Everything is photographed, everything is filmed – especially on the omnipresent mobile phones cameras. To the extent that places are often designed to be visually appealing to the eye of a mobile phone camera 📸
For most millennials today, the most important demographic group, Instagram is the first point of reference when choosing a destination for travel and vacation.
57% of millennials use Instagram regularly.
Instagram users are very responsive and engaged with the posted content. That is why Instagram is considered to be the king of all social media. On average, it achieves 58 times more user engagement than Facebook 👑
Instagram’s focus on visuals provides numerous opportunities to show off and prove yourself and your offer. With more than 2 billion active users, there is no better place to build a brand and find new guests than Instagram.
We share steps to attract more reservations, create a sense of loyalty among users who follow your profile and increase reach.
Made for Instagram
Hospitality and travel are almost created for promotion using Instagram.
Based on the visuals, Instagram is perfect for promotion, sharing content and creating a community of enthusiasts.
Guests and travellers are happy to record travel moments that they gladly share with their friends and other users. With the new features of the application (various short video formats with a handful of possible filters and ways to capture video and photos), sharing content is even more accessible, more tempting and more creative.
#1 Nothing without a goal and audience knowledge
The plans you strive to achieve with your Instagram presence should primarily be flexible. At least for a start until you figure out precisely what works.
Goals such as reaching a certain number of followers or maintaining a regular presence by publishing quality and informative content should be flexible.
As you are aware of your advantages and the disadvantages – if there are any 😉, you should know your guests the same way.
Or constantly trying to find out.
#2 Analyze
You need to know what works 📈
All social media platforms offer free analytics tools.
You can quickly get information about how many views you have, likes and shares, and the most popular time and day to post. Analytics helps evaluate the effectiveness of everything you do. This information should affect your progress – to keep doing what works or change what doesn’t.
Collaborate with influencers
A topic that everyone has an opinion on.
Collaborating with relevant people in the hospitality and travel industry is one of the most effective ways to do just that – to influence potential guests.
You will find a few basic guidelines when deciding who to work with or not in our blog article about just that, whit a little help of no other but an influencer. 💪
#3 Plan and create content
That is the key to the effectiveness of your social media strategy.
Here are a few things to consider:
Study your competition
Someone always does something first.
What exactly do your colleagues do to achieve their success on Instagram?
What can you use for inspiration?
Check what your competitors are posting and which posts are performing best. Read how guests react and how their communication flows. That will give you a guide to your content creation and behaviour on social media in general.
Make your hotel instagrammable
Travellers want to see, not read.
[Instagrammable, n.]: A term in jargon that refers to the attractiveness of content and visual appeal.
It is not necessary to redesign the entire hotel or apartment. Instead, adjust what you currently have.
Show a unique point
That can be a fantastic view, the surrounding nature, the pool or the wallpaper on the wall. Use them to their full potential as an ideal place to take photos.
The photo can be taken at any time during the stay, especially when it comes to millennials. These guests will often pay attention to details, symmetry in ordinary objects, colours.
Show yourself
Try to expose your staff. Praise your team, tell stories, post their comments. It will add a dimension of humanity and personality to your Instagram profile.
#4 Post automation
Without regular content publishing, you will find it challenging to achieve a noticeable presence and results.
Many publish twice a day. Post more often, at least initially. You can reduce the number of posts by increasing the number of followers. But don’t reduce the quality of the content.
PS.
Creator Studio is a handy (free) solution for scheduling posts automatically.
# 6 React and answer – always
Your guests will leave reviews and comments, and that’s why you’re here.
Don’t let a comment, review, or question go unanswered, which doesn’t mean you’ll sit back and wait for it to happen. Set aside time and respond to anyone who has somehow communicated with you in the meantime. If someone feels that inquiries and comments are being ignored, they will try again. Online reputation and quality of service increasingly depend on this attitude towards guests and those who could become one.
Instagram as a Springboard to Success
Five hundred million people use Instagram Stories daily. 63% of Instagram users check the app at least once a day, and 42% check it multiple times a day.
The importance of Instagram is unquestionable, especially considering the pandemic. It left many guests and travellers at home with flat internet, searching for inspiration. Everyone was waiting at a low start.
Promoting your offer using Instagram allows you to show users all those little moments. All those little moments that every trip or vacation consists of. Moments like a glass of wine at dusk, waking up to a beautiful window view. Pictures of the sunsets, the superb dinner you serve.
There are countless things on Instagram that have the purpose of promotion, as long as you are present, tell the story and have a goal.
