Since the arrival of the technological era and with it the introduction of social networks, communication has changed completely.
Social media has become the best tool for communication and marketing. It takes time to build and manage them, but they can achieve many positive results at no cost, maintaining an organization and routine.
Networks are an essential tool in our daily lives, both in the personal and professional spheres. Today, they are tools responsible for giving visibility to businesses in a faster and more effective way than any other method.
Before its existence, it was much more complicated to reach all kinds of audiences. However, nowadays you can filter and zoom in without any difficulty.
As a result, social networks have marked a turning point in the tourism sector.
Thanks to them, guests can see in detail what their tourist accommodation will be like when they are in the area of the planet they want and at the time they want, through the fusion of social media and the internet.
Guests consider the social side of tourist accommodation when thinking about where to spend their next holiday or weekend.
For this reason, we would like to detail which social networks should be used to get the most out of tourist accommodation.
What actions to use to increase tourist accommodation bookings
Increase the use of hashtags (#)
It is very common to see on social networks such as Facebook and Instagram the use of hashtags (#) in each publication, as it is a mechanism that increases the visibility of the content. They need to be well targeted and appropriate to the sector in which they operate, in this case the tourism sector.
Users will be able to find related posts just by clicking on the hashtag, it’s a very simple tool.
It should be noted that Twitter was the pioneer of hashtags (#) and they were later adapted to other social networks such as Instagram or Facebook, discussed below.
On Twitter you can consult the list of trending hashtags (#) and use whichever one is appropriate to the topic you are talking about, so you can reach more people who want to know about that content.
In the TikTok social network, the aim is to make videos with a maximum duration of 1 minute go viral. To do this, it is very important to include hashtags (#) in the descriptions and this will have a greater impact.
If you decide to share images or videos about your accommodation, don’t forget to use hashtags! They will improve the reach and visibility of your posts.
Add the location in your post:
Whenever you post on any social network, don’t forget to add the location from where you took the photo.
Like Hashtags, location is often used to find content related to a specific area that users would like to know more about, so it is an opportunity to improve visibility to people who already have a prior interest.
In addition, allowing geolocation will help users to know where your accommodation is located, which will allow them to learn more about the area and choose your property.
Promote an experience:
When sharing images and videos of your property, also try to convey that the location is an interesting holiday spot.
You can post information, tips and recommendations about the town or city where you have your accommodation, highlighting attractive places that can be used as a holiday guide.
This will make users want to visit the area, and they will not hesitate to choose your accommodation.
Get your guests to tag you in their photos:
Nowadays, and due to the native technological society in which we find ourselves, more and more people are using social media to share their day-to-day lives.
If they are on holiday and staying at your property, they are likely to share photos of themselves doing any of the day’s daily activities.
Invite them to share their experiences on social media and try to get them to tag you to give you more visibility.
Encourage them to comment on your photos:
It is well known that for any business in the tourism sector, reviews and ratings are a decisive factor that will make the user choose one accommodation over another.
If you are going to use social media, try to keep your profile active on a daily basis. To do this, try to maintain a good frequency of comments on your photos or posts from guests or even people who have shown an interest, not only to improve the reach and visibility of your profile, but also to demonstrate to future visitors and followers the kind of experience you can bring to them.
Make use of Facebook groups:
Nowadays there are communities of travelers where it is possible to promote your accommodation, getting to know and talk about you, this is the case of Facebook.
This social media may be the most suitable for tourist accommodation businesses, allowing them to interact with previous and/or future guests, publish content to promote their accommodation, interact with other owners and communicate with groups in the sector, among many other benefits.
Within Facebook there is also a “vacation rental marketplace” where you can place ads just like in industry groups.
Take care of the quality of the images:
In order to increase bookings for tourist accommodation, the visual image of the property is essential for it to be chosen, it is what sells the most and is a key factor in the tourism sector.
You have to choose quality photographs that show the accommodation from a privileged perspective.
It is very popular to see beautiful photos of accommodation showing how well-decorated and spacious it is, but don’t focus on uploading just that.
It is very important to share photos that convey warm moments and feelings, such as a photo of the living room with the fireplace lit, a nice light in the background, a tray of hot chocolate and a nice cup of coffee.
Learn more about social media
It is a social network that has risen dramatically in recent years. More and more businesses are opening profiles on it to show the world what they do.
This platform is crucial because it has active and loyal users.
It is very important to upload “story” and being active in comments is key to having loyal followers.
For several years now, it has been the most popular social network in the world and we must take advantage of this.
It is one of the most widely used social media by both personal users and corporate companies.
But despite all this popularity, there is one factor that has a negative influence when it comes to improving tourist accommodation bookings: the limitation of being able to write using only 280 characters.
This makes it very difficult to express oneself continuously.
TikTok
It is one of the most used applications in the last year and with more support from the young public.
Its initial launch was in September 2016, but in recent years it has grown dramatically.
During 2019 alone, Tik Tok was downloaded 738 million times, a 44% growth compared to previous years.
It is worth noting that by the beginning of 2020, the app already had more than 1.6 billion users, of which 500 million are daily active users.
Reasons for using social media
Social media not only makes your business look more professional, but also gives it credibility and trust.
In addition, they can attract new customers for free.
The four most used social networks to increase tourist accommodation bookings (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok) have a total of almost 4.6 billion users.
They are excellent outreach channels and can also be used to advertise offers or share relevant information.
They are also important to be able to interact with users in a direct and immediate way. Users will appreciate an honest and personalised response.
For all these reasons, it is a key factor to have the social networks of your tourist accommodation active and creating content on a daily basis.
With all the above indications you will be able to improve your reserves and in a short period of time they will become your perfect ally.
