This post was originally published on November 16, 2021 and updated on May 5, 2023.

Information in this blog post was obtained from Wishpond, HubSpot, and BrandMentions.

Why Do We Need To Use Social Media Marketing?

Going on vacations, traveling from Point A to Point B, and getting to experience business trips all have one thing in common, the need of a place to stay. With a constant traffic of customers, and those looking to travel, there is a need for Hotels and Resort professionals to up their game on Social Media. Unless the traveler has a comfort brand or hotel that they tend to resort to, they look to social to figure out where they should stay for their lodging.

As a college student, personally, when booking accommodation in a tourist destination, I often search for recommended hotels on social media platforms. Clean, tidy and unique places will be my first choice. For enterprises, marketing their services and products is very important. Using social media marketing is a very effective and low-cost way to let more potential consumers know about your products and services through social media marketing. When you have a good social media marketing strategy, you may get the opportunity to win spontaneous recommendations and publicity from customers, thereby increasing the company's reputation and sales.

7 Tips For Hotel And Resort Professionals To Find Success In Social Media Marketing

1. Optimize Your Facebook Page

Facebook is the ideal general, multigenerational-use network for hotels and resorts planning on utilizing social media. A great way to think of Facebook is to think of it as the hub for all of your social media profiles and website content. On your Facebook, you are able to put your links and handles to your other social media accounts and it is a good idea to integrate as many of your social media profiles as possible.

Facebook allows businesses to attach any kind of extra tabs that they may need to promote their brand. It is also a great place to hold your contacts, information, and amenity details needed to attract customers. Claim your page as a business -- this way you have control over the content that you curate, and the conversations going on about your brand.

Remember to choose an awesome cover photo for your Facebook page. A picture is worth a thousand words, therefore it is important to choose your cover photo wisely. Pick one based on location and features that make your hotel unique. The cover photo is the most prominent image on your page and the first thing people are going to look at. It will show potential guests how you want to be seen.

2. Setup a Specific Scheduling Program

By creating a scheduled programs on your social media platforms, hotel and resort professionals are able to create a plan for when content will be shared to their followers. There are aids for all social media platforms, such as Facebook Analytics, Twitter Analytics, Instagram Insights, and YouTube Analytics, to help you identify when your followers previously interacted and engaged with your earlier posts. You can also use these tools to review your best performing posts and content as a way to decide what is the best strategy to promote your hotel or resort.

According to BrandMentions.com, by creating a timeline of scheduled posts, you are able to create your posts and promote them strategically. When creating your content, keep in mind the 80-20 rule; this means out of your content that you are sharing, 80% should be informational content, and 20% should be commercial content. And make sure you are not just sharing information, but also internal, external, pictures, videos, news, etc., with your curated content.

3. Show Customers Exactly What You Are Selling

Regardless of if you are a tropical vacation destination or a hotel of the interstate in the Midwest, you need to use photos as a way to show your guests just exactly what their experience may look like. According to Wishpond.com, it is important for brands to showcase as many photos as possible, and then on your website also showcase photos of places to eat and things to do near by.

For hotels and resorts that are meant to be a vacation for their customers, it is important to showcase pictures year round so they are able to see what it will look like during the time of year their stay will occur. It is also recommended that with visual social media platforms like Instagram, you should have a uniform color palette in your photos. Customers like looking at photos that are pleasing to the eye. The more put together your Instagram page is, the more it reflects positively on the company as a whole.

Be responsive to customer inquiries. This surfaced to the top as the number one customer service standard that 61% of consumers value the most. When you are doing online marketing, don't forget to keep in touch with your potential customers and being responsive. Being responsive means more than just responding to every customer inquiry. While this is certainly important, speed and efficiency matter. A quick response is great, but you'll want to follow that up with a speedy and thorough resolution to their request.

4. Use Hashtags to Increase Hotel Reach on Social Media

Using hashtags in your social media posts can be very confusing, but when used correctly it can increase your reach and followers on your platforms. By using hashtags like #hotel, you are able to reach a lot larger of an audience than with a hashtag like #DaysInn. You should avoid using very specific hashtags, because the more specific it is, the less people it will reach. Your hashtags try to be as broad as possible.

Popular hashtags may include following:

• Location-based Hashtags (#paris, #nyc)

• Other Hotel-based Hashtags ( #hotellife, #hotelroom)

• Travel Hashtags ( #traveller, #travelblogger)

• General Use Instagram Hashtags (#love, #instagood, #beautiful)

• Object-based Hashtags (#coffee, #champagne)

When using hashtags it is important to keep in mind ones that go along with your brand and popular hashtags to bring in people that might be looking for your products and services and could become a customer.

5. Communicate Important Changes and Exclusive Content

It is already an important thing when something changes in a hotel or resort, and you should assume that the changes are just as important to your customers. You can share on social media that you and your brand are excited about these new changes as a way to get your followers excited too. According to BrandMentions.com, by communicating the important changes with your audience you are able to keep them closer. This is important because most customers want the inside look and behind-the-scenes updates as a way to feel a part of all the changes occurring.

By posting behind-the-scenes content it increases your followers, and those followers turn on their notifications so that when your account posts they are ready to view your content. This can be used in hotels and resorts when there are renovations to rooms, when a new dining option becomes available, or even something as simple as new amenities added to each guest's stay.

6. Promote Events in the Area Around Your Business

Not only should you be able to get customers excited about the hotel or resort they are staying at, but they should also be excited about events happening in the surrounding area. Whether it is holiday celebrations or a sporting events, you want both current and potential customers to look forward to their stay in your city. This is also a good way of having open communication so that if your location is busier than normal, your guests have an understanding as to why.

In the hospitality industry, every type of business works together in order to ensure the best experience for the guest. Having a list of events happening in your area and information about when they are might have an impact on when a guest chooses to stay at your hotel or resort. By getting your customers excited, it increases your chances of getting them to come back and forming loyalty to your brand. You may also want to provide special offers or promotions when necessary. You can offer guests special incentives for liking your page. These promotions might include things like discounts on future stays which encourage guests to be interested in the product you are selling. This is also a good way to maintain your existing or potential customers.

7. Extend the Experience Even After Their Stay

Guest relations don’t end the minute someone checks out. After their stay, guests will be telling everyone they know about their trip as well as their experience in your hotel. How you treat guests following their stay can influence where they—and others—stay in the future.

Conclusion

Brand competition has gradually become the theme of hotel development. Before choosing a hotel, potential consumers of the hotel usually need to understand the brand of the hotel and choose the best ones before they can experience the various services of the hotel. Therefore, to give consumers a good understanding of the hotel brand before they experience the hotel services, social media marketing is essential. By interacting with consumers on social media platforms, you can understand their needs and improve their experience wit time. By improving customer experience, you will also improve customer loyalty, which is key for successful hotel/resort.

References

Chinn, A. (2022). The Top 5 Most Important Customer Service Standards, According to Consumers. HubSpot. Retrieved from https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-service-standards

Social Media Marketing for Hotels and Resorts: 10 Tips. (2022). Wishpond. Retrieved from https://blog.wishpond.com/post/89888074854/social-media-marketing-for-hotels-and-resorts-10#close-overlay

Sauciuc, A (2022). 12 Engaging Social Media Marketing Ideas for Hotels and Resorts. BrandMentions. Retrieved from https://brandmentions.com/blog/social-media-marketing-for-hotels/