Whether it’s Facebook or Twitter, Snapchat or Instagram, most of us are involved with social media on an almost everyday basis. According to statistics from Global Web Index, there are now some 2.3 billion active social media users worldwide – and these portals are becoming increasingly important when it comes to driving brand engagement.It’s no different in the hotel industry, so marketers need to be on top of their strategy in this area if they are to avoid losing out to more tech-savvy competitors.Here are some top tips on building a better social media profile for your hotel.
Keep an eye on the calendar. You should plan your hotel social media posts around any key events that are set to take place on particular dates, including festivals, parties and anything else travellers might be timing their trip to coincide with.That way, your hotel should show up when someone searches for these events – and you can show off how close you are to them (or offer other similarly useful and enticing information off the back of them). Don’t forget the less obvious dates either – can you capitalise on National Curry Week or International Chocolate Day with Twitter posts or Facebook recipes, perhaps?Use hashtags. Hashtags are almost ubiquitous these days, so always use them when you’re posting about your hotel online. You can also make the most of existing hashtags too, by posting related content.For instance, can you think of a post that relates to the ever-popular #Throwback Thursday that would have your audience laughing and better engaging with your brand? Take a look around at what’s trending and see if you can link it back to your property.Offer a variety of content. It’s very annoying when brands only ever post on social media when they’re selling something – the aim is to engage with your audience, not ram your product offerings down their throats.To avoid the latter, always offer a variety of different content that people with find genuinely interesting to read.
This might include blog posts, videos, interviews and anything else that you can think of that might appeal to your target audience.Don’t forget your own company news either – a picture of a smiling new employee increases the feeling that your hotel is a happy family, while photos of new dishes from your restaurant could encourage foodies to book a stay.You could even offer competitions and giveaways to get people clicking and thinking about your hotel over those of your competitors.Respond quickly and appropriately. Always ensure there is someone monitoring your social media channels, as many people now use these portals as their primary method of communication with brands – whether it’s to praise them or make a complaint.Appearing to ignore your guests is not a good way to appear reputable and engaged with your audience, so get in touch as soon as you possibly can and either thank them for their feedback or help them resolve their problem.Monitor the outcome. It’s no good simply coming up with a social media campaign and then carrying on regardless of whether it’s working or not – you need to monitor the outcome if you’re going to get results that translate into more bookings.You’ll therefore need to keep checking your analytics statistics and engagement data to see which posts created the outcomes you were looking for.
Perhaps your hits went through the roof when you posted a blog article on how to pack for a mountain break, for example, or your Facebook likes rocketed after you published pictures of a staff fun run.It will subsequently be possible to ditch the ideas that didn’t go down so well and instead focus on similar content to those that really got your would-be audience engaged with your brand.With just a little thought and research, you can make social media work hard on your behalf.
