It seems like just about every business is on social media today.
But many businesses, including many hotels and inns, are struggling to get engagement on social media.
For this post we’ll assume you have a pretty good following on social media. You see that your followers are there, but maybe you’re not getting the engagement you would expect.
We’re talking about likes, favorites and especially clicks and re-shares.
Here are some ways to get your hotel more social media engagement.
1. Professional Photography
You’ve probably heard that sharing images and photos on social media get more engagement. You may have even seen this on your own social channels.
It’s true.
One study found that photos get 53% more likes on Facebook.
But let’s take this further. It’s not just about sharing any image.
Invest in professional photography. Think of all the things you invest in for your hotel.
Consider social media as part of doing business. A professional photographer can help you create a strategy for best utilizing their time. They can take amazing photos and you can use, reuse and repurpose them for all types of marketing including social media.
Take photos of the outside of your hotel. Take photos of the restaurant, bar and other areas where people are. See if you can stage a few photos with people (get their permission). Photos with people seem to do well. You could even use employees in the photos (staged as guests).
Now let’s say you want to share news on social media about an upcoming promotion. Share the news and attach one of your professional photos. It’ll get more engagement.
Maybe you’re getting new chairs for the pool area. Post a photo of two colors and ask people which they like best.
2. Re-Share Photos And Images Complementary Brands Share
Also look to re-share photos that others post on social media.
I follow the Golf Channel on Instagram and they are always re-sharing images from golfers and golf brands. You can do the same and you can do it on just about all the social media sites.
The key is to look for complementary businesses like area tours, restaurants and events. When they share a cool image on social media, re-share it on your page giving them credit and add a few of your own thoughts.
3. Mention Complementary Brands
Speaking of other brands or businesses, mention them more often with your posts.
You can re-share their photos. That’s one example, but you can even mention them with a regular update. When they see that you’ve mentioned them they’re likely to re-share your post, which exposes you to their audience.
Now you have your audience and their audience all with the opportunity to engage with the content.
Let’s say a business conference is in town and a number of the guests are staying at your hotel. Share the update:
Happy to have the Birders Of America guests in town this week!
Use the mention function to mention the name of the group. This will ensure their social media person sees it and they’ll probably re-share your update.
4. Post More Often
Results have been a bit ambiguous when it comes to interactions per post and the number of times you post on social media.
However, I think the best metric is to look at total engagement. For me, when I’m sharing on social media it’s mostly about clicks or traffic back to my blog. Some posts get zero and some get 10 clicks. It really depends on what I’m sharing.
But to increase my odds I share fairly often without being too annoying.
In general, most businesses, including hotels, don’t post often enough. You could probably get away with 5 posts per day very easily on most social sites.
You can use a service like Buffer to help spread those posts out so you’re not sharing them all at the same time. I like Buffer because I can take one hour each week and schedule posts for the entire week.
5. Share More Statistics
Sharing photos and getting more engagement gets all the publicity in the social media world, but I’ve had success when sharing statistics.
For your hotel the visitors are probably travelers and business travelers. Think about the stats they would be interested as it pertains to what they’re doing and where you’re located.
You can find just about anything if you search for “Your area” and “study” or “stats”. The same is true for searching for “industry” and “study”.
For example, you can search for “travelers hotels study” and you’d find this study about Wi-Fi.
That’s interesting for you, but you could share it and add, “Is this true for you? We have free Wi-Fi!”
Also look at your state’s business associations and travel associations. They often have stats and studies you can cite.
Final Thought
Getting engagement on social media does come down to what you’re posting. Interesting and useful are the two words I think of when sharing on social media. Would someone find this interesting? Would they find it useful?
If I see a stat that kind of blows my mind, I’m probably going to share it. If I see a few travel tips that help me be more efficient with my travel I’ll find it useful. I may even comment on the post.
Try those things along with the above tips and you should get your engagement for your hotel on social media.
Image: Flickr
