How to get your guests to do social media marketing for you

Social media can be a powerful word of mouth tool for your hotel. Messages online can quickly spread to thousands of people and raise excitement around your brand.

It’s become ingrained in our researching habits, with 92% of consumers say they trust earned media, such as social media, word of mouth, recommendation from friends and family, above all forms of advertising.

If you’re randomly posting photos and deals to Facebook and Twitter, it can sometimes feel like no-one’s listening. Perhaps no-one shares or interacts with your content.

The problem is, you’re probably posting content your guests don’t care about. They’ve seen it all before. You’re not publishing the right campaigns or your messages aren’t engaging.

We all know social media marketing can be a real time consumer. So what if your guests were the ones driving your social presence? Gaining you followers and new bookings without you lifting a finger.

Well, it’s more than possible, as a few smart hotels have already demonstrated.

You need to give guests a reason to talk about your hotel. A feature or idea that surprises, shocks or delights your guests.

Think beyond the tedious photos and 10% off deals you post every week, and start giving guests a trip into a world of never seen before.

Here are a few ideas with real-life examples that could encourage your guests to spread the word. Look at these as inspiration to leverage your social strategy.

Make your hotel shareable

People are highly likely to take snaps while they’re away. It’s only natural to want to document your travels.

According to tnooz, holiday pictures are the most shared content on or after vacation.

So if your guests take pictures of your hotel and share them on social media, that’s 100% free exposure for your hotel.

But you need to make guests want to share something about your hotel. What could you include in your hotel that’s unusual, over the top, or even controversial? What would make people take notice and feel the urge to pop out the camera?

It could be an oversized painting in the lobby or an interesting sculpture. You could think about redecorating your rooms with awe-inspiring designs, create themed rooms, add unusual bathroom taps or even an extraordinary lamp.

Here’s an example of shareable artwork in the lobby of The Cumberland Hotel in London. This guest shared a picture of the sculpture on Instagram and received 34 likes. That’s 34 new potential guests who could be interested in exploring the hotel for themselves.

Offer a freebie for mentioning you

A campaign as simple as offering a free drink or meal on social media can get the shares and likes flowing.

In this example, Hotel Woodstock in Ireland used their large Facebook following to entice shares for their ‘Afternoon tea for 4’ giveaway.

Entrants simply needed to like, share and tag 3 friends to enter.

The post received over 500 shares, promoting their hotel to thousands more potential bookers. That’s mighty marketing for the small price of 60 Euros — their normal price for 4 afternoon tea diners.

Hotel Woodstock have over 9000 followers on Facebook, but not everyone has that kind of following. If you don’t have many Facebook fans you may find a campaign on Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest would work better as they essentially act as a search engine.

With these social networks your message has the potential to reach more people beyond your own followers through hashtags and searches.

Ask for suggestions

You can also get people talking by asking a question or requesting opinions. It’s a great way to get people involved in your brand and show guests their voice matters to you.

And when someone comments on your post, their friends and followers will see their response which may encourage them to join in. This can spread awareness to thousands of people you wouldn’t otherwise have reached from one simple post.

The ‘Travel Brilliantly’ campaign by Marriott Hotels did wonders with this technique.

They asked their followers what they would change about their travel experience. From the campaign Marriott Hotels gained a huge following and received over 700 submissions.

It was won by Anjana Kallarackal from the U.S. who put forward the idea of more healthy eating options from vending machines.

The Marriott now have a variety of vending machines in their hotels. The hashtag #travelbrilliantly is used widely by guests on Twitter, which welcomes followers to share their travel stories.

Consider ways you can get your guests involved with new ideas at your hotel. You could spark a campaign asking guests for a new cocktail recipe, a new room theme or simply what they look for from a hotel.

Hire exceptional staff

Good customer service can be a highlight of your guest’s stay. If you look through reviews of a hotel, you’ll usually find a comment with a staff member mentioned by name who made their stay extra special.

Staff with bubbly or quirky personalities can be a real talking point. If they have an impressive trick or they’re a natural story teller, all the better. Guests will remember the personal and inviting touches.

At the InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa in Tahiti, the doormen welcome guests arriving to the hotel in nothing but a Tahitian sarong and an elaborate headdress. They’re also happy to pose for pictures against the Bora Bora blue lagoon if asked.

Not something you come across every day — this is highly shareable content!

If you go against the grain or offer an exceptional experience, you’ll soon find guests will drive your social community.

But it’s also important you’re present too. Listen to what your guests say about your hotel and jump into the conversation. Reply to their comments and show your followers there’s a real person behind your accounts.

Deliver the strange, surprising and remarkable and you won’t have to waste hours scraping a few followers together every week. With these strategies, you can leverage user generated content and become the master of social word of mouth.

What has or hasn’t worked for you? We’d love to hear about your social media campaign success stories below.