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.
NB: This is an article from Cogwheel Marketing, one of our Expert Partners
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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.
