10 ideas for Facebook posts for hotels – worth trying

Most hotels have realised by now that being on Facebook is not an option anymore yet a must-do. While, so it seems, the majority of hotels or hotel brands does have a Facebook page, the intensity and creativity of the use of Social Media, and Facebook in particular, differs dramatically.

The following ones do really great, for instance:

Aloft Abu Dhabi
Le Méridien Vienna
The W Barcelona

There are, of course, many more that stand out positively. Which ones do you like? Feel free to share the links to their Facebook pages in the comments.

Other hotels, it seems, do lack a Facebook strategy. They do post, mainly promote their offers and sometimes post something very far fetched. The result: The engagement of their fans (let‘s call them fans as long as there is no better name), is rather low. Facebook veterans, however, know that this number is way more important than the actual number of fans. Indeed, the first one will help grow the second.

So, here are some ideas to post on your page which can help you to increase fan engagement. They have been tested by hotels before:

Link to guest comments from review sites such as TripAdvisor: If you do reply to negative reviews in a good way, why not link to those bad comments as well? Yet also offline comments can be shared, as the Hotel Bonnington Jumeirah Lakes Towers in Dubai shows with their great invention Guest Comments Wednesday. It is a bit of work to scan the comments and to black-out names, yet it is very personal.
Surveys: Ask your fanbase about their opinion on e.g. menu items, names for new products etc.
Lucky draws: Let‘s face it, they still work. Just ensure you use a fair system with chances to win for everyone. And be creative with what you offer as prizes as well as what you ask your fans to do to win. Also, be aware of the Facebook promotion guidelines and ensure you comply with them.
Keep a social calendar and post e.g. wishes for National Holidays: The better you match them to your fanbase (check the countries your fans are from in your insights), the more reactions you will get.
Photos always do work very well: Try to post photos with people on it (check if they are ok with it and avoid tagging unless they agree). If you post photos from staff events, your employees will be delighted and will spread the word. Additionally, the public can see what a great place to work your hotel is.
Encourage your fans to post something personal like a picture of their pet, their favourite cocktail recipe or a photo of them on holiday or in your hotel.
Promote other businesses rather than your own. You can feature your suppliers, a partner hotel in another country, an event in the city or something you found while being online. Anything that seems worth sharing and that creates emotions.
Videos are cool as long as they are not too long. Why don‘t you record one in your hotel with a simple webcam or your smart phone and upload it. Do put it on YouTube (if you do not have a channel – get one now!) and link to it on your page. Alternatively, you can upload it to Facebook directly. Or do both. Have a look at the page of the hotel nhow Berlin for some cool music videos.
Post job vacancies in your own hotel and make sure you encourage your fans to tell their friends as well. Or ask them for candidate recommendations they can send by e-mail to keep them private.
Do post something about your hotel promotions (F&B activities, packages etc.) from time to time. You can just post it, link to your website, write a note, upload a video or create an event. After all, your fans want to be informed what is going on there and do want to come there once a while. They wouldn‘t be fans if they didn‘t, would they? Stick to the 80/20 rule and hence only promote your hotel directly at a rate of 20 %. Fill the other 80 % with the above.

Why don‘t you try those things and let us know how they worked? Leave your mark in the comments or use the Facebook page to post your feedback: www.facebook.com/kommboutique

Would you like to know how to leverage the posts on your Facebook page? Click here for some simple yet effective tricks.

Share your view:
Do you have better ideas for posts on hotel Facebook pages? What other things have you tried and tested that worked very well? Or what did not work at all?

16 Kommentare

Gaby Feile %A, 19UTCTue, 19 Apr 2011 09:36:43 +0000 %e. %B %Y

Thanks, Robin.

It is great that you feel the tips can be used. So, please share your successes!

All the best,

Gaby

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Robin Wright %A, 19UTCTue, 19 Apr 2011 02:43:14 +0000 %e. %B %Y

Thanks for sharing your 10 ideas for posting to Facebook and their all very practicable and doable!

Thanks,
Robin

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Gaby Feile %A, 15UTCFri, 15 Apr 2011 14:36:06 +0000 %e. %B %Y

Dear Paula,

Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. I am glad that you, as a pro, find my tips useful. Let’s hope your clients do as well.

All the best,

Gaby

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Paula Bardell-Hedley %A, 15UTCFri, 15 Apr 2011 13:32:16 +0000 %e. %B %Y

An excellent article – I’ll definitely point it out to clients. Many thanks indeed for sharing your expertise.

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Gaby Feile %A, 11UTCMon, 11 Apr 2011 09:44:28 +0000 %e. %B %Y

Dear Newshotelier,

Thank you for publishing my article. Nice collection you have!

Gaby

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Newshotelier %A, 11UTCMon, 11 Apr 2011 09:10:16 +0000 %e. %B %Y

Nice Articles

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Gaby Feile %A, 09UTCSat, 09 Apr 2011 10:36:01 +0000 %e. %B %Y

Dear Terry,

Thanks for commenting and for bringing up this important issue. Indeed, Facebook has published guidelines for all sort of promotions. They can be read here: https://www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php.

And yes, there is restrictions that need to be considered when doing a promotion. Just two examples:

You cannot: Administer a promotion that users automatically enter by liking your Page, checking in to your Place or connecting to your Platform integration.

You can: Require entrants to like your Page, check in to your Place or connect to your Platform integration before they provide their full entry information, such as name and contact information.

Therefore, it is important to carefully think about what you offer and what people need to do in order to win. Facebook recommends to use an external application where people can enter their details. This is something that many companies do successfully.

What further concerns do you have? What experiences do you have with lucky draws on Facebook.

Thanks again for your contribution.

Cheers,
Gaby

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Terry %A, 09UTCSat, 09 Apr 2011 00:06:28 +0000 %e. %B %Y

Re: “Lucky draws: Let‘s face it, they still work” – Are you still able to do that? Isn’t that against Facebook’s TOS?

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Gaby Feile %A, 08UTCFri, 08 Apr 2011 10:49:02 +0000 %e. %B %Y

Dear Sebastian,

Thanks for the tip! This is a great Facebook page, indeed! Amazing how active the fans are. It also shows that listening and answering is very important. Writing everything in German also seems to make total sense for their clientele. Such a shame that non-German speakers can not read the comments. Yet they can see the engagement – and this is great!

Thanks again,
Gaby

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Sebastian Dimmeler %A, 08UTCFri, 08 Apr 2011 10:21:47 +0000 %e. %B %Y

Hi, thank you for the post.
A great example for a hotel facebook site is the Stanglwirt in Austria. The have
already more than 16.000 fans. http://www.facebook.com/Stanglwirt
Best regards
Sebastian

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Gaby Feile %A, 07UTCMon, 07 Mar 2011 17:05:06 +0000 %e. %B %Y

Dear Aldo,

Thank you for joining and engaging! Great to hear that other industries can benefit from these ideas. What can hotels learn from other industries in terms of Social Media? Any ideas?

Keep engaging,

Gaby

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Aldo Gnocchi %A, 07UTCMon, 07 Mar 2011 13:26:16 +0000 %e. %B %Y

Hi Gaby,

I like your 10 ideas for facebook engagements in the hospitality industry.

I guess these 10 ideas also work for other industries. People love to interact with each other. They like real things like photos, videos, recommendations and so on from real people (user generated content), not from brands themself. So for many service providers these 10 ideas might also work. Maybe it also works for products/brands. What’s also important is to continue your efforts in the long-run. Campaigning in the social web is for the birds.

I’m curious to read your next article.

Best, Aldo

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Gaby Feile %A, 07UTCMon, 07 Mar 2011 09:14:34 +0000 %e. %B %Y

Dear Urs,

Thanks so much for your comment. You are right, we tend to think too complicated very often. People on Facebook do not want to read too much or watch long videos. Before posting, always think: what do the “fans” do? How will they react? How do you want them to react?

See you soon in cyberspace,
Gaby

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Urs E. Gattiker %A, 07UTCMon, 07 Mar 2011 07:02:11 +0000 %e. %B %Y

Dear Gaby

I like this post very much because it outlines in a few steps what I can do if I am in the hospitality industry.

Some of these things appear obvious but as usual, we tend to forget what seems obvious to the initiated…. and we do need to be reminded.

I am looking forward to your next post.

Urs

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Gaby Feile %A, 03UTCThu, 03 Mar 2011 12:34:53 +0000 %e. %B %Y

Dear Tim,

Thanks a lot for your comment. Am glad that you find the post helpful. Good luck with trying the tips. And do share the outcome here.

Cheers,
Gaby

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Tim Hansen %A, 03UTCThu, 03 Mar 2011 10:34:17 +0000 %e. %B %Y

Liebe Gaby,
sehr schöner Post, den ich sogleich an meine Marketing Leute weitergeleitet habe. Glückwunsch und ich hoffe, der Erfolg wird riesig!!
Lieben Gruß
Tim

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