Updated: August 2024

In the past article, we discussed who should be in charge of the social media for your hotel. Whether you are tasking your in-house team or outsourcing to an agency, resources must be determined to dedicate to social media. This includes resources of both time and money. 

Now, it is time to make and execute a plan.

Developing a Content Strategy

While you are likely to quickly post your upcoming holiday deal, slow down.  A good rule of thumb is no more than 20% of your posts should be an offer.

Think first of your audience.  Who are your followers?  What are the challenges you are solving for them? What do they care about?

Many hotels are intrinsically tied to their location. Why is it that people visit and why might they visit again?  If they have stayed at your hotel, did one of the staff make an impact? 

Sit down and try to create a forward looking content calendar.  Start with a 12 month calendar and think about the times of the year that are important to your hotel and local area.  Include anniversaries, housekeeping appreciation week, seasonal changes (like the opening and closing of the pool), and holidays that affect the hotel.  As for the local area, notate festivals, charity events, seasonal openings/closures, even school related events.  Compile a list of local businesses and consider reciprocal posting.  Then you can fill in posts about hotel amenities, polls or fill in the blank questions, and any ad hoc posts.

Imagery (plus video) is the most crucial part of your content strategy. It will give life to the stories you want to tell. 

No Organic Without Paid (and Vice Versa)

“Organic” social media refers to the regular postings that occur that do not cost money.  That does not mean that it is not time consuming, thus still holds value.

Nothing is worse than doing a high frequency of posts that no one ever sees.

The purpose of regular organic posts is to engage with your current followers.  Your current followers, and potentially those they are connected with, are the only people who may see those posts. 

So, if you are just starting, or have a low follower base, ensure you have a defined follower acquisition strategy.  

Many people ask, “How often should I post?”  That is a hard question to answer.  If you are new to developing an ongoing content strategy, start slow.  Set a goal of once per week and then increase once you get some momentum and see what is working for your audience.

The size of your hotel and competing market can help you determine how to compete. Check out your competition to see how active and engaging they are. Surprisingly, many hotels are still not active.  The more outlets and revenue centers you have, the more resources that will need to be allocated. 

You can also check the Facebook Ad Library (for free!) to see if your competitors are running any Facebook ads.

Social Media Channel Strategy

It is hard for a new in-house team to master multiple channels at once, so start by practicing consistency of posting content to one or two channels, then expand once those have been mastered.

Facebook is the easiest to get started.  Facebook owns Instagram and the two can be linked together to save time. 

LinkedIn can be a great platform for a convention hotel or one with a meeting space.  If you have employees with a decent following, those people can send invites to follow the hotel’s page.  Also, this channel makes the most sense to cross-promote between personal and business pages.

Pinterest is an underutilized platform, especially for the F&B aspect, along with targeting social events including weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, baby showers, girls’ getaways, and family reunions.  You can get away with posting less frequently here, but the pins need to be more unique.

The true value of Google My Business posts is still to be determined. While actively publishing content might not necessarily drive more people to your page, it has the opportunity to grab the attention of people who are already looking for hotels like yours and set you apart from your competitors. Just be cautious about Google’s content policies!

While TikTok is fun, and addicting, it is super hard to produce content consistently. The algorithm of the TikTok recommendation feed has evolved and is becoming more and more complex every day, making it harder to get on that “For You” page. If you’re already active on Instagram and utilize Reels, it might be a good additional effort to publish your videos on both platforms.

It is important to note that you can run paid campaigns and drive traffic and awareness without a dedicated organic content strategy. 

Goals of Your Paid Social Media Campaign(s)

If your organic social media targets current followers, your paid social media should be targeting future potential hotel guests.

Each social media channel has its own unique targeting that can be done, whether it be Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or even TikTok.

Additionally, many organic posts are never seen due to low engagement.

But, before you start throwing money towards social media posts, first define your campaign goals, objectives, and the customer journey.

Objectives of Paid Social Media Campaigns

Objectives can be tricky.  Most owners will ask for an ROI or ROAS.  While revenue production should be a goal, there are other outcomes that are valuable.  As of January 2022, the ad objectives have changed:

• Awareness – Use this if your hotel is brand new or if you want to cast a wide net to a particular group. It can also help reinforce your messaging and highlight your service offering.
• Engagement – Gaining more likes, comments, and shares increases your overall visibility thus increasing the reach of your ad. Anyone who engages with your ad can also be put into a remarkable pool to target later. Additionally, you can send those who like the post to also like your page, thus increasing your followers.
• Traffic – Increase exposure to your hotel’s website or push more visitors to a specific promotion you are running.
• Sales & Lead Generation (RFPs) – Need an extra boost or extra exposure to your hotel venues for social events? Create an RFP and target your selected audience. For example, if you are trying to tap into the wedding market, create an RFP and target anyone engaged within the last year.
• App Installs – Get users to install your app.

Remarketing for Hotels

Another easy application, even for branded hotels, is to leverage remarketing.  While you cannot place a pixel on your brand site, you can remarket to people who have engaged with your page or past ads.  Independent hotels can place a Facebook Pixel on their website and then create a Custom Conversion on Facebook for ads to optimize around just like you would with Google ads.

First Step is Getting Started

Social media is important for hotels because it allows you to connect with guests pre-stay and post-stay in a 2-way interface. 

If you want to handle it in-house, remember that you still have to devote time and financial resources to the effort.  If you plan to outsource, don’t forget you still need someone on-site to oversee the partner.  

Overall, it’s more important to be consistent than everywhere, so start with one or two channels that you can manage consistently.

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Originally posted by the Hotel Business Review with permission from www.HotelExecutive.com