What is social media marketing?
Social media marketing (SMM) is the process of driving attraction and revenue for your luxury hotel brand through social media channels. It can take many forms, from posting or sharing photos and videos to linking to external websites or content. This promotional activity also includes paid advertising through social media channels.
If you are looking to increase your social media engagement on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram in 2022, take a look at our top tips on social media marketing for luxury hotels.
1. Establish your social media strategy
The first step of any successful SMM campaign is having a plan - establish your basic strategy. Accordingly, you need to decide:
- Which social media channel(s) to use?
- What will each channel actually be used for?
- Who are your key target audience(s?
- What your target audience(s) are interested in? What topics are most relevant to them?
For example, if you market a country estate dedicated to families, your content pillars may focus on leisure amenities, local events and children's activities.
As a city center hub welcoming a younger demographic, you would zoom in on food and beverage, nightlife and entertainment offers.
2. Set specific and measurable goals
Setting some more specific objectives will help to make sure that everybody involved in the SMM strategy knows what you are trying to achieve.
Your objectives must be measurable and achievable. Never set generic targets such as "increase the number of social media followers".
Instead you should determine an exact number of followers for a period of time for yourself and continuously measure your performance against it.
3. Tailor your messages by each channel
Remember each platform has its own content needs that must be addressed. Your Instagram audience is likely to be younger and focused on visuals. Instagram highlights guarantee longevity for your best stories and offer a visual taste of your brand to anyone visiting your profile.
Facebook is ideal for driving traffic to your website with prominent calls-to-action. Facebook events are a perfect tool to promote special dates for a dedicated audience e.g. a wedding open day or wine tasting evening.
Twitter is great for sharing news updates but doesn't facilitate lifestyle content. It also has the shortest content half-life of the channels mentioned here.
YouTube, as well as hosting your videos, can provide enormous search engine optimisation benefits to your hotel website.
For any of the social media channels, you should use a high-quality image of the hotel logo as a profile picture. If time is of the essence, post less, but make it channel specific.
4. Keep your brand consistent
- Do you use the same profile picture across all channels?
- Is your brand positioning statement consistent?
- If you are running a campaign, have you displayed the same message on your channels?
These are easy fixes which can swiftly boost your brand online.
Moreover, social media audiences like consistency and dislike diffused use of platforms to promote content.
Outline a basic schedule for posting new content on each platform and try to stick it as much as possible.
5. Remember to hashtag
Hashtags can extend your reach well beyond your own followers, yes that little pound sign (#) often gets overlooked.
While you can use them on Facebook and LinkedIn, hashtags work most effectively on Instagram and Twitter.
Be selective!
Too many hashtags can cheapen your brand image. Research the most popular hashtags related to your location and content pillars. Create your own branded version and use them consistently for all your posts. Instant social media #win.
6. Ask your audience to take action
All too often, social media content is posted without any explicit call to action. To generate maximum engagement, be sure to prompt your readers to click, share, register, book or shop now.
For example, when posting your news updates, include a CTA to "download our brochure" with a tracking link to your website to improve conversions.
If you ask your community to help your hotel to win an award, add "vote here " as your call to action.
This may seem self-explanatory, but the social landscape is a busy place. The more signposts you display, the easier your potential guests will find you.
7. Collaborate with your community
Create engaging, fresh content by enlisting your own social media community.
Incorporate genuine user-generated content into your calendar to build authenticity. Search your location and your brand hashtags regularly to find the right videos, photos and reviews.
Always ask for your guests' permission to re-post their content. Sharing your guests' experience will not only help you fill your social calendar, but it will serve as a form of endorsement and will facilitate a guest’s booking decision.
8. Engage with your followers
Effective social media marketing tips rely on creating a community around your brand.
Make it your number one priority to engage your audience in a conversation. Prompt feedback, invite opinions, and always listen to what your community has to say.
Treat social media as a guest service tool. Aim to reply to every single question posted on your page in comments on the public posts or in private messages.
Use social media as an opportunity to delight your guests. From time to time, create special offers aimed exclusively at your social media community to reward their loyalty.
9. Take advantage of paid advertising
Good content is no longer enough on its own to sustain your presence on social media channels. As organic visibility is declines paid campaigns become a necessity.
If you are new to social media advertising, Facebook is the best place to start. They offer excellent paid advertising options as well as a multilayer approach to targeting different demographics and geographies.
Whether you want to drive traffic to your wedding pages or build brand awareness for your new restaurant, you can find the right audiences on Facebook.
Social media advertising includes plenty of benefits such as:
- Built-in re-targeting features
- The ability to advertise to very specific demographics
- The enormous potential reach due to the sheer number of users on social media sites
Set your goals, define your target markets and you can be almost certain that your investment will be well-spent.
10. Communicate with your audience on COVID safety
Due to the Coronavirus crisis, you need to talk about the various steps your hotel is taking to ensure safety & hygiene.
Don’t overdo it, however it should be a consistent part of your messaging. Leverage third party information from WHO guidelines, your country’s Ministry of Health & specific local authority updates.
Aró Digital are experts in all types of SMM, whether it’s optimising your organic strategy or designing a paid campaign. Please get in touch to start your journey into social media.