Quick guide to use social media as a marketing tool for your Hotel
Do you know how widespread is the use of social media nowadays? Just to have an idea: there are more than 1.6 billion social network users worldwide. According to statistics, social networking is among the most popular ways for online users to spend their time. This means that just about everybody is exposed daily to social media in one way or another.
Wondering if social media is a valuable addition to your hotel? Countless hoteliers have asked themselves this very question but were not quite sure about the answer. I will tell you, the answer is: YES! It will not only drive important and meaningful traffic to your website but will also provide relevant information about existing and potential guests, if you use it properly.
So, here are 5 tips of how you can take full advantage of social media to promote your hotel:
1. You can monitor your brand
Instagram is one of the top social networking sites on the internet and it is only expected that you would want to use it to advertise your hotel. Thus, you should take profit of Instagram’s built-in filters, such as “tags” and “places”. Furthermore, you can find out additional information about your target audience by the photos they have posted on Instagram and comments they left.
Regarding Facebook, there are three crucial metrics that demonstrate your page’s performance: the number of likes, the visitors and the star rating.
2. Take advantage of the stories
Is something happening in your hotel? Any conference? Renovations? Party or event? Instagram has the ability to share media in real-time, so you can display what is happening at that particular moment. Social media users seem greedy for video content, therefore Facebook has also decided to “ramp up” its video capacities. Live videos are ranked higher in the newsfeed as they are happening, consequently they have a greater reach than a typical post.
These live videos are a great way for clients to see the human elements of your brand, the behind-the-scenes and day-to-day life.
3. Who does not love a good contest?
One way to increase engagement are social media contests. Doing an enticing giveaway or promotion, will increase the number of followers and future customers. If you are new to this, a simple way to begin is with a photo challenge — ask your guests to take a photograph and use a certain hashtag (so you can track their progress) and the winner wins a beverage, for example.
4. Ever heard that pictures are worth a thousand words?
Photographs and videos are the easiest way for people to get to know your hotel. According to Hospitality Net, pictures are second to price as a deciding factor for travellers. Share images of your guests enjoying themselves, in fact, photos with people on Instagram get more likes. Promote your events. Advertise the local area, share with your future clients the sceneries around the hotel and the attractions.
In addition, you ought to incentivize user generated content, that is, share the photos that customers post of your hotel. Moreover, do not forget food, post photographs of the meals or cocktails from the bars and restaurants. Finally, you must interact with your followers, engaging with them will increase awareness and get your potential clients excited about their future vacations.
5. Use Facebook Messenger for customer service
More and more people associate efficiency with an immediate response. Hence, hotels must pay close attention to mobile messaging and requests from guests, for the reason that an increasing number of travellers are using Facebook to share their feedback or to make direct inquiries.
Over 2.5 billion people have at least one messaging app installed and is estimated that by the end of 2018, a total of 3.6 billion people will be using messaging apps to connect with their friends, family and businesses — messaging apps are the new social media. As a result, hotels are always looking for ways to modernise and revolutionise their guest service practices, therefore, they started offering messaging solutions.
In HiJiffy, we truly believe that messaging apps can help and solve the miscommunication between guests and hotels. Our chatbot responds to guest queries and incentivizes them to book directly from the hotel. This service is proven to increase Hotel’s revenue with direct bookings, whilst offering guests a top service, with a 24/7 communication channel with the hotel.
NB: This is a viewpoint by Mariana Marques from HiJiffy. HiJiffy brings chat to the hospitality industry, enabling guests to effectively connect with Hotels through instant messaging apps.
