The Modern Hotelier #142: How Hotels Can Improve Their Social Media Marketing | with Scott Eddy
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Steve Carran: Welcome to another episode of the Modern Hotelier. We're excited to release this episode with Mr. Scott Eddy. David, what were some of your favorite takeaways from the episode?
David: Well, I think overall, just really refreshing to meet somebody like him who has his take on social media, marketing and hospitality in general. I mean, these are all areas that, you know, hoteliers tend to struggle with, and I think if you're listening or you could work with someone like him, it's just going to bring so much value to the table.
Steve Carran: Absolutely. And I, I just love how he kind of fell into it. It wasn't, he was never, this was never a plan for him to be a full time traveler and, you know, doing social media with all these hotels. He just studied the business and the marketing side of it and the social media side of it. And that's how he just got so good at what he does from him investing his own time.
And now he's got over a million followers on X and Instagram, just those two platforms. I mean, it was. It was a masterclass in social media and how hotels can get better on on social media. So I thought it was fantastic and I hope the audience enjoys it.
David: Enjoy it.

David: Welcome to the Modern Hotelier, Hospitality's Most Engaged podcast. I'm David Millili.
Steve Carran: I'm Steve Carran.
Jon Bumhoffer: And I'm Jon Bumhoffer.
David: Steve, who do we have on the program today?
Steve Carran: Yeah. David today, our guest is not an expert. He's not a guru, but he is one of the top global social media influencers and someone who has over a million followers on, on Instagram and X alone. Today we have on the video globe trotter himself, Mr. Scott, Eddie, welcome to the show. Scott.
Scott Eddy: Thanks for having me guys.
David: So Scott, we're going to go through a lightning round, some quick questions, quick answers. We're going to go through your personal background and your career, and then we're going to dive into some industry topic questions. Sound good?
Scott Eddy: Sounds good. Can I just start off by congratulating you guys for being the number two hospitality podcast. Congratulations.
David: Thank you. We appreciate it.
Steve Carran: And. you're one of the top social media influencers. Congrats to you as well.
Scott Eddy: thank you.
David: Alright, sounds good. Alright, here we go. What was the worst job you ever had?
Scott Eddy: Well, I only had one job before, what I do now. I was in investment banking for 10 years. So that job was, it has its good and its bad. Topping out of sales. So it was good.
David: Alright, got it. What's the most used app on your phone?
Scott Eddy: what's that number one, Instagram, number two
David: Are you a morning or a night person?
Scott Eddy: morning. up at 5 a. m. every day, seven days a week.
David: That's, that's
Scott Eddy: That's
David: Uh, if you could trade places with someone for a day, who would it be?
Scott Eddy: Ooh. The director of social media for the Atlanta Braves.
David: What's your favorite city and why?
Scott Eddy: Bangkok. The people. Best people on the planet.
David: Alright, last one. Who would you rather be? Batman, Superman, or Spider Man?
Scott Eddy: Superman. Cause it would be kind of cool to like fly and make, go reverse into time. Like that would, you know, and speed things up and that'd be kind of cool. right,
Steve Carran: That was great. And for all the traveling you do, I thought Superman would be there just for
Scott Eddy: right, right, right, just to get places quicker.
Steve Carran: exactly. Exactly. Well, that was great. Now we're going to dive into your personal life and your career kind of all in one here since, you know, they all just have blend together for you. But, you let Like our producer, John, we're born in Michigan, but at three, you moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
How did that shape you into who you are growing up in Michigan and then what being born in Michigan, then growing up in Florida?
Scott Eddy: So when I was growing up, I had very much a police officer's child life. My dad was a Michigan State Trooper for 11 years, and then we moved to Fort Lauderdale and he was a Fort Lauderdale cop for 11 years. So my life, especially in middle school and high school, I spent every day in the police department.
going on ride alongs and watching interrogations, and like, I watched an autopsy when I was 12. You know, my mom didn't know. She would have killed my dad. Um, I took my driver's license test in a police car, like, so my life was completely mapped out. I was gonna finish high school, join the police academy, become a cop, get married, have the two and a half kids, the white picket fence, retire, and die.
Like that was what was going to happen and nothing was going to deviate that. but three weeks before I graduated high school, my father was killed in the line of duty in a plane crash and it turned my whole world upside down and I did not want to be a cop anymore. So, um, You know, I didn't really know what I wanted to do.
Fortunately, a friend of a friend knew somebody who was opening up a finance company and he was gonna, let me join the, training program. And I got accepted and I was in banking for 10 years.
David: So you went to high school at Stranahan High School, home of the mighty dragons in Fort Lauderdale. What was Scott Eddy like in high school?
Scott Eddy: Eddy was nothing. I wasn't. I wasn't popular. I was sort of like in the middle, you know, it didn't really play any sports in, in college or in high school at all. Like zero, I played baseball in little league outside of school, but yeah, it was very mediocre, made very bad grades. I was probably a strong C minus D plus student.
Um, and, uh, I hated school. Couldn't wait for it to be over and I never went to college.
Steve Carran: That is crazy. That is crazy. So, so, especially for your personality right now, like so outgoing, I thought you'd be class clown or
Scott Eddy: No,
Steve Carran: that.
Scott Eddy: completely opposite. Very quiet, very just, just listen. It,
Steve Carran: Yeah. Very interesting. So, so you kind of touch base on this, but like you said, before, before graduation, your dad passes away in the line of duty and then you decide to go into investment banking. Can you kind of tell us how that all played out? Because it seems such a, such a. Different, I guess, avenue to go down from being a police officer to then investment banking for 10 years. 
Scott Eddy: was night and day. I mean, I had to learn how to break out of my shell. Um, you know, back then, to build up your client book, you cold called people and just a completely different world. you know, I was trained my whole life how to keep law and order, and then you have to go into the business world and talk with logic to people about investments.
You know, it's just something that I had to learn. I wasn't good at it in the beginning, but I learned after a year or two and became quite good, even though I was never. The top in my firm, I was above average and I did extremely well. And, um, the only thing I thank those 10 years for is that I learned how to sell anything to anyone. You know, that is something that I use every day. And that's something I will be eternally grateful for.
Steve Carran: I can see that.
David: Yeah. And I would say outside of that, is there something in your career now that outside of the selling that you look back and say, wow, I'm so glad that I, did have that investment banker background. Cause it's helped you in a certain way.
Scott Eddy: I use it every single day. I use it in my social media. I use it in my tones. I use it when I, speak at conferences, I use it when I'm doing my social media workshops. I mean, at the end of the day, what I do, what you do, what we all do in this industry is some sort of storytelling and selling, and that's all sales is.
Sales is a fancy way of storytelling, storytelling where the ending. Is you getting something that you want? The end of the day, when I do a video for social media, it's, I'm looking for something at the end. I'm looking to provide value. I'm looking to get engagement. I'm looking to grow the following.
I'm looking to, you know, if I'm collaborating with a hotel, build a brand, the end of the day. Everybody's selling. If your mouth is moving, you're selling something.
Steve Carran: Absolutely. Right. That's, that's great. So, the firm ended up being sold. And after the firm was sold, you bought a round trip ticket to Thailand, but you only used it a one, you only used it to get there and you didn't come back. While you were living in your favorite city, Bangkok, you founded the first digital agency in Southeast Asia.
Can you tell us more about what it was like moving to Thailand and how you decided to kind of start this agency? Absolutely.
Scott Eddy: Yeah. So. The reason I went is because the guy who was sitting next to me at the firm, his best friend was an expat and every time he used to come visit from Thailand, he used to always tell me to come visit. And I was like, I work 90 hours a week. It's impossible to take that flight. But the day after I resigned, he called me and he says, you have no job.
Come and visit me. So I was like, you're right. Let me come. So I bought that two week ticket. And after four days, I called my mom. I said, This place is wonderful. The people are great. Why would I come back home? so I ended up staying and, uh, you know, this is when. Southeast Asia was just like getting its groove.
That's when, you know, it was right before they had their tourism boom. you know, the mass influx of, of people every year, before Bali was Bali, when it was still a broke backpacker, Australian hangout, before Macau allowed Western casinos in before Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. You know, I mean, it was just Asia.
so I did what most people do. I went over there, I partied eight days a week for four years and, uh, made friends all over the continent and had a blast and then social media came out. And on a whim, I started a digital agency, which turned out to be the first agency in Asia, um, digital agency. And we were the biggest for five years. Marina Bay Sands entered Singapore and we helped launch the digital marketing for that. the Western casinos entered Macau. We helped with that. The first wave of crazy hotels in Bali, we did that. So all my clients were hotels. So I learned the business. On the job training. It wasn't like I didn't go to, there was no school.
There was like, okay, do this. If it works, you successful. If it doesn't work, you failed. Okay, let's try the next one. Let's oh, I failed here. Let's try this successful route. Like, you know, you just test, learn, test, learn, just keep going. And I got pretty good and sold the agency. And, I was very, very early on social media.
I was first 2000 people on Twitter. so I built my whole brand on Twitter. Twitter was very, very, very important to me. back in the day, I was the first American expat with a million followers on Twitter in every Asian country, which got me headline news, which got me speaking gigs, which got me consulting gigs, you know, and it was just a big snowball.
David: So after selling the agency, you spent 17 years living in several countries, Thailand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Portugal, Spain, and the UK. During that time, what were some of the things that you were doing to build your personal brand? 
Scott Eddy: So a, I didn't know I was building a personal brand because there was no such thing as a personal brand. There was no influencer. There was not like when I lived overseas, it wasn't like it is now. I never exchanged a post for a hotel stay. that wasn't a thing until I got back to the U S in 2015 and social media started to mature.
Then it became a thing. So back then it was just. I was just posting to post. So while my big following got me recognition, it didn't get me paid, but it made me a thought leader ish in the industry. so I was consulting with entrepreneurs in the hospitality space. I was, you know, working with people that owned 15 hotels in Portugal or, Germany or Philippines.
So the reason I moved there is an English guy was moving there to start a new hotel brand and it didn't work out after 10 months. So I left. so these are some of the things that, that I was doing, when I was in Barcelona mainly I was partying in Ibiza. But, um, everything else was strictly work, strictly, uh, yeah, it was, it was fun.
Steve Carran: That's great. So, um, You did a video series called Video Globetrotter, and it was on Lifetime. Usually when I think of Lifetime, I think of like lovey dovey soapy shows, but you were on there doing the Video Globetrotter. Can you tell us more about this series and how you ended up launching it with Lifetime?
Scott Eddy: Yeah, so when I got back, I met a PR girl who turned into my publicist, and she happened to represent a TV studio, and they had Many shows on Lifetime and Fox and many things and they had a travel show just sitting on the shelf collecting dust and She was like you'd be perfect for the host I'm like what because I never did TV or anything like that and she was like I'm gonna set up a meeting with the producers and we did and They were like, yeah, let's do it.
So it launched, the problem was, is it launched right, like in the beginning of the pandemic. So it just got crushed. So it was actually going to be a show just like Anthony Bourdain's. and it was the first travel series on Lifetime, but it just didn't work out. I mean, at the end of the day, it is what it is.
Uh, the experience was wonderful. We filmed in the Caribbean, on the West coast, like all over. It's a shame, but it was fun while it lasted.
David: So you're traveling full time. Now you've been to 85 countries. You've been on 120 cruises. Outside of Bangkok, is there one place you would tell somebody to go to or a favorite place that you would say, yeah, I'm not in Bangkok, this is where I want to go?
Scott Eddy: I like to, just like I do with business, and hotels and cruise lines, I like to reverse engineer everything. So, you know, before I do that, I always say, well, what are you looking for? Is it just a solo trip? Is it a trip with just a couple? Is it kids? Is it, you know, are you looking for a place to go and work slash travel for a month?
You know, like things like that. So, I mean, I personally think that everybody in their life Should do two types of trips. I think that they should do an expedition to Antarctica. And I think that they should do a safari in Africa. The reason for that is you are so in touch with like nature and like earth that you respected a lot more when you leave. And I just think it's, it's, it changes your life. It really does.
David: That's great.
Steve Carran: Absolutely. So you travel a lot. You know, David and I, we talked to quite a few folks who, who travel a lot and some have some travel quirks like Bashar Wali. He needs his water pressure to be strong, so he brings a toolkit to make sure he can Accommodate that at any hotel, uh, I saw that you enjoy, you like the window seat, but you sit on the aisle seat, uh, so you don't have to bother people.
Any other travel quirks that you have that are just kind of interesting that you found out as you, as you traveled so much?
Scott Eddy: what really bothers me and I don't know, like, like, the old saying goes, like the older you get, the, pickier you get or the ornery you get or whatever, but people, I mean, not quirks, but like people being kind when you travel, it really bothers me when I see people being unkind, especially to hospitality workers, whether it's a flight attendant, a gate agent at the airport, you know, airports and airlines are like, The biggest messes in the world as far as like people acting psycho.
but like anywhere, it, it just, it really, really bothers me and vice versa. when I'm very kind to a worker and they just don't care. for example, like everywhere you go in Spain, uh, it's. Literally the worst service in the world, but um, it's, yeah, I don't really have, I'm, I'm easy. you know, I am, I, I, you know, the reason I like to sit on the aisle despite loving the window and the content, you know, I just want to be kind to people, like, I would rather get up and let somebody out versus me bother somebody every time I want to go to the bathroom or something like that, you know, I was just, I was right there.
I was raised very strict, you know, if I didn't say yes ma'am and yes sir, I got thrown through a wall, like, it would just, there was no option in my house. Heh heh heh
Steve Carran: That's okay. So I got to follow up of that. You said Spain, not a great hospitality. I have a feeling
Scott Eddy: hospitality and bad service?
Steve Carran: bad service.
Scott Eddy: They're very nice.
Steve Carran: Very nice. I haven't been there yet. I was in port. I was in Portugal right next to Spain last year.
Scott Eddy: is fantastic. Listen,
Steve Carran: Amazing. Amazing. But is there any place you go, and I'm assuming Bangkok is your, is your number one, but I'm going to say besides Bangkok, any place you go where you're like, holy smokes, this is like the pinnacle of hospitality.
Scott Eddy: Listen you cannot compare Asia especially Southeast Asia to anywhere else in the world they're born with it. It's inside of them. if you guys, and I think we talked about this before off camera, but if you ever go on a cruise, there is a reason why 80 percent of the cruise industry is from the Philippines or some Asian country, much more in Indonesia and Malaysia and India now.
But I mean, there's a reason why they get them from Asia. It's because they're super kind and they're just nice and warm. And they have it inside of them. They're just born with it. you know, Portugal is wonderful, Portugal, you know, Lisbon. if I were to ever move back overseas, shocking to everybody, it would probably not be Bangkok only because. Thailand's just, it's just too disconnected from the rest of the world. Lisbon is probably the place I would go. I have lots of friends there. It's super easy. You know, things I look for, when I even visit a place, I automatically say, could I live here? That's the first thing I say all the, all the time. And what that means is, is an international airport close to the major city?
Is it a walkable city? do the hotels all have pretty high fast, uh, Wi Fi, you know, things like that. So, Lisbon, fantastic. And the service, forget about it, unbelievably.
Steve Carran: Some of the best, and the food there.
Scott Eddy: the food, yeah, everything, everything. The architecture, everything, fantastic.
Steve Carran: I agree with you. That would be, if I was gonna move abroad, that's one of my first cities I would look into. It's, it's incredible.
David: All right. So you're building a travel show behind the scenes of how the hospitality industry really works. Can you tell us more about that?
Scott Eddy: cannot, because it's in the beginning stages, um, but I can tell you that there's nothing like it out there. It's just gonna be raw, uncensored, and I'm gonna show you what a lot of people have never showed you.
I don't have the rest of it because there is no rest of it. It's very, very early. It's a little bit more than an idea, but I do have the structure, and I do have a concept in place, and it's gonna be big when it does happen.
Steve Carran: That's awesome. And I think I saw that on a LinkedIn post from like two days ago or something like that, that you were in the works of it. So that makes sense. It's not too far, far along yet, well that's great. So now we're gonna get your thoughts on. kind of the industry side of things and maybe some best practices, some things that hotels can do a little bit better or what they're doing great.
So I just got to ask, this is kind of a general question, but you've been in traveling and in the hospitality industry as an influencer for quite a while. What would you say is the current state of the hotel industry? 
Scott Eddy: You know, we're in a interesting time right now. Travelers have more choices than ever. Hotels aren't just competing with each other. They're competing with Airbnb, with boutique experiences, with destination driven content that influences decision before a guest even considers a brand. the problem is a lot of hotels, they still market like it's 2015.
The old playbook of relying on OTAs and the static social media posts that don't work anymore. Hotels that embrace storytelling, video content, direct engagement with their audience. Those are the people that will thrive. Those are the brands that will thrive. Those that don't, they're just going to keep struggling.
Listen, you're not going to, if you don't do these things now, You're not going out of business overnight, but you're going to steadily lose market share every single year. 
David: let's dive a little deeper into that. So hotels have been marketing or not marketing themselves for decades. what are just some of the, when you, when you think about that, the statement you made, what are just some of the top ones that you just say, wow, how did, how can they miss? These couple key items that they should be doing to market themselves.
Scott Eddy: So, when I speak, and I talk about, like, visually appealing and, You know, words that make sense when it comes to marketing. the Aman Group, Aman Hotels. now I don't think they've ever did marketing wrong. I don't think they've ever made a bad video. I don't think their verbiage has ever been off.
I think their color grade, like every single thing about their marketing is flawless. Now their ownership structure has always been a complete nightmare. I don't know what it's like right now, but it's, they've always had issues in the, in the behind the scenes. And this is one of the first hotels that I worked with.
So Aman in Phuket, which was their first property, I did a lot for them back in the, day, but Aman is just a flawless brand as far as. Luxury marketing, ultra luxury marketing, minimalist marketing. I mean, they check so many boxes that it's crazy. They can put a chair in an empty room and make it look good.
Like it's, they, they just, they really do things, right. you know, another one that does. They're not fantastic at social media, but their marketing, when they do it, is very, very good. Choice Hotels. Again, not super high end, limited services, property, just, when they do do videos and marketing, it just, it's fun, it's, it works, you know?
I think Marriott has ruined Ritz Carlton. most Ritz Carlton properties feel like a Marriott now. I think that they're not as strict with the brand standards there. having said that, I love the Ritz Carlton brand, but I love the Ritz Carlton brand from 10 years ago. Not the one today. 
Steve Carran: Question on that. Have you ever followed the good time hotel there in Florida on Instagram at all?
Scott Eddy: Yeah, they do very good marketing.
Steve Carran: I, that's one that I followed that came to mind and I always enjoy like their social media posts and they keep people updated on what's going on in the hotel, but in a fun way too.
Scott Eddy: Okay, so the reason for that is the people behind it, Pharrell and David Gruntman and whatnot. So, Pharrell, we all know, like, he's just a genius. Um, David Gruntman as well,
Steve Carran: Same.
Scott Eddy: he is from the nightlife world. You know, live nightclub and fountain blue and, and many, many, many hospitality, you know, bars, restaurants, that sort of thing.
So he's already in the business of producing fun.
Steve Carran: Absolutely.
Scott Eddy: He just translated it into a hotel. Having said that, let's actually talk about the property. Have you ever been there?
Steve Carran: No, I haven't. It is on my bucket list,
so 
Scott Eddy: It is stunning,
Steve Carran: yeah, I bet. I'm sure.
Scott Eddy: it is two blocks from the actual beach on South Beach. The neighborhood, it's saying no locals go anymore, because it's just trash. locals go north, the north end of, of South Beach, not that area. and the rooms are like shoeboxes. They're not comfortable. I stayed there one time. It was like a nightmare.  
I couldn't get anybody at the front desk to like look me in the eye when we're talking. it was a very, very bad experience. Now, this wasn't me working with them. This is me paying for a room and staying there as a normal human. Not as Mr. Scott, it, 
Steve Carran: well, that just correlates, right? Like the marketing has to live up to the guest experience, right? Like you can have great marketing. You're going to, and you're going to come there. You went there. The marketing probably drew you in, but the experience, it wasn't great. So now you're probably not going to come back and now they have to find a new guest to replace you, which could have been a great repeat customer.
Scott Eddy: I'll never go back. And not only that, I've told everybody that I know not to go there.
I'm the easiest person in the world. I mean, you would think I'm like so high maintenance when I travel. I am the easiest person in the world to make happy when I travel. I'm easy. Make sure my room's clean and be nice to me at the front desk. Like, that's it. I don't need anything else.
I
Steve Carran: absolutely. No, I'm with you. one thing that you, you, you do often and you do a very good job of is giving tactical advice. what is any tactical advice that you can give hotels to maybe increase their marketing or their social media to better attract potential guests?
Scott Eddy: Okay, so, engagement is all about conversation, right? Not just the content. So, A, just make a list. Ask questions in the caption to spark interactions. Share behind the scenes content. Raw, real moments that connect They're much that they're more than the polished marketing videos that you're spending thousands of dollars for.
Just do something raw, feature guests in your content, user generated, you know, your UGC stuff. Those are your best assets. Like, are you crazy? Go beyond the book now messaging that everybody uses. Tell stories about the destination. You know, like, you know how many hotels that I work with that are afraid to show a picture of anything but their hotel?
I'm like, you're in a destination.
You have to sell the destination. You should be working with the local CVB, DMO, whatever it is. You have to be doing this. This is non negotiable. You know, if a hotel treats social media like a community Not a commercial, your engagement will go through the roof, you know, but at the end of the day, at first I tell them to stop chasing trends just for the sake of it, because a lot of them do that.
Don't jump on TikTok if you don't have a strategy for it. You know, don't post daily on Instagram just to check the box. Instead, just focus on three things. Video content. Short form videos drive engagement and bookings. Long form videos tell stories and build long term brand evangelists. Hotels should be posting quick, raw, engaging, and sometimes long form videos showcasing experiences.
Not just polished room tours, you know, direct engagement. This is by far number one highlighted billboard flashing lights. Respond to every single comment, DM, and tag that you get on every platform. I do this. I have been very bad this past month because I've been busy and my head's just not in it. So I have not been replying.
So if you go. To my accounts. You're going to see some hit or miss, but for 15 years, I've replied to every single comment on every single platform almost immediately. If not, it's the first thing I do when I wake up before I check my emails, 
Steve Carran: 100%?
Scott Eddy: took time out of their day to respond to you.
It's crazy. Like, how can you not? Like show that human kindness back to them. It's unbelievable.
Steve Carran: 100%? 100%?
David: Yes, I guess one of the biggest challenge in our industry is everybody's looking for the money, the ROI, and they're trying to figure out if they do something, what does that mean? So you don't have to give the hotel, the brand or anything, but as you dive into the storytelling, do you have any good examples of how once the hotel hotel or hotel group embraced that concept of storytelling, how it affected their bottom line?
Scott Eddy: I tell brands right up front, everything that I do is not an overnight success thing. Everything that I do takes time. You tell stories, it doesn't drive bookings overnight. It could, but it most likely will not. but if you're looking to build a brand 10, 15, 20 years. What I'm doing will keep you at the top of the hill for a long, long time.
Like you're, you're, people are buying humans. They're not buying a beautiful lobby that helps, but they're buying the humans that are in there. A hotel is nothing but a box. That's all it is. Some boxes are fancier than others, and some boxes are built with more intention than the others. so there just has to be a plan.
You have to create a content calendar and I don't mean post on Instagram on Monday and post on Facebook on, I mean, we're going to tell this story this week and, at the end of this series, we're going to take all the comments that we got in there and maybe. Respond to them with a thoughtful message, DM and say, Hey, I really appreciate you engaging with us this past week.
I'd love to have your email so we can reach out to you every now and then with some of our specials. Has a hotel ever done that? No. You know why? Because that would take too much time and that doesn't bring in a dollar overnight. Because even if a hotel does have social media staff, right? They pile so much work on them that they have 15 other job responsibilities.
Oh, by the way, when you do get done doing all those 10 things that actually matter, do a TikTok story. Like, are you crazy? That's not a strategy.
Steve Carran: No, Absolutely. Absolutely. So kind of almost to that point, you have amassed over a million followers on Instagram and X alone. You've obviously been consistent and been doing this for a while to build up those kind of numbers. What should hotels stop doing? In their marketing and what should hotels maybe start doing in their marketing?
So maybe one or two things they should stop doing and to one or two things they should start doing to help them grow their their social media sites so they can one day be be as popular as Mr. Scott. Eddie
Scott Eddy: So a, a brand is never going to be as popular as a human period. The end. you know, there was a study many years ago from a VC company in Silicon Valley, and they did a study showing that they showed how. a very visible CEO with a company is going to be much more profitable than a very invisible CEO of a company because people buy people so hotels, hotels are notorious for taking a static image of their hotel and putting a special on it and posting it. They love it. It's like their favorite thing to post. And it's the number one thing that does nothing. If you ever notice, those things get like three likes. Like, those should, like, if you're doing that and you have been doing that, do yourself a favor, delete everything on your profile and start over. Tell stories. I mean, listen, the greatest thing that happened with the pandemic is it allowed raw, shaky, unedited videos from your phone, like gold. Before the pandemic, you couldn't do that. You had to like spend thousands of dollars to get like a video editor and a professional camera and like all these things.
I mean. You can just film something and like post it. It's crazy. You know, I want to hear about the valet that's been at your front door for 25 years. Like, tell me some of his craziest stories, like. every Thursday, this is Thursday with Valentino. He's going to tell us about another one of those stories.
You know what I mean? And just the same way you guys are chuckling, so will the audience. They will love it. You know, why not have a, you know, listen, social media is nothing more than a TV show these days. So why not have a schedule of things that you do every week? Thursday at 7 PM, we're going to talk with the bartender and she's going to tell you what's going on for the happy hour.
it's all about stories. That's all that matters these days is stories.
David: Yeah. But before I ask my question, I just have to comment, I can't agree with you more. I was just in an event last week and I was saying, isn't it amazing that we're in hospitality you go through all these different tech companies. I've, I've been on the tech side and you have no idea who the CEO is.
You have no idea, you know, their face. And these are all companies that are trying to sell in the hotels and it's this whole hospitality, you know, networking of people, community, and yet you don't, and I started saying to people, I said, Oh, who's so and so. Who's the C and they said, I think it's, you know, Bob Smith.
I said, you know what he looks like? They're like, I have no idea. And then the one company, which I'll give a shout out to. And I said, Oh, do you know who the muse CEO is? I said, Oh yeah, Richard and Matt, they're great. I said, yeah, because they're out front and they're, they're building this connection with their audience, mainly through LinkedIn, but.
You know, and I, and I won't say, but there was, you know, anyway, so I even have some of these events I go to and the CEO is not even there and you're like, how that's, that's your job. You have to be there. So anyway, so I agree with you there. So last year you stayed at, I hope we got the number right. 227 nights in hotels.
So. is there something you talked about your easy to appease? Is there something that you just wish that every hotel would do to make the guest experience better? Just whether it be a three star or five star, just something, you know, small that they could do to just improve. 
Scott Eddy: I mean, there's a few things, you know, I mean, now these hotels are charging ridiculous resort fees. Or things that they use to give us for free. Oh, you want to use the gym? There's a resort fee. Like, wasn't the gym there five years ago and wasn't I allowed to use it before? oh, you want to use the pool?
Oh, you want a towel? These are things that are just normal. Like, stop. Stop. They're trying to get, like, the airlines, you know, like, find invisible things to charge passengers with. Oh, you want to bring bags on your trip? That's such a new concept. We're going to charge you like, it's just ridiculous. You know, I think that every hotel should be more upfront and, and in your face with their social media, and then compound that with giving super fast wifi at every property if I started the hotel today.
I want to be known as the hotel with the fastest wifi for free on the planet. that would be my marketing. It would be six months and the whole industry would follow a hundred percent.
Steve Carran: don't think there's anything more that's annoying when I go in and I go to my computer to do some work and then it's like, Oh, you get the crappy wifi just because you are a customer, but you can pay 5 a day to get this great wifi where you could do whatever you want. And I'm like, well, that's. I don't know, nickel and diamond me right there, I feel like.
Scott Eddy: Yeah. I was at a hotel. I was at a hotel last year and it was just, I was in between a trip. I paid, you know, it wasn't a, I wasn't working with them and same thing, pay premium, whatever. And. I did a, review on Google review, right? And I said, I'm not sure if this is actually going to post or not because I'm using the free garbage Wi Fi instead of paying 15 for that.
Like, it was just, because it was so ridiculous. And then, surprise, surprise, no reply. It astounds me when I, when I leave. I test places out. If I go to a restaurant or whatever, like whether I'm working or not, mostly when I'm not working, because when I am working, they know I'm coming in. So when I'm not working, I will tag a hotel or a restaurant or a destination or whatever it is, and just take a picture and post it.
And I time them to see how long, if ever they share the story. 
Steve Carran: Makes sense. Makes sense. well, this has been great, Scott. So we've been asking you the questions this whole time, and you're probably tired of giving us all the answers. So we're going to turn the tables a little bit and let you ask David and I a question.
Scott Eddy: I would like to know from somebody who doesn't do hotel marketing. What is your thought of the current state of marketing for the hotel industry?
Steve Carran: I? I mean, I've been at this a long time. So I left hotels in 99 and got onto the tech side. And I
Scott Eddy: When you say you left hotels, what exactly did you do and how long were you doing it?
David: So I ran hotels, so I've worked every job in a hotel. I lived on property in New York city. I ran a couple hotels in times square. so probably most of the nineties, I, rather than staying in hotels, cause I had no money, I lived in the hotel I worked at cause they didn't want to pay me money. So you kind of connect those dots.
Um, I just don't think they know how to market at all. I don't think it's a, it's a zero. It's a, I mean, even something as basic as, you know, hotel started collecting You know, over 24 years ago and some of these hotels, there's nothing personalized in the email, the email at the wrong time just because they need business.
There is no thought process that goes into whether this person and everybody talks about it, and I've heard it for years, but it's all bullshit. Nobody does anything. There's not a specific specific email targeted, targeted marketing campaign for the tri state area for New York City Hotel. They go, that'd be too much for us to filter that out.
We're just going to send it to everybody, and it's like nobody's coming to New York from. Phoenix for Thanksgiving. We're, we're not going, and we know you need rooms. We know it's slow, but we're not going. So for me, they don't know how to email market and they don't know how to collect data and they don't know if you're a repeat guest.
They don't know where you're from. And one real quick thing that always drives me nuts is when you ask hotels where their business is coming from, they basically say, Oh, it's. This is amount from Expedia. This amount from booking. com and you say, well, what countries they say? Oh, well, I don't know. I don't get that information.
I said, well, didn't they check in at the front desk? And they said, yeah, but the front desk doesn't, they're too, they won't capture, they won't type that information in the PMS and you're sitting there looking at all these opportunities. And yet, you know, it's like the person who, you know, it's. The boy who cried wolf.
Oh my God. Expedia booking. com. I can't believe that they kill us with these rates, but then you do nothing. So if you're going to do nothing, you can only expect to continually to get beat down by the OTAs. So that would be a little longer than probably Steve wanted me to answer, but it's, that's what I think.
Scott Eddy: mean, if you, if you rely on the OTAs, guess what, they're going to make you rely on them.
Steve Carran: And I think that goes to kind of my answer. Like, you got to do a better marketing if you want people to drive direct bookings instead of relying on finding you through the OTAs or through the metaverse, you know, all that. All that stuff like you have to do marketing to drive people to your hotel and show why they should do that like brands we see TV commercials from them kind of, you know, focusing on either their soft brands or their or their larger brand, but I'm thinking of hotels that I've stayed at.
That I would definitely go back again, but I've never heard back from them. I haven't, I haven't, I stayed there once I got the final confirmation email, but like we get asked here quite often, like, what are some of our favorite hotels? And we'll throw hotel names out there. And I'm like. Man, I would go back there, but like, I just, I don't hear from them.
And then I'm like, okay, well, I want to go stay at a new place now. But like, they don't really keep that relationship going and whether that's email, social media, whatever it is, you just really don't hear from them and they don't, they don't stay top of mind. So I think we're all kind of in the same boat on this one,
Scott Eddy: 100%.
Steve Carran: well, this has been great, Scott.
So John, our producer, he's been listening this whole time. We're gonna kick it over to him for the last question before we get you out of here.
Jon Bumhoffer: You said a couple of things that I thought were really, um, like really short phrases that were really impactful. We have to treat social media like a community, not like a commercial. And then I kind of have a question based off of that. And then you also mentioned that a lot of hotels do the static post thing.
And that's what they love to do because guess what? They have brand guidelines that feel safe. They don't know how to, how to navigate this world of using their phone to create video. And so maybe some people are, maybe hotels are afraid of what that's going to be. So I guess, how would you, advise hotels to.
Start figuring out the video side for themselves. figure out their look, their feel, their vibe. kind of get all that set. Cause they want to be in line with their brand, right? But they, but they also want to show that behind the scenes stuff. They might not know how to make that work together. 
Scott Eddy: So, A, I'm not a genius. I am not a smart person. I spend hours on YouTube every day listening to much smarter people than me talk about social media trends, video content, video editing. I learn. I just watch and learn. It's free.
It's
free. I mean, people don't want to take the time to learn.
so from last year, moving backwards is all I made was videos.
Just beautiful videos for brands, right?
This year,
if you've noticed, starting the last two weeks of December, moving forward, I've been doing a lot of tactical advice videos, both on LinkedIn and Instagram and things like that. I have a lot of brands that follow me. I have a lot of director of PRs and CMOs and GMs and ownership groups. Not one of them has reached out. Not one of them has commented and said, Oh, this is great. I'm going to try this free tactical advice, but they'll hire me for 5, 000 to come in and tell them the same thing to their
face.
Does this make
sense?
I mean,
it's crazy.
how to do
it. You
take your phone, you look at it, you talk, you tell stories and you post and see, you test, you learn,
You, you post,
you learn what, what, what hit, what didn't hit. What could I have done better with this? Ask people. I don't know, just try. They're not even trying!
That's the problem.
You gotta at least try. I mean, come on.
David: That's 
Steve Carran: You gave me a good idea. I think we're gonna, this is gonna be our first premium episode that 
Scott Eddy: Ha Ha HA! 
Steve Carran: So in order to listen to this, you got to pay
50 or 100
to 
Scott Eddy: right,
right.
right. 
David: Sounds good. I like that idea. All right. Well, that does it for another episode of the modern hotel year. This is where you get the plug away, let people know how can they get in touch with Scott Eddy and how can you help them and can connect with anyone.
Scott Eddy: So, I'm mister Scott Eddy on every platform. EDDY. And, uh,
I'm basically your go to digital guy. you know, I mean, yes, I can do a video and post it to my, Instagram or whatever, LinkedIn, and you reach my audience, but that's not how to really utilize. really, I do social media workshops where I come in and teach your staff.
you know, I do keynote talks and, and
again
it's the same thing I do free.
If you want to pay me, go ahead.
go ahead
No, but at the end of the day, it's all social media. It's all social media. It's all hospitality in every aspect of it. you know, I travel with one of the best photographers in hospitality.
We do full photo shoots. We do full campaigns. but the big thing is what I'm really moving towards is the social media workshops. That's where you're really going to take your business to the next level and, um, look out for it. Cause I think I'm gonna come up with some very interesting scenarios involving the workshops very soon.
David: Well, that does it for another episode of the Modern Hotelier, the most engaged podcast in hospitality. So whether you're watching or listening, 
Scott Eddy: Huhuhuhuhu 
David: that's correct. We got number two next year. We're going for number one.
Scott Eddy: Yeah, 
David: And
that does it. So thank you so much for joining us.
Thank you, Scott. And we appreciate you and we'll see everyone again soon.
Scott Eddy: take care guys