At BCV, we’re always looking to our colleagues–and clients–for new ways to leverage hotel social media marketing. Frequently, this takes the form of a robust forum where questions from hospitality leaders are answered by our team and shared here. After a recent AMA, we’re back with answers to your burning questions from experts on our Strategy, Paid Media and Creative teams.

Lindsey Sagnella, VP, Strategy & Innovation

What are the best AI tools for hospitality marketing?

It’s important to note that dozens of AI tools exist with a range of specialties, from design to content, legal assistance, marketing, and more. The best overall AI Chatbot is ChatGPT, advancing its technology at lightning speed (ChatGPT V4 just launched recently). However, Jasper is a great alternative with more features that can support marketers.

How do you anticipate AI affecting luxury travel, where service touch points are highly important?

AI has the ability to make waves in the luxury space through personalization. AI-powered personalization can transform the guest experience by more quickly and accurately synthesizing customer data. Imagine a 24/7 digital concierge capable of fulfilling requests, answering questions, and making personalized recommendations for every guest.

Where do you see the largest areas of opportunity for hotels on social media?

Hotels definitely underutilize influencers. Influencers offer an invaluable access point to a trusted audience who could very well be your next guest. They let you amplify your online reach in a really organic way.Community management is another area where hotels could improve. Social users, especially travelers, expect the same level of customer service online that they receive in person. This means being available 24/7, adding a human touch to responses, and leveraging those conversations to make customer experience improvements. Brands that are present 24/7 and ready to capture these high-intent customers will improve guest satisfaction, which translates into loyalty and in turn, produces higher ROI.

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Check out what emerging social trends Lindsey has her eye on and how they can lead your audience to your property ➜

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David Pico, Director of Paid Media

How many campaigns should we run each year? How many per quarter?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to this question. The number and frequency of campaigns you should run really depend on the business objectives you’re trying to achieve. For example, you might want to run two campaigns targeting different parts of the sales funnel: An upper funnel Post Elevation campaign focused on acquiring new leads by promoting your branded content.A lower-funnel retargeting campaign focused on converting high-intent prospects and repeat customers.Segmenting these into two separate buckets will create a more comprehensive strategy for business and help drive awareness and ROI simultaneously.

How do you get the most out of your advertising dollars on social media?

First, set clear goals for your paid social campaigns. Social is a powerful channel that can help you accomplish many different objectives, from increasing brand awareness to increasing sales. Still, focusing your efforts and optimizing based on the right KPIs is important.Also, consider how social can complement your overall digital marketing mix across other channels like programmatic, CTV, SEM, and metasearch. Think about what social can do better than other channels and lean into those strengths.Last but not least, keep an eye on your competitors, and make sure your organic content is performing well, and carving out a unique, ownable space in the market.

James Parrinello, Creative Director

Which platform do you think will win the short-form video race? Do you think TikTok will emerge on top overall now that it also allows long-form videos?

The reality is that no platform will win the race because video as a format has already won. Video content is the most important format to have in your library. However, brands that want to make video work across platforms need to make sure they’re editing their videos to match each platform’s video formats and user expectations.

Do you have any suggestions for improving video performance on social?

One tip for video content success is to think about audience targeting. For example, did you know video content has higher engagement in Europe and Southeast Asia? Additionally, consider the kind of video content you’re posting. Educational content (think dance videos, cooking tutorials, etc.) gets some of the best view numbers due to people watching over and over in an effort to learn/digest the content.

Why do you think Instagram Reels perform better than Stories?

Such a great question. Reels have the advantage over Stories for a few reasons:Reels are served to users via their feed and discovery tabs, while stories need to be sought out by users. Reels automatically play on a continuous loop, increasing their views, versus stories users have to tap to advance or replay manually.

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Learn how Instagram Reels helped the Four Seasons Hotel showcase the brand’s identity and share its unique stories ➜

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How long do trends stay viral? How do you know which ones are worth jumping on?

Not all trends will be relevant to your audience, and what goes viral is unpredictable. The best action plan is to weigh a trend’s relevance to your audience. If it’s something that will resonate with them based on demographics or sociographics, plow ahead. Regarding timing, some trends last 8 hours, and some last 8 days. We advise moving as quickly as possible to adapt the trend to your business so you’re recognized as leading the pack.

How do I stay on top of trends?

The best way to stay on top of trends is to create a personal TikTok account and follow creators. Trends often stem from TikTok and make their way over to other platforms and older generations 3-4 weeks later. If you don’t have the time to do that on your own, hire an expert partner like BCV to help with your social strategy.