How Hotels Can Promote Their Business on Instagram and Get Leads
Instagram, among numerous social media channels, can be a very important platform for the hospitality business. It primarily has a young audience, and there are various kinds of marketing tools available to showcase the beauty of your property here to millions of people worldwide. Instagram is a great visual medium to express your property; it is the perfect place to get some attention from global travelers.
How Hotels Can Promote Their Business on Instagram and Get Leads?
- Identify your target audience on Instagram
Before sharing any post on your channel, you need to know who your target market is on Instagram.
You see, if you prepare a feed for everyone, you will have a hard time retaining these high-value guests. The easiest way to find users who fit your profile is to research the hashtags they use. For example, the hashtag #farmtotable is used by people who want authentic experiences and the hashtag #wooddestination can be used by honeymooners.
A very easy way to find the right hashtags is to use tools that display top hashtags. A good idea is to create a file where you can save the hashtags you want to use in your Instagram posts.
- Showcase what it feels like to stay in your hotel
The general style adopted by most hotels is that they will showcase the facilities and rooms available in the hotel. Although necessary it is not a strong emotional stimulus.
What you need is to post things that can have an effect on the emotions of the audience. Give them things that make them want to experience your hotel first hand.
- Post Instagram content on the site
When it comes to advertising, what would be better billboards than your own customers?
A great way to increase conversions is to feature Instagram content on the site. Why? Because when people look at the purchased product in real-world settings, they know that the brand in question has satisfied customers.
- Once in a while, tell a story
Not every post needs to follow the same theme. You can try different things. Every once in a while make some story style posts.
Thankfully, Instagram has reels and stories. Now and then, you can create carousel-style stories that showcase the story of a day in the life of a guest at your hotel. From bed to bathroom, to the pool, back to the room, then to the tennis court, spa room, etc. A post like this one can be a really powerful tool to stir desire in the minds of the viewers.
- Consistency is important
Consistency is one of the key success factors on Instagram. If you take long gaps and don’t feed regular content to your followers, it can be a frustrating experience for them. You may soon lose a lot of your followers if you are not consistent and regular.
If you post regularly every day or week, the followers know when to expect new content from you, which makes it easier for them to engage with your posts.
Also, every post should be visually appealing – after all, Instagram is a visual platform. The good news is that you don’t need a lot of fancy tools to create posts. With your smartphone camera and your Instagram filters, you can create high quality content.
If you are not sure how to take beautiful photos of your hotel, read some articles or watch few videos on hotel photography tips and hotel interior and architectural photography tips.
- Promote local attractions
Hoteliers sometimes forget that most of the guests who come to stay with them are not there just for sleeping. Many of the guests are outside people who would also like to explore the place. That is why it is important to share interesting places, events, community news, etc on Instagram.
- Make it easy to share photos with your hotel
Last but not least, make it very easy and fun for other people to share posts from your hotel. Create an environment where guests would want to share photos. For example, in your restaurant, offer dishes that travelers want to share with their friends and family.
Create a hashtag for your hotel, so users can quickly find images and use hashtags when they visit your hotel. And it makes very easy for guests to tag you. For example, include information about your social media accounts in a welcome package or in your Wi-Fi information card.