It’s hard to believe that in the not-too-distant past, the only social media portal that really mattered was Facebook. Today, there is a whole host of different sites that allow us to connect with friends, family and brands, all with varying demographics and functions.
For Hotel Internet Marketing Solution, it means a good digital marketing strategy has to be employed if audiences are to be reached via these social portals. Just lately, one of the most popular has been Pinterest. If you haven’t yet joined the Pinterest revolution, here’s a brief guide to why it matters – and how you could be using it to your property’s advantage.
What Is Pinterest?
For the uninitiated, Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that allows users to organise and share images. Each picture is called a pin and acts as a visual bookmark back to the original source of the image. So, for instance, if a photo of your hotel that you uploaded is pinned 50 times by Pinterest users, each pin will lead anyone who clicks on the picture back to your website. The site is popular because users can create pinboards or moodboards of things they’d like to purchase or places they’d like to go. They can create as many boards as they wish and they can be on any topic you can think of.
Why Is Pinterest Good For Marketing?
Many of the big-name hotel brands have been using Pinterest as a significant part of their online marketing campaigns, famously including the Four Seasons chain. Because the portal is so visual, it allows hotel owners to showcase their rooms, resort, views and unique selling points to a potential audience of millions, without the need to create supporting written content (and you know what they say about a picture being worth a thousand words).
There is also an SEO aspect to Pinterest. Each time you upload an image, you can add a short description in the form of a caption with a link to your website. As long as you ensure these captions contain subtle keywords, people will be able to find them in Google searches. However, it’s essential to remember that Pinterest captions aren’t like those for other social media sites. It’s not advisable to use hashtags because they don’t serve a purpose here – this isn’t Instagram. Instead, they need to be informative yet concise prose. Another plus point about Pinterest is that it doesn’t take quite as much management as, say, Twitter. You don’t have to be constantly pinning, although you should still take the time to curate your boards and to respond to any comments, because active users are more prominent from a marketing perspective.
How To Get Started On Pinterest
As a hotel owner or marketer, you’ll need a business page on Pinterest. You need to search for ‘Pinterest for Business’ and then follow the prompts to create a profile. Once you’ve done this, you can start creating boards that will act as marketing tools for your property – it’s as simple as that. However, you do need to apply the knowledge you have about marketing if your boards are going to be effective for your audiences. Carefully consider who you want to attract and what their interests would be, then create boards based around these personas. For example, if you know your hotel is popular with hikers and you’re in a great location, make a pinboard showcasing local walking trails. Alternatively, if you’re a popular centre for wedding fayres, make a bridal board.
What Content Might Work For Hotels On Pinterest?
There are scores of different ways in which you can use Pinterest as a promotional tool. You might want to run competitions such as a search for the best photo of a stay with you, as voted for by other users, with the image with the most repins winning something like a free night’s accommodation. Another possibility is providing deals and discounts to Pinterest followers which can be repined to their friends. There is then an easy link back to your site should one of these users click on it, potentially resulting in increased direct bookings. Don’t forget that Pinterest has potential as a portal for gathering reviews too. You could pin pictures of particular parts of your property and then invite reviews in the comments section.
Users are likely to be more incentivised to leave a quick comment while they’re relaxed and you can gather positive testimonial for use elsewhere – or work out what needs to be improved. The site is ideal for promoting short-term events, whether it’s something in the resort near you or that you’ve organised within your property. Just put eye-catching images up in good time (of last year’s similar event if you can) and then get them in front of thousands of potentially interested eyes.
Finally, if you want to get started and haven’t rounded up your best photos yet, you could always start with some inspiring (and carefully attributed) quotes about travel and holidays. People love pinning these on Pinterest, particularly if they’re funny or about goals.
Other Points To Consider
It’s important to promote your Pinterest presence by adding the logo to your blog and website for users to click on. Once you have established your boards, you can start expanding your reach by providing pictures linking back to other subjects such as local history. This allows you to connect with your target audiences even when they’re browsing content related to their interests as opposed to solely travel, boosting confidence and awareness in your brand and making it more likely that they’ll come to you when they do need a room. As you can see, Pinterest is a great way of helping you to tell your hotel’s story and getting you in front of everyone from young parents to travel bloggers. If you’re not already on it, now may be the time to create that profile and get started.
