1. Make the most of your banner image
The Facebook banner image doesn’t get utilised by many businesses. It’s a great place to show off gorgeous pics of your hotels, promote competitions or even images of your local area.
You can use your banner image to ask people to sign up to an email list and used the call to action button to link to a sign up form.
2. Include links to your Facebook page in a pre arrival email
Warm up your guest before they even set foot in your hotel. Send out a pre arrival email a couple of days before to confirm their booking details and let them know that you have a Facebook page where they can find lots of useful information about their stay.
Welcome them by sending them a video message from the manager introducing themselves and the hotel. It doesn’t have to be long and it doesn’t have to be super polished but these small touches make all the difference to the guest experience.
3. Get guests to ‘check in’ on your Facebook page
A Facebook check in shows Facebook you have an engaged audience which will help the reach of your posts. Prompt guests when they arrive about the Facebook page and the check in. Encourage check ins by offering a weekly prize. The prize doesn’t have to be expensive, it could be a free dessert or a late checkout. If you get a lot of activity you could make this daily.
4. Feature guests
Do you have regular guests that return time after time? Ask them if they’d be happy to have their photo taken and put on the page. This works well if there is a special anniversary i.e. 10 years of coming to visit or an anniversary. If you are a hotel that welcomes dogs do a posts that talks about their favourite place to go for a walk, toy and treats. Who doesn’t love a cute animal pic?
5. Build relationship with other related businesses in the area
Most of us on Facebook are in the same position, we want to connect with people and share content that they will find interesting and useful but it’s tough to be seen. Follow pages of local restaurants, bars and activities then comment and like their posts. If you do this without blatant self-promotion they are likely to do the same for you. This is going to help get you in front of their fans and vice versa.
Get in touch with your local tourist board, find out what social media initiatives they are running. Are they promoting a specific hashtag or event? Get involved and support what they are trying to achieve and it will help not only your business but all the related businesses in your town.
6. Run competitions
Competitions can be a quick way of getting some engagement and having a bit of fun. You can do them so they are just for fun or give away a prize.
Add an image to your timeline of a local landmark and ask people to name it or ask people to upload pictures from their holiday which you could use as your Facebook page banner. If you are asking for a bit of effort from your fans an attractive prize will help!
7. Get reviews
Positive reviews on Facebook will help the reach of your page. Facebook likes to see pages with lots of activity, reviews are one way of getting some from guests, even those who are avid Facebookers. The best way of getting a review is asking for them. Ask when guests are checking out for a review, it also gives you a chance to find out if there were any problems before they leave the premises.
Send a follow up email after they check out to see if they enjoyed their trip, got home safely and to ask for a review. Add a direct link to the review page on Facebook to make it as straight forward as possible for them.
There are so many opportunities for hotels using Facebook, it’s a natural extension of the service culture of your business. Take what you already do so well and showcase it on Facebook.
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