It’s all very well getting lots of ‘likes’ on Facebook or a flurry of followers on Twitter, but how does that increase occupancy levels and secure bookings? Effective use of social media and mobile marketing can improve guest satisfaction.
Engaging in social media needs to be built in to the customer service you offer. Communicating with guests before, during and even after their holiday shows that you care about them, and that you want them to have a fantastic stay with you. Make sure you provide links from your homepage to your social media pages – it’s pointless getting these channels up and running if you don’t tell people they are there.
Getting organised
If you think it takes too much time, you can set up alerts through sites like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite. You can monitor mentions of your @name, or the name of your property on twitter, or any other keyword that interests you (e.g. #UKholidays, #staycations) as well as your Facebook news feed and messages. It keeps all your social engagement in one handy window so you don’t miss an opportunity to engage, reply and communicate with guests past, present and future. You can also use it to schedule posts so that you don’t have to be actively typing away 24 hours a day to stay current and provide people with useful information.
Just getting started? Here’s some tips:
- When someone likes your Facebook page or follows you on Twitter, take the time to say ‘thanks’, and then do a little digging. First check if they have just booked with you – if they have, reply with something like ‘received your booking, looking forward to seeing you in August, the carnival / festival is on then’. If they haven’t booked welcome them with ‘if you’d like to know more about xxx please get in touch’. If they have stayed with you in the past then say hello and ask them about their holiday. In short, be polite and engage.
- Talk about the benefits of choosing to stay with you. Tweet or post about services you can offer, like babysitting, groceries delivery, a chef, spa treatments etc. Schedule posts to tell or remind people. Highlight the most popular restaurants, attractions and experiences nearby; what’s on at the theatre or cinema? Are there any local gigs or festivals happening soon?
- Tell them any news. Have you entered, been short-listed or won an award? Are you getting married or having a baby, or has someone new joined the team? Has a nearby town been used as a film location? Have you been featured in a magazine or on TV? Has a local restaurant received some rave reviews? Social networking personalises the relationship – let your guard down and tell people something about you. Don’t fall into the trap of using Facebook and Twitter to blatantly advertise, it’s not what people want – use it to inform and communicate.
- Always respond to questions or comments that mention you. If someone tweets ‘arrived at @x safe & sound. Long journey’, this is the perfect chance to say ‘welcome, time to relax & enjoy’. They will know that you are listening and they can contact you – e.g. if they get lost whilst out or about (maybe a road is closed), or want to know where to go for dinner. Social media is often seen as a less intrusive method of communication than actually talking on the phone. More importantly, if someone complains about your accommodation it gives you the opportunity to act on it immediately. Hopefully resolving the problem quickly will then turn the negative into a positive – they might post about the fantastic response they had and how everything is now sorted.
Most people feel a bit uncomfortable when they start tweeting or posting on Facebook. My advice? Don’t over analyse what you are writing. The whole point is to be brief and chatty and tell people what you want to tell them. The more you do it, the easier it gets.
If you were to overhear somebody talking about your holiday accommodation, you would probably want to answer some of their questions or at least chip in to the conversation. Social media gives you the opportunity to do just that. It also demonstrates the customer care and level of service they can expect from you when they book their stay.
