Telling stories with social media will make your hotel stand out

As featured on Hotel Owner.

Taking the booking is not the beginning of the story. Scrolling one day, probably ages ago, your guest will have paused for a second to watch a clip of champagne flutes clinking on your roof terrace. Or maybe they stopped to admire the puffiness of your crisp, white pillows in an image of a soft, slept-in bed. “I wish…” they might have thought, stuffing their phone back into a pocket. 

That was a moment, the first page of your story. 

52% of travellers decide to visit a destination after seeing it on social media and up to 60% of all travellers post photos while they’re away. This actually rises to a whopping 97% of travellers for those aged between 26 and 41. 

That said, here are my seven top tips for turning those magic moments of scrolling lust into real life bookings.

1. Give them “the feels”

People buy with their heart and then use logic to justify why it was OK. Your social media posts need to evoke a feeling and to do that, you need to get personal.

Ask yourself, what is the experience of coming to your hotel? What does it really feel like? And then, how can you demonstrate that feeling with a picture and a caption?

2. Not just a pretty picture

Don’t just post beautiful pictures. An image of a lovely afternoon tea or a gorgeously made bed might look appealing, but people will buy into it much more if you tell them a story as well.

Does this image show a date with your mum? Are you on a weekend with your best friend? Is it an anniversary treat? What’s the story behind the clip?

3. Inspire

Make your posts aspirational, so show your hotel at its absolute best and don’t let a special moment go by without capturing it for your social media content. Whether it’s decorating your Christmas tree or hosting a wedding, if it felt like a moment for you, then it was a moment that could reach someone else. Use it to inspire your future guests.

4. Lighten up

Make sure the language you use in captions is really the way people talk. Even a high-end, luxury destination needs to reach people at a human level so ditch the corporate speak. Also, a little humour is never a bad thing.

5. Reassure

With many people having limited free time, not to mention money, they need to know that everything is going to be perfect. Use social media to reassure your guests and to show them the process. Walk them through how check-in works, demonstrate all of your thoughtful touches and put their minds at ease ahead of time.

6. Use your existing guests to encourage the new ones 

This is a big one. With 97% of your guests aged between 26 and 41 almost guaranteed to post pictures on social media, make sure you give them what they want.

Create picture-perfect moments they won’t be able to resist; from gorgeous food presentation to lighting and décor, the more they capture, the more you’ll be on those timelines.

7. Video is king

As social media evolves, it’s clear that video content is more engaging than static content. It doesn’t have to be a Steven Spielberg production, but even a few seconds of movement will draw the eye much more than a static image.

Many of these elements can be managed in-house but, to maximise the limitless potential of social media, it’s worth considering engaging an agency with expertise in this area. Making your social media pages look very pretty from the outside is brilliant, but a page that actually brings you lots of new and repeat business will crucially be well-managed behind the scenes, too.