A Study on Uses and Effectiveness of Social Media as a Marketing Tool of Selected Hotels in Lucena City

This study employed a descriptive method to the use and effectiveness of social media platforms in selected hotels in Lucena City. The sample size of respondents came from the selected hotels in Lucena City. Interview questions were used to obtain information from the respondents. The study reveals that the social media network is a major source of advertising to the hospitality industry today. The research was conducted to give an insight to the hospitality industry on the effects of social media, furthermore to establish if social media is effective and recommended, and provided insight and proposition for adopting social media as a platform for marketing purpose. The findings of the study are the following: (1) Majority of the respondents state that the social media platform that works best in the hotel is the Facebook platform; (2)The respondents update their page whenever there is a change in the room rates and it is very effective to the hotel to use this as the simplest and cheapest form of marketing as of now; and (3) Advantages of social media in the hotel include quick access, effortlessness in using, and saving time manpower while the disadvantages include the negative feedbacks and comments coming from the recent customers. It is concluded that many company use social media for the purpose of marketing their brands and services through posting in a social media platforms. Social media gives opportunity for the industry to connect with their customers in a quick and efficient way. It allows everyone and anyone to freely write their comments or feedback and post it online, which not only brings advantages to the company but also disadvantages because certain users might defame the brand and services through word of mouth. The study recommended the following: 1. The hotel should enhance the opportunities for interaction and engagement between members of Facebook pages to share interests, monitoring member’s interaction to identify new marketing segments to provide services based on their interest of visiting the page; 2. They should make their social media pages more interesting, informative, and interactive so that the customer can enjoy their social media experiences; and 3. They can put up full-time dedicated personnel just to monitor customer content to address and resolve issues brought up via all social networking sites.