The world of social media is constantly evolving, making it crutial for hotels to stay ahead in the market. Serena Dorf, a content writer from Los Angeles, shares her top tops to help htoels remain competitive in the digital sphere…
In today’s digital era, every business is forced to survive and adapt to the ever-changing marketplace shifts. If ten years ago traditional marketing was king, nowadays, the digital marketing medium seems to be the most pronounced. As a hotel owner, you’ll have to adapt to the current effective marketing practices that can bring you exposure and eventually more bookings.
Social media networks are currently the trendiest way to promote a business online, mostly because it allows brands and customers to communicate directly and to build purposeful relationships that’ll serve both parties for an undefined period of time.
It’s the 21st century – most people regularly use a phone with internet on it and with at least one social media network installed. Some phones even have social networks installed by default, so it’s quite probable that your target audience is present on at least one big social media network.
Doing the simple math, we come to realise that social networks are the best platforms that can be used for hotel promotion. For that reason, we’ll discuss seven simple tips and guidelines that’ll help you effectively promote your hotel on social media.
1. Keep your brand’s voice consistent on social media
Every brand needs to differentiate itself from the rest in one way or another, in fact, that’s what branding means. By developing social media profiles and sharing consistent quality content, you’ll begin shaping your brand’s voice.
For example, Nike is using a motivational voice to inspire athletes, while Dove uses an inspirational approach to help women improve self-esteem. They use social networks to implement this strategy, and they reap amazing benefits in terms of engagement and customers’ loyalty.
As a hotel, you can develop a brand voice (cozy, luxury, affordable, etc) and keep it consistent throughout time. When you share new updates, make sure your visual content and the description of the post are consistent with your hotel’s culture.
2. Arrange contests on various social platforms
You can gain a lot of new customers by encouraging them to enrol in different contests. You can start a user-generated campaign and offer prizes to the most creative submissions. For example, as a hotel, you can encourage all your hosts to take pictures and list the three biggest benefits of staying at your hotel. The best three reviews can win a free week during the holiday season.
Share this contest on your social channels and track your engagement. Learn from the results and replicate the process once you find it suited.
“Hotels can emphasise visual components (beautiful surroundings), their food specialties (a video of a super delicious dish, served professionally at your hotel), or perhaps something else, something original that is worth sharing.”
3. Create viral and shareable content on Facebook and Twitter
When brands go viral, their entire fate changes overnight. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of people will become aware of their existence, so they’ll be reaping traffic benefits for a long time.
Becoming viral is an art. You need to get into the mind of your audience, dig deep and seek their inner desires, and test different approaches until the results are satisfying.
When people share a social media post, they do it because they found it remarkable (worth-of-remark/share). Hotels can emphasise visual components (beautiful surroundings), their food specialties (a video of a super delicious dish, served professionally at your hotel), or perhaps something else, something original that is worth sharing.
The biggest social media networks (and the ones that encourage virality the most) are Facebook and Twitter. Therefore, if you ever were to use paid advertising to increase your odds of getting viral, these should be your first two choices.
4. Offer exclusive content and deals to followers and email subscribers
If your social media followers engage with your page or subscribe to your email list, you can offer exclusive content and discounts to reward the loyalty. By taking this approach, your prospects will be eager to choose your hotel instead of the competitors’ because they’re reaping additional benefits besides the normal booking option.
5. Manage and optimise your social pages consistently
“Social media marketing isn’t a quick result that must be achieved. In fact, it is a journey that keeps going until social networks stop being used (never) or until you have so many bookings that you absolutely need to close your social pages (never). Therefore, your social image remains a constant responsibility,” said the marketing manager at EssayOnTime.
You’ll need to share new updates, answer prospects’ inquiries, respond to positive/negative reviews, and so on. All in all, you’ll need to give the impression that your hotel is active, committed and easily reachable.
6. Leverage Pinterest and Instagram’s benefits by sharing visual content
Hotel marketing is always better if visual content is present. Before a person books, he or she will want to ‘get a feel’ of the place. The best way to help your potential client choose you instead of your competitors is to offer high-quality visual content.
Pinterest and Instagram are two of the biggest ‘visual’ social networks; places that people use mostly for their visual benefits. Great pictures, funny gifs, and short videos are some of the most popular formats that hotels frequently use to improve their reach and followers’ base.
7. Use influencers to spread awareness
Social media influencers are not TV stars; they’re not famous celebrities that offer incredibly pricey advertising options. In fact, an 18-year-old teenager with 10.000 engaged fans on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or any other social network becomes a micro-influencer that can potentially boost your hotel’s bookings.
Reach the people that have a target audience that is very close to yours – establish your standards (big influencers obviously cost more) and start negotiating a price for their promotion services.
Promoting your hotel on social media is not rocket science. By using our insightful guidelines, you can tap into the power of social media networks, the same power that’s leveraged by the biggest hotels in the world. Some of them reached the peak by mastering the art of social media marketing, while others have enhanced their reputation and brand image over time.
Regardless of your purposes, social media networks are the most suited tools for every hotel owner who doesn’t simply expect clients to randomly drop off at their door. Take our tips into consideration and start promoting your hotel the right way.
Main image credit: Upsplash
