Get your hotel on everyone’s lips! Or Twitter updates

With the summer holiday, where I am going to spend my vacation is top priority for everyone. And where else should the hotels be present if not on social media? Indeed, friends and family are still the most influential when deciding where to spend our hard earned time off. Posting pictures and updates on personal Twitter and Facebook from the holiday resort is already an universal past time. So yes, hotels have to jump on the bandwagon and be active on social media networks, if they haven’t done that already.

Social media should be used to add value to the brand and to engage with current and potential clients, and not as a mere sales tool. So why and how should a hotel owner use social media?

Brand awareness

Why do you need it -> Brand awareness is significant for your hotel/ BB/ guest house. It helps you to make a first contact with your visitors. They first have to know about you and wish they would stay there before you would provide them with excellent service.

How to achieve it -> Establish an online presence on the trending social media channels. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Foursquare, tumblr are some good choices to become popular and interact with people. Maintain a consistent communication style and invest time and feelings in the interactions you have with your audience. A great strategy would be sharing the experiences people staying at your hotel have, including photos they take or even testimonials or stories of their holiday if they are willing to share this kind of information.

Excellent Customer Service

Why do you need it -> Well, people talk a lot! And in social media, everything that goes online spreads with the speed of light. Your reputation will grow with the help of satisfied visitors. Therefore, you most definitely want to make sure that their feedback is only going to help you going up, not down.

How to achieve it -> Make sure you listen to your customers and embrace all kind of feedback you can receive. Everything people say about a hotel’s services can be used in order to strenghten its offering or improve its services. Listen, respond to questions or inquiries, thank when they being  praised – these are the simple steps you must take for your customers or visitors. Maybe sometimes you only have to reply to a question on Facebook or Twitter or post of photo with a snapshot to a Google map pointing the route to your resort – be open minded to all kind of solutions, people would appreciate it a lot.

User Recommendation

Why do you need it -> To attract new customers. And of course, let’s not forget about brand awareness.

How to achieve it -> Happy customers become great advocates of your hotel/ resort. Focus on building positive relationships and exceed customers expectations. They will definitely recommend you further on their online community and this way you will gain more customers. Another strategy to make your customers happy and exceed your promises is to organize events. This is definitely another reason they will be talking about the resort.

There are plenty of solutions for the hotel industry through social media. Be open minded, always monitor the online brand presence, give your best in satisfaying your customers and meeting their needs. Go beyond this. Make their dreams become reality! Make them feel spoiled! Go where they spend their time and optimize your actions according to the channel they are using.