Social media for hotels is more important in 2023 than it ever has been.
NB: This is an article from Arise
More and more potential guests interact with social media on a daily basis and visibility on these channels for your hotel can increase both awareness and direct bookings.
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It’s sometimes hard to know what to post though. In this post, we’ve outlined some social media content ideas for hotels and how you can put these into practice right away.
Social Media Content Ideas For Hotels
As far as content ideas, we understand all hotels are different, therefore, your social media content should be too. However, as a specialist hotel social media marketing agency, we tend to follow a few set patterns and content ideas.
Although social media is a great place to market your hotel, it’s never going to be the channel that drives the most bookings, and therefore your feeds should reflect that. The 80/20 rule is often referenced here, this means only 20% of your posts should be ‘salesy’ and the rest, not so.
Ensure your social media has high-quality imagery, and a range of media types, makes use of relevant hashtags and uses all of the features available to you (stories, reels, posts etc.) to reach more people.
When planning our hotel client’s content, we tend to group the posts into categories and get a regular, structured social media content calendar in place, covering the following:
Your Hotel’s Services & Offerings
Firstly, there are pretty standard services and offering posts – this will include everything your hotel offers, eg. posts about your rooms, weddings, dining, spa etc. This content should match your tone of voice perfectly and describe the features and benefits of your specific offerings.
Try and stick to one of these per week, separating out the different areas of your hotel. Remember to use relevant hashtags (Instagram, Twitter & TikTok) and add a link to the business area you’re talking about (Facebook & Twitter).
For example:
“Our stylish rooms and suites offer contemporary style and stunning panoramic views of the Sheffield skyline. From spacious apartments to cosy singles, we have an accommodation to meet your every need.
Just picture yourself unwinding in a delightful king bed, overlooking the Steel City – bliss.”
Sales Posts
Secondly, there are more ‘salesy’ posts that encourage customers to actually take action. Here, there should be identifiable variety, there’s no benefit to posting similar content every week saying ‘our hotel is great, book a room now!’ This tone comes across as pushy and automatically leads customers to disengage. Instead, focus these posts around individual themes. Tie in any offers you’re promoting, or national days of significance – Valentine’s Day, Christmas etc.
For example:
“As Valentine’s Day approaches, treat your special someone to an experience they’ll never forget.
Our special Valentine’s offer includes a luxurious spa treatment, a mouthwatering 3-course meal, overnight accommodation in one of our luxury suites and a full English breakfast the following morning.
Book this offer now and create memories that’ll last a lifetime – LINK”
Generic Posts
Next, we like to include some more generic, casual posts. This tends to include content about the local area and any related news or information that may be of interest to your guests. This content keeps users engaged rather than bombarding them with constant pushy posts. These posts tend to encourage engagement and sell your area without coming across as just another ‘sales post’.
Aim for at least one of these posts per week, per channel. Focus the hashtags around the thing you’re describing, and there’s no need for any links.
For example:
“Mam Tor, or Mother Hill, is one of the most iconic spots in the Peak District.
Reaching 517 metres high, with sprawling views across the national park, it’s a must-see for adventurers visiting the Peak District.
Grab your walking boots.”
Your Hotel’s USPs & Partners
We also recommend posting about your USPs but from a more informative, non-branded perspective. For example, the history of your building, or where the ingredients for your restaurant come from. Use these posts to provide information and highlight partnerships and unique selling points.
Similar to the above, aim for at least one of these per week per channel featuring relevant hashtags. And again, there’s no need to add links. However, it’s beneficial to tag other businesses where relevant, to start building your social community.
For example:
“We’re proud to source the vast majority of the ingredients used in our restaurant from local sustainable sources and where our food comes from is important to us…
The Hillside Farm (tag them in) grows the most scrumptious carrots and we’re proud to serve them right here at our hotel.
Support local – it’s so important.”
User-Generated Content
We especially encourage user-generated content, sharing other people’s content where you can (with permission) showcases much more of a human feel to your feeds. This user-generated content shows other viewers what it’s actually like to be a guest at your hotel.
Share user-generated content as much as possible and try to aim for a variety of different media (videos, text, imagery…).
For example:
“It makes us especially proud seeing what a lovely week Sarah and her family had with us:
SHARED POST”
Real Guest Reviews
It’s also really important to share reviews and highlight real customer opinions. We’d recommend branding these up in a visual way to display them and really make them stand out. You could even take this opportunity to encourage people to leave more reviews.
For example:
“We had a great time staying at The House Hall Hotel, the rooms were comfortable, the food was delicious and the staff were friendly and helpful. Thanks for a great stay.”
We love reading your reviews! Have you stayed with us recently? Leave us a review, we’d love to hear from you – LINK.”
In Conclusion
So there’s a few social media content ideas for your hotel feeds. The main takeaway – is don’t bombard your customers with constant sales messaging, keep your feeds fun, and informative and encourage engagement. Yes, social media can be a good sales channel, but organically, it’s a place to build your brand and showcase everything that’s great about your hotel and its surroundings.
Social media is somewhere you can cement your brand’s identity, so ensure your feeds always reflect this.
