2017 has been another huge year for social media. Twitter boosted its character limit, live video streams are everywhere and Snapchat’s popularity shows no signs of waning.
With just over a week of the year left, your thoughts may already have turned to your hotel’s social media strategy for the coming 12 months. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when planning your property’s strategy on these ever-changing platforms.
Keep Videos Front Of Mind
Video continues to generate higher levels of engagement than any other kind of content. No matter how great your text and image based posts, capitalising on the video trend is essential if you want to maintain your audience’s attention and maximise engagement in 2018.
Whether it’s Facebook Live, Instagram Stories, Snapchat Stories or videos created off-platform and posted to social media, don’t forget to link your videos back to your hotel’s website to guide guests down the booking funnel.
Embrace The Chatbot
Stimulated customer service applications or “chatbots” provide 24/7 support, helping to improve customer relationships and enhance the guest experience. They’re the way of the future, so don’t get left behind! If you haven’t done so already, consider investing in a chatbot for your hotel website in 2018.
Invest For Best Results
Unfortunately, social media marketing for brands is big business, and organic reach will only get you so far. If you want to maximise return on your social media efforts, or any return at all for that matter, it’s essential to set aside a budget for paid campaigns on these channels.
Content Is Getting Augmented
The rise of Augmented Reality on mobile devices offers exciting possibilities for marketers looking for new ways to engage their target audience. The good news? It’s quick, easy to use, interactive and particularly suited to experienced-based industries such as travel.
Another emerging kind of content to consider in 2018 is ephemeral content. Perhaps it’s the Fear of Missing Out factor, but audiences continue to have a big appetite for content with a short life span that disappears after 24 hours in the style of Snapchat and Facebook stories. If you haven’t looked into integrating this kind of content into your hotel’s social strategy yet, it’s time to!
Forget the Millennial and Think Gen Z
For years, all we’ve heard about in online marketing is the importance of tapping into millennial consumers. Well, as goes the flow of history, it’s time for another buzz generation to move to the fore. Generation Z is unique from previous generations in that they have grown up fully immersed in internet and Smartphone culture. They expect convenience and speed and are passionate about customer service, and they’re now entering the workforce and acquiring their own disposal income. Sound demanding? Don’t worry. There’ll be lots of talk in 2018 about how you can create social campaigns that resonate with this hotly tipped new generation of guests.
Have you started planning your hotel’s social campaigns for 2018 yet? Let us know in the comments below!
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