As travel demand strengthens, be sure to target the right audience with the right messages. Incorporating Instagram into your marketing plan could help you do this, with little to no marketing budget.
Instagram is one of the top 10 social media platforms available and with over 1 billion monthly active users, and it is made for hotels. It’s the platform for inspiring experiences and to post visually beautiful images.
With the way Instagram emphasizes the use of photos, it seems like a likely choice to use this platform to market your hotel. You can share the highlights of your hotel, create brand awareness, and encourage an atmosphere for guests to share their experience.
So, if your goal this year involves building your hotel brand, then let’s look at how to market your hotel on Instagram and how to be successful doing it.
Create an Easy-to-Spot Instagram Presence
First things first. Make sure your hotel’s profile is a business profile. This gives you the ability to place your profile under a category such as hotel, and will help target the right audience. Include all important information that makes access to your hotel easy including the phone number. In the about section of your profile, be sure to include an Instagram bio of your hotel with a direct link to the website.
By default, your location is generated by Instagram automatically. When someone posts a picture of your hotel and sets your hotel as the location, the content automatically goes under your location and is visible to anyone searching by location.
Once you have the basics set up, you’ll need to work towards creating an easy-to-spot Instagram presence.
Showcase Your Hotel’s Story by Sharing Images
Next, you’ll want to define your hotel’s unique selling points then strategize a way you can make this seen through photographs.
Is your hotel a boutique property with a theme? What about a luxury property with a high-end restaurant?
Once you’ve determined your ideal customer, you will want to create a branding strategy that will help you stand out. This means you cannot expect to create an isolated post and hope that this works. You will want to tailor your photos and content towards that, and stick to it.
A benefit of Instagram is how you can create the ideal image of your hotel through photographs. When posting photos of your hotel, be sure to showcase an experience. People are more likely to pay money to stay at a hotel that is Instagrammable, in other words worthy of sharing on social media.
Once you have the hang of posting photos, it’s highly recommended to take advantage of posting videos of your hotel on Instagram.
Some of the best ways to utilize videos to spotlight your hotel include:
- Rooms
- Amenities
- Food
- People with testimonials
- Local Attractions
Videos help promote your hotel in a friendly way without selling. They create an emotional connection for guests planning a vacation and give your brand a voice to tell your story.
Find Your Future Guests and Boost your Marketing with Hashtags
Targeting the right audience with the right messages will have a profound effect. If you are marketing to everyone, you will have a hard time finding, and keeping those high-valued guests.
Using a combination of letters and numbers preceded by a symbol, otherwise known as hashtags (e.g., #hotel) will help you find your key audience and increase the performance of your marketing. If you want to be seen on social media you will have to learn to use them to your benefit.
Here’s what hashtags can do for you:
- Help you get noticed and establish you as a brand leader
- Find an expanded audience by using popular hashtags your audience is already using
- Users can search for hotel criteria using hashtags relevant to their interest
- Make your content and photos more visible
There’s no right or wrong number of hashtags, but Hootsuite reports that the consensus is about 11 hashtags per post is good to start with. To help you find the right hashtag for your brand, use free search tools like All Hashtag or Ingramer Hashtag Generator to research what hashtags would perform best for your hotel and add them when appropriate.
Engage with Others
Just as you would engage with guests in your lobby, schedule regular time each week to engage with guests online. This means answering comments and questions on your own feed, similar to how you respond to reviews.
Another option is posting fun text or contests to encourage engagement with your followers. Post a photo of your hotel, and ask followers to cast a vote. Or even pose questions under photos to encourage comments.
And don’t forget, people on vacation love to take Instagrammable photos! Be sure to make it easy for guests to share posts from your hotel. Afterall, it’s a free way to create awareness and build community!
Following the right accounts like a popular neighboring restaurant, could also help. Tag them on related posts and most likely they will reciprocate. Together you can help promote each other.
Just remember, the more engagement you give, the more you get.
Keep a Pulse on the Competition
What are other hotels doing to market themselves on Instagram? Locate hotels similar to your hotel’s business model on Instagram and review what they are doing it right, and wrong. Use that as a model for how you can develop a strategy for your hotel.
Put Your Plan in Motion
This will take some time, of course, but after putting these steps in motion, you will see how it will become easier to grow your targeted audience.
Instagram is simple and versatile. It’s a great way to make your hotel stand out from the competition and send the right messages to your future guests.
As travel demand strengthens, be sure to target the right audience with the right messages. Incorporating Instagram into your marketing plan could help you do this, with little to no marketing budget.
Instagram is one of the top 10 social media platforms available and with over 1 billion monthly active users, and it is made for hotels. It’s the platform for inspiring experiences and to post visually beautiful images.
With the way Instagram emphasizes the use of photos, it seems like a likely choice to use this platform to market your hotel. You can share the highlights of your hotel, create brand awareness, and encourage an atmosphere for guests to share their experience.
So, if your goal this year involves building your hotel brand, then let’s look at how to market your hotel on Instagram and how to be successful doing it.
1. Create an Easy-to-Spot Instagram Presence
First things first. Make sure your hotel’s profile is a business profile. This gives you the ability to place your profile under a category such as hotel, and will help target the right audience. Include all important information that makes access to your hotel easy including the phone number. In the about section of your profile, be sure to include an Instagram bio of your hotel with a direct link to the website.
By default, your location is generated by Instagram automatically. When someone posts a picture of your hotel and sets your hotel as the location, the content automatically goes under your location and is visible to anyone searching by location.
Once you have the basics set up, you’ll need to work towards creating an easy-to-spot Instagram presence.
2. Showcase Your Hotel’s Story by Sharing Images
Next, you’ll want to define your hotel’s unique selling points then strategize a way you can make this seen through photographs.
Is your hotel a boutique property with a theme? What about a luxury property with a high-end restaurant?
Once you’ve determined your ideal customer, you will want to create a branding strategy that will help you stand out. This means you cannot expect to create an isolated post and hope that this works. You will want to tailor your photos and content towards that, and stick to it.
A benefit of Instagram is how you can create the ideal image of your hotel through photographs. When posting photos of your hotel, be sure to showcase an experience. People are more likely to pay money to stay at a hotel that is Instagrammable, in other words worthy of sharing on social media.
Once you have the hang of posting photos, it’s highly recommended to take advantage of posting videos of your hotel on Instagram.
Some of the best ways to utilize videos to spotlight your hotel include:
- Rooms
- Amenities
- Food
- People with testimonials
- Local Attractions
Videos help promote your hotel in a friendly way without selling. They create an emotional connection for guests planning a vacation and give your brand a voice to tell your story.
3. Find Your Future Guests and Boost your Marketing with Hashtags
Targeting the right audience with the right messages will have a profound effect. If you are marketing to everyone, you will have a hard time finding, and keeping those high-valued guests.
Using a combination of letters and numbers preceded by a symbol, otherwise known as hashtags (e.g., #hotel) will help you find your key audience and increase the performance of your marketing. If you want to be seen on social media you will have to learn to use them to your benefit.
Here’s what hashtags can do for you:
- Help you get noticed and establish you as a brand leader
- Find an expanded audience by using popular hashtags your audience is already using
- Users can search for hotel criteria using hashtags relevant to their interest
- Make your content and photos more visible
There’s no right or wrong number of hashtags, but Hootsuite reports that the consensus is about 11 hashtags per post is good to start with. To help you find the right hashtag for your brand, use free search tools like All Hashtag or Ingramer Hashtag Generator to research what hashtags would perform best for your hotel and add them when appropriate.
4. Engage with Others
Just as you would engage with guests in your lobby, schedule regular time each week to engage with guests online. This means answering comments and questions on your own feed, similar to how you respond to reviews.
Another option is posting fun text or contests to encourage engagement with your followers. Post a photo of your hotel, and ask followers to cast a vote. Or even pose questions under photos to encourage comments.
And don’t forget, people on vacation love to take Instagrammable photos! Be sure to make it easy for guests to share posts from your hotel. After all, it’s a free way to create awareness and build community!
Following the right accounts like a popular neighboring restaurant, could also help. Tag them on related posts and most likely they will reciprocate. Together you can help promote each other.
Just remember, the more engagement you give, the more you get.
5. Keep a Pulse on the Competition
What are other hotels doing to market themselves on Instagram? Locate hotels similar to your hotel’s business model on Instagram and review what they are doing it right, and wrong. Use that as a model for how you can develop a strategy for your hotel.
Put Your Plan in Motion
This will take some time, of course, but after putting these steps in motion, you will see how it will become easier to grow your targeted audience.
Instagram is simple and versatile. It’s a great way to make your hotel stand out from the competition and send the right messages to your future guests.