Social Media has over the years evolved to become a platform where Hotels can attract new and renewed customers.
It has become a platform full of opportunities, but still, a lot of Hotels is not experiencing the results they anticipated.
Two primary reasons answer why many Hotels don’t see the results they anticipated. And the two main reasons are awareness and attention. Resources, time and budget are excuses, not real reasons for not succeed with Social Media.
In today’s market, one of the key factors to success is to listen to your Hotel customer and employees. Start making a shift towards the Social Media opportunities for your Hotel with generating more awareness and attention.
Content Value
In research done by Adobe and HeBS as much as 98%, first-time visitors abandon their booking. The new and renewed customers today use new channels to seek inspirations.
If your Hotel doesn’t implement strategies that include listening, awareness and attention you will miss out. And then the excuse pattern will continue to bring you into a vicious circle that eventually will take your Hotel down.
Customers today will find your Hotel through digital navigators. But what we have to understand today customers will seek more than just a bed. They seek an experience.
The billboard effect is dead today, customers access new information channels that provide more extensive information. And this information comes from their trusted network.
Social Media has for many brands today become the number one way to interact with their customers. 34,5% of customers will turn to Social Media first when they have a problem they need an immediate solution for. And this problem can be that they are in your city and need a Hotel room for the night.
If customers reach out to your Hotel, and you don’t respond this will become a missed opportunity.
Part of the content value proposition here requires you to listen, engage and then respond.
Best Practices
Today our primary focus is on the Customer Performers. Hotels are now required to meet the customers where they are.
Customers now prefer an engagement dialog with the Hotel, going through a call center becomes a time-consuming bottleneck.
Impress your customer with due diligence strategies that let you know them before they call. One thing many brands not only Hotels still seem to forget is that listening, awareness, and attention is two-way.
You don’t want to make the mistake of just focus on the awareness for your Hotel. There has to be put in place strategies that let your Hotel generate awareness about your next customer. Become creative with track their Social Profiles, and then personalize their experience.
Iteration
Often when we go behind some of the excuses that come when Hotels is hesitant to implement Social Media we learn this is related to perfection.
Most successful brands on Social Media has evolved through imperfect actions. Their primary focus is on iteration – fine-tuning and optimizing their actions.
We all make mistakes, it is when we don’t own the mistake and take appropriate action to resolve and learn from the mistake it becomes a real problem.
Leader
In the Social Media sphere, many tend to focus on followers, likes, friends, connections, etc. These are important metrics for a different purpose than customer attention.
Leaders are champions in their Social Media community. Strive to become a leader, and also to seek out the leaders.
Start to help your Social Media community by providing content value propositions. After you given value makes your Hotel receivable for value from the community.
The desired outcome will generate a win-win-win scenario for your community, your customers, and your Hotel.
As you start to build your reputation as a leader, your reputation will start to take a life on its own.
Storyboard
The principles behind Storyboard is to educate your audience. What this means that you have to identify creative ways to listen and generate awareness and attention.
Storytelling is inspired by an idea that will help you generate awareness and attention. Story making involves the community so this becomes a two-way storyboard.
Sharing
90% of the brand information your Hotel share customers will forget. This is why it is so important to learn more about your customer’s pattern and stories. Put the effort to share your communities information.
Daily I share information from other sources in my Hotel community. They have not requested me to do this, they have not bent my arm to do this. It is part of the overall foundation that helps me build trust.
Portals
- Community Portal
- Loyal Fans Portal
- Buyer Portal
- Retention Portal
Communities are all about engagement, and building trustworthy relationships. You want to focus on communities of like-minded that are likable and trustworthy.
You want your Ideal Community Persona to introduce your Hotel into the community. It is important to can analyze where, how, when and who introduce the information.
When you have all the proper data in place it is critical to provide a timely and proper response to the introduction.
One key strategy is to identify the most Loyal Fans within the Community.
These people will not only introduce your Hotel to the Community, but they will also help you manage content related to your brand.
It will be crucial that you can analyze the information provided by Loyal Fans. Make sure you reward your Loyal Fans, and they will become key ambassadors for your Hotel Events and Campaigns.
How do your Hotels Ideal Customer look like?
Engage and build trustworthy relationships with your Community and Loyal Fans. Provide them with information that adds values to their experience. This will initiate the process of educating them on how your ideal customers look like.
Valuable and dedicated Hotel Analytics will let you collect data that ensure that your Portals is doing its job bringing in the new and renewed customers to your Hotel.
You have identified new ways to attract new and renewed customer for your Hotel now we need to ensure they will come back. And also assist them with referring your Hotel to their friends. Make them feel they are an important part of your Community.
Focus on three primary retention strategies:
- Fixed-Time Retention – a set period for retaining new and renewed customers
- Event / Campaign Retention – when implementing event / campaign retention occurs a set period
- Permanent Retention – identify triggers bringing in new and renewed customers
When you create designated portals it allows you to identify and analyze what type of data that create change or variations of any kind.
Don’t use more excuses to let the Hotel customer go elsewhere to make their booking. Implement new strategies that allow them to make an educated decision that benefits you.
Are you generating customer awareness and attention with Social Media? This is the moment where you finally can make an impact on new and renewed customers. Learn how you can start to make a new shift today below here.
Surprise and delight are what makes dreams come true.
Need help with your Hotels Social Media Strategies? Continue to read and I tell you how you can access your Free Checklist for Hotels and get help start building highly targeted Communities.
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT AND FACEBOOK ADVERTISING FOR HOTELS
Facebook Native Advertising will help Hotels redefine the customer experience. Take advantage of new innovative strategies that will improve your Hotels ROI.
FREE access to our Hotel Social Media Community – Get more insights and training about Facebook Native Ads for Hotels!
Our Social Media Management team has refined these processes to help Hotels. Contact us today to learn more.
Join our Free Hotel Social Media Community on Facebook for more in-depth insight.
Try something new it will magnetize your Hotel!
Be flexible and identify new ways to make guests happy.
As guest behavior and pattern continues to evolve, expectations will continue to rise. Navigating these changes can be challenging. Learn more about how we can help your Hotel.
About the author
Are Morch is the founder and owner of Are Morch – Hotel Marketing Coach. Get more from Are on Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Instagram| Podcast
