Social Media Content Tips for Hotels
What you post on your social channels matters. Quality content is the key to growing your social followers and turning your followers into customers. So, what should you be posting? We have gathered five foolproof ways to incorporate good content into your social media strategy:
1. Hotel News & Events – One great way to show off your hotel, without being too salesy, is by showcasing photos from events. Whether you post photos of a wedding, conference or charity event, it demonstrates that your hotel’s event space is appropriate for many types of occasions. In addition, share news-related content about the hotel such as renovations in progress or highlight an employee of the month. Customers want to get to know your hotel through social, so sharing what is going on behind the scenes is one way to make that connection.
2. Special Amenities – You want to show off everything about your hotel on social media, but a good strategy is to focus on what makes your hotel unique. Share special features that are only found at your property or show photos of the view from your top floor, anything that makes your hotel stand out.
3. Destination Topics – You know the most about your location, so make sure to share that knowledge with your future guests! Sharing events happening around your town, the best places to eat, or the best shopping in the area will establish your hotel as a source of great and reliable information that will entice a new guest to stay there. Be sure to think beyond the obvious choices. Most visitors are eager to learn the best places where locals like to eat and welcome insider information about their travel destination.
4. User-Generated Content – A great way to show future guests what it’s like to stay at your hotel is through user-generated content (UGC). UGC is content that is sourced from guests staying at your hotel. For example, a guest posts a photo enjoying time at your hotel pool on Instagram and tags your hotel. You see it and ask for permission to repost it to your hotel’s Instagram page - that is considered UGC. Future guests trust their peers as a reliable source of information and seeing UGC on your profiles shows that guests love staying at your hotel enough to share on social media.
5. Hashtags – Weekday based hashtags are great to use for a content boost. If you don’t have anything planned on Thursday, it’s great to use #ThrowbackThursday and share a photo of the hotel from 10 years ago, or a #TransformationTuesday and share before and after photos of a renovated room. Hashtags are also great ways to incorporate both traditional and funny holidays, such as #ValentinesDay or #WorldChocolateDay.
Extra Tips – Engagement such as shares, likes or comments is what you want to see on your social platforms. Acknowledge when guests post at your hotel and perhaps provide them with special perks. Provide spaces that are perfect spots to snap a photo to post on Instagram. When guests have a great experience on property and engage with your hotel on social media they are more likely to recommend your hotel when a friend posts that they “looking for recommendations” when traveling to a particular city. Having advocates like that can be very valuable to your hotel.
Are you overwhelmed by the thought of creating all of the posts yourself? Hiring an in-house social media specialist or doing social media on your own is not your only option. Many hotels choose to outsource their social media to a partner such as iResponze to create and implement a crafted strategy specific to their hotel.
