In today's fast-paced and highly competitive digital world, offering your hotel guests a great stay at your hotel isn't enough.
Instead, it's essential to make an effort to connect with them on a more personalised level via a mix of digital channels, mainly social media.
If you're not taking advantage of social media, you're risking missing out on generating direct bookings from one of the most influential and affordable marketing resources.
Creating and executing an effective social media strategy doesn't necessarily mean you need to be a seasoned pro. However, our HopDigital team have shared their top tips on how to get started.
By introducing these strategies to your daily social media activity, you'll soon learn how to increase your reach, interactions and engagement rate - and ultimately drive potential guests to your website to hit the all-important 'BOOK NOW' button!
Utilise User-Generated Content
User-generated content is extremely important for reputation and one of the most effective digital marketing methods for a hotel.
Posts created by your guests provide a more honest and authentic experience of your hotel, which consumers trust more than sales content shared directly by a brand. In addition, sharing your guests content on your social media channels will significantly help you raise brand awareness and boost loyalty.
After all, word of mouth has always been the most effective form of decision-based purchasing, the power of digital word of mouth shouldn't be underestimated!
Leverage Great Reviews
We recently carried out consumer research, resulting in 41% of hotel guests saying that a great location would encourage them to write a positive review. In comparison, 38% say they would leave a good review if personal touches were included in their stay.
Showcasing high-quality imagery and videos of your local area and demonstrating what you do to go over and above to create a memorable guest experience will not only encourage bookings but will also result in great reviews.
Sharing guest reviews across your social media channels creates positive social proof and are one of the first things potential guests look for when searching for and comparing accommodation.
Invite Travel Influencers
Influencer marketing has proven to be a lucrative sales strategy for hotels over the past few years. Travel influencers have fiercely loyal followers who trust their recommendations and base their decisions on their choices, thoughts, and actions posted on Instagram.
Inviting an influencer to stay and provide an authentic experience at your hotel will significantly grow your brand awareness and following by expanding your audience reach and building trust in your brand.
Humanise your Hotel
Consumers are more likely to trust humanised brands over faceless entities. This can be easily achieved by posting 'human' content, such as behind the scenes. Featuring your staff on your social media channels is ideal for projecting your hotel's true passion and personality.
Your staff are your brand ambassadors; showing you have a great work culture in your hotel will build trust and loyalty from your guests.
Behind the scenes content can range from filming your Chef while he creates a particular dish, interviewing your front of house staff about what they love most about working at your hotel or showcasing an event by going live on your Instagram account.
Interact with your Followers
Interactive marketing creates a buzz and excitement around your social media presence.
Posting content such as polls, quizzes and competitions and simply asking your followers questions will make them feel involved, which helps boost your engagement rate and interaction figures.
Get Filming
With 78% of marketers saying the video has directly helped increase sales, there is no denying that full-screen immersive video content is the most effective form of content these days.
Providing potential guests with a visual journey that showcases the guest experience and brings your hotel to life on digital channels is far more likely to result in a direct booking.
No other content can create a real 'wow-factor and tell your story like video. However, it is critical to ensure that video content is well-thought-out, high quality and not too long.
Create a storyboard and script, and remember to showcase your USPs, i.e. what makes you stand out from your competitors, along with 360-degree shots of rooms and facilities to give potential guests a true feeling of what they can expect when booking a stay.
Create a Regular Offers Strategy
Promoting regular discounts and offers across your social media channels helps to boost direct bookings, increases revenue and drives traffic to your website. In addition, offering book direct offers give you a competitive edge over OTAs.
Running seasonal packages exclusive to your social media followers during the slower seasons will also entice guests to your hotel when they may have otherwise not intended to book a stay.
For more social media tips to grow your hotel business, speak to our team of hospitality digital marketing experts. They'll even review your social strategy free of charge.
Get in touch at sales@hopsoftware.com
Social Media Tips to Grow Your Hotel Business
In today's fast-paced and highly competitive digital world, offering your hotel guests a great stay at your hotel isn't enough.
By introducing these strategies to your daily social media activity, you'll soon learn how to increase your reach, interactions and engagement rate - and ultimately drive potential guests to your website to hit the all-important 'BOOK NOW' button!Instead, it's essential to make an effort to connect with them on a more personalised level via a mix of digital channels, mainly social media.
If you're not taking advantage of social media, you're risking missing out on generating direct bookings from one of the most influential and affordable marketing resources.
Creating and executing an effective social media strategy doesn't necessarily mean you need to be a seasoned pro. However, our HopDigital team have shared their top tips on how to get started.
Utilise User-Generated Content
User-generated content is extremely important for reputation and one of the most effective digital marketing methods for a hotel.
Posts created by your guests provide a more honest and authentic experience of your hotel, which consumers trust more than sales content shared directly by a brand. In addition, sharing your guests content on your social media channels will significantly help you raise brand awareness and boost loyalty.
After all, word of mouth has always been the most effective form of decision-based purchasing, the power of digital word of mouth shouldn't be underestimated!
Leverage Great Reviews
We recently carried out consumer research, resulting in 41% of hotel guests saying that a great location would encourage them to write a positive review. In comparison, 38% say they would leave a good review if personal touches were included in their stay.
Showcasing high-quality imagery and videos of your local area and demonstrating what you do to go over and above to create a memorable guest experience will not only encourage bookings but will also result in great reviews.
Sharing guest reviews across your social media channels creates positive social proof and are one of the first things potential guests look for when searching for and comparing accommodation.
Invite Travel Influencers
Influencer marketing has proven to be a lucrative sales strategy for hotels over the past few years. Travel influencers have fiercely loyal followers who trust their recommendations and base their decisions on their choices, thoughts, and actions posted on Instagram.
Inviting an influencer to stay and provide an authentic experience at your hotel will significantly grow your brand awareness and following by expanding your audience reach and building trust in your brand.
Humanise your Hotel
Consumers are more likely to trust humanised brands over faceless entities. This can be easily achieved by posting 'human' content, such as behind the scenes. Featuring your staff on your social media channels is ideal for projecting your hotel's true passion and personality.
Your staff are your brand ambassadors; showing you have a great work culture in your hotel will build trust and loyalty from your guests.
Behind the scenes content can range from filming your Chef while he creates a particular dish, interviewing your front of house staff about what they love most about working at your hotel or showcasing an event by going live on your Instagram account.
Interact with your Followers
Interactive marketing creates a buzz and excitement around your social media presence.
Posting content such as polls, quizzes and competitions and simply asking your followers questions will make them feel involved, which helps boost your engagement rate and interaction figures.
Get Filming
With 78% of marketers saying the video has directly helped increase sales, there is no denying that full-screen immersive video content is the most effective form of content these days.
Providing potential guests with a visual journey that showcases the guest experience and brings your hotel to life on digital channels is far more likely to result in a direct booking.
No other content can create a real 'wow-factor and tell your story like video. However, it is critical to ensure that video content is well-thought-out, high quality and not too long.
Create a storyboard and script, and remember to showcase your USPs, i.e. what makes you stand out from your competitors, along with 360-degree shots of rooms and facilities to give potential guests a true feeling of what they can expect when booking a stay.
Create a Regular Offers Strategy
Promoting regular discounts and offers across your social media channels helps to boost direct bookings, increases revenue and drives traffic to your website. In addition, offering book direct offers give you a competitive edge over OTAs.
Running seasonal packages exclusive to your social media followers during the slower seasons will also entice guests to your hotel when they may have otherwise not intended to book a stay.
For more social media tips to grow your hotel business, speak to our team of hospitality digital marketing experts. They'll even review your social strategy free of charge.
Get in touch at sales@hopsoftware.com