Last week we discussed the strategic topic on social media: the 24/7 social media economy. In today’s world you have to actively participate on social media sites 24/7 in order to fully benefit from the power of Twitter, Facebook and others. Last week I also gave some advice how to manage this difficulty and in which way you can use organizational and techological tools to address this issue.
Okay, I assume (if I may :) ) that you agree on the necessity of participating in the 24/7 social media economy. Good to hear!! But what in god’s name do I have to write about all day??? That’s a fair question which I believe is a question most organizations have when entering the social media platforms. In this post I will discuss the topic of Social Media Content and give you (hopefully) useful tips!
Social Media goals
Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook can be used for a number of purposes. For instance, police organizations use Twitter to spread news about a missing kid; branded organizations such as Coca Cola use social media platforms in the first place to strengthen their brand name. Thus what content to use depends on the type of organization you are and the goals you stated. Let’s focus on hotels now. As a hotel owner of marketing manager social media is interesting for a number of goals (these are the most important ones):
- Service to your guests (information, helping with complaints, etc)
- Get positive word-of-mouth from your guests (reviews)
- Sales: talk to potential guests and convince them to book (offer discounts)
- Strengthen brand name (and increase traffic to your site)
Social Media Content
If you would like to achieve these goals, your content must be focused around these goals. I’ll now give you some ideas of which content you can use in order to do so!
- Thank your followers: always mention your new followers and thank them for following you!
- Thank your guests for having them at your hotel
- Ask your guests to post a review on your site, Tripadvisor or Twitter
- Ask your guests if they want to sign up for a newsletter
- Inform your guests and other followers about events in the city
- Inform your guests and other followers about restaurants, shops in the direct surroundings of the hotel
- Inform your guests and other followers about company news (e.g. interview in the media)
- Offer special social media discounts for your followers
- Offer a social media content for your followers and others (e.g. a retweet content)
- Really interact with your followers: ask input for your new design, or what music to play in the lobby!!
- General I: combine text with sound and video!!!
- General II: be really careful with talking to much about your hotel or your fantastic discounts!!!!!!!!!!
- General III: come up with your own creative and fun ideas!!
Good luck with entering the 24/7 social media economy with these content tips! Stay tuned :)
