Many hoteliers wonder “how do I promote my hotel” but not as many ask “how do I get my guests to promote my hotel”. We all know that positive word of mouth is the best kind of marketing that you could hope for, and getting guests to become promoters of your hotel should be a primary objective in your marketing strategy.
With the proliferation of online review sites and online travel agents, impressed guests not only have the ability to tell their friends and family about their experiences at your hotel in person, but they can also give you positive exposure on online reviews (which travellers trust almost as much as in-person recommendations) and social media, which is one of the top sources of travel inspiration.
So, what can you do to ensure that the guests you delight are indeed sharing their experiences with others, and how can you make sure that they are shared as widely as possible?
Guests user generated content
User-generated content (UGC) is a bit of a buzzword in the online marketing arena, and with good reason. User generated content is perceived as extremely trustworthy (much more trustworthy than any marketing material you produce as a brand) and among the millennial age group, about 51% of people said that they are actually influenced more by UGC than by the opinions of their real-life friends and family.
Encourage guests to post user-generated content online on their social media accounts and as reviews on online review sites, and share this UGC as much as possible. Share good TripAdvisor reviews on your social media accounts and on your website, and share positive feedback about your establishment and your area on one social media platform across all your different social media platforms.
User generated content also needn’t always be electronic. If a happy guest leaves a nice comment in your guestbook, take a photo and share it on your Facebook and Twitter accounts as well. If you can find that person’s own social media accounts and @ mention them when you share their content you will not only make them feel like you really value their feedback, but you will also increase the chances of them sharing your post (which is actually their comment) with their own social media circles.
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