This is a period where your guests need you the most.
They have been bombarded with all this negative information from the news, everything seems to be gloomy or not working and the world seems to be falling apart.
A large part of their day is spent at home with little things to do.
They are on Facebook and other social media platforms and are desperately looking for content that will change their feelings.
Our hotel social media profiles should be in line with a some kind of more positive attitude.
For those of you wondering what content to share.
You can add stories from different members of your team sharing useful tips or entertaining material based on what people can do at home.
Examples include but not limited to videos from your chef preparing local delicacies. If you do not have a chef, it could be yourself or someone else from your team members. Other examples include beauty tips, tips on staying healthy or with a positive state of mind.
You can further include posts related to the area your hotel or b&b is located, updates on your property such as renovations. You can even prompt your community and past guests to share their experience or photos taken during their holiday in your area.
The idea here is to engage with your audience as much as possible.
In line with the above a good social media strategy for the moment is dedicate the majority of the posts in a positive vibe manner. Devote 14 out of 20 posts on this area.
A few posts should be dedicated on information about corona virus. Updates on your cancellation policy or any initiatives that you make and shows you care are in this category. Assign 5 out of 20 posts in this area.
Some of you might ask why devote so much space on Corona virus updates.
Here is why
What you do about your community is part of your company’s social responsibility. Do you provide financial help to people in need in those challenging times or rooms for the health care providers? What measures do you take to ensure the safety of your staff members and guests.
These all showcase that you are a living, breathing, active part of your community that not only takes but also gives something back.
This is very important on those difficult moments and will be for the days ahead.
Finally, you can publish a small number of promotional posts on early value deals. Make sure that you are using fully flexible rates that can be cancelled without penalty at least at this early stage.
Things right now are uncertain, people are staying home and are not sure when they are going to be able to travel again. Fully flexible rates might provide them with some level of confidence to book today. This area can cover the remaining 1 out of 20 posts.
Do you need any ideas on value deals?
You can find a list in our e-book
When things seem to be going through the end of the pandemic with everybody returning in their normal lives you can alter the above stated social media strategy as follows.
Maintain or even decrease a bit the positive vide posts. Devote 12-14 out of 20 in that area. 4-5 out of 20 posts can be dedicated to Corona virus related posts. In the post Covid-19 era people will be safety and cleaning measures are going to be top of mind for our guests. The best thing hoteliers can do in order to instill some more confidence is to showcase your efforts on how you are keeping your guests and staff members safe. Safety and cleaning will be top of mind for travelers for at least a year from now so it is good to make sure we remind our guests that we take their safety very seriously.
Last but certainly not least, the promotional value deal posts can now take a larger percentage of your posts, so a 3 out of 20 posts would be advisable.
It is important to note that in the period leaning towards the end of the pandemic, you need to use not only your social media profiles but also all other means you have available in order to better promote your deals.
You can find a list on other means you can use except for your social media accounts below. This is by no means an exhaustive list but can give you some nice ideas.
- Publish your deals through your official website.
- Send promotional emails to your past guests.
- In case you have subscribed into Tripadvisor Business Advantage or Trivago Pro Package publish your deals into their platforms.
- Send your offers to business partners, offline travel agents you already partner and b2b online travel agents.
- If you have a blog write a related article on your value deals.
- If you partner with other local businesses in your area use their channels and lists as well cross promoting yours and their services.
- You can further promote your deals through paid advertising such as google and facebook but be very wary with your budget spending and make sure to target the right audience.
All in all, your hotel social media strategy can provide you with invaluable tools to help you reach and communicate with your audience in those difficult moments. And if utilized properly, it can pave the path to a steady recovery.
If you found the information useful, please share it with fellow hoteliers.
Help us spread the word and assist as many hotel businesses as possible!
