9 Essential Social Media Marketing Tactics for Hotels

People will only book a hotel after first seeing what it looks like. While photos are great, they can only show so much, which is where virtual tours come in.

An immersive virtual tour offers potential customers the chance to explore your hotel from their own home, getting a feel for the vibe, size, and decor of your establishment.

Not only can you showcase your rooms and restaurants, but you can also show off any special experiences that you offer such as a spa or golf course.

Both Instagram (Instagram 360) and Facebook (Facebook VR) have immersive tools that you can use to show off your hotel to customers.

Influencer marketing can be a great way to showcase your hotel to a wider audience.

Partnering with the right influencers can boost your brand awareness and increase bookings, as well as generate new social media content and buzz around your hotel.

The key to working with influencers is to choose the right ones for your brand. Travel influencers are the obvious choice but there are also plenty of others whose audience will align with yours. For example, if you have an on-site spa, health and wellness influencers would also work well.

Some of the different ways you can work with influencers include:

• Offer a free stay in return for social media content and reviews.
• Offer your hotel as the venue for an influencer event.
• Offer a stay in return for content to share on your own social media channels.
• Set up an affiliate or loyalty scheme for influencers where they can offer a bespoke discount to their audience for a stay at your hotel.

If you want your business to grow on social media, you need more followers. Therefore, you need to give users a reason to follow you. Offering exclusive packages and deals is a great incentive.

One of the best ways to offer social media deals is to run a campaign on your chosen platform that includes a special discount code for your followers e.g. SOCIAL10 for 10% off their next booking.

Because each platform attracts a different demographic, you can tailor your packages and promotions to the relevant audience. For example, if you have an older audience on Facebook, midweek spa breaks may be more popular, while a younger Instagram audience may be enticed by a bar and room offer.

In today’s digital world, people want to be able to do everything on one platform which means you need to offer your followers the chance to book a stay directly on your social media.

Instagram for example has an Appointments feature that allows you to manage your bookings directly in the app. This means users don’t have to take the extra step of heading to your website to make a booking, removing a potential hurdle in the process.

You can also use third-party booking platforms and integrate them with your social media channels and existing booking systems. The important thing is to ensure everything is aligned so that no booking errors can be made.

One thing we recommend including within your hotel’s social media marketing strategy is testimonials and UGC.

If a guest leaves you a positive review, whether it’s on social media, TripAdvisor, or in your guest book, share it!

Reviews are a powerful tool and act as valuable social proof, prompting others to make a booking with your hotel based on the experiences of previous guests. However, it’s important not to presume that users are going to go looking for your reviews. We recommend displaying them as clearly as possible so that potential customers can see them from the off.

You can also integrate User Generated Content (UGC) into your social media campaigns to help boost integrity and authenticity.

Why not set up a hashtag for your hotel, encouraging guests to use it when sharing their photos online? You can then re-share some of the best on your own accounts!

AI is here to stay but did you know that you can embrace it as part of your hotel social media marketing?

Implementing AI chatbots is a great way to enhance guest relations and offer personalized concierge services 24/7.

An AI chatbot can be used for a tonne of different reasons from a potential guest asking questions about how to make a booking and the facilities on offer to an upcoming guest confirming what time check-in is.

It’s not realistic to have someone manning your social media inbox 24 hours a day, but you don’t want to miss out on potential customers, so a chatbot is a perfect way to keep on top of customer communications while maintaining personalized, quality service.

More information

Interested in other ways that AI can impact your service? Check out our article on the key ways AI is benefiting customer service.

It’s not just guests from further afield you should look to target with your hotel social media marketing. Targeting people from the local community is important, too.

Connecting with your local community via social media offers a great chance to network with locals and fellow businesses, offering a whole new audience. If you’re on the radar of a local person, when they have visitors, where will they suggest they stay? At your hotel!

Speaking of location, where you’re based is one of your biggest selling points so be sure to shout about this on social media and think of content ideas that link to your local area. For example, if you’re based in the country, you could promote local walking routes that hotel guests can experience.

Social media can offer you valuable insights to improve your guest experience too.

Monitor social media for guest feedback and reviews and be sure to respond to all reviews promptly to boost satisfaction. Even if a review is negative, responding professionally will help with your wider online brand.

Be sure to undertake social listening to monitor your hotel’s mentions on social media and if you notice any complaints, you can use these as an opportunity for improvement.

With so many hotel options out there, you need to think about what makes you stand out and shout about it on social media.

Travelers are increasingly looking for places that are committed to sustainability, so if you’re undertaking eco-efforts, make sure potential guests know about them.

Similarly, potential guests want to know that your ethos aligns with theirs, from staff benefits to giving back to the local community. There are plenty of things that help form a booking decision – not just the room rate!

Use your social media platforms to showcase who you are as a brand and what you stand for.

Running a hotel is hard work, from managing staff to ensuring you offer the best guest experience, there’s a lot to think about. Hopefully, these 9 tactics will mean your social media marketing is one less thing on your mind!

Social media marketing for hotels can be incredibly fruitful and by implementing these 9 tactics, you’ll be well on your way to boosting brand awareness and increasing bookings.

Want some tips on building a hotel booking website? Why not check out our expert guide next?