Social media is critical to the success of any hotel’s digital marketing strategy. Despite this, hotels of all types and sizes are not using it to its full potential. Below are five ways on how you can use social media to supercharge hotel reservations.
#1: Use a chatbot
Visitors to your site and/or social media want answers and they want them fast.
A chatbot is the best way to do this. It is that little window that pops up and gives the visitor a prompt. This can be anything including:
- How may I help you today?
- Would you like to book a room?
- Do you need a quote?
Not all social media platforms will have this feature available, but you should have it ready to go with a real person on the other end whenever someone visits your site from social media. Popular choices for chatbots include Chattypeople, AccessPress, and Flat Visual Chat.
#2: Have a clear call to action
Almost every social platform has a prominent call to action (CTA) of some sort. Your CTA should be the main ask you want potential customers to take.
For example, the Facebook page for Atlantis Bahamas hotel currently uses a Book Now button. The Facebook page for the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas currently uses a button that prompts you to sign up for a deals newsletter. Your CTA can be as direct as you want it to be, for example, a direct booking or an ask to follow you on social media. Just keep in mind that the bigger the ask, the tougher it may be to get the new social media follower to take the action. For instance, a new hotel social media follower who has had little engagement with your brand may not convert into a direct booking immediately.
It never hurts to test out a variety of CTAs then leverage your other marketing tools (such as hotel PPC ads) to make a bigger ask later.
