You’d be forgiven for thinking social media has had its day. However, an active social media account can be a great way to showcase your business, reach out to a new market and demonstrate exactly what makes your B&B or Boutique hotel special.
Social media is an investment of time, so only use social media if you are committed to getting results. Don’t expect overnight miracles. Your first post won’t land you hundreds of bookings, but with a long-term and consistent approach you can expect:
- An improved relationship with your own guests
- Greater awareness of your B&B among potential customers
- Increased referrals
Here are a few tips on how to use social media successfully to promote B&B businesses.
Focus your efforts
3 posts a week on one platform will be more effective than one post a week on three platforms. Ideally three times a week is the minimum you should be going for.
Identify what sort of people you are trying to target and where they spend their time. Are they Pinterest people or Facebook fanatics? Once you know where to find the customers you are targeting, you can then establish where to focus your efforts.
Think about your message
Maybe you want to promote the homeliness of your B&B, maybe the convenience? Perhaps you’re all about the wealth of things to explore on your doorstep, or the ease of access to major transport routes.
What’s the best way to showcase this? Links, photos, testimonials, your website? Shake it up a bit by using a variety of different types of content. On average, posts with images receive 230% more clicks than those without.
Don’t get caught up thinking your social media page is all about you
Experts say that your social media post should adhere to the ‘rule of 3’.
A third of your posts should promote your business. Think photos of fresh cakes, roaring fires, glowing testimonials. Another third of your posts should share useful content from other thought leaders in the industry. For example, you could link to one of our blogs like this one on Devon, or you could share a blog or news article from a local attraction that guests at your B&B or Boutique hotel might like to visit.
The final third of your content should be made up of personal interactions. Messages to guests who have visited or those about to arrive, guests who perhaps celebrated a special occasion with you the same time last year, or even guests planning trips to local attractions that might be looking for somewhere to stay.
Plan your content
The interactive side of your content needs to be done regularly, but by planning the content about your business, you’ll remove a lot of the strain and effort from social media posting. Maybe spend an hour at the start of each month to write out some posts and, if you’re feeling inclined, you can use a free posting service such as Hootsuite to schedule posts in advance. Just don’t forget to do the personal interaction too!
And, if the extra business this generates leaves you finding yourself needing to improve or refurbish your concern, you can always give the helpful team at Stewart Hindley & Partners a call on 0845 272 4000 to find out about how we can help you with your hospitality finance or B&B finance requirements.
