12 social media marketing tips for hotels

The advent of social media created one of the biggest revolutions of the last century. Social media have radically changed the way we interact, communicate and share experiences, and their growth gives no sign of slowing down.

In the UK, there are 45 million social media users, which equates to 67% of the entire population. Of these, 39 million are mobile social media users; a number that, during 2018, increased by 10% (source). This growth highlights the value of adopting a mobile-first approach, as there is no doubt that the UK is a mobile-first country.

These statistics also show the importance to implement a social media strategy for your hotel to increase brand awareness, give your business a voice, engage with guests, drive traffic to your website and gain insights on what guests love about the property.

We have compiled a list of social media marketing tips to help marketers working in the hospitality industry create an effective and successful social media strategy.

1. Reach the right audience on the right channel

Each social media channel has it’s own characteristics and enables you to reach different audiences, achieve different goals and solve different challenges. Find out how to make the most of each platform in our blog post How to get the most out of your hotel social media channels.

2. Appeal to the modern traveller

The modern traveller loves to live like a local, so share tips of the best local attractions, museums and places to visit in the area. Give a personal touch to your social media posts by sharing these tips as recommended by the local staff working at the hotel.

3. Use social media to reach your goals

Do you want to be seen as a sustainable business working towards reducing your carbon footprint? Do you need to increase revenue during quiet periods? Do you want to provide a great guest experience? Or you want to get more booking for weddings? Think strategically and use social media to help you achieve your goals.

4. Create engaging content (and use the content shared by your guests)

On social media, there is an abundance of content and sharing engaging content is key to break through the noise. Funny or unique photos, as well as stunning photos of food, drinks or details of your rooms always draw people’s attention. Video is still a big trend, that doesn’t seem to slow down. So if you have the opportunity to film and share videos, do so as your post engagement is likely to be higher. Below an example of very engaging content shared on Instagram by Tigerlily Hotel. 

5. Engage instead of ignoring

Too many businesses push content on social media and don’t engage with comments or other people’s posts. Social media are ‘social’ because of the interaction that they enable people to have. Ensure to reply to comments, messages you receive and engage with your audience.

6. Work with influencers to amplify your message

Travel photographers and bloggers are a big deal on social media! With their (often) large following, they have the power to influence the travel decisions of many people. For this reason, if you want to give extra visibility to your hotel, inviting a travel influencer to stay a couple of nights in your hotel and write a blog post about their stay, might be an option you might want to explore. Choose the influencer you want to collaborate with carefully. There are many out there and each one of them has a specific audience, so before selecting one, evaluate who has the audience that you want to reach.  

7. Be part of networks that add value to your business

The management team of your hotel certainly has an interest in developing and maintaining relationships with other businesses or media titles. Social media, Twitter or LinkedIn in particular, can help nurture those relationships. Create Twitter lists with the organisations your business partner with and like and comment their activities or news when appropriate.

8. Focus on what’s special about your hotel to appeal to new customers

Travellers are consistently looking for hotels that have something special or different from others. Think about what is special or unique about your property - for example, the location, the view, the SPA, your award-winning chef - and show it off on your hotel social media channels. 

9. Don’t be shy

Have your hotel won awards? Are you the only hotel in the area offering a specific experience or service? Have your staff won any awards? Brag your achievements on your profile description.

10. Think beyond your hotel room

Obviously, if you have a hotel, you sell bedrooms, but remember to think beyond that! Make a list of everything that your hotel has to offer and how it can appeal to your target audiences - from future married couples looking for their perfect wedding venue to locals looking for a great restaurant during the week or young professionals eager to escape to a spa for a relaxing and rewarding weekend.

11. Choose and use your own hashtag

Having your own hashtag not only helps you reinforce your brand identity, but enables you to easily find content created by your guests and enables them to find all the content shared by others about your property.

12. Test ideas, measure efforts and adjust your strategy

What works for some, doesn’t work for everyone. It’s important you test your ideas, discover what works and maximise your efforts toward what you have found out it works best for you. Developing a great social media strategy might take time, but you will get there if you allow yourself time to try, fail, improve and find what works for you.

>>> You might be interested in How to get the most out of your hotel social media channels.

How Criton can help you

Criton is an award-winning technology provider which enables hotels and serviced apartment operators to take the guest experience to the next level with a sophisticated mobile app. Criton helps hotels to streamline the entire guest journey and maximise in-stay revenue. Get in touch today to find out how we can help your business.