Social Media Marketing Tips for Hotels to Boost Engagement

The travel and hotel industry is one of the hardest-hit during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hotel guests booked less in the previous year, but from here on, moving forward is the time to gain momentum once again. With the power of social networks, hotels and other commercial lodging companies can successfully market their offers in several avenues to get new bookings.

This article will share some social media marketing tips for hotels that you can start using right away.‍

Work on your hotel branding‍

Consistent brand messaging is a great way to make your digital marketing stand out from your competitors. Typically, most hotel brands will focus on comfort, affordability, or even luxury within their niche. While you can work on these things, too, the right messaging can add extra ‘personality’ to your brand.

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Here are some ways to accomplish that:

1. Work on your brand’s voice: Imagine that your property’s social media channels are like people talking to every one of your followers. How would they speak? Your hotels’ brand and its voice can set you apart from competitors. Although your messaging should be professional, you should try to make your hotel more personable so that you can attract the ideal target audience. It all depends on how you want to get their attention.
2. Polish your content: The content in your social media channels reflects your branding, so make sure it projects the appropriate tone and voice.
3. Align your visuals with your branding: Aside from content, it is also essential to work on your visual branding. These include your logo, photography, social media posts, and printed materials and collateral.

Connect Social Media Ads to Well-Structured Landing Pages

One effective way to boost direct bookings is to connect your social media ads to landing pages for each specific offer. These landing pages should contain special, limited-time offers or other incentives to encourage them to book direct. Naturally, a clear call-to-action button like “BOOK NOW” should also be included. Finally, when the visitors click on book now, make sure they land on the booking engine page that shows availability for that specific offer. Don’t make them have to search for the special you want them to book.

Since most first-time visitors to your site are coming from mobile devices, make sure your landing pages are mobile-friendly, easy to navigate, and the offer and call-to-action button are clear to make booking direct as easy as it is on the OTAs.‍

Important Elements to Include in Your Social Media Posts‍

When creating your social media posts, they should always include the following elements:

1. Branded #hashtags: Valuable hashtags, as well as tags about your brand, can help boost the visibility of your social media posts. If you are posting on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, you can use multiple hashtags to attract users who want to discover new content related to their interests.
2. Collaboration tags: You can also tag profiles of other businesses you are in collaboration with or want to promote. For example, magazine accounts, directories, or other related channels with a large following will also improve your visibility.
3. Compelling caption: Whether long and descriptive or short and sweet, a persuasive caption to match your post will help you get more views, website visits, and direct bookings. Like creating content, it’s all about knowing what gets your target audiences’ attention.

Create Story Swipes to Blog Posts‍

Your content should not just be entirely promotional. It should be a combination of informational things related to your hotel. For example, if your property is close to a demand generator, you can create a blog post about it and include a call-to-action button like “Book Now” so it’s easy for them to book direct. Link this blog post to a story within your social media account. The story swipe-up feature is available on Instagram once you have reached 10,000 followers.

These strategies will help potential guests find value both in your social media and website content.‍

Offer Value Upfront Through Social Media Posts‍

Create posts with exclusive discounts or special offers that are only available through social media. These can be linked to a page on your website where users can sign up for your newsletter to get promotions and offers, and information about your hotel.

To increase email sign-ups, you need to offer something of value like:

1. Exclusive discounts
2. Extended-stay offers (buy 3 nights, get the 4th free)
3. Incentives to book direct
4. Free points or dollars with rewards program sign up

Promoting these offers in your social media posts will encourage users to sign up for your hospitality newsletter, ultimately giving you a bigger audience to market to.‍

Include Positive Reviews, Testimonials or Stories‍

How do you improve your online reputation? Besides 24/7 customer service built into your social media channels and your website, you can also create static posts, stories, and videos of guests who have stayed at your property.

The stories should be relatable and fitting to the season, event, or any pressing concern. You can tackle testimonials and reviews about hygiene and sanitation, an ideal family getaway, or a couples’ vacation.

These reviews aim to assure quality and satisfaction for potential guests who might be staying at your hotel for the first time. To get personable reviews, you can reach out to people who left positive reviews on your website or social channels, and you can ask them to elaborate on their experience to be featured.‍

Showcase the Details in Your Social Media Content Strategy‍

Each week, you can focus on a specific area of your property with appropriate photography:

1. Rooms
2. F&B outlets
3. Amenities
4. Experience
5. Staff and their hospitality experience
6. If you implement these social media marketing tips for hotels, it will boost your direct bookings and give you a better ROI than you are getting now.

At E-Marketing Associates, we can help you create a social media strategy to increase direct bookings and increase traffic to your website with a full suite of online marketing products and software.