Social Media Presentation With Tiffany White Hilton Garden Inn & Homewood Suites Shreveport/Bossier City
Social Media Revolution
General Social Media Tips Facebook Twitter Instagram
Page vs. Group vs. Profile PAGE* Ideal for business Allows people to “like” the page Only manageable by the administrators Other people can comment on your page, but not in a prominent way
Page vs. Group vs. Profile GROUP Usually used as a place for discussion for a small group of people All members of the group are visible Easy way to share documents, schedule events, and chat with members Can’t view Insights
Page vs. Group vs. Profile PROFILE Personal profile Used to connect with friends and family Can only have 5000 friends Can’t view Insights If Facebook finds out you’re a company, they’ll delete your profile
Define Your Goal Ask yourself: Why do you want a Facebook page? What do you want your Facebook to achieve? Why do you want people to keep coming back to your Facebook page? Examples of goals: Generate traffic to your website Increase sales Build a community Find leads; generate revenue Provide better customer service Increase awareness Educate people about your brand/hotel
What’s in it for them? Why should people come back to your page? Don’t over-share info they can get from brand.com Give people a reason to come to your page Exclusive offers or rates Behind the scenes Give audience a more personal experience than they would on your brand.com website
Don’t sell Social media isn’t for selling; it’s for educating Share things that are useful to your fans Engage with your fans Ask questions Take polls Open the floor for suggestions More engagement = more exposure Don’t post ads for your hotel: When was the last time you saw an ad in your newsfeed and got excited to read it? Facebook is less about marketing and sales and more about conversations and relationships.
Frequency of posts How often you post is completely up to you Quality > Quantity, but don’t disappear! If you don’t want to pay attention to your own Facebook page, then why should your fans? Post regularly – Set a goal for yourself ( 2-3 times per week) Posts should be valuable. Don’t post just to post. How much time to do you have to respond? Be sure to respond to all comments – good or bad. If a comment is bad, respond through a personal message and delete the comment. Don’t delete the comment without solving the problem or responding. If you want people to engage with your page, you need to engage with them too. Create a dialogue
Insights Use Insights to learn about your audience Gender Location When should you post? Target certain areas
Insights Use the “Pages to Watch” feature to keep up with your competitors Fluctuation in page likes for the week Number of posts for the week Engagement on their posts for the week Highlight things that your property offers that your competitors do not
HootSuite Don’t have time to dedicate to social media everyday? Use HootSuite to schedule Facebook posts.
Facebook Ads Manager Use Facebook ads to build your audience, increase post engagement, etc. Target by geography, interest Live analytics No minimum budget
Use the ads manager tools to choose who you want to see your ads Can make it as specific of broad as you’d like Use analytics to track success Can go back and edit ads later Stop ads that aren’t showing results Facebook Ads Manager
Facebook ads fit any budget Only pay for what you use Set start and end dates unless you want your ads to run forever
Ad Types: News Feed Ads Page Likes Sign-Ups Website Visits Post Engagement
Ad Types: Sidebar Ads Similar to News Feed ads, but these show up on your sidebar. Just like with Google searches and Google ads, these may cater to your interests and internet activity.
Tips for posts Keep it simple – Try to keep it under 250 characters. People are turned off by too many words Use pictures! Use pictures that will draw your audience into the post. If people only see your post with words in their news feeds, they’re less likely to engage. With their permission, take pictures of guests enjoying themselves in the public areas – grills, restaurant, events, lobby. People love seeing pictures of themselves! Pictures of people enjoying your amenities is a lot more effective then you just telling people about them. Use Facebook as your page
Getting started with Twitter Define your goal Why should people follow you? Examples of Goals: Generate traffic to your website Increase sales Build a community Find leads; generate revenue Provide better customer service Increase awareness and stay top of mind Educate people about your brand/hotel
Interact! Engagement is even more important with Twitter How can you interact? Retweeting (RT) Favoriting Replying Using #hashtags Direct messaging (DM)
HootSuite You can use HootSuite to schedule tweets too! Downside of using HootSuite with Twitter: Pictures show up as links instead of pictures on your page Left : Without HootSuite Below : With HootSuite
Twitter Analytics Have to put in a credit card for Twitter ads in order to view View Twitter activity See which tweets gets the most engagement and what type of engagement (favorites, retweets, etc.) See data for a 28-day period Analyze your followers Interests Location Gender
Tweet a lot, but not too much Basic rule: tweet 3-5 times a day Studies show that people who tweet more frequently attract more followers Don’t tweet just to tweet – strategize! Be interactive – reply to tweets Engage with your followers Retweet (events coming to your area, inspirational quotes, your hotel in the news, tweets that mention you, tweets from the brand) Utilize the “search” tool Search for tweets that are mentioning your area Answer questions Reply!
A guide to #hashtags A hashtag, or #, acts as a search tool; shows tweets about a certain subject Use up to 3 hashtags max Too many hashtags can be overwhelming If you want more people to find your tweet, use popular hashtags Create unique hashtags for promotions See what’s trending on Twitter, and join in on the conversation A few popular hashtags #FF or #followfriday Give a shout-out to a few of your followers #TBT or #throwbackthursday Usually older pictures. This can be of your property, past events, etc. There’s also #WBW or #waybackwednesday and #FBF or #fallbackfriday View the top 30 hashtags for the past 30 days
Gaining followers Twitter Ads Follow then follow If I follow you then hopefully you’ll follow me Favorite then follow If I favorite your tweets then hopefully you’ll follow me Offer then follow If you follow me, then I’ll give you something (good for promotions) If someone follows you, follow them back (strategically) Follow your interests and other businesses like yours Discover compelling content Inspire your own ideas Connect and build relationships with people in your niche Engage in conversations
Additional Twitter tips Use the “Lists” feature to organize who you follow Tweet at different times Bitly: Shorten links to use less characters Customize links
Why have an Instagram? Instagram is a compelling way to showcase your property through pictures and short videos Give potential customers a visual way to connect to your property People are drawn to visual images
What can you showcase on your Instagram? Behind the scenes looks at daily operation in every department Guests Use the tag feature to tag your guests Learn what people love about your brand and showcase that in a creative way on Instagram Tell your story and express your company’s mission through visual statements Instagram isn’t for selling your property; it’s about connecting with your fans
Filters Use in-app filters to edit your pictures Edit your photos using a number of different in-app tools, including: Adjust (rotate your picture) Brightness Contrast Highlights Sharpen Etc.
Instagram tips Instagram is meant to show things in real time. Posts can’t be scheduled. Like Twitter, use hashtags to make it easier for people to find your picture and profile Tag your location Click on your location to see all the pictures taken at your property Note: You can’t post clickable links on your pictures
Iconosquare Iconosquare is a website that helps you keep track of your likes, comments, followers, and statistics Monthly analysis Engagement Hashtag impact Community Can also like and comment on your computer, rather than on your phone
Free Instagram tools VSCOcam Pic Stitch Publish pictures to Instagram without having to crop anything out Pictures in Instagram automatically crop to squares Available for free on iPhone and Android phones InstaSize Put multiple pictures together in a collage to post as one picture on Instagram Available for free on iPhone and Android phones Free picture editing app for iPhone and Android Filters and features that are more visually appealing than using just the Instagram filters
Additional Social Media Tips
Manage your social media effectively in less time Make a schedule and stick to it Set goals for yourself for each of your social media accounts Enlist help Ask your co-workers for ideas for things to post on your accounts Have your co-workers take pictures during their day-to-day activities to use online Set aside a few minutes each day just for social media Respond to comments Engage with followers Utilize HootSuite to schedule posts Ensure that all of the information on your sites stays up-to-date
Cross promotion Use each of your social media sites to promote each other Promote your Facebook page on Twitter and Instagram, your Instagram page on Twitter and Facebook, and your Twitter page on Instagram and Facebook Try to make all of your social media tags match Market your social media accounts Business cards signatures
Additional tools High quality stock photos Unsplash: Photo Pin: Pixabay: Free photo editing websites (No download required) Picmonkey: Pixlr: Social media business pages
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Complaints?