Building a Winning Social Media Strategy – Insights From Our Webinar

Last week we hosted a webinar on How to Build a Winning Social Media Strategy for Your Hotel. We were joined by Greg Bodenair, Area Marketing Manager for Kimpton Hotels of Boston & Cambridge. Greg manages the digital marketing efforts for three Kimpton Hotel properties in Boston & Cambridge, Massachusetts and has an extensive background in social media strategy.

Many hotel marketers spend a great deal of time on social media, but there are still questions on where to focus their efforts, and how to demonstrate ROI.

Here are some key insights revealed during our webinar:

Your Questions Answered

We had a tonne of questions roll in from our audience, on everything from how to use Snapchat and Instagram Stories effectively, to what to post on social media if your property is undergoing renovations.

Here are 4 pertinent questions we couldn’t get to during the webinar, which Greg has kindly responded to in this article.

1. What are some examples of hotels that have successfully been able to implement Snapchat/ Instagram stories into their day-to-day operation? Do you think that this is an effective form of social media?

GREG: It’s undeniable that Snapchat has amassed a large new audience and has made popular a new way to engage visually on social media. Both SPG and Four Seasons have committed resources to engaging with travelers on Snapchat at the brand-level to great effect. But for now, my recommendation is to focus on leveraging Instagram instead of Snapchat, unless you have a dedicated resource at the property-level that is solely dedicated to marketing and customer engagement as their full-time role.

2. What are some social media tactics to increase business within property restaurants & bars?

GREG: Beyond committing to active social listening (like responding to guests who post content about their restaurant experiences on Instagram and/or Facebook), creating social media contests can be a great way to attract new business within property restaurants and bars. Paying attention to your customers’ check-ins on location based networks – and offering those who are active on social media an exclusive discount and/or complimentary drink/appetizer during slower periods – can also represent a great way to drive tangible results to your social media tactics.

3. Do you still consider Google+ a useful platform to include in our social mix?

GREG: There are still some SEO benefits to managing Google+ pages. Hootsuite published a great summary of these benefits here.

4. I have 4 hotels in the same city. Is it a better idea to have 1 regional social page instead of individual pages?

GREG: The answer to this question really depends on a number of factors. First, how differentiated are your hotels? Do they have the same brand or different? Second, do you have a dedicated resource in your region to manage the page(s)? If we’re talking about Facebook as a platform, many properties prefer to have their own standalone Facebook pages. However, if you are working with limited resources, it may make sense to create a regional presence so that it’s easier to maintain a consistent presence. For example, at Kimpton in Boston we take a standalone approach for each of three Facebook pages (Kimpton Onyx Hotel, Kimpton Nine Zero Hotel, Kimpton Hotel Marlowe) but then maintain a regional Instagram account (@KimptonInBos) that speaks to the region as a whole.

Catch Up On-Demand

Read our recap article for all the highlights from our webinar last week. Or watch the full webinar on-demand.