Hotel Social Media Strategies That Work
Social media can connect hotels with all new audiences, guests, and opportunities.
Along with defining and amplifying hotel brands, social media can showcase the latest offerings, highlighting some of the best events, spaces, and services hotels can provide.
How?
With the right social media strategies, well-designed posts, and some attention to detail.
Here’s how it all works, condensed to fast-track results for any hotel social media launch or campaign.
What Social Media Do Hotel Brands Need?
Hotels need to be where their guests spend time online. Regardless of whether they are looking to attract millennials, high-end clientele, or some other type of guest, hotel brands should generally have a presence on the following social media channels (at the very least).
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It’s all about the image on Instagram, and gorgeous pictures of parties, event spaces, cocktails, food, and more can be an immediate draw for guests across the board. In fact, Instagram can give folks a taste of what it’s like to be there, offering a true window into a given space or event.
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Video tours, party footage, reviews, and more can all define the position of hotel brands while providing another way for guests to get to know the venue, space, or events that it throws.
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Skewed to an older demographic, Facebook can also be a go-to platform for reviews, menus, or event details, especially when it comes to recurring events, like weekly happy hours and brunches.
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Google Business pages are another excellent way for hotels to showcase their brand, connect with prospective guests, collect reviews, and promote their latest events.
5 Effective Social Media Strategies for Hotels
No matter how new or established hotels or event venues are online (or in general), these social media strategies can accelerate better results, boosting visibility while driving next-level results and optimal ROIs.
1. Post regularly.
Ideally, hotel social media should be active weekly, with fresh posts showcasing the latest happenings, upcoming events, weekly occurrences, and more.
If a hotel’s social media pages get stale and don’t have any new posts, audiences can second guess that hotel and its events.
Unfortunately, that’s true even if that last post was just a few months old.
Pro Tip: Use a scheduling tool to set up all of your hotel’s social media posts for a week or a month in one sitting. That can cover your bases and keep you on a regular publishing cycle. It can also help you disseminate multiple posts across several platforms.
2. Keep it visual & engaging.
Every post should have a visual element, whether that’s a photo or a video.
The best posts will have unique pictures taken at your space or specific event. Keep in mind that these images can include:
Finer details, like dishes, cocktails, table settings, and turntables
Bird’s eye views of a space or an event
Staff and guests (with permission)
Décor, including welcome areas, wall decorations, unique fixtures, and anything that showcases the voice, style, and overall feel of a hotel
Pro Tip: Find ways to get your guests or online users to help you create, post, and circulate visual content. This can be done via contests, special access, or unique opportunities for users who post their pictures or videos of their hotel stays or visits for certain events.
3. Be authentic.
Talk to your audience like you’re having a face-to-face conversation.
Keep it to the point and REAL. Leave the BS behind and think about what really matters to your guests.
Even through screens, savvy online clientele can spot disingenuous posts and hot air. Be a breath of fresh air and set your brand apart by simply being authentic in your posts.
Pro Tip: Have at least two sets of eyes on every post. Another perspective can uncover missed opportunities, spot errors, and help refine the voice in hotel social media posts. They can also help keep it consistently authentic across different social media platforms.
4. Respond to your followers.
When social media followers post reviews and questions:
Post a response.
Keep it professional and friendly, even if the follower is being less than kind.
Also:
Offer help, whether that means providing answers, sharing links where more information is available, or providing contact info so that the individual can reach out for more help.
If it’s a negative review, be diplomatic and encourage contact offline, so you can find a solution.
Pro Tip: Schedule one day a month to check and respond to any follower posts that require a reply. You may need to step this up to once a week if your followers are particularly active on social media. You don’t want to leave posts unanswered for more than a week or less whenever possible (ideally, responses would be posted within 24 to 48 hours in the case of highly visible reviews).
5. Switch it up.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with different types or timing of social media posts. For example, it can be smart to test strategies like (but not limited to):
Running contests
Doing live streams of events
Interviewing staff or guests
Showing behind-the-scenes tours of a venue
Recording event setup
Remember, you never really know what’s going to land or go viral until it does.
And social media doesn’t run itself.
Finding the best way to make waves and have a real impact can take some trial and error — and there’s more than one way to be successful with hotel social media, especially in today’s fast-paced world.
Pro Tip: Look at the metrics to see what’s working in terms of both topics and when you’re posting, meaning days and times. Switching up both the topics and timing of social media posts can be pivotal to dialing them in just right and getting the best engagement and results from them.
Hotel Social Media Marketing: The Bottom Line
When it comes to leveraging social media for hotel brands, venues, and events, the bottom line is that several strategies can be highly effective at boosting engagement, attracting new guests, and driving more success across the board.
With so much going on in the day-to-day hotel operations, having a trusted social media management partner, like The Music Trust, can be the ideal solution for hotels and their staff who run all types of events there.
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