drive bookings from instagram

On social media today, your ability to be creative with the way you market your hotel is as important as mastering the essentials of each platform – if not more so. Nowhere is that more true than on Instagram, especially when you’re trying to build a loyal following to drive bookings from Instagram.

There are 440 million Instagram users, topping Pinterest, Snapchat and Twitter. Engagement is also out of the world on this network, with per follower engagement rates on Instagram at 2.3%. On Facebook, engagement hovers around 0.073% and on Pinterest it is 0.097%.

A survey also found that 48% of Instagram users use it to choose travel destinations for vacations and 35% use it to discover new places.

Long story short: if your hotel isn’t on Instagram, you’re missing out on potential hotel guests. Since Instagram is a great place to build personal followings and connect with guests, you can use a properly-developed strategy to drive direct bookings from Instagram. It doesn’t take much of a budget, either!

Instagram limits sharing to pictures and 30-seconds-or-less videos. This makes it perfect for hotels, as vibrant food, beautifully decorated rooms and other facilities offer massive amounts of visual appeal.

Several hotels are already thriving on Instagram by through an array of best practices and proven techniques.

Here, we want to shake things up. However, we’re not going to let you go without covering the basics either! This article will cover 8 simple strategies to drive bookings from Instagram: 4 classic, essential tactics, and 4 to get a little creative with.

Note:  This article is for Instagram accounts that are already up and running – it assumes you have a marketing plan set up, an engaging bio and a set of goals to meet.

The Essentials:

  • High Quality Photos
  • Running Contests
  • Tips for Tagging
  • Quotes

The Innovative Hits:

  • Putting fan-generated photos on your hotel website
  • Insta Influencers
  • Mini-tutorials
  • Video testimonials

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