Why Should Hotels Complete a Professional Facebook Fan Page
One of the biggest challenge today for many Hotels is to reach the customers where they are. Regardless of the size of your Hotel, it’s fair to say that all Hotels want to build their customer bases. It’s how they thrive. So it’s only natural for Hotels to want to market their products or services to everyone, in hopes of capturing a larger audience and thus making more revenue.
In a recent survey I did with my Hotel network when it comes to Social Media the top three challenges faced where:
- Content creation
- Engagement
- Time
And the top Social Network among my Hotel network where Facebook with over 90% using this channel today.
As of today, Facebook is the largest B2C Social Media channel. Here are some important statistics that give a better picture of why Hotels need to have a presence on the largest B2C Social Media Channel.
- 1.09 billion daily active users on average for March 2016
- 989 million mobile daily active users on average for March 2016
- 1.65 billion monthly active users as of March 31, 2016
- 1.51 billion mobile monthly active users as of March 31, 2016
Do your homework
Numbers and media buzz is all fine, but this should not determine if Facebook is the right Social Media Channel for your Hotel.
You need to take a good look at your current demographic for your Hotel and determine if this is the audience you are most likely to connect with.
I researched many hotels that have a presence on Social Media and in many cases, it became apparent that no or very little research had taken place. Many did a brilliant job with connecting with their audience.
Some of the approaches I noticed from the ones that appear to have some challenges were;
- “We build it, and they will come”
- “Throw the Spaghetti at the wall, and something might stick”
Most Hotels has enquired information that indicates they should create a Facebook Fan Page. They might see similar statistics to what I shared above here and conclude that we need to create a Fan Page.
Building a Fan Page is important, but just building it don’t in any way or fashion initiate any type of automatic process where the customer will find you.
I saw some Pages where the only information put on there were a cover photo and a profile picture.
Some Hotels learned they need to create the Page and then start to provide updates that reach the customer within all time zones.
I found some Pages that was drowning in updates that had absolutely nothing to do with the Hotel or would add any value for potential customers. Any relevant information I was able to find after digging for a while was invisible for customers that were looking for information to assist them in making a booking with the hotel.
The most interesting part of Hotels that followed these or similar strategies will end up concluding that Facebook Fan Pages was not working for them.
And don’t chase for the Likes if you don’t know the real story what’s behind the Likes. The real power of Facebook will be revealed when you know the real stories behind the likes. That is when you will be able to connect, engage and provide real valuable responses to your audience.
Through my survey and research, the common theme is that when it came to Social Media most Hotels appears to be in a reactive stage. Content creation and engagement is unfamiliar territory, and they opt to stick with what is known to them.
If your Hotel wants to succeed with Facebook you will have to make a shift towards becoming proactive and create a professional Facebook Fan Page.
Why does your Hotel exist?
Where are you today?
Where do you want to be?
Why should your content matter to anyone else?
Make sure you “why” reflects the contributions to impact and serve others. The “why” represent the true inspirations that will impact the customer stories.
Custom Publishing
Content Publishing marries the marketing ambitions of a company with the information needs of its target audience. This occurs through the delivery of editorial content – via print, the Internet, and other media – so intrinsically valuable that it moves the recipient’s behavior in the desired direction.
A Page gives your Hotel a voice and presence on Facebook and is designed to help you connect with customers and reach your goals. And a Page makes it easy for your customers to learn more about your Hotel and start to use your product and services.
Start to build a Professional Facebook Fan Page that serves your Hotel and its customers. Focus on attracting, educate and engage a global audience.
You have to help your customer to take action. Implementing a proactive strategy along with an effective call to actions will start to drive the wanted results.
Take time to test different ad formats, targeting and messages. Brands that follow the proper principles has seen impressive results in short time with:
- Increased reach
- Lower cost in acquisition than other channels
- Increased referral traffic to Hotel website
- Growth in hyper-targeted Likes
Conclusion
Facebook can help large, medium and small Hotels grow. The key to success is to adopt strategies that allow your Hotel to leverage this Social Media Channel and drive real business results.
Facebook is the Social Media channel where your audience is most likely to share valuable content with their network.
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT AND FACEBOOK ADVERTISING FOR HOTELS
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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
