Social media can be an extremely effective tool for hotel brands, helping to engage their target audiences and build loyalty among potential guests. Plus, using it correctly can also lead to direct bookings!
To expand your reach, consider running paid social media ads on platforms like Facebook. Depending on which platform it is run on, you can target specific audiences and maximize ROI.
1. Create a Facebook Page
Engaging guests on social media to drive traffic to your hotel website is a proven strategy for connecting with potential guests and promoting offers and deals, as well as improving guest experiences and building brand loyalty. There are various methods of success with social media marketing for hotels such as posting high-quality photos and videos, sharing key property details, running competitions or giveaways, working with influencers and more.
Although traditional advertising may have declined in effectiveness, social media remains a useful way of driving traffic to your hotel website. According to a recent study, two out of five millennials say travel images seen on social media influence their booking decisions, so hotel marketers focus heavily on visual platforms such as Instagram and TikTok to showcase their hotels visually and drive bookings.
YouTube is another powerful platform for driving traffic to hotel websites, offering hoteliers an effective means of visually showcasing their property through high-quality videos and virtual tours. As YouTube is also one of the two major search engines, optimizing videos with relevant keywords will increase SEO rankings and organic reach.
2. Optimize Your Profile
Your hotel website should serve as the virtual lobby of your hotel, raising brand recognition, adding to guest experiences, and driving commission-free bookings. In order to maximize its potential, however, a substantial traffic presence must exist on it.
Make the most of your profile by including keywords and hashtags pertinent to your hotel in your bio section, along with links back to its website. This ensures potential guests can easily locate your social media pages while showing the algorithm that it is an official business.
Optimize your social media content by emphasizing your unique selling points (USPs). Instead of simply posting about the lobster dish at your hotel restaurant, offer viewers an engaging journey through local fishermen who bring fresh catch into port – this will set your hotel apart and drive engagement among potential guests. Not every visitor is potential guest; therefore it is crucial that your focus on those audiences that bring in most revenue (your property management system can assist here) instead of trying to appeal to everyone online.
3. Create a Twitter Account
Twitter will present you with a number of questions when creating an account to help customize and connect with the right people. Once this step is completed, it’s time to post tweets!
Social media offers you a direct way to interact with potential guests, promote the special features of your hotel and increase brand recognition – as well as drive traffic directly to its website and generate direct bookings.
As Facebook and Instagram both boast billions of active users, travellers often discover hotels via their social media presence. Visitors may read reviews and look at photos posted to a hotel page before directly booking through its website, sharing their experience via posts that tag the business in posts tagging it and even sharing it on other social platforms such as Tumbler or Reddit. A strong social media strategy can therefore increase direct online bookings while expanding revenue.
4. Create a LinkedIn Account
LinkedIn provides hotels with an invaluable opportunity to showcase their value, engage with a professional audience, and drive business success. This can be accomplished by using effective strategies such as optimizing your profile, organizing content marketing activities on an ongoing basis, and taking advantage of LinkedIn Ads.
Keep in mind that LinkedIn users tend to be business-to-business (B2B). Therefore, hotel marketing activities on this platform should focus on targeting corporate clients and event planners.
Attracting B2B travelers requires posting captivating B2B-focused content such as videos that showcase your hotel’s features and facilities or posts outlining services that you provide to corporate travelers. Join relevant groups, actively engage with other members, provide timely responses, acknowledge feedback and acknowledge special offers such as discounted stays or free spa services on LinkedIn pages – this can help build followers organically as you gain organic engagement – the more engaged your followers are the higher your chance is of converting them to bookings!
5. Create a Google+ Account
Use social media to drive traffic to your hotel website is an effective way of reaching new potential customers and expanding brand recognition. Social media platforms allow you to showcase the special features of your property, offer discounts or run competitions or giveaways – not to mention connect with influencers who could bring new business.
Social media provides an effective platform to market and connect with travellers while simultaneously building community. Sharing photos or videos featuring team members can humanize your brand and establish trust; people tend to favor hotels they feel personally connected with more frequently; so don’t be shy in showing your personality and having some fun!
Your Google Business Listing for your hotel can make its presence known in an effective and accessible way. By updating it with prices, contact information and reviews you can create an engaging presence that’s hard for prospective guests to miss! Additionally, by adding a booking link you can direct them directly to your website rather than risk losing bookings to online travel agencies (OTAs).
6. Create a Pinterest Account
Pinterest offers various advertising features you can utilize to expand your reach and promote new content. In addition, the Pinterest business hub provides access to performance statistics which will assist with planning future strategies.
To open a Pinterest account, visit its official website and select “Register” on its homepage. Sign in using your Facebook, email address or Google account – once created you can begin pinning images onto boards. Also search Pinterest to discover new topics of interest!
Keep in mind that personal Pinterest accounts are great for saving ideas, but not the ideal way to market your hotel. To maximize Pinterest, a business account with access to advertise products or services and additional tools and analytics may be better suited. This will allow you to reach the appropriate target audience and increase customer conversions. For help getting started with Pinterest, check out their help center with information such as pins, boards, lenses, tagging etc.
7. Create a YouTube Channel
YouTube is the second-most-popular search engine and should not be disregarded when creating a social media strategy for your hotel. Creating a YouTube channel that highlights your property and is optimized with keywords will ensure it shows up in search results.
Utilising video to convey the voice and personality of your brand is an effective way to attract guests, build emotional connections with consumers and lead to bookings. For instance, creating a behind the scene video in your hotel kitchen might give viewers an insight into all the hard work involved in serving food to guests.
YouTube can also help your hotel promote any special offers or deals through videos and photo posts. Doing this encourages guests to visit your website to see more and book their stay, while making sharing of content simple for them and increasing traffic to the hotel website.
8. Create a Blog
As guests begin their hotel booking process online, using keyword research you can direct those searching to your hotel website by offering them all of the information they require in order to book.
Social media users love sharing their travel experiences on social media channels like Twitter or Facebook; you can harness this phenomenon by asking permission of guests who have visited your property to post photos or videos of it online and share these on your blog for other travelers to book stays at your hotel.
As part of your effort to humanize your brand, consider featuring some of your staff in your content. This can help build rapport and trust with potential guests while showing that there are real people running the show at your hotel. Studies conducted by TripAdvisor revealed that hospitality blogs generate leads at significantly reduced costs than other marketing methods.