Social Media Management A Light At The End Of The Tunnel For Hotels

Social Media Management is the process of managing your Hotels online interactions and content across Social Media channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, and Pinterest.

Social Media Management goes beyond just posting updates to your Hotel’s Social Media profiles. It also includes engaging with your audience and looking for new opportunities to increase reach and visibility.

Social Media is not the end but an amplifier of the processes that bring new life to Hotel Marketing.

Social Media Management starts with teamwork

It is a misconception we see too often that brands, in general, has developed a belief that Social Media marketing is easy, quick and cheap.

We all seen various types of information goes viral and more or less becomes an overnight sensation.

The impact of Social Media today can either be very powerful, or really brutal.

Today we know Social Media marketing requires research, strategy, implementation, team efforts, networking, communities, engagement and measuring the date behind all of these components.

Being present on Social Media is still a back-burner idea for a lot of Hotels. This results in several Hotels sending Tweets, Instagram images or Facebook posts to the wrong audience or in a way that cannot be tracked.

You have to consider whether or not your Hotels Social Media strategy can be analyzed and who has the skills to do it?

Working with Social Media know for many years and taking on various Social Media Manager roles I know firsthand it is a huge task.

I did several misses and takes some hits in the process. But that has been an important part of the process.

One of the most valuable lessons I learned is that Social Media Management is a team effort.

Implementing an effective Social Media Framework requires a team that has the skills, knowledge, and experience to apply each module in ways that add new values for Hotels.

Partnering with the right Social Media Management team

I teamed up with Founders Media from the UK. Their mission is to help Clients achieve their Marketing Goals and develop a market-leading brand with your Social Media.

As I over the years has conducted surveys and done a lot of research I learned that biggest challenge for Hotels was related to online content. And the in the back-end the primary outcome most Hotels wanted to achieve was improved online visibility.

To achieve this task, you need to either have a quality Social Media team in-house or hire a quality team that can implement an effective Framework that guide, educate and mentor your Hotel through this process.

Either way, it is critical that your Hotel do some relevant research for the following areas;

• Current Social Media status for the Hotel. Identify budget, team members, and resources that will add value to a new Social Media Framework
• Align Hotel Marketing with Social Media Marketing goals. Define how you believe Social Media will help your Hotels overall goals
• Social Media Ambassadors at your Hotel. Start within the Hotel to identify who has the skills to assist implementing the Social Media Framework
• What are the roles required for implementing the Social Media Framework?
• How to structure your Hotel Social Media team

Here is some relevant skillset you either need in-house or that the Social Media Management you hire should possess;

Social Content Creators

If you’re going to or already publish Social content, creative and have a keen understanding of audiences and customer personas. They need to be a strong graphic designer and have the copywriting skills to match.

And you’ll want to see if writers, SEO specialists, and other content creators could be a part of your Hotels Social outreach.

Content marketing strategies are critical to your Hotel and having those members work with Social Media engagement could be a huge success.

Social Community Manager

A Social Community Manager’s main function is to create a healthy environment for members to connect with each other and facilitate, strengthen, and encourage those relationships. Their job isn’t to directly broadcast marketing messages, but to help members talk to each other.

Social Community Managers function as brand ambassadors. They advocate on behalf of the Hotel to community members by representing the brand on a very personal level. They also advocate on behalf of the customer, monitoring conversations and providing feedback to the Hotel.

Social PR / Outreach

This role is for a PR / Outreach person wearing a Social Media hat. They build lists of influencers that have highly engaged audiences that fit within the target market that your Hotel serves.

As they build these lists and conduct this research, they reach out to these individuals with a message to become an ambassador for your Hotel.

Social Ads Manager

The Social Ads Manager will work closely with the Social Content Creator. In the Social Media Sphere there are three types of content that are relevant; owned, earned and paid.

The Social Ads Manager together with the Social Content Creator will look understand your audience and corporate client personas, data analysis, and new media marketing.

Looking at how to monetize, drive and improve Social ROI is critical for Social Media Mastery.

And together with the team here this person measure and analyze data to ensure that your Hotels provide the right offerings in front of the right audience.

A professional Social Media Management team will help Hotels implement campaigns that are heavily focused on highly targeted retargeting campaigns and leveraging a brand’s existing list to increase the lifetime value of the client.

Conclusion

Today’s Social Media Management tools provide advanced options that will help Hotels with these tasks. If you need a quality team the help your Hotel pulls this off, then get in touch with my partners at Founders Media.

With the right team behind your Social Media efforts, it can become cost-effective and generate a new revenue stream for your Hotel.

To get your Hotel started here are a few FREE gifts and resources from myself and my partners Founders Media.

1. FREE access to my Hospitality Gone Social Vault (Click Here to Unlock)
2. FREE ebook from Founders Media (Click Here to Unlock)
3. FREE 21 Days To Social Media Mastery for Hotels email course (Click Here to Unlock)
4. FREE access to #HotelPodcast — A Podcast about Social Media Mastery for Hotel (Click Here to Unlock)
5. FREE access to our Facebook Group — Hospitality Gone Social (Click Here to Unlock)

Are Morch is the founder and owner of Are Morch — Hotel Blogger & Social Media Consultant. Get more from Are on Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Instagram

Originally published at aremorch.com on March 28, 2018.