Instagram followers are more than just numbers—they're a testament to a hospitality business's reputation and trustworthiness. A large audience enhances your reputation and extends your reach beyond physical locations. Think of your social presence as the new 'word of mouth.' Previously, people relied on personal recommendations to decide on products and services. Social media plays a similar role today, with a strong presence and active engagement influencing potential customers' perceptions.
While growth is important, success is also measured by engagement, consistency, and authentic content. Metrics like shares and saves demonstrate how your audience resonates with your content and improves visibility.
Recently, a popular hotel desired to build a meaningful community on Instagram. The primary objective was to convert casual likes into meaningful follows, cultivating a large, engaged community. After crafting a strategic approach built around the desire to drive growth, we saw 1,000 new followers over nine months and triple the engagement (Case Study).
So, how can you achieve similar results? Here are five proven strategies that drove audience growth on Instagram for BCV clients.
Tap into Influencer Marketing
Collaborating with influencers can quickly yield a direct return on investment (ROI). The key is to choose an influencer that aligns with your campaign objectives and target audience.
Influencers are categorized by follower count and benefits. Nano-influencers typically have 1K to 10K followers, and are ideal for businesses with limited budgets. Their authentic content has the highest engagement rate, and they often work for compensation or products Growth Collective, 2024.
Insider Tip: Invite lifestyle nano-influencers to stay at your property ahead of a key need period, and build an itinerary for them to document. Take it a step further and create a social-only code for them to use in their posts to report direct bookings.
Utilize Paid Advertising
Integrating paid advertising into your social media strategy has proven to expand reach and foster overall growth. Alongside tailored Facebook ads, our teams at BCV have successfully trialed Instagram Swipe Up Story Ads, which aided in garnering a more significant following.
BCV successfully aided in driving clicks to The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain's Instagram page with a captivating video ad, showcasing the resort and the surrounding areas to create the desire to visit the Sonoran Desert. The ad was supported with demographic, interest, and behavior-based targeting alongside information such as geographic location, age, net worth, travel interests, and digital activity. Through this single video ad, 124K users were reached, 4,979 users clicked through to their Instagram profile, and the resort gained 1,061 new followers (Case Study).
Insider Tip: Create a Custom Audience with users who have engaged with your Instagram content in the last 30 days as your target audience in your paid advertising campaigns.
Create Collaboration Posts
A collaboration post, or "collab" post, is a single post that appears on two accounts' feeds/reels and shows both users as the publishers. This is an effective way for businesses to leverage their relationships with local partners, brands, and influencers to reach a wider audience and increase engagement.
Insider Tip: Partner with your local CVB for an Instagram giveaway and create a collab post to live on both feeds for the duration of the giveaway. See how we made one come to life for JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass.
Incorporate Instagram Giveaways
We all experience FOMO (fear of missing out), and this emotion becomes more powerful when leveraged with an enticing prize. Creating a giveaway has demonstrated substantial follower growth through clearly established promotional guidelines that require participants to follow your page to enter.
In 2022, a 5-star luxury hotel in Hawaii and its restaurant were awarded the Forbes Travel Guide Five Star rating for the second year in a row. To amplify the visibility of this achievement, BCV suggested a giveaway with a prize of a 5-star dining experience at the hotel's restaurant, creating an opportunity that was rewarding to both the property and users (Case Study).
Insider Tip: To avoid a dip in followers and engagement after a giveaway, implement smaller-scale giveaways featuring prizes like F&B credits, spa vouchers, or branded merchandise.
Employ On-property Activations
Engage guests staying at the property by creating signage with a QR code directing users to the Instagram profile and a call to action that encourages people to follow the page.
Insider Tip: To motivate followers, incorporate enticing promotions such as "Enjoy 10% off your appetizer" into your call to action.
After implementing these five strategies to grow your Instagram following, keep your audience engaged with quality content that aligns with your business's narrative, a consistent posting schedule, and active monitoring and engagement with your followers.
Our final piece of advice: Remember that growing your audience is a marathon, not a race. Focus on building authentic connections and consistently providing value over time. Patience and dedication will ultimately lead to lasting relationships and sustainable growth.
