Australians love to travel. Whether we’re exploring the natural beauty and hidden gems in our own big backyard or taking an adventure overseas, we’re always hungry to explore. New Zealand, Indonesia and the USA top our list of international travel destinations, while domestically we love the NSW North Coast, Melbourne and Sydney.

While hostels, couch-surfing and websites like AIRBNB are popular, especially among the young, there’s one option that never goes out of style: the hotel.

The benefits of staying in a hotel are numerous, including your own private room, an easy check-in process, professional-quality cleanliness and a variety of services and amenities.

But like all businesses, hotels have to compete for the attention and the cash of customers. Here at Content Authority, we can help you put together a useful digital strategy for your hotel.

And who knows? Maybe the next guest who stays there will be an Instagram influencer who shares their positive experience with their thousands of followers.

Here are five tips and techniques for creating a social media strategy that successfully sells the benefits of staying in your accommodation.

Sell Your Strengths

 

It’s a safe bet that your hotel has a benefit or two that many hotels in the area don’t have. Is it more luxurious? Or is it more affordable? Is it closer to your destination’s attractions? Or is it the most family-friendly option? Anything that differentiates your hotel in a positive way is a good starting point for a marketing campaign. You can then use social media to showcase these strengths, an especially effective tactic when it comes to blogging (more on that to come).

Post Blogs and Share Them on Social Media

 

By this stage, it’s well-established that blogging benefits your content strategy. According to Forbes magazine, blogging increases search engine traffic, improves conversion rates, increases inbound links and humanizes your brand while building your authority in the industry. Businesses that blog can receive up to 97% more links to their website.

All in all, not a bad outcome. You don’t just have to blog about your hotel, either. There’s plenty of inspiration to be found in the location you’re in. A blog topic like ’10 Free Things to do for Families in [Your Area]’ will help drive traffic to your website.

 

Use a Variety of Social Platforms

 

With more than two billion active users, Facebook is a must for your social media strategy, and it presents the opportunity to share all kinds of content with your audience, from blog posts to promotions and special events. A Facebook page costs nothing to start and comes with all kinds of benefits, including stats about the reach of your posts and their engagement and the ability to drive traffic to your website.

Instagram allows you to post beautiful, enticing images (more on that in the next section) plus include hashtags so that users searching for a particular tag can find you. Twitter is a great place for short, sharp attention-grabbing announcements and for replying to comments.

There are many more benefits to all these platforms plus others like Pinterest and Google Plus. A strong social media strategy makes effective use of these platforms for all they’re worth.

 

Use High-Quality Photos

 

If there’s one thing that gets people’s attention on social media, it’s professional quality photos: of your hotel, your location, your guests enjoying themselves or even tempting-looking local food and drinks. Visual content on social media attracts new followers, helps keep your existing ones engaged and creates content that leaves a lasting impression.

Encourage and Respond to Comments

 

Responding to online comments, criticism and reviews in a professional way is not only a good look for your business. It also builds trust for your brand and can boost your social sharing and internal links.

Maybe your hotel isn’t getting as much business as you’d like. Maybe it’s performing pretty well but you’d still like to take it to the next level. Whatever the case, Content Authority can help put together a social media strategy sure to make your hotel stand out from the crowd. To get started, visit our ‘Contact Us’ page today.