clean, and the owners have put a large amount of money and effort into renovating the hotel in recent years, she said. About 70 to 80 percent of the hotel's guests are return visitors, many of whom have called in recent days offering their support.

"We're not a trashy hotel, by any means," Hof said. "I keep using the word classy, but that's what it is."

Hof said she was disappointed with TripAdvisor's lack of response to phone calls and e-mails from the hotel. She said she believed many of the reviews were fake or posted by competing hotels. "TripAdvisor is not literally coming in and checking anything themselves," she said. Desert Inn owner Irene Devlin, who has been in the hotel business for 60 years, said it was wrong that the ranking had become so widespread.

"To use TripAdvisor to destroy competitive business is a sad way of life," she said. "Hearsay is not evidence."

External source: To read complete article 'Click Here'.


Source: news-journalonline.com

Hotels to Start Raising Rates

By Danielle Douglas

Consumers contemplating a getaway may want to book a hotel room sooner rather than later, as room rates are set to rise this year. Substantial increases of $10 or more are at least another year or two away, but the lodging industry plans to take advantage of improving market conditions.

Several leading hotel operators including Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide and Starwood Hotels and Resorts are incrementally upping average daily rates in light of the return of leisure and business travel, and the relatively fixed supply of rooms given the lack of new construction.

"We continue to see strength in pricing," Arne Sorenson, president and chief operating officer of Bethesda-based Marriott, said at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit here last week.

Marriott, which operates more than 3,000 hotels in 68 countries, got a jump on its competitors by selectively raising rates last year, before any meaningful pickup in travel. The gamble paid off as rooms began to fill in the summer.

Average daily rates for the U.S. hotel industry was $98.08 by year's end, compared with $97.51 in 2009, according to Smith Travel Research. The firm is forecasting a 4.2 percent increase in daily rates, while Colliers PKF Hospitality Research estimates 4.6 percent.

Locally, average daily rates are forecast to increase about 1.7 percent in the next four quarters, after falling 4 percent in the prior 12-month period, according to Colliers.

Rooms in the top 25 lodging markets are priced well under peak 2007 rates, Jan Freitag of Smith Travel Research told a room packed with conference attendees. Average rates in Washington, for instance, are $13 below peak prices.

Top Ten Ways to Score a Free Flight Upgrade

Gone are the days where a smart suit, puppy-dog eyes and a nice smile during check-in could send you champagne sipping in business.

Yes, free flight upgrades are rare and sometimes just a matter of pure luck. However, here's a list of things you can do to increase your odds.

For the full list, see the original post here.

1. Airline Loyalty Program - Join ‘em

Keep your eye on the prize: elite status. Airlines will give priority for upgrades to top-tier members. Pick an airline and stick to it. If you are a regular customer you are more likely to get those three coveted letters: SFU (Suitable For Upgrade) next to your name on the passenger list. Also, there are often rewards for accumulating miles quickly (usually over one calendar year) and different "perks" are awarded each time you hit a certain mileage tier.

2. Choose Your Carrier Carefully

Points systems are not born equal. For example, with Air Canada, you can only use points for complete bookings in economy or business and cannot use points to upgrade from an economy ticket. If booking on Qantas, you can buy an upgradeable economy ticket and request for an upgrade to premium economy or business. British Airways, on the other hand, makes it nearly impossible for those who fly economy, short-haul flights to ever earn enough points to make it to the next level.

3. Travel Alone

This might not be possible, however, keep in mind that if you are travelling as part of a small group, an airline may not be able to upgrade everyone, and thus, will upgrade no one at all.

4. Check in late

The economy seats will likely have been filled, meaning you may get booked directly to business class. This is a very risky strategy however, as you chance not being able to get a good seat in economy, or getting split up from your travel partner.

5. Be Plane Picky

Pick a flight that will be using an airplane with a large first class cabin. You can find out this information from sites like Seat Guru.

6. Volunteer to Give Up Your Seat

Have time to spare? Every so often an airline will oversell the flight and will need volunteers to give up their seat. If you don't mind the delay, you can score a flight voucher and/or a free upgrade certificate. They have done this before on Cathay Pacific.

7. Pay Full Fare

If you purchased a full fare ticket and travel on an oversold flight, then you also have more potential for a courtesy upgrade.

8.  Wear Business Attire

This won't be the reason why you get an upgrade, but not being dressed suitably could be the why don't. Flying like you just rolled out of bed is likely just a bad call all together.

9. Charm Your Way

Once upon a time, being nice could result in someone at the check-in counter upgrading your seat, nowadays, stories like that seem more like an urban myth. It may be rare, but it's worked for me, and a few of my friends before. When experiencing an airline issue, if you ask to speak to management and you articulate yourself in a professional, calm yet confident manner, you can find that you can get a free upgrade (if not this flight, perhaps another for another time) or other perks like free lounge access.

The strangest hotel jobs around the world revealed!

The strangest hotel jobs around the world revealed! Source : Hotels.com You would have never imagined that there was someone paid to clean and make shiny coins moving in a hotel? And some involved in warm your bed just before you lie down there?. These are just some of the strangest professions Hotels.com has "discovered" among the more than 130.000 structures on the site. Among oddities and revolutionary ideas, Hotels.com offers a journey the discovery of crafts the most bizarre and entertaining in which it might happen to come across during your vacation! London - The human underblanket Slip into a nice warm bed, especially on cold winter nights, not only is nice, but can actually make sleep more restful and; for this in London 'sHoliday Inn Kensington Forum – 4 point has decided to offer its guests a truly exclusive service: underblanket human. Some people have taken away because the task, after wearing special thermal suits, of heat with the warmth of your body the beds of customers, saving them the unpleasant experience of "frozen sheets"! San Francisco - Cleaner coins One of the most weird and ancient crafts took place in a hotel you can find all 'Hotel Westin St Francis – 4 point San Francisco: cleaner coin. The profession has its origins in 1935 when the hotel manager, seeing that the ladies were white gloves when handling dirty coins, decided that all the coins that were circulated in the hotel should be thoroughly washed. The tradition continues today, with an attendant who takes care of every day make more bright than ever, the dollars passing from hand to hand. Jaipur - The drives out of pigeons When you are in a crowded square by pigeons do not resist the temptation to start running and fly them all? Then you are ideal candidates for the profession of "drives out of pigeons"! A Jaipur, in India, the courtyard of the Rambagh Palace – 5 point is always full of these birds, considered, but, bearers of good luck; why the hotel has hired two people in charge of them away without hurting them, to avoid soiling the courtyard of what was once the residence of the Maharaja of Jaipur. Adairsville - In front madrina Have you always dreamed of having at your side before a date as an aide magical Fairy Godmother? The Barnsley Gardens Resort – 4 point, in Georgia, will make your dream a reality! Inside the hotel has been working a real Fairy Godmother, ready to make your every event special and memorable; carpets of rose petals, bottles of champagne and lots of romantic surprises are the magic wand that will transform your every day a new Valentine's Day. London - The reader of bedtime stories When you are away from home, struggle to fall asleep and spent hours in bed to turn away? In London 'sHotel Andaz – 5 point has the solution for you! For here you will find those who will read a great bedtime story, ideal for getting to sleep after a day of racing in the British Museum and Westminster Abbey. The reading last night often until dawn and sometimes they see the participation of famous writers or journalists; the only condition for hotel guests? Participate strictly in pajamas! Memphis - The master of the ducks Even more than for its rich, luxurious and comfortable, The The Peabody Hotel – 4 point Memphis is famous worldwide for the show that takes place daily at 11 and 17; Having laid out the red carpet, the "master of the ducks" is assigned to accompany a group of these birds owned hotel in the fountain of the hotel and back to the shelter at night after the Ducks have spent the day before the eyes of guests. Only drawback of the profession? The cleaning of the fountain, every night, is a matter of "master"!

Sales Superstars Love 'Clueless' Callers!

Sales Superstars Love 'Clueless' Callers! Jan 31, 11 | 12:09 am By Doug Kennedy Given the prolific amount of information available to prospective guests and hotel meeting/function planners, it seems logical that today's callers to hotel reservations, front desk, and the sales department should be very well informed before they dial our number. Indeed, many  if not most of today's sales inquiries are from those who are largely pre-sold prior to phoning.   Well established hotels and resorts have the added benefit that many if not most of their callers are repeat guests who have visited before and who already know what they want before dialing. Unfortunately, dealing with all of these repeat guests and pre-informed sales prospects can make some hotel salespeople become complacent.  It's easy to fall into a habit of polite order-taking when the majority of callers already know what they want.   Having spent my career as a hotel sales trainer I have seen this scenario play out many times over the years, where the salespeople fall victim to "profitable mediocrity" by becoming habitual order-takers who seem to expect that guests and meeting planners are out there just waiting to call in their orders.  It's easy to imagine how this happens, when maybe 7 out of 10 callers know what they want before they call.  When you place a test call to these hotels and act like you know what you want, they are very polite and helpful.  Yet when you ask these same salespeople questions about the location, area, or the hotel itself, they provide short, curt responses and more often than not suggest that you go online to the hotel's website for more information. Having listened to hours and hours of recorded calls from real callers captured through various monitoring systems used by our KTN training clients, I have to admit that there are some seemingly "clueless" callers these days.  For example, callers to large, city-center hotels that request a ground floor room.  Or callers to condo-resorts that feature individually owned and decorated properties who ask "So it's not like a hotel?"  Or callers to Orlando hotels booking near Disney, Universal, or Seaworld that request an "ocean" view, or who book in New York and request a view of the Statue of Liberty.  Or those who meant to dial the phone number of a competitor but who pulled your hotel's number instead.  Indeed, a certain number of callers do seem confused. Yet the true sales superstars I've meet always seem to love these types of callers.  They recognize that while it is important to convert those easy, order-taking calls into sales, when we are able to secure  business from a "clueless" caller we have really done something positive for the hotel's profitability.  Repeat guests and others who are pre-sold are going to stay with us anyway.  Yet when we help those who are uncertain, those who have questions, and those who need more convincing to pick our hotel off their list, we can know we have truly had a positive impact.  Not to mention that today's "clueless" caller will then become a future repeat guest, who will them be pre-sold the next time.  Here are some training tips to help get your sales team excited about "clueless" callers. Discuss call conversion with the sales team.   Calculate the potential additional revenue each salesperson could capture just one more sale per week from a confused sales prospect. Have your salespeople experience researching and planning a business or leisure travel experience, meeting, or function in an unfamiliar city.  Ask them to research online and then to call, and to then report back on how they were handled. Review with your own sales staff the information that is available to prospective guests online, such as guest reviews (both positive and negative) and social media postings.  Discuss how this information might be conflicting and cause someone to call for clarification. Brainstorm with the sales team a list of questions, concerns, or objections that prospective guests might have.  Then work as a group to list ways in which you might resolve each question or objection. About the Author Doug Kennedy, President of the Kennedy Training Network, has been a fixture on the hospitality and tourism industry conference circuit since 1989, having presented over 1,000 conference keynote sessions, educational break-out seminars, or customized, on-premise training workshops for diverse audiences representing every segment of the lodging industry.   His articles have also appeared worldwide in more than 17 prominent international publications including the HSMAI Marketing Review, eHotelier, 4hoteliers, Hotel News Resource, Hotel Online, Human Assets - Dubai and Hong Kong, Hsyndicate worldwide, BAHA Times - U.K., Hospitality - Maldives, and the Hotel Expert Magazine Hong Kong. Since 1996 Doug has been a regular contributor to the lodging industry's number one rated publication, www.hotelmotel.com , where he has been a regular monthly columnist since 2001.  Visit www.kennedytrainingnetwork.com for details or e-mail him at: doug@kennedytrainingnetwork.com.

Social Media Research: Blogging, Twitter And Facebook Use Trends Inside US Corporations - 2010 Update

Are top US corporations embracing social media technologies?2010 Fortune 500 companies and their use of blogs, Twitter and Facebook seems to positively confirm this trend. The new research study on

Photo credit: Kheng Ho Toh and Dmitriy Shironosov

Each year Fortune Magazine compiles a list of the largest US corporations, which are named the Fortune 500 given their size and wealth. Due to the hugely influential role that these companies play inside the corporate world, their use of social media technologies does provide valuable insights of emergent trends to monitor.

For this specific reason, every year Nora Ganim Barnes and Eric Mattson take Fortune 500 companies as a testing ground to analyze social media corporate use trends.

The new 2010 study revisits the 2009 study while also expanding its research focus by looking at the Fortune 500 companies use trends of Facebook.

These are the reported highlights:

• 116 (23%) of the primary US corporations listed on the 2010 Fortune 500 have a public-facing corporate blog updated in the past 12 months.
• In 2010, only 32% of top US companies relies on the adoption of blogging to establish a conversation with customers. In 2009 it was the 39%.
• 298 (60%) of the new Fortune 500 companies have regularly-updated corporate Twitter accounts. This number is up dramatically from 35% last year.
• 280 (56%) of the 2010 Fortune 500 companies have now a solid presence on Facebook.
• The Fortune 500 companies which regularly use social media technologies belong to a wide spectrum of industries.

Given that Fortune 500 companies stand as an established model for business success, it is indeed strategically critical for you to examine all the data shared in this report to extract solid insights that may help you develop an effective social media strategy.

The Fortune 500 and Social Media: A Longitudinal Study of Blogging, Twitter and Facebook Usage by America’s Largest Companies

by Nora Ganim Barnes and Eric Mattson

Fortune 500 Companies With Public Facing Corporate Blogs

One hundred and sixteen (23%) of the primary corporations listed on the 2010 F500 have a public-facing corporate blog with a post in the past 12 months. These include four of the top five corporations (Wal-Mart, Exxon, Chevron and General Electric).

The only company in the top five in 2010 without a public facing blog is Bank of America. They do have a URL for a blog that is described as a "blog beta" called Future Banking, but no active blog could be located at this time.

Included in those companies adding blogs in 2010 is Exxon. The company launched a blog in June of this year, shortly after the BP oil spill in the Gulf region of the US.

Conoco Philips, now ranked 6th in the F500, does not have a blog at this time.

In our 2008 study of F500 blogs, 81 companies (16%) had blogs that met the criteria for this study.

In 2009, 108 F500 companies (22%) had blogs.

In both years, three of the top five ranked companies had blogs. Exxon and Conoco Philips were the exceptions.

In 2010, 116 companies (23%) have blogs meeting our criteria for an increase of just 1% from 2009.

Fortune 500 Companies With Corporate Blogs by Industry

The 116 companies with blogs come from a cross section of industries.

A partial list is presented below showing those industries with the greatest presence in the blogosphere.

Blogging varied by industry type.

As might be expected, companies in the industry of computer software, peripherals and office equipment have had the most blogs in all three years of our study (eight, 11, and 11). Companies in this category include Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Microsoft, Apple, Oracle and Xerox.

The specialty retail industry saw an increase in the number of companies blogging (such as Home Depot, Best Buy, Toys "R" Us and BJ's Wholesale) from four companies on the 2008 list to seven from the 2009 list and eight in 2010.

The telecommunications industry represented by companies like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and Comcast had seven of the blogs studied this year. Last year's list had six.

Food-related companies like Safeway, McDonald's, Tyson, General Mills, Whole Foods Market and Hershey had nine blogs, up from six in 2009 and 5 in 2008.

Three industries had five blogs in 2009 and 4 in 2008. These, with some company examples, include: Commercial banks (JP Morgan Chase), insurance (Progressive, NY Life), and semiconductors (Intel, Texas Instruments).

Commercial Banks and Semiconductors each have 6 blogs in 2010, while the insurance industry has dropped to three blogs in 2010. The information technology industry (IBM, SAIC, Computer Sciences etc.) and motor vehicle industries (Ford, GM, Goodyear Tire and Rubber etc.) both had 4 blogs in 2009.

Information technology blogs have decreased to three, while motor vehicle blogs have increased to six.

Fortune 500 Companies With Corporate Blogs by Rank

In 2008, 38% of the total number of blogs came from the top 100 followed by 39% of the blogs in the 2009 F500.

Rank continues to influence the adoption of blogging by the F500 but in 2010 that number drops to 32%.

Almost one third of the F500 blogs can be located among the top 100 ranked companies, making rank a factor in use of this particular tool.

In 2010 the top 200 companies account for 53% of corporate blogs and the bottom 200 ranked companies (those listed 301-500) make up 29% of the total number of blogs.

The top 200 companies in 2009 accounted for 58% of the F500 blogs, while the bottom 200 accounted for 29% of the 2009 F500 blogs.

The findings were consistent using the 2008 list with the top 200 having 63% of the F500's blogs while the bottom 200 had 26%.

It is interesting to note that adoption remains lower in the bottom 200 for the third year in a row with no real change since last year (29%).

Level of Interaction On The Fortune 500 Corporate Blogs

All 116 blogs were examined to determine the level of interactivity the blog allowed. This was done by looking at the blog to see if comments were accepted, if RSS feeds or email subscriptions were available and checking the date of the last post to determine how current it was.

Consistent with the findings in the past two years, 90% of the F500 blogs take comments, have RSS feeds and take subscriptions.

These blogs are kept current with frequent posts on a range of topics. It appears that those companies that have made the decision to "blog" have utilized the tool well.

There is frequent posting, on-going discussion and the ability to follow the conversation easily through RSS or email subscriptions.

Fortune 500 Companies Vs. The Inc. 500

The F500 companies are blogging at a lower rate than other business groups, specifically the Inc. 500.

The Inc. 500 list is composed of the fastest-growing, private companies in the US, while the F500 is based on total revenue (not growth) and may include public and private companies. That list is published in a special issue of Inc. Magazine published in September of each year.

While data is not yet available on blogging for the 2010 Inc. 500, in 2009 that group had 45% of the companies on the list hosting corporate blogs.

With 23% of the F500 companies hosting corporate blogs in 2010, that gap is likely to continue.

It is possible that the difference is related to size of the company, internal structure or corporate philosophy regarding open communication with its stakeholders.

Regardless of the motivation, the F500 companies have been less likely to adopt social media tools than their smaller, fast-growing counterparts.

Fortune 500 Companies Corporate Twitter Accounts

For purposes of this research, the following definition was used to locate 2010 F500 companies with Twitter accounts.

A company was considered a user of Twitter if they had an official corporate account with posts (a.k.a. a "tweet") made within the past thirty days.

Two hundred ninety-eight (60%) of the new F500 have corporate Twitter accounts with a tweet in the past thirty days. This number is up dramatically from 35% last year.

Of these companies, nine of the top 10 corporations (Wal-Mart, Exxon, Chevron, General Electric, Bank of America, ConocoPhillips, AT&T, Ford and HP) consistently post on their Twitter accounts.

No Twitter account could be located for the number nine ranked company, JP Morgan Chase.

Four companies in the medical or healthcare industries had Twitter accounts with no activity on them (Humana Health Care, Boston Scientific, United Health Care and Cardinal Health Care). This was also true for the food chain Winn Dixie, and the diversified financial service Freddie Mac. These companies were not included in our final tally.

Fortune 500 Companies Corporate Twitter Accounts by Industry

The 298 companies with Twitter accounts come from a cross section of industries. A partial list is presented below showing those industries with the greatest presence on Twitter.

Tweeting differed by industry type with Specialty Retail (Home Depot, Lowe's) having the most Twitter accounts (23), taking first place from the Insurance Category.

The food-related industry represented by companies like Kroger, Walgreen and McDonald's had 22 of the Twitter accounts studied, double the number in that group last year.

Insurance companies also increased their use of this tool dramatically moving from 13 corporate Twitter accounts to 20.

Many industries had 10 companies with a Twitter account in 2009. These, with some company examples, include: computer software, peripherals and office equipment (Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft), telecommunications (AT&T, Verizon Communications) and utilities (Dominion Resources, Duke Energy).

One year later we see those industries move to 14, 12 and 16 Twitter accounts respectively.

Fortune 500 Companies Corporate Twitter Accounts by Rank

Two hundred and ninety-eight (60%) of the 2010 F500 companies now have corporate Twitter accounts meeting the criteria of this study.

Rank appears to influence the use of Twitter by the F500.

Nine of the top 10 companies have corporate Twitter accounts.

A Twitter account could not be located for J.P. Morgan Chase, the 9th ranked company.

Half of the Twitter accounts belong to the companies in the top 200 on the list, while 33% come from those ranked in the bottom 200.

Similar to the adoption of blogs, those ranked higher in the 2010 F500 are more likely to adopt Twitter than their counterparts ranked lower.

Fortune 500 Companies Level of Interaction On Twitter

All 298 companies with Twitter accounts were examined to determine the level of interactivity with readers by examining @replies or "retweets" and by checking the date of the last post to determine how current it was.

One hundred and three companies (35%) consistently responded with @replies or retweets within 72 hours, many more often.These Twitter accounts are kept up-to-date with current news and information.

There is consistent interaction with other users and on-going discussions that are easy to follow.

Fortune 500 Companies Corporate Facebook Profiles

Two hundred and eighty (56%) of the 2010 F500 are now on Facebook.

This is the first year Facebook was included in this study, and the first time any systematic review of the entire Fortune 500 has been conducted on this issue.

One hundred and forty-seven companies (29%) have neither a Twitter account nor a Facebook presence.

Insurance companies are most likely to be on Facebook, followed by Specialty Retail, and Food, Drug and Consumer Products.

Methodology

For purposes of this research, the following definition was used to locate 2010 F500 companies with blogs: A company was counted as having a blog if they had a publicfacing corporate blog from the primary corporation with posts in the past 12 months.

This is the same definition used in the 2008 and 2009 studies.

Due to the complexity of corporate legal structures in this group and no clear methodology on how subsidiaries have been located or analyzed by others, the research presented here continues to focus on the primary / listed corporation.

While we acknowledge that mergers and acquisitions along with expansions have resulted in segments or subsidiaries with blogs, our focus has consistently been at the corporate level.

In addition, it is worth noting that there is evidence of usage of social media such as blogs inside of large companies like the F500.

This research did not look at that subject but instead focused on public-facing corporate blogs as a barometer of social media usage to engage the public.

All companies were analyzed using multiple steps.

First, working from the published 2010 F500 list, all corporate home pages were examined for links to, or mention of, corporate blogs. If none were found, a search on the company's site was conducted using the key word "blog".

Any links resulting from that search were followed and evaluated using the established criteria.

If no blogs were located on the home page or through a site search, other search engines were used.

Both Google and Technorati (a leading blog-focused search engine) were employed to check for corporate blogs using key words that included the primary / listed company name and the word "blog". This proved to be an effective method since additional blogs were located.

A search of other sites gathering information on the F500 was also reviewed for any mention of blogs in that group.

Similarly, all companies were analyzed through multiple steps to locate corporate Twitter accounts.

First, working from the 2010 F500 list, all corporate home pages were examined for links to, or mention of, a corporate Twitter account. If none were found, a search on the company's website was conducted using the keyword "Twitter."

Any links resulting from that search were followed and evaluated using the established criteria.

If no Twitter accounts were located on the home page or through a site search, Google was used to search for Twitter accounts using keywords that included the primary / listed company name and the word "Twitter." If no Twitter accounts were found this way, a search on the Twitter website was conducted using the primary/listed company name. These additional approaches proved to be effective as some Twitter accounts were located using this method.

The same methodology was used to locate Facebook profiles for each company in the 2010 F500 using multiple searches on multiple platforms.

All 500 companies on the list were researched using this process. This is the only known attempt to examine the entire F500 list for use of the microblogging tool, Twitter and the popular social networking platform Facebook.

The data was collected in August/ September 2010 at the University of MA Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research and the results follow.