Social Media
Are You Using Twitter as Effectively as You Could for Guests?
Twitter is a dominant social force despite often losing headlines to rivals like Facebook, Instagram and Snap. With over 328 million monthly active users, Twitter is well worth its place in your social media marketing strategy. Not using Twitter as effectively as you could for your guests in this day and age is a foolhardy decision; why not try out some of these tips to increase your use of Twitter as part of your arsenal of guest engagement tools?
The welcome tweet
A great place to start is the welcome tweet. As previously mentioned, hundreds of millions of people use Twitter every month, so you can be sure that a sizeable chunk of your guests will to. Politely asking for Twitter handles upon check-in is a great way to create a rapport with guests.
One of the best and most simple ways hotel digital marketing professionals can begin this rapport is by sending a welcome tweet to new guests once they’ve put their bags down. This is a great way to add a personal element to the standard interaction. Aside from adding a welcoming touch that your guests will appreciate, it also shows that your hotel is confident using social hotel marketing techniques for your guest’s benefit. It also helps to set your brand apart from other hotels that guests may have stayed at previously.
A word of warning is required here, however. If your guests decline to give you their handles when you first ask, then take no for an answer. Being pushy and repeatedly asking for your guest’s Twitter profile gives off the entirely wrong impression and can even backfire if your guest decides to send out a tweet bemoaning that the hotel they’re staying at won’t leave them alone.
Carry on the conversation
So your guest has liked or replied to your tweet welcoming them to your hotel? Brilliant; the average Twitter user has 218 followers, meaning you’ve already grown your organic reach considerably through the use of a relatively simple social hotel marketing technique. Hundreds of people you’d never have been previously able to reach will now be able to see your welcoming hotel etiquette and may even tweet you themselves to ask about pricing or enquire about things to do in the area if they were to stay with you.
Be sure to avoid over-replying though; this can give off the unprofessional impression that you spend all day on Twitter having a chat with guests when you should be doing something else. A great remedy to this is the direct message; if your guests have a query that requires repeated back and forth interaction, then message them privately. Doing this allows you to build your Twitter presence with polite and personal welcoming tweets that create a professional image for your hotel without going over the top. It also guards against the accusation that you may be showing favoritism to certain guests as you’ll be having the conversation through a private channel as opposed to publicly where the entire Twitter sphere can read it.