Developing a good social media strategy is one of the most important factors in maintaining a good relationship with customers. Social media offers us an added advantage in managing our online reputation, and we can always take advantage of this potential.
Social media has become an integral part of travel marketing, public relations, and online reputation management. Most users—a large percentage of whom—check social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Google+ to find reviews of the accommodations where they plan to stay.
Customer service can be greatly improved through effective online management of our hotel brand. There are a few key points we must keep in mind to ensure maximum customer satisfaction:
Table of Contents
Improving Responsiveness and Time Management
A hotel’s promptness in responding to certain comments—both positive and negative—is very important. If guests mention our property on any of the channels, knowing how to handle these comments helps humanize the brand.
Being Socially Proactive
It means developing the habit of using social skills in communication, conveying messages driven by values through direct, people-centered messages that help us meet their needs. Modern guests, whether consciously or unconsciously, expect hotels to personalize the service they offer—and what better way to do that than by using information from their social media accounts to get to know them a little better?
The Value of Visuals and Brand Reputation
Platforms like Pinterest and Instagram are at the forefront in this regard; they’re increasingly used by hotels and offer the added value that customers look for before booking, as images are paired with specific hashtags that make them go viral in online searches.
Providing Added Value
Hotel social media pages allow guests to share their stay experiences online, providing valuable information to other users or potential guests. If our hotel offers guests this type of communication and attention on its social media platforms, it will be providing significant added value.
Gathering Valuable Information About Our Market
Maintaining an online relationship with customers through social media provides us with very valuable data about their tastes, interests, needs, characteristics, and so on. This information is essential for tailoring our approach to our target audience and building customer loyalty.
How do we manage a hotel’s social media accounts?
As we already know, having a social media presence these days is practically a must, but not everything goes. That’s why it’s a good idea to follow a series of steps:
Planning
Before posting anything on social media, you should know what you want to do and why, and ensure that your approach aligns with the hotel’s communication strategy across all other media.
Avoid talking only about your hotel brand—it’s boring
Always talking about the same thing gets tiring… that’s why it’s important to find engaging content that interests your target audience and thus improve engagement.
Content Quality
It is important that the photos, videos, and other content shared be of high quality.
Quick and personalized response
In other words, users who follow the hotel on various social media platforms should feel that there’s a team behind the scenes working to provide you with the best service.
Enhance Communication
Use neutral and polite language while improving internal interaction with guests—for example, by inviting them to share their stay on social media using a specific hashtag.
Customer service should always prioritize guest satisfaction, which is why social media serves as a communication channel where current and prospective guests interact. In a way, social media humanizes the hotel and helps prospective guests learn about the facilities and other guests’ experiences in advance, bringing them a little closer to the team that makes up the hotel.
