5 Ways Your Hotel Can Drive Business with Instagram
Is your hotel on Instagram? If you work at a boutique hotel, then chances are the answer to that question is yes. If you work for a larger chain or hotel group, then your group may be on Instagram, but not your individual property.
Regardless of which hotel type best represents your place of work, there are many benefits to making sure your hotel is optimizing its Instagram account in order to drive business.
1. Add your link in bio to book
Take advantage of the one link that all users can include in their Instagram bio as a way to drive business and traffic to the hotel’s booking page. Simply include the hotel website link in your business’ Instagram bio, or else use a tool to create a smart bio landing page that allows for multiple links off of the main link. A smart bio or link tree could link to the homepage, COVID safety information, event lead form, FAQs, or whatever else may be most relevant to your followers.
When creating posts in your Instagram feed, reference the link in your bio as the call to action for viewers to go to if interested in what your post says. For example, create a post about booking for a summer getaway at your hotel, and in the caption, include a prompt like, “Head to the link in our bio to book your summer vacation today!” Instagram accounts that have more than 10,000 followers also get the “swipe up” feature on Stories, so if that is you, look at Instagram Stories as a place to include these CTA links as well.
2. Promote events
Events are making a comeback across the board at restaurants, unique venues, and hotels alike. Use Instagram as a way to make it clear what your hotel is currently offering for events. Boutique hotels are an especially attractive location to host an event these days because of the exclusivity on the property, added safety precautions, and intimate gathering that can take place.
There are certain facts that should be clear when discussing events on your Instagram page: what capacity the hotel can accommodate, what does the event space look like now, what food and beverage packages could be expected, and what COVID-related safety precautions would be in place.
It’s time to get your normal event promotions back in full swing, and posting about them on Instagram will surely gain some traction. If you are a Tripleseat hotel customer, include your lead form as a link in your bio to gain social media leads or as a “swipe up” link in an Instagram story.
3. Create advertising deals, packages, and bundles
What are you offering right now that is different from your standard packages? Perhaps, a Memorial Day weekend special, a summer getaway package, or a remote worker extended stay bundle. Specific deals, packages, and bundles will vary across hotels, but the key is to think of how exactly your hotel can attract guests in new ways.
This does not serve as a way to lose money by creating cheaper packages but to play into any special moments that couples, friends, or families may be looking at for traveling. Many hotels offered some sort of romantic getaway package with added perks for Valentine’s Day, which is the arena of creativity we recommend other hotels to consider for other special offerings. As COVID restrictions continue to loosen, people are looking to get away on a long-awaited vacation.
4. Share updates on new amenities
Instagram is a way to show, and not just tell, what is going on at your hotel. Use Instagram as a platform to show photo evidence of what your hotel may be doing differently than before the pandemic.
This may be through updated procedures set up in the lobby, new socially distanced areas in the conference rooms, additional technology in each guest room, enhancements to the spa area, or new protocols in the hotel restaurant. Talk about all the new and improved characteristics that have come about lately to show that your hotel is always evolving to better the guest experience. By seeing how confident your hotel is about these new changes, guests will become comfortable about booking a stay.
5. Repost user-generated content
Finally, one of the most powerful ways that any business can market itself is by reposting user-generated content (UGC). User-generated content is any form of content that is posted by someone else and references your business, like in a tagged Instagram story at your hotel bar, for example. Other forms of UGC that could be relevant to your hotel may be videos posted from the hotel rooftop, photos of creative features in the hotel rooms, or location tags after an event.
How does a hotel find user-generated content? First, make sure that whoever runs the hotel’s Instagram account is regularly checking in for any posts the hotel may be tagged in. Since Instagram Stories disappear after 24 hours, they can sometimes be easy to miss. Check the tagged photos section of the Instagram account and the location search which shows users who posted a photo with the hotel as the location.
If a guest tags your hotel, it probably means that they would be excited to see their own photo reposted by the hotel account. Take advantage of any tags that you see on Instagram by reposting them in the moment to the hotel’s Story or feed, or saving them for the future to post later on. Social proof is a strong marketing tool that could make future guests feel more convinced to book at your hotel after seeing positive experiences from peers.
More resources
One of the components that make up an Instagram feed post is the caption. There is an intentional purpose behind choosing captions, which some users may forget about. Take a look at this blog post to learn how to pick the right hashtags for marketing your venue.