Struggle to win the hearts of your hotel guests?
Here`s an effective and affordable solution: social media. If you master it, you attract new customers and nurture long-term relationships.
But it`s hard to harness the untapped digital potential whereas you`re busy calculating your revenues and working on the ground with your hotel guests.
With over 10 years of experience with digital marketing, we can tell you one thing: it`s doable. If you keep up with the latest trends and are bold enough to experiment, you can achieve satisfactory results.
Our tested formula for social media success looks like this: research, create & experiment, measure and repeat.
Plus, we asked a number of hotels (online on Quora & offline in person) what`re the social media strategies they use. Here`s a quick overview of the most effective ones:
1. Research your audience
Audience research is essential for crafting a successful social media strategy.
Wonder how to access more information about the demographics and the special interests of your audience? It`s essential to learn all about their pain points. Here`re a few tips on how to do it:
Conduct surveys & interviews
Your guests are your most valuable resource. Use it wisely by asking smart questions about their experiences. Learn all about their habits, needs, and interests to be able to tailor your services accordingly. Wonder how to do it? Check out our step by step guide and this free infographic with practical tips.
Take note of online reviews
Ask your guests for reviews (be it negative or positive). Use them to improve your services and offer something extra.
Use analytics tools to gain insights
Benefit from analytics tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, Instagram Insights, and LinkedIn Insights, among others. Learning all about your audience’s interests and online behavior is essential to deliver value to them. Check out our article with simple tools and tips on how to use them.
2. Research the competition
Start by identifying your major competitors. You may already have an idea who they are.
Type the keywords potential guests would use to find your hotel. Then, click on each website and check whether your competitors are active on social media. Many websites link to their social media channels in the footer or header of their page. Check their social media pages, the posts they publish, the engagement they receive (likes, shares, and comments), the number of their followers and how they interact with them.
3. Tailor to each social media channel
Each social media channel has its specifics. Let`s look at some of the most effective post tactics on Facebook and Instagram:
Facebook
Facebook is very visual. Use that. Pictures are performing well. But videos seem to perform even better. Buzzsumo analyzed 68 million Facebook posts and found that videos have higher average engagement than pictures and links. Want some ideas for effective Facebook content? Make short educational/entertaining videos, share blog posts and curated content that may be valuable to your audience.
Instagram
Instagram is a place, where people post their best photos and videos. Want some fresh ideas of what to post on Instagram? Here`re they are: try stories, behind-the-scenes photos (your employees`daily activities, how your hotel was built, how the chefs prepare the food etc.) and user-generated content (for instance, photos of happy guests chilling at your pool bar).
4. Cooperate with Influencers, Bloggers and Journalists
You need to win the people with influence in your target market. Tag them to gain access to a bigger audience. But how to do it? Find bloggers or journalists that produce content about your area. Invite them to visit and write about your hotel.
Alternatively, hire a digital agency to produce a piece of content that`s valuable to your audience. This can be anything: an ebook, video, infographic etc. Send it to influencers that might want to share it. Look for the following types of influencers:
– Famous travel bloggers
– Journalists and media personalities
– Content creators
– Celebrity influencers
Keep in mind that the influencers should have an incentive to help you. Offer them something in exchange – payment, free stay at your hotel or more publicity across different channels.
5. Build connections with users
Social media is more than pushing your services and content. Benefit from it by communicating directly with your audience. How to build a meaningful one-to-one relationship? Here`re several tactics you can use:
- Always respond to comments
- Ask for reviews
- Conduct polls and surveys
- Tag guests
- Create Facebook/LinkedIn groups on topics that interest your audience-insights
- Use videos
- Use emojis
- Craft your own hashtags and encourage users to use them
- Link to curated content
- Benefit from user-generated content and tag the creators
Use the power of social media
Experiment with social media. Follow the latest trends and try them out. What worked and what didn`t work so well for you? Share your experience in the comments down below.
Bonus: Check out and save the free infographic we crafted especially for you.
