Hotel Social Media Marketing Strategies: Build Brand Awareness

If you’re looking to promote your hotel/s through social media marketing, this article has you covered. From discussing the concept of hotel social marketing to the different platforms, channels, and social media strategies, here’s everything you need to know.

Social media has become a part of our daily routine. Besides personal usage, businesses have also embraced social media platforms as an effective way to communicate with their audiences.

In 2019, research showed that more than one million travel-related hashtags were searched on social media on a weekly basis. On top of that, past statistics have revealed that more than 21% of tourists use social media for travel-related info (especially on hotels and attractions).

Experts recommend businesses spend about one to two hours per day on social media for their digital marketing strategy. In a fast-paced world, spending even just one hour on social media sounds like a lot of time. That’s why a lot of corporates today are employing the skills and expertise of a digital marketing agency.

The hospitality marketing industry covers hotels and other accommodations, food and drinks establishments, theme parks, special events, and travel and tourism. All of these businesses can use social media to establish a strong online presence by showcasing their brand.

But, for the sake of this article, we’ll focus on the ins and outs of social media marketing for hotels.

Social Media Marketing for Hotels

A strong social media presence gives your hotel brand credibility, making it look authentic in the eyes of consumers. Potential customers are more likely to make a booking if they trust, and are impressed with, your hotel brand’s digital presence and online reputation.

Social Media Platforms

Keep your digital target audience in mind when designing your hotel 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 2.8 billion active users worldwide, Facebook is one of the most active channels for social media marketing of hotels and tourism. It’s also one of the best channels to market your hotel/s since this app has no limitations on words, links, or 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 one of the fastest-growing social media platforms. Instagram users primarily use the app to share photos and videos, just like Facebook users.

But the former precedes its competitor with a wider variety of content sharing methods. In addition to the standard photos and videos, Instagram marketing includes reels, live videos, boomerangs, and adopted stories and filters.

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

3.   LinkedIn

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

This social media channel hosts more than 600 million users, a handful of which are 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.

4.   YouTube

In your marketing efforts to showcase your hotel’s property, you can use YouTube videos to market your hotel’s design and features. 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 get high engagement since 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 wide-reaching audience, and the content can be 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 easily managed to sustain a high position on the market.

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

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

6.   TripAdvisor

Besides the above channels, where do users flock to for honest and credible hotel reviews? TripAdvisor!

TripAdvisor is a travel giant for reviews on trips, tours, and hotels and other lodgings. Including this review site as a part of your social media strategy for hotels is a must.

Today, millions of people use the site for reviews and opinions on where to go, where to stay, what attractions to visit, etc. If your hotel is absent from this travel giant, not only does it miss out on publicity, but its absence also looks suspicious in the eyes of searchers.

Social Media Marketing Strategies – What to Post

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 for these apps.

1. 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.

In addition to this, you should post other forms of content like 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 hotel/s.

Simply posting content is not enough. There must be interaction on your Facebook page to show users are taking a keen interest in your hotel and not just scrolling past it.

Facebook Engagement and Interaction

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

1. Encourage your guests to tag the hotel in their photos and videos when they check in.
2. Host a competition from time to time on your social media platforms with a convincing incentive, like a discounted/free stay or extra amenities or facilities.
3. 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 help to 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 social media strategy, then it’s good to know that you can link the two platforms. Since both the apps are owned by the same person (Mark Zuckerberg), the platforms allow Instagram users to connect their business profile with their Facebook business page.

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 and aesthetically-pleasing pictures and videos of your hotel. But go above and beyond with more engaging content, like sharing booking tips, scenic images of the surroundings, events happening nearby, 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 to also have them like it, comment on it, and maybe even share it with their friends.

1. Encourage hotel guests to share pictures and videos with their reviews of the hotel on their Instagram account. When guests do this, repost the positive content on your Instagram page (for instance, reviews on your hotel’s exceptional customer service).

2. Using popular hashtags help your post find its niche in Instagram’s algorithm, which allows your post to reach its intended target audience.

3. Use the reels feature to post creative short videos of your hotel. This can be of the hotel rooms, surroundings, or guests at your hotel.

Instagram’s Influencer Marketing

One of the most famous social media campaigns is influencer marketing. Use influencer marketing to generate a 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 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 instead of 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 a little like Facebook’s.

1. 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.
2. Add popular hashtags to your posts to reach your target audience and gain higher engagement. But don’t overcrowd your posts with too many hashtags; three to five should be sufficient.
3. 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.

4. What to Post on YouTube

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

Instead of just posting tour videos of your hotel, create exciting video content covering other relevant niches in this industry. For example, videos of surrounding locations, itineraries, local events, etc.

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 out there.

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

1. 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.
2. Ensure your video descriptions are as detailed as possible. The description box can also be used to include links to your website and social media networks.
3. 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 other sites’ content to your boards, and then start creating and publishing your own 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 will prove to be fruitful if done correctly.

1. Post your hotel’s pictures with a small description and link to your website.
2. Remember to use pin designs and carousels to showcase your hotel’s best features.
3. Don’t just focus on your hotel; also 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 Tripadvisor

On TripAdvisor, every hotelier can establish their space for their hotel/s. Simply start with your hotel’s name, add a description, including the amenities and facilities you offer, and post pictures of your hotel’s exterior and interior. Choose a category based on the type of accommodation you offer, like a boutique hotel or luxury hotel.

Next, aim to get as many online reviews as possible on your TripAdvisor account. You can get reviews in two ways:

1. The TripAdvisor Review Express Program: this program includes TripAdvisor approaching your recently checked-out guests to leave a review on your hotel’s account.
2. The TripAdvisor Travellers Reviews App: add the TripAdvisor Traveller Reviews App to your hotel’s Facebook business page for free. This allows guests to leave their reviews on your Facebook page, and these are then added to your TripAdvisor account.

Concluding Social Media Marketing for Hotels

Social media marketing has become an essential aspect 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 done correctly, with proper planning and analysis, a hotel digital marketing strategy can increase traffic to your website and direct bookings as a result.