CHANGING HOW HOSPITALITY DOES SOCIAL
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Four Seasons offers a deep and rich luxury experience through their brand identity of fostering connections to people and place, celebrating character and personality, and cultivating craftsmanship and mastery. Weaving this brand identity into its social media presence has been an extremely important goal for Four Seasons Hotel Washington, DC and they tasked BCV with bringing this to life. The Character of the City, The Craftsmanship of Four Seasons campaign was developed to showcase the brand’s identity and share the unique stories of Four Seasons Hotel Washington, DC and its exceptional team.

As the hospitality industry evolves, so does its marketing strategies. One of the most effective ways to reach potential guests is through social media. But one of the most powerful uses of social media involves leveraging cultural trends—especially those trends that speak to your best audience. Do it right, and increase engagement, reputation, and revenue. In this article, we will explore how the hospitality industry can blend cultural and social media trends to improve their marketing strategies.

First, let’s talk about two significant cultural opportunities for hotels: Sustainability and Education

Sustainability Efforts in the Hospitality Industry

The hospitality industry has taken note of the growing importance of sustainability and eco-friendly practices as consumers become more environmentally conscious. Hotels are implementing various initiatives to reduce their carbon footprint and attract eco-conscious travelers. Some of these initiatives include using renewable energy sources, reducing water usage through low-flow shower heads and faucets, and reducing waste through recycling programs and composting.

To effectively showcase these sustainability efforts on social media, hotels can create dedicated posts or stories that highlight their eco-friendly initiatives. They can also use relevant hashtags such as #sustainability or #ecotourism to reach a wider audience that is interested in sustainability efforts.

“Edutainment” Opportunities for Potential Guests

In addition to showcasing sustainability efforts, hotels can also use their social media platforms as educational tools for potential guests. By sharing information about the hotel and the local area, hotels can help guests make informed decisions about traveling to their destination.

Hotels can highlight their tenured employees as local experts. Their backgrounds can speak to the history of the local area, and tie in onsite activations that coincide with the local area such as nature walks or cooking classes featuring local ingredients. By sharing this information, hotels position themselves as experts in the local area and provide value to potential guests beyond just a place to stay.

Now that we’ve identified the cultural trends, let’s look at how to give them some extra punch by executing them with trending social media tricks.

Incorporating Memes and Graphics

Memes and graphics have become a popular trend on social media platforms. However, hotels should use them sparingly and strategically. When used appropriately, memes and graphics can help hotels showcase their personality and brand values. But overusing them can come off as unprofessional or unoriginal.

When incorporating memes and graphics, hotels should ensure that they align with their target audience and brand values. They should also use captions and hashtags to increase engagement on social media. Monitoring the performance of social media posts that include memes and graphics is crucial to optimizing their use in the future.

It’s also critical that a brand evaluate the timing of jumping on a meme. Trends can last 2 days or 2 weeks. Moving forward fast is to your benefit in creating a perception of your brand being a trendsetting.

Here’s a few examples of brands who successfully incorporated memes into their social media strategy:

Barbie Trend https://www.instagram.com/p/CqwLTywvQKW/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Little Miss https://www.instagram.com/p/CgVd4KlOJ6U/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Using Trending Audio on Instagram Reels

Instagram Reels is a powerful tool for increasing reach and engagement on social media. Hotels can incorporate trending audio on Instagram Reels to increase their visibility on the app and showcase their brand personality. Here are some examples of the songs that are currently trending and available for use on Reels.

  • “Industry Baby” by Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow

  • “Levitating” by Dua Lipa

  • “Stay” by The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber

Evaluating Trends for Hotel Brand Authenticity

While it’s important for hotels to keep up with social media trends, it’s equally important to evaluate each trend to see if it aligns with the brand’s values and message. Not all trends are ones to jump on, especially in the luxury hotel space.

Luxury hotels should still maintain an elevated social presence that accurately represents the hotel. However, incorporating trends can help add personality and relatability to the brand. It also could expand the potential audience, and ideally reach a younger demographic too.

L’Auberge vs Orchards Inn

Example of end of year recap:

In conclusion, social media is an essential tool for the hospitality industry to increase engagement, reputation, and revenue. By implementing sustainability efforts, using their platforms as educational tools, incorporating memes and graphics strategically, using trending audio, and evaluating trends for authenticity, hotels can improve their marketing strategies and stand out on social media. As the hospitality industry continues to evolve, keeping up with social media trends and incorporating them strategically can help hotels connect with potential guests and strengthen their brand image. With the right approach, social media can be a powerful tool for hotels to showcase their unique personality and values while reaching a wider audience.

While CTV is still an evolving sector, its presence and influence have grown exponentially in a very short amount of time. In 2023, we anticipate advertisers will spend $62 billion on CTV, compared to $27 billion on linear TV. In the next three years, we anticipate a more substantial difference being the CTV ad spend around 50% of the total TV spend. Download our guide to learn more about this powerful ad platform.

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.

Guest Post by Carrie Plungis, Marketing Manager, The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay

It’s another sunset in paradise. A bagpiper walks the resort property along the cliffs to serenade guests. Perched on a rugged Pacific coastline with breathtaking ocean views, you feel like you have been transported out of this country. And while this hidden gem is only 30 minutes over the hill from San Jose, our proximity to Wine Country and the excitement of the Bay Area and Silicon Valley we are constantly looking for compelling ongoing booking opportunities to attract new guests.  In this market, that requires a combination of in-house customer-focused knowledge and social media agency expertise.

Craft a Visually Stunning Feed

The resort has created a compelling social media aesthetic that amplifies the exciting things about the property. We like vibrant posts and colorful videos featuring intriguing imagery that you can get lost in. We also like the feed to show a bit of diversity, especially since our target area is fairly broad. Our resort appeals to golfers, yes, but also to families or ladies looking for a weekend away and to a variety of people from the Valley. That means we need a lot of high-quality content. Regular professional photo and video shoots really help keep the pipeline filled.

The diverse audience also impacts our social media strategy and focus on growing followers. We’re trying to create clout with our social accounts, to create a name for ourselves so people recognize our property when they see a photo of us. The goal is to create an authentic account with followers that want to see what we’re posting, what new activities we’re offering, and really come check in on us throughout the year to see what they’re missing out on in this extremely scenic community. Knowing when audiences are most likely to book at a given time of year and then delivering targeted social media campaigns to them is constantly shifting. An agency partner who keeps on top of media buys and spends helps keep the revenue in line with the ad spend.

Booking for Diverse Audiences

Building on that goal of regular bookings from a diverse population, our social media footprint is designed to encourage our followers to embrace everything Half Moon Bay offers. It’s really a unique town, with a very agricultural base. It’s a small town with less than 10,000 residents, but it offers amazing opportunities to learn about local farms, experience nature and beaches and more. So, we want our footprint to be about what the resort has to offer by embracing the town of Half Moon Bay. This expands our reach to include people looking for a resort, yes, but also interesting off-the-path things to do. We’re creating a destination with the resort at the center.

To ensure your accounts get that bookmark or follow, and this is probably no secret, you just have to have quality content that is continually changing and growing with your resort. You always need to schedule your content refreshes, plan ahead for them, communicate well with your property team, and work with your agency for good-quality photos. I’ve seen internal teams that settle for a low-quality photo because it goes with whatever relevant holiday might be happening that week. Or to make a deadline. Or because they don’t have anything better.  Of course, this does your feed an injustice. And in a market like ours, with lots of enticing trips for our wealthy clientele, we make sure that every post fits our brand. Keeping channels full and content fresh is a constant–and we need our agency’s firepower to help with volume and quality.

The Value of an Agency Partnership

Beyond posting, we are able to keep up with all the platforms and content changes happening in the social sphere because of our agency. In fact, with a sophisticated audience, many in or involved with the tech industry, being current is critical. The social platforms change every six months to a year. This is why I rely on my agency partners, who are informed on everything that’s happening and everything in the pipeline. As an in-house marketing manager, it’s impossible to keep track of all the trends across all the marketing tools we use, so we rely on BCV.

All in all, I’d say that the relationship between the agency and the resort is a lot like the bagpiper who plays in our hills each sunset. The best things happen when a natural fit and complimentary services reinforce each other. From content strategy and creation to understanding the audience and the technology, there is always something to do. And I’m just glad I don’t have to play the bagpipes to attract new guests.

Part 2: A Checklist to Activate your Start, Stop, Keep Strategy and More

Now that you know the Start, Stop, Keep strategy and have a plan in mind, let’s get down to work. Before you start, it will help to have the spreadsheet or password log for all of the accounts you want to audit. We recommend that you also have a list of any new social products or features that you are investigating, and if time permits, a basic understanding of how they work and what you want to get out of them. Finally, your historical stats will be helpful–in whatever shape they are in!

The following is a very thorough dive. The broad categories such as profile, admins, etc. are a quick review to make sure they are current and reflect any changes in brand or team. Spend more time on the Content and Channel sections–ideally on a quarterly basis. Most of all, enjoy the adventure!

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What To Expect

As one of the Disney-area’s most anticipated new hotels, JW Marriott Bonnet Creek was thrilled to open its doors to the Orlando market. Promising a unique & family-focused experience, the JW Marriott Bonnet Creek easily set itself apart from the competition with features like a rock climbing wall, kids conservatory and the first ever, JW Marriott family suites.

In 2022, Sedona began to see tourism take a dip following the pandemic boom. With this in mind, Orchards Inn needed a campaign that could reinvigorate interest in the destination, particularly during its shoulder season. Thus, the Seizing Sedona campaign was designed to appeal to the summer adventurer in all of us.

What You’ll Learn:

  • How to leverage trending design

  • The importance of a custom hashtag

  • Blending various social features together seamlessly

Our social media audit guide is a top-to-bottom review for you to utilize as your evaluate your social media efforts. At first glance, it might seem obvious. You know what channels you use. You post and look at the results. That’s an audit, right? Yes and maybe not. We help you take your audit a couple of steps further allowing you to have a solid overview of what’s working, what’s not and what could be improved.