As the hospitality industry has come to rely more and more on new media marketing, opportunities abound for those with the unique combination of new media skills and industry knowledge. Professional credentials in new media give qualified individuals a chance to stand apart from the crowd by demonstrating specific proficiency. Here are three reasons why new media credentials are a must:

1. This isn't optional. It's essential.

If you work in hospitality and you're involved in revenue generation, customer satisfaction, brand strategy, sales and booking--in short, if you work in hospitality--and you haven't embraced or recognized social media as a powerful [revenue-generation] tool, your contribution to the growth and profitability of your company is likely to be limited.

"In hospitality, you cannot function in a marketing role, in a general manager role, or any role where you are generating revenue for a hotel without knowing how to effectively use new social media," says Cindy Estis Green, Co-founder and CEO, Kalibri Labs "Your customers certainly operate in that sphere and this is how they are connecting with your business. Embracing this and getting trained isn't optional, it's essential at this point."

2. Bridging the gap

New media is ubiquitous at this point. Very few industries remain untouched. However, we're still seeing what amounts to both hard- and soft-skills gaps. Seasoned hospitality professionals who are untrained and unqualified to work with new media are doing so nonetheless, and often to bad effect, despite their competence in traditional marketing practice.

On the other side, there are "social media experts" working in hospitality who have little understanding of the intricacies and subtleties of branding, reputation management, customer satisfaction. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of people who are both technically adept and intellectually capable of marketing in this arena. There needs to be new media training available for hospitality professionals of all stripes.

"We're not talking about simply teaching SEO, social media or customer analytics here. What's really needed in hospitality is something that makes the connection between marketing theory and the practical reality of managing social media," says Anil Aggarwal, CEO, Milestone Internet Marketing. "Brand management in the social sphere is the game, and that's where we see a huge void. A professional credential program that provides training in this sphere is exactly what the hospitality industry needs going forward."

3. The training is focused and transferable

Pursuing a professional credential in new media for hospitality is perhaps the best way to receive focused training. A professional credential in new media is one of the few ways to demonstrate that you have received specific training, presumably from a reputable higher education organization.

The goal is not to teach the technical aspects of tweeting or how to post to a Facebook wall, or even how to optimize search engine results. It's about making the connection between high-level marketing theory, branding, reputation management, customer satisfaction etc. and teaching people how to actually apply them in the social media realm. A professional credential in new media can get you there quickly, affordably, and can allow you to receive a solid education without upending your professional commitments.

Chris Proulx is the Chief Executive Officer of eCornell. He is responsible for setting the strategic direction of eCornell, identifying growth potential in online education for eCornell, and collaborating with the senior leadership of the University and its faculty to strengthen and seek creative opportunities for our partnership. Mr. Proulx is a graduate of Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration.

About eCornell

eCornell, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cornell University, provides many of the world's leading organizations with online professional and executive development in the areas of leadership and management; human resource management; financial management; healthcare; marketing; and hospitality and foodservice management. eCornell's proven course development model and asynchronous instructor-led course delivery provide students with an engaging, rigorous, and interactive learning experience. eCornell has delivered online courses to more than 50,000 students across more than 200 countries. For more information, visit ecornell.com.

Cari Sommer
Cari Sommer Media + Communications
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eCornell