Do you realise quite how much social media can affect your revenue? Many hoteliers don’t, but actually, social media is an extremely powerful tool when it comes to bringing in more bookings to your hotel. Social media has been proven to increase traffic to hotel websites, but only if it’s used in the right way. So what do you need to do to take advantage of this popular tool? Well, according to Gary Vaynerchuk, New York Times bestselling author and social media expert, one of the most important things is delivering the right message on the right platform. Your content could be top-quality, but if you’re not sharing it with the right people then it might have little or no effect.
To help you to navigate the different platforms, Mr Vaynerchuk suggests that you do the following: Storytell on Facebook Listen on Twitter Glam it up on Pinterest Create art on Instagram Following these guidelines will help you to engage with the right audiences and reach your guests on each of the different social media platforms. Next, you need to be sure that the content you’re sharing actually adds value to your audience, rather than seeming like spam.
Social media is so busy that you need to find a way to stand out and successfully reach potential guests, by delivering something to them that they actually want to engage with. Try not to ask too much of your audience, as this adds the opportunity for the content to be overlooked. Instead, think about what it is that you can deliver that will draw people in and encourage them to click through to your website. When it comes to delivering the content, you also need to find a way to do so in a simple but effective manner.
Most people will just be scanning through their news feeds, so you need to deliver your message in a way that is easily digestible. For example, writing a large paragraph of text will achieve nothing, and will just cause people to continue scrolling past what they assume will be boring and a probable sales pitch. Instead, an eye-catching graphic or image with one line of teaser text is much more likely to draw someone in. Also, don’t forget to include a link to a relevant landing page. There’s no point in creating something to draw in potential guests only to trip at the last hurdle and not direct them to your website.In addition, you should make sure that all of your communication remains on-brand, so that you can really build the personality of your hotel. If the messages you deliver are misjointed, people will become confused. You need to remember that people engage with brands on hotel social media in the same way they would with a human, so give your brand an identity and stick with it. This way, people can begin to form a relationship with your brand, which will build brand loyalty.
