10 Ways to Improve your Hotel's Social Media Visibility

By Adrian Caruso - TA Fastrack's CEO
Many hotels and destinations have recently approached TA Fastrack and asked about improving their social media visibility. While there is no firm method of optimizing your Web 2.0 content, there are best practices that can improve your performance. Below, you’ll find ten of our favorite best practices that can easily be implemented to increase your followers as well as your web traffic.


1. Keep the CONVERSATION going

Like its name suggests, social media is, by nature, well – social. Think of websites like Facebook and Twitter as extensions of your network of friends. Unlike, say, strangers at the grocery store, it’s perfectly okay to reach out to someone you’re connected with on a social networking and say “hey, how are you doing?” – so long as you do it effectively. Instead of just talking, try to ask questions of your fans and followers. Encourage them to post content on your Facebook page. Check your @ replies on Twitter and your Direct Messages (DMs) often – if someone has a question, be proactive in your response. Even if the comments and feedback on these sites are negative, you can turn the experience into a positive one with a fast and timely response.



2. Create engaging CONTENT

Unlike your Brand.com website or standalone page, your social media presence is a great way to push the content envelope. Use a conversational copy tone – you may even want to solicit a younger member of your staff to manage your Facebook or Twitter accounts full time. Find someone to manage your pages who is passionate about the brand – their enthusiasm will reflect that in the copy. Use images, video and links wherever possible. A huge part of SEO is the power of the inbound link – and social media is a great way to generate that buzz!



3. Drive your readers to ACTION

Don’t be content to just tell your readers about a renovation – encourage them to talk about it, send in a photo, book a reservation, or secure a special promotion. Offer a special coupon to your 1,000th fan or follower. Give away a free drink in your hotel lounge or at a local restaurant to someone who mentions Twitter when they order a cocktail. Ask for opinions about a new renovation or local attraction. Online readers aren’t passive – they’re constantly scanning – so make sure your content is encouraging them to stop and participate!



4. Images are your FRIEND

Is your hotel beautiful? Did you have a great recent event, wedding, or photo shoot of your new menu? Did your destination just host a major event? Upload those gems to Facebook, twitpic or Flickr! Send a snapshot of the beautiful sunrise over your hotel, or of visitors enjoying the local culture, to your Twitter followers, and encourage them to snap photos of their own time at your hotel, resort or destination. Create a Facebook album of a recent event within the hotel or destination and tag people who attended – chances are a little vanity will go a long way, compelling them to return to your page again and again to see their photo, while encouraging their friends to do the same.



5. Create BUZZ – Aim to get your material to “GO VIRAL”

Have you ever seen the trending topics on Twitter? Utilize these hashtags or aim to create your own! Some of our favorites for the travel industry are #TravelTuesday (relevant travel related industry info) and #FollowFriday –which enables you to thank your new followers each week. Don’t forget the power of the retweet or RT, either. Retweet (or re-publish) people who are talking about your hotel or great things people are saying about your market. This can also apply to YouTube. Have you created a great or funny video? Upload it and share it across social media platforms. Create a great contest on Facebook and post it all over! The options are only as limited as your imagination.



6. Practice effective LINKING and NAMING

While you can’t directly optimize your content, you can practice effective linking strategies. Instead of saying “click here,” choose appropriate anchor text. If you’re really talking about your new menu, say “Enjoy the Trellis Restaurant Dinner Menu” – search engines recognize these types of links as more valid. This also applies to page naming – be sure to name your Facebook Fan page (use your full property name, unless it’s very long) and your Twitter page to make them as easily searchable as possible. Avoid funny characters like underscores when you can help it. People often forget to type these in!



7. Stay on top of the latest TRENDS

Social Media is a continually evolving industry – new applications are launched every day! Some of our new favorites include Foursquare and Gowalla – applications that let users on other social networking sites know where you are located by “checking in” to certain businesses and locations. You can even offer special promotions to people who participate in these programs by checking in at your hotel or visiting local businesses a given number of times.



8. Know your NEIGHBOURS

Encourage cross promotion with local businesses, important bloggers and local media outlets. They can be your biggest fans! Host an in-person networking event, and issue your invitations via Facebook or Twitter. Encourage local social networking groups to host “Tweetups,” or in-person meetings of Twitter friends, at your hotel or local hotspots within your destination. Offer a special discount as an incentive!



9. Keep sites SEPERATE

People who follow you on Twitter are often your fans on Facebook and vice versa, so don’t update the exact same thing in both places! It’s fine to cross promote, sparingly – a post on Twitter saying you created a great new Facebook album with a link, or a note on Facebook talking about an exclusive Twitter promo (great ways to get followers on both sites!). But if you continually update both pages with the same information, they begin to lose relevance. So despite seeing the option to stream your Twitter updates to Facebook and vice versa – it’s generally a ‘no-no.’



10. Don’t get DISCOURAGED

Your growth won’t be overnight, and follow/fan/friend rates will vary from day to day. You may see explosive growth or bookings as a result of a particular contest that won’t work again the next week. Don’t get discouraged – your continued efforts will pay off over time. Social media is a continually evolving discussion and new techniques are emerging daily!



If you need help improving your hotel's social media visibility, please call TA Fastrack on +61 7 3040 3588. TA Fastrack's social media's team has the tracking tools to monitor your brand across the digital landscape. We can tell you what people are saying. We can then manage your brand online and influence the influencers to spread the word and ultimately book with you. We understand the travel, tourism and hospitality industry so we know how to create a presence for your brand in niche markets.