How to Master Social Media Marketing Strategy for Hotels
Hotel social media marketing can magnify hospitality brands, transforming casual followers online into ride-or-die fans and fiercely loyal guests.
These days, though, it’s not enough to have a profile and routinely publish posts on social media. If hotel brands truly want to stand out, get noticed, and go viral, they need a more creative, thoughtful, and strategic approach that inspires, engages, and fosters deeper connections.
Here’s why, with an insider’s guide on:
8 Game-Changing Social Media Strategies for Hotels
For more insights from our experienced hotel marketing team, check out our Guide to Videography for Luxury Brands, our Look at the Art of Restaurant Photography, our Luxury Brand Photography Guide, and our Guide to Hotel Digital Marketing.
Please reach out to Alias for more answers or a quote whenever you’re ready for growth-focused social media strategy and services for hotels.
8 Game-Changing Social Media Strategies for Hotels
Leveraging social media for hotel and hospitality brands can create powerful engines for engagement, brand loyalty, and direct bookings. That’s more likely to happen with the artful application of some combination of the following social media strategies for hotels.
1. Showcase Hyperlocal Experiences.
Hotels can offer and put guests next to wonderfully unique local experiences. Highlighting local activities, attractions, and hidden gems by a hotel can speak to its location and brand identity.
Pro Tip: Partner with local influencers or tour operators who can curate content and show off local hotel experiences, tagging posts with branded hashtags to maximize their reach.
2. Go All-In on Video Content.
Short, engaging videos can resonate deeper and be more engaging than static images, telling your hotel's story with more flair. They can also share songs, short narratives, and other audio that can be far more memorable for viewers.
Pro Tip: Create "A Day in the Life" videos and social media posts, authentically featuring guests’ perspectives to showcase amenities, dining options, and local adventures.
3. Highlight Behind-the-Scenes Content.
Give your audience a glimpse of the magic that goes into delivering exceptional hospitality in different areas of the hotel. That can include behind-the-scenes social media posts focused on chef-prepared dishes, event setups, room preparations, spa experiences, and even staff celebrations.
Pro Tip: Behind-the-scenes content doesn’t have to be super polished. In fact, more “raw” clips can create an authentic, personal feel while building relatability and trust with an audience.
4. Incorporate User-Generated Content (UGC).
Encourage guests to share their experiences and tag your hotel. Repost their photos, testimonials, and/or videos on the hotel social media profiles to spotlight real-life guest moments, opinions, and perspectives.
Pro Tip: Run contests with incentives like discounts or gift cards to encourage fresh content submissions, shares, and more user engagement.
5. Create Instagram-Worthy Spaces.
Invest in visually striking, photogenic areas throughout the hotel grounds, including both interior and exterior spaces. When hotels are designed for chic social media moments, they don’t just photograph well. They can also capture more attention while motivating more online guests to show up in person for their own experiences (and Instagramable photos).
Pro Tip: Provide subtle signage or hashtags in these spaces to encourage tagging, such as #ChillingAt[YourHotel].
6. Host Virtual Events and Live Streams.
Stream tours, live events, or Q&A sessions with different professionals who provide services at the hotel. Engaging audiences in real time can spark deeper connections while personalizing the hotel brand in ways that other media and outreach simply can’t match.
Pro Tip: Schedule live streams during peak engagement hours and consider offering exclusive discounts to participants.
7. Collaborate with Micro-Influencers.
Micro-influencers typically have between 5,000 and 50,000 followers.
Partnering with micro-influencers who align with your hotel's target audience can be an effective way of getting authentic endorsements while stepping into new audience circles.
Pro Tip: Focus on niche influencers, like travel bloggers who specialize in luxury stays.
8. Feature Guest Stories with a Personal Touch.
Turn standout guest experiences into compelling narratives. Highlight proposals, anniversaries, or milestone celebrations that took place at your property, sharing reels and heartfelt posts, complete with hashtags and, ideally, extras like links, music, and/or emojis.
Pro Tip: Interview guests for short video clips or quotes, getting permission to share their stories across social media.
Top Hotel Brands on Instagram: Lessons from the Best
On Instagram, some hotel brands are setting a new bar for creativity, engagement, and inspired guest connections. Trailblazing in remarkable ways, these hotels on social media have refined their strategies and positioning, taking advantage of innovative techniques and content with unparalleled success.
Here’s a look at the hotels that are nailing it on Instagram and what other hospitality brands can learn from them.
1. The Alton Hotel
The Alton Hotel on Instagram has consistently polished visuals paired with friendly, aspirational messaging and a consistent theme of “living the good life.” As masters of visual storytelling and crafting meaningful text, The Alton Hotel on Instagram does a wonderful job of emphasizing services, hotel spaces, and guest experiences.
Lesson: Embracing consistent, high-quality content can reflect a brand’s core values while communicating an ineffable level of excellence.
2. Hotel Monaco
Hotel Monaco on Instagram uses stunning imagery and concise, poetic captions that evoke wanderlust and serenity balanced with luxury, comfort, and first-class style.
Lesson: Crafting posts with emotional components that speak to an aspirational lifestyle can transport viewers and make them feel like they’re standing in the hotel. That can mean instant connections that may motivate viewers to remember the brand and want to know more about it.
3. The Sawyer Hotel & Revival
The Sawyer Hotel on Instagram puts striking visuals front and center, balancing out personal views of special amenities with breathtaking shots of event spaces and larger-scale grandeur.
Lesson: Including events and event preparations on Instagram can show new ways that a hotel lets their guests live out some of their dreams, both on a routine getaway and for once-in-a-lifetime events, like weddings.
4. Hotel Enso
Hotel Enso on Instagram has a fun and uniquely upscale presence while offering distinct value and “extras” to their social media followers. With smile-inducing photos and reels put alongside creative captions and special offers, Hotel Enso on Instagram has carved out a one-of-a-kind voice with highly sharable content designed to get followers in the door.
Lesson: Embracing a distinct voice and keeping the text somewhat conversational can be more inviting. Including special offers in posts create another incentive for more people to follow and engage with a hotel brand on social media.
How to Turbocharge Hotel Social Media Strategy
At Alias, our hotel social media marketing team has extensive experience devising, managing, and refining innovative strategies and campaigns for all types of hotel brands. With vast expertise in Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other platforms, our creative team is incredibly skilled at leveraging the latest social media strategies for hotels to position them for extraordinary exposure, engagement, and success online and offline.
To find out more or get a quote for our hotel social media marketing services, simply contact Alias now.
We also invite you to check out our hotel marketing and creative resources below to get a taste of what we’ve done for past and current clients — and of what we may be able to do for you.
