How to Use Social Media to Maximize Your Bookings
Life is lived digitally, and this is why you can bet your future guests are using the Internet to find their next place to stay, and this includes social media.
Why are they using social media? The reason is really quite simple. They are using social media to learn where their social media friends have stayed. Not only are they perusing photos and videos, but they are posting and tweeting and asking for recommendations.
Even more, they are looking for reviews to find out what others thought of their stay.
In this article, we look at how to use social media to maximize your bookings.
Facebook Book Now Button
This button is one of the easiest ways to maximize your bookings on social media, and it is an essential must-have to beat the competition. (tweet this)
With the rollout of the “Book Now” button Facebook, your customers can click to book a room at your hotel. You want to link it with your third-party booking system, so your customers can make a reservation.
The “Book Now” button is valuable because your customers don’t have to take too many steps to make a reservation. They see your hotel, like it, confirm your quality through social media, click a few buttons, and their reservation is made.
Look for more “Book Now” buttons in the future on other platforms as they realize the benefits of reducing the steps from a buyer’s journey to purchasing.
Social Proof
Everyone wants to know what their friends, family, and even strangers, think. This has never been easier thanks to social media. Nowadays people separated by thousands of miles can find out what others think of your hotel.
You can provide social proof by soliciting reviews and testimonials on your social media platforms.
You’ll find that the more reviews you have, the more excited people are to check out your hotel.
In your email marketing and on your website, be sure to include links to your social media reviews so you can bump up your quantity of reviews.
If you get a negative review or two, don’t worry too much. Your potential guests aren’t likely to believe that you have a perfect rating, so a few negative reviews are usually okay.
Do make sure to respond to all reviews, especially the negative ones. Respond with empathy and understanding because remember that everyone is watching.
Additionally, when you have a happy customer, ask them if you can video their testimonial or take a photo of them to include with their review. Then, you can post this online to get people even more excited.
Finally, share your five-star reviews. Share on your social media, website and in your email marketing.
Social Media Ads
You can use social media to run relatively inexpensive ad campaigns.
Give viewers a taste of what they’ll see and get at your hotel. Consider realistic videos and slideshows.
Personalize your ad campaigns for different seasons. For example, send ads to dads before Mother’s Day encouraging them to honor mom with a vacation stay at your hotel. You can use the social media platform’s ad targeting to attract specific demographic groups.
This gets the right message in front of the right people. Do use the Facebook “Book Now” button as the call to action if you’re using this ad platform.
You can also add an extra incentive into your ad campaigns. Use the sense of urgency and offer a limited-time offer.
For example, offer a certificate for a free meal for mom on Mother’s Day bookings.
Stellar Customer Service
Because your current and future guests are always listening on social media, make a plan for providing the best possible service right on your social media platforms.
Many people today use social media to air not only their positive feelings about a business, but increasingly, they are using social media to air their grievances.
Viral tweets and posts abound with unhappy hotel guests.
Why this sudden increase in negativity on social media? Instead of calling a toll-free number, being placed on hold, waiting, talking to someone, getting nowhere, speaking with a supervisor and still getting nowhere, people are turning to social media to express their dismay.
Social media is the most immediate way to let your hotel know they’re unhappy with you.
The problem for you is that not only do you now know your customer is unhappy but so do millions of Facebook users.
Customer Service Tips
Follow these tips for staying on top of your customer service to maximize your bookings:
- Assign trusted staff members to oversee your social media.
- Always be listening. This means 24/7 so you can respond to comments (positive or negative) immediately.
- Consider a social media monitoring service like TweetDeck, Hootsuite or Sprout Social. Or, sign up for Google Alerts. They can help you stay on top of what people are saying about your hotel online, so you can answer promptly.
- Think about opening separate social media accounts for customer service issues. If you do this, share the link in your hotel’s bio and on your website. Do remember, though, that not everyone will know to use this account, so you still need to monitor all of your channels.
- You can also make conversations private by directing people to use Facebook Messenger as your customer service line. This keeps any negativity off of your Facebook page. You can also ask an unhappy customer on Twitter to send you a direct message. Again, this keeps negativity off your public pages.
- Do your best to solve your customer’s problem right on social media. Don’t make them take extra steps to find resolution. Be helpful, empathetic and positive.
- The best thing you can do is diffuse the situation, offer a solution and show the world of social media that you care.
Final Thoughts
Social media is a vital component of your hotel’s marketing strategy, and it is a great tool to maximize your bookings.
Your potential customers are spending more time on social media than they are anywhere else online. So, to increase your bookings, you want to target your guests right where they are.
Every minute people spend on social media means they are looking at photos, watching videos, listening to recommendations and paying attention to what people have to say about your lodging.
Engage your current and future customers on social media and use the tools mentioned is this article, and you’ll soon be using social media to maximize your bookings.
At Hotel Propeller, we build functional, beautiful websites that utilize your star ratings to help you stand out in the crowd. You’ll find everything you need to attract guests to your website and compel visitors to make a reservation. Take a look at our showcase and contact us today.
Images: Photo by Bill Anastas and Dan Gold on Unsplash
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