Tips to Build a Strong Social Media Marketing Strategy for Hotels

Google now indexes Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, TikTok videos, and Facebook posts. You heard that right. Now, millions of social media posts can be viewed directly in the SERPs, making an effective social media marketing strategy for hotels an invaluable resource.

From understanding the different platforms and knowing the best strategies to implementing them to perfection, there’s plenty you need to know for an effective social media campaign. Fortunately, this guide covers all the key aspects of social media marketing to ensure your posts convert views into booked rooms.

The Effectiveness of a Well-Crafted Hotel Social Media Marketing Strategy

The hotel industry is a visual battleground, where every accommodation competes for the attention of potential guests. Think about it, when you book a hotel, the visuals are the first things to catch your attention, isn’t it?

This principle is just as essential for well-crafted social media content. And when done right, the impact on engagement and conversions is truly exceptional.

A strong hotel social media strategy can:

• Lend credibility to your hotel brand: Strategic social media campaigns place your hotel in front of potential guests, dramatically increasing your online presence and discoverability.
• Drive direct bookings: The best outcome for hospitality social media marketing is to secure direct bookings and reduce your reliance on OTAs to maximise revenue. By having an engaging online presence, you can achieve that.
• Builds brand loyalty and trust: A strong social media presence enhances brand trust, potentially converting an undecided guest into a booked one. Utilising elements such as authentic guest stories, influencer marketing, and prompt responses to feedback fosters a sense of community and loyalty.
• Showcase unique experiences: By using high-quality visuals and creative storytelling, you can highlight your property’s standout features, local attractions, experiences, and amenities, which could draw potential guests.
• Deliver measurable results: With the right analytics tools, you can track engagement, bookings, and ROI, ensuring your actionable strategies are always working in your favour.

Top Social Media Platforms for the Hotel Industry

Keep your digital target audience in mind when designing your hotel’s social media marketing strategy. The first step is to pick which platforms you’ll use as a medium to market your brand. Listed below are the best social media channels for your hotel’s social media strategy.

1.   Facebook

With over 3.07 billion active users worldwide, Facebook remains one of the most effective channels for social media marketing among hotels and the tourism industry. It’s also one of the best channels to market your accommodation, as this app has generous limitations on word count, links, and video size.

Getting started is easy. Create a business account, edit your page’s look to represent your brand, including your hotel’s contact information, and start posting. Use the cover photo feature to highlight your hotel’s primary attractions and include your website’s link as a call to action.

2.   Instagram

While Facebook has more users, Instagram is a fast-growing social media platform. Instagram users primarily use the app to share photos and videos, just like Facebook users.

However, Instagram precedes its competitor with a broader range of content-sharing methods. In addition to the standard photos and videos, Instagram marketing encompasses Reels, live videos, Stories, and filters.

A fun fact to consider is that the human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text. This makes Instagram a powerful channel for social media marketing strategies, as the app is more focused on visuals.

3. TikTok

Perhaps the youngest of the social platforms, but still the fastest growing, TikTok has over 1.5 billion users worldwide. What started as a platform to share short-form video content has now expanded to images, stories, and live videos, allowing you to post a range of content.

This platform enables you to share more with a younger, experience-driven audience that seeks authentic content and open discussions. This platform allows your audience to stitch your videos together, enabling them to combine them with their own content. You can also reply to comments with videos or image posts to easily increase audience engagement.

4. YouTube

In your marketing efforts to showcase your hotel’s property, you can use YouTube videos to market unique features of your property. This social media platform sees high engagement and usage amongst many age groups.

While video content can be expensive to produce, it is the most powerful way to engage with your audience because of its “in-motion” feel. YouTube videos receive high engagement, as more than two billion people globally use the app at least once a month.

In comparison to television advertising, YouTube is more cost-effective, has a wider audience reach, and its content can be easily shared.

5.   Pinterest

Pinterest doesn’t get as much hype as some of the other social media networks on this list. Despite this, the app has consistently maintained a high market position.

The visual platform allows for picture sharing, similar to Facebook and Instagram. What differentiates Pinterest from its competitors is its “pinboard” design, which appeals to people who love planning and organising.

Pictures on the app are referred to as “pins” and include a description, along with an option to attach a link that directs users to your site. The hotel industry can use Pinterest marketing tactics to create content that other app users will re-pin.

6. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is often misperceived as the big guy connecting corporations to job seekers. While the app has a B2B focus, businesses (and their workforces) can still be consumers.

This social media channel hosts more than a billion users, including a handful of hoteliers and potential guests. Consider investing in LinkedIn’s untapped potential to target executives and employees who could be attracted to your hotel for leisure or work purposes.

What to Post for Your Hotel Social Marketing Efforts

A strong online presence depends on diverse, engaging content that highlights your unique hotel and fosters a sense of community. Here are a few hotel social media marketing ideas on how to populate your calendar with high-impact posts:

Show Off Your Property

• Behind-the-scenes: Share content the average guest usually won’t see, such as friendly staff competitions, time-lapse videos of you setting up rooms for guests, prepping for special guests to arrive, or a “day in the life” video of staff members. This adds a more human touch to your hotel that people find relatable.
• Room Tours: Post short videos or carousels giving a walk-through of your rooms and distinctive room features or views. You can also highlight newly renovated spaces.
• Unique Amenities: Showcase what sets your hotel apart from the rest. This can be by location, amenities, or nearby attractions.

Audience Engagement Content

• Local Attractions: We recommend personalised itineraries or must-see attractions and activities within a short distance from your hotel. Whether within walking or driving distance, this could be the deciding factor whether your guests book here or not.
• Special Offers & Promos: Social media is a good place to announce exclusive rates or flash sales as it’s quick to do and will receive more eyes. You can also promote packages for special occasions, like honeymoons or family trips, here.
• User-Generated Content: Take advantage of guest reviews and posts by re-sharing them on your accounts with permission. UGC for hotels to build trust with their audience through social proof.
• Interactive Content: Polls, Q&As, and fun quizzes help build engagement, trust, and loyalty.

Highlighting the Team and Guest Experiences

• Staff Spotlights: Introduce your staff through short profiles or interviews, often hidden behind the curtain, to help humanise your institution.
• Guest Testimonials: Feature what guests say about why they liked your hotel. This builds social proof and thus trust.
• Seasonal & Event Content: Showcase seasonal decor or holiday events to help create FOMO. Promote special menus or themed packages such as Valentine’s Day specials as well.
• Travel Tips & Guides: Showcase your local expertise by sharing travel hacks, city guides, hidden gems, and tested restaurants. This helps guests gain valuable insider information about your hotel and location, which can entice them more.

Guide to Platform Engagement for Social Media Campaigns for Hotels

Now, you know the best social media channels to include in your hotel marketing strategy. But you’re probably wondering how to use them. Let’s discuss the social media strategies and how they can benefit your hospitality marketing efforts. Here’s how to promote your hotel on social media.

What to Post on Your Facebook Page

As a hotelier, it’s a given that your social media posts should include scenic photos of your hotel’s interior and exterior.

Additionally, consider posting other types of content, such as short videos, stories, and live videos. Remember, you can also use the platform to alert future guests of special offers, discounts, competitions, and promotions for your property.

Simply posting content on social media for hotels is not enough. There must be interaction on your Facebook page to show users that they are taking a keen interest in your hotel, not just scrolling past it.

Facebook Engagement and Interaction

Here are a few methods of encouraging interactions and increasing engagement:

• Using Tags: Encourage your guests to tag the hotel in their photos and videos upon check-in.
• Competitions & Promos: Host competitions on your social media platforms periodically with enticing incentives, such as discounted or complimentary stays, or additional amenities or facilities.
• Paid Ads: A form of paid advertising, Facebook Ads allow you to target users who have visited your page but not interacted or engaged with it. This feature can target a bigger audience, increase brand awareness, and promote offers and discounts.

2. What to Post on Instagram

If you choose to include Facebook and Instagram in your hotel’s social media strategy, then it’s good to know that you can link the two platforms. Since both apps are owned by the same company, Meta, the platforms enable Instagram users to connect their business profiles with their Facebook business pages.

When posting, try to think from the users’ perspective. This social media app is buzzing with millions of users scrolling through endless visual content every day. You want to post something unique and attractive, so it instantly grabs their attention.

Consider posting high-resolution, aesthetically pleasing pictures and videos of your hotel. However, go above and beyond with more engaging content, such as sharing booking tips, scenic images of the surroundings, upcoming events, and discount offers.

Instagram Engagement and Interaction

Posting content doesn’t do much if Instagram users aren’t engaging with that content. You don’t want your picture to just appear on the user’s Explore page, but also to have them like it, comment on it, and possibly even share it with their friends.

• Share UGC: Encourage hotel guests to share pictures and videos with their reviews of the hotel on their Instagram accounts. When guests do this, repost the positive content on your Instagram page (for instance, reviews on your hotel’s exceptional customer service).
• Use popular hashtags: These help your post find its niche in Instagram’s algorithm, allowing it to reach its intended target audience.
• Utilise the Reels feature: Reels receive a lot of views, so create short videos of your hotel. This can be of the hotel rooms, surroundings, or guests at your hotel.

Instagram’s Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is one of the most famous social media campaigns. Utilise influencers to create buzz about your hotel.

The tried-and-trusted formula entails reaching out to influencers who publish content in the travel and hospitality industry. Find an influencer in your region and offer them a free or discounted stay at your hotel in return for user-generated content.

User-generated content includes any form of content that anyone, including influencers, may post on their active social media channels.

3. What to Post on TikTok

The first step to start social media management for TikTok is to open a business account specifically for your hotel. This unlocks valuable features, including analytics, ad tools, and the ability to add your website and a booking link.

From there, it’s time to post content. Videos perform the best, so try to post clips that highlight your hotel’s exterior, inviting interiors, amenities, and local attractions to give viewers a dynamic sense of what to expect.

Post content your audience is looking for and include relevant keywords in the caption, hashtags, on-page as text, or use them when talking. This will then push your content to the right audience. TikTok also has a keyword search feature in comments that highlights the most talked-about phrases, making them searchable keywords. So, creating relevant and valuable content is essential.

TikTok Engagement and Interaction

TikTok promotion aims to create dialogue and be entertaining. You can get engagement in a few ways:

• Invite users to create duets or stitch your videos:  This can amplify reach and foster community involvement.
• Utilise popular and location-specific hashtags: Location tags help your content appear in applicable searches and trending feeds.
• Stay active with your audience: Actively reply to comments on your videos to build rapport and show that your hotel values guest interaction.
• Use TikTok’s advertising platform: Target potential guests based on their interests, behaviours, and location.
• Track video performance metrics: Watch time, shares, and follower growth metrics help you optimise future content by seeing what works for your audience and what doesn’t.

4. What to Post on YouTube

The app is famous for video-sharing, so sharing videos on YouTube is the minimum you can do. However, since everyone on YouTube is there to create and share videos, you want to post video content that stands out and retains users’ attention.

Instead of just posting videos of your hotel, create exciting videos that cover other relevant niches in this industry, for example, videos of surrounding locations, itineraries, local events, and more.

YouTube Engagement and Interaction

When posting on YouTube, you’re not just aiming to rank on YouTube’s search page, but also Google’s. After Google, YouTube is the second-largest search engine.

Here are a few tips and tricks on how to increase engagement and interaction on YouTube.

• Optimise video titles: Add a relevant and accurate title to your video that also includes high-ranking keywords. You can use Google’s keyword planning marketing tool to help choose a strong title.
• Ensure video descriptions are as detailed as possible: The description box can also be used to include links to your website and social media networks.
• Engage with your audience: Reply to comments left by potential guests, especially if they’re questions enquiring about the hotel.

5. What to Post on Pinterest

Start on Pinterest with the basics. Create boards (with sections if possible), pin content from other sites to your boards, and then start creating and publishing your pins.

Boards are like personal categories that should be relevant to your account’s theme. As a hotelier on Pinterest, you can have boards that segment your hotel/s, like “luxury hotel”, “hotel amenities”, “hotel facilities”, “nearby locations”, etc.

Pinterest Engagement and Interaction

Increasing engagement and interaction on Pinterest can prove fruitful if done correctly.

• Optimise your posts: Post your hotel’s pictures with a brief description and a link to your website.
• Use unique designs: Remember to use pin designs and carousels to showcase your hotel’s best features.
• Don’t just focus on your hotel: Populate your board with nearby scenes, activities, and restaurants. You can do this by pinning other people’s pins to your boards or creating your own.

6. What to Post on LinkedIn

Keeping your users in mind is essential for your hotel’s social media strategy. Unlike other social media networks, LinkedIn’s audience is looking for something beneficial to them, rather than entertainment.

So, for LinkedIn, you want to highlight the aspects of your hotel that will be beneficial to corporations and professionals. Whether it’s for business events and conferences or leisure trips, it’ll be helpful to market your hotel’s amenities, facilities, attractive deals, and tours.

LinkedIn Engagement and Interaction

LinkedIn’s engagement is somewhat similar to Facebook’s.

• Curate your audience: Since one of LinkedIn’s primary focuses is to network, connecting with the right people will drive traffic to your website and help you reach potential hotel guests.
• Add popular hashtags to your posts: This helps you reach your target audience and increase engagement. However, avoid overusing hashtags in your posts. Three to five should be sufficient.
• Vary post formats: Posts on their own are boring, especially with all of LinkedIn’s excellent features. Run polls on your page, post an engaging story, share carousels, and repost relevant content.

Social Media Marketing Tips for Hotels

Still need a few tips on how to promote your hotel on social media? Here are tried tips.

Build Brand Awareness

Developing a consistent brand voice and visual identity across all platforms makes your hotel instantly recognisable. This can be achieved by incorporating brand colours or a specific brand aesthetic into content, such as graphics, photos, or video.

Using storytelling that evokes emotions and highlights your hotel’s unique personality, lifestyle, and guest experience, rather than just selling rooms, can also effectively boost brand recognition.

Use High-Quality Photos

When showcasing your hotel, use high-quality, stunning images to not only show off your space but also demonstrate professionalism. Also, ensure your images are optimised for mobile viewing, as most travellers browse on smartphones rather than desktops.

Leverage Guest Experiences and UGC

Guest experiences are crucial for social proof, so encourage past guests to leave positive reviews after their stay and share them on your social media accounts. This will build trust among new and potential guests.

Using user-generated content (with permission) is also a good way to build social proof without having to create content yourself. Ask guests to post images and videos using your branded hashtags to build traction and curiosity. Once new users click on this hashtag, they’ll see a group of pictures and reviews about your hotel.

Embrace Short-Form Video

In the 21st century, with the rise of mobile-first consumption, our attention spans have unfortunately become shorter. By leveraging short-form videos and platform features like TikTok, Instagram Reels, Stories, and YouTube Shorts, you can capture your audience’s attention in under six seconds.

Keep videos authentic, fast-paced, and visually appealing to capture attention and inspire bookings. You should also use trending sounds and challenges to increase discoverability and engagement.

Engage with Your Audience

Creating interactive content, such as polls, live streams, and Q&As, is an effective way to capture your audience’s attention and increase online engagement. This is what many social media platforms want and will, in turn, push your content to more users.

Once your audience engages, keep the momentum going by promptly responding to comments, reviews, and messages. This shows that you value your community and guest feedback significantly.

Plan Content Around Seasonality

Many people travel around holidays, so planning content around events, special days, and seasons helps you stay relevant and timely. Promote seasonal packages, special experiences, and limited-time offers to this type of traveller to capture their attention on your social media.

By using content calendars, you can easily space out your content and even schedule when it should be posted. This helps you stay on top of every holiday to maximise booking opportunities.

Highlight Your Location

It’s also a good idea to showcase your unique selling points to help you stand out from the crowd. This means showcasing your hotel’s amenities, nearby attractions, and hidden gems that you know about, which guests unfamiliar with the area may not be aware of. This positions your hotel as the ideal base for exploration for you.

Use geotags, location-specific keywords, and hashtags to improve your discoverability among new customers. You can also collaborate with local businesses in the tourism industry and engage a broad audience across different niches. Thus opening you up to a different kind of audience, different from your usual.

Concluding Social Media Marketing for Hotels

Social media marketing has become a vital component of the hotel industry. With most businesses adopting social media, you certainly don’t want to miss out on this trend.

You can also choose to be flexible by experimenting with different marketing campaigns.

We’re confident that these social media strategies will help you formulate a strong and effective hotel social media marketing strategy. If implemented correctly, with proper planning and analysis, a hotel’s digital marketing strategy can increase website traffic and lead to more direct bookings.