With hundreds of millions of active users globally and a growth trajectory far outpacing Twitter, Instagram will continue to establish itself as the hottest social media platform of the moment in 2015. As a travel PR firm specializing in custom media relations and social media campaigns for hotels, understanding the best uses of Instagram for travel brands is our expertise.
For travel brands and hotels in particular, Instagram provides the unique opportunity to reach an established network of travelers whose spending habits and travel choices are highly influenced by the visual. Pictures sell, particularly high quality images that evoke curiosity and wanderlust.
Here are our top three tips for getting the most out of your hotel’s Instagram account from a sales and marketing perspective:
- Build a Solid and Versatile Image Library – Step one, of course, is to build a solid image library for your instagram account. If you do not have someone on site who can regularly take high-quality images, be sure to invest in an agency that specializes in this. Top travel PR firms will understand the importance of a versatile, lively and enthralling image library that captures the feeling of being at your resort.
- Encourage Follower Interaction – Instagram offers hotels the ability to interact directly with a community of travelers that are already showing interest in the resort. Like and comment on images that your followers tag you in and encourage continued dialogue in the content of your own posts. It can be as simple as asking your followers to tag who they would want to experience a view with or what type of cocktail they would enjoy on your beach.
- Provide a Call to Action to Support Your Sales – Whether through a competition or sales incentive, there are always creative ways to encourage followers to submit photos tagging your property. Not only do you know that followers who tag photos of their vacation are already your target demographic (as they are already your guests), but chances are that their followers are also your primary market. Provide incentives whether in the form of prizes or percentage savings to build your audience through follower interaction and broaden awareness for your hotel – you will see the benefit in your sales.
What Instagram strategies have you found most effective? Sound off in the comments.