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Benefits of Social Media for Hotels 

When we are planning ahead for the year it is now crucial as a hotel that we include social media marketing strategy as part of our overall marketing plan. Social Media Marketing (SMM) refers to the use of social media and social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to market a company’s product and services.

The Benefits of Social Media Marketing for Hotels:

1. Growing your hotel’s brand awareness: Engaging with existing and new customers, promoting your products and mission.
2. Increasing your traffic: social media can be linked to your website and will assist in increasing your traffic and boosting direct bookings.
3. Promoting your products and services: Content on your social media channels can be highly targeted so only specific people can see an ad and this is very cost-effective for hotels and delivers a higher return on investment e.g. if you are a hotel that sells weddings you can specifically target users who are engaged and have expressed interest in other wedding sites.

So, what social media channels should you be using? Firstly, we need to identify who is our target audience, what are their demographics, interests, and behaviours as this will assist in choosing what social media channels you should be using.   As discussed in my previous blog this data can be obtained from big data analytical tools such as Google Analytics.

In recent years Facebook and Instagram have become the predominant social media used in hotels and advertising on these channels has progressively become a large part of a hotel’s marketing plan. Today we will look at the benefits of Facebook and Instagram as part of your strategy:

Facebook

The Facebook platform has been around 15 years now, is very well established, and is one of the most widely used social media platforms.  It is easy for us to take this for granted and think it’s just another marketing channel but for the hotel industry, it offers distinct advantages and offers a multitude of opportunities for hotels to attract direct business.  The hotel business is all about connection and building relationships and this is exactly what Facebook can offer.

Benefits of Facebook for Hotels

• 2.3 Billion users – 58% between 26 and 54 (onsite natives, younger generation) 
• Offers different content options - text, photos, videos, brand pages, to enable your hotel to reach valuable travel audiences 
• Adverts are highly effective for hotel brands offering not just standard ads but also offering travel-specific dynamic ads, stories ads, and lead generation ads.
• Build your online community – helps connect with current guests and reach potential new guests. 
• Relationship building – build positive relationships 
• Encourages reviews
• Drives traffic to your website and generates direct and repeat bookings.
•  One of the most effective platforms on mobile for advertising

Instagram

Instagram has become a prominent channel in B2C marketing and the hotel industry benefits enormously as hotels are perfect for a photo-based social media network.  Instagram plays an integral part in brand awareness and influencing consumers' choices regarding destinations and accommodations and with one billion monthly active users, 60% of which use the app on a daily basis this is certainly a channel your hotel cannot ignore.  Similar to Facebook, Instagram uses interest or engagement as the signals for ranking posts so the key to driving awareness of your property is to increase your post engagement, likes, comments, and so on.   

Benefits of Instagram for Hotels

• 1 Billion+ users 65% between 18 and 34
• Free to use and very user friendly
• Enables hotels to reach more users – users that come through search engines and other types of social media.
• Brand loyalty – enables hotels to build their brand awareness and gain loyalty through the use of images and videos 
• Increases online visibility and adds promotional value as it allows the user to contribute their own pictures and stories 
• Most effective platforms on mobile for advertising 

As the world continues to grow online it cannot be denied social media marketing plays an integral role in contributing to the success of a hotel.  As individual platforms both Facebook and Instagram bring their own benefits and by using a hybrid model as part of your social media hotel strategy i.e., advertising on both channels it enables you to reach a wide range of users from Millennials to Baby Boomers and as mobile device usage continues to grow it is crucial that your hotel is on the two channels that dominate the mobile creative landscape.  So, it is time for your hotel to be picture perfect and to tell the perfect story on social media!

For more information on, the benefits of using social media in the Hospitality Industry read more Premium Digital blogs.

Premium Digital Working for Success in Hospitality.

Written by Ailbhe Stephens

Landman, P. and Landman, P., 2022. Instagram Strategy for Hotels: How to Maximize Your Social Media Marketing - Xotels Blog. [online] Xotels. Available at: <https://www.xotels.com/en/marketing/instagram-strategy-for-hotels-how-to-maximize-your-marketing> [Accessed 13 February 2022].

Offers.hubspot.com. 2022. Free Download: The Social Media Trends Report 2022. [online] Available at: <https://offers.hubspot.com/social-media-trends-report-2022?utm_campaign=Newsletter%202022&utm_medium=email&utm_content=201801861&utm_source=hs_email> [Accessed 13 February 2022].

Hotel-Online. 2022. 6 Reasons Why Facebook Is Essential for Hospitality Marketing. [online] Available at: <https://www.hotel-online.com/press_releases/release/6-reasons-why-facebook-is-essential-for-hospitality-marketing/> [Accessed 13 February 2022].