Discover how Cora Cora Maldives achieved a 2.4x surge in direct revenue by transforming its digital strategy with AI-powered performance marketing. In this case study, you’ll see how the resort moved beyond traditional OTA dependence and tapped into smarter bidding, sharper targeting, and dynamic creative to drive real results—fast.
To grow the resort’s Instagram followers, reach a new local audience, strengthen its partnership with Visit Tucson CVB, and promote the hotel’s “Trails & Tranquility” package, we launched a campaign leveraging successful strategies from similar initiatives. We aimed to enhance the resort’s online presence and build awareness of its unique offerings.
Social media is tough for all businesses, but for hotels, it’s make-or-break. It’s a golden opportunity to boost awareness, wow guests, and build loyalty. Here are ten common mistakes to dodge for a winning social strategy.
Not Having CTA Buttons: Activate those ‘Book Now’ or ‘Visit Website’ buttons on Facebook and Instagram. It’s your ticket to turning followers into guests.
Not Linking Wisely: Don’t drop links in comments! Opt for organic captions and boosted posts with clear and actionable CTAs instead to drive traffic.
Missing Branding Basics: Spruce up your Instagram with sharp profile pics, snazzy Story Highlight icons, and a consistent brand voice for a great first impression.
No Keywords in Bio: Pack your bio with keywords like your location or standout features (‘luxury spa’ or ‘seafront views,’ anyone?) for a visibility boost.
Ignoring Engagement: Respond to reviews, engage with comments, and show guests some love. It’s all about building those relationships. Even a simple acknowledgment of a comment or review can enhance your reputation!
Outdated Info: Keep your contact info fresh across all platforms. Missing contact details mean missed opportunities.
Not Highlighting Highlights: Use Instagram Story highlights to showcase your best bits and catch potential guests’ eyes. Showcase amenities, share guest testimonials, or offer a sneak peek into your daily operations.
Lacking UGC Power: Encourage guests to share their experiences (with permission, of course!) and watch trust and engagement soar. Set up activations and photographable moments onsite to drive increased earned media.
Favoring Size Over Engagement: Big follower count? Nice. But it’s engagement that really counts. Foster an authentic community feel for lasting loyalty. Higher engagement rates signal to the Instagram algorithm that content is relevant, which increases content and profile visibility.
Sleeping on Destination Dreams: Hotels often overlook showcasing local hot spots, missing a chance to enrich their content. Partnering with local businesses and attractions can boost your content, appeal to guests’ lifestyles, and elevate the perceived value of your hotel stay.
So there you have it. Our 10 common mistakes hotels make on social media. See any you could avoid? Put our best practices into action and watch your awareness, engagement, and conversions reach new levels.
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In a dream world, we’d live in a hospitality realm where only appreciative guests exist. They’d only write glowing, five-star reviews, leave over-glorified comments on Instagram, and share incredible memories on Facebook for all their friends and family to see.
As passionate wanderers ourselves, we know firsthand that traveling isn’t all rainbows and butterflies. Guests have rainy travel days or less-than-sunny experiences, and when they take their frustrations to social media, our monitoring team shines.
Our monitors are a direct extension of your hospitality team. They navigate the virtual space where your guests are permanent residents. From comments to direct messages and beyond, our monitors interact with every alert, positive or negative.
Dealing with difficult guests is a daily occurrence for your team—and ours. We’ll walk through the best practices to navigate these unpleasant but typical situations on social.
The best way to de-escalate a spiteful situation on social media? Listen. And listen wholeheartedly with the intent of understanding—not responding. To provide an adequate answer, support teams must first comprehend the scenario. If something is unclear, follow-up questions can be asked.
It’s imperative to maintain a positive tone when handling difficult interactions. We believe in reciprocity, but there is no need to match difficult guests’ energy. Using negative language will only add fuel to the flame, whereas sympathetic verbiage is an ingredient to help tame a heated situation.
See how our monitoring team responded to an honest guest about their experience at The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay.
According to Convince & Convert, addressing a social media complaint can boost customer advocacy by up to 25%. Responding thoughtfully and sincerely shifts the users’ association with your brand or hotel. At the end of the day, guests want to feel heard and know that their opinions matter.
For example, a guest of Emmy Squared shared their frustrations about long wait lines and unsatisfactory service. Our team responded promptly and sincerely apologized for the uncharacteristic experience, which the guest appreciated. We then asked for the guest for their contact information so someone at the restaurant could further make amends with them. We contacted the restaurant team the next day to ensure they closed the loop with the disgruntled guest.
The guest was highly appreciative and satisfied with our team’s timely responses. This positive interaction changed the user’s perspective of Emmy Squared and led to a return visit.
There are times when users may target a brand as a whole as opposed to a singular hotel or restaurant. An incident could have happened thousands of miles away, but social media users have no problem airing their frustrations with any hotel associated with the brand that wronged them. While it’s not the fairest perspective, it happens, and we have some tips to help tackle these situations:
Respond promptly and professionally.
Address the situation.
Listen and monitor proactively.
Engage with positive comments and users.
Be transparent and authentic.
If the guest is a keyboard warrior, hide their comments.
Giordano’s received hateful comments about not opening a new restaurant in Omaha. Users would comment on any post, new or old, complaining about it. With the number of negative comments increasing daily, we alerted the client and suggested to begin hiding comments. Alternatively, we sent the client verbiage to post in response to the spiteful messages. The client gave us the green light to hide disrespectful and targeted comments and respond with the approved language to the genuine ones.
Sometimes the best teachers are competitors. Especially if they teach you what not to do. Every brand has its preferred method of handling difficult customers on social, however, we’ve compiled a list of common pitfalls we recommend avoiding:
Ignoring or deleting comments.
Writing generic responses.
Deleting posts.
Delaying responses.
Not following up promptly.
Lacking empathy and not apologizing when necessary.
Not having a customer-centric approach.
Failing to provide assurance.
Being repetitive in their conversation with the guest.
While enhancing one of their historic buildings, the Hotel del Coronado received an influx of concerning comments. Guests spoke candidly on social media about how the renovation noise affected their stay. Our team responded to and tracked every negative comment that came through.
In hopes of limiting the number of hateful comments, we sent the client verbiage that transparently let guests know what to expect upon arrival. The property team approved our messaging and we started replying to users empathetically. The guests appreciated our new approach and some even advocated from our side on social.
Thinking ahead is the name of the game. It’s imperative to know when to move a public conversation into a private one. The best time to take an interaction offline is when the guest’s issue is complex and requires detailed information. Sharing confidential or sensitive information is not advisable on public forums. It’s best to share or seek such information over private messages.
While your team is hard at work managing guest relations, it’s paramount to check in with those handling these difficult interactions. Dealing with negativity regularly can easily take a toll on one’s well-being. Ensure your team is set up for success and eliminate any emotional tolls with the following tips:
Build an expansive knowledge database.
Host efficient training about SOPs and KPIs.
Create a collaborative environment with peers.
Don’t take guest complaints personally.
Have weekly check-ins and allow time for feedback.
Shadow peers from time to time.
With artificial intelligence appearing on website chatboxes and social media search bars, it’s valuable to consider how this factors into social media customer service. While human interaction remains at the forefront of difficult situations, AI will help identify messages that need to be addressed promptly and move them to the front of the queue.
The golden rule of handling difficult situations on social? Closing the loop. It amplifies your hotel’s empathy and truly shows that your brand cares about the guest experience. Pair this with listening, understanding, positivity, transparency, and strategic thinking, and navigating difficult situations becomes easy.
It’s summer 2014. The #ALSIceBucketChallenge has gripped the social media world and you’re seeing videos left and right of eager participants dumping ice over their heads. By the end of August, over 17 million people have participated and $115 million was raised for The ALS Association.
In the digital age, nothing unites us quite like a social media trend.
A decade later and we still see the influence trending topics bring when harnessed correctly, albeit now we have to contend with a list of ever-evolving factors. Advanced algorithms on platforms like TikTok and Facebook/Instagram Reels are programmed to show users content that relate to their interests, meaning trends can now pertain to only a select demographic. With audiences becoming increasingly segmented, brands have to strategize how to maximize their reach while still appealing to targeted markets.
Brands find their social media sweet spot by pinpointing and staying on top of the trends that keep them engaged in relevant digital spaces. For example, if a popular artist drops a new album, videos using a portion of the song have the potential to generate a new trend for users interested in that artist. Combine the audio’s popularity with a reel showcasing your hotel and voila, you’ve opened a gateway for new users to include Travel & Hospitality-related content in their algorithm. Knowing both your audience and potential audience can provide new opportunities with growth and engagement.
Tying brand initiatives into current trends gives companies a competitive advantage in their social strategies. By creating a connection between your company and the trends users love, you’re adding to your brand’s personality. This can help position your brand as modern, relevant, and in touch with your customers.
For example, check out this recent post we did for Emmy Squared Pizza utlizing the current “Why did you swipe?” trend.
Trends also within your industry can also give you great insight into your audiences’ interests and behavior. Analyzing recent trends can help you to plan content shoots, and incorporate these interests into other aspects of your marketing.
Keeping all this in mind, we’ve compiled a list of what current social media trends in the Travel & Hospitality industry we love (and a few we hate). Each presents itself as a unique opportunity to engage with your audience in a creative, brand-friendly manner while still taking advantage of its mass reach. Read for yourself and decide which ones can work for you and which to avoid.
Room tour posts are a fantastic way of showcasing your property while appealing to the curiosity of the consumer. Who doesn’t want a sneak peek into one of the world’s most luxurious hotel suites? Allow the audience to imagine themselves as one of your guests with a POV-style video, or get a trusted seal of approval with an influencer partnership. Get people excited with asking them to tag who they’d like to stay there with in the comments and watch your interactions sky-rocket.
Our biggest reason to love this concept, though? It’s an evergreen engagement maximizer. You can fit it in with any current trend and sync it to any viral audio. The tone can be easily adjusted to reflect your brand’s personality, granting your team a refreshing sense of creative flexibility that benefits everyone.
@itsedandriYou HAVE to stay here if you come to Singapore 😍 #marinabaysands #singaporetiktok #singapore #hotelroom♬ Vlog – Soft boy
Bucket list trends are a destination property’s best friend. Want your hotel to stand out from the rest? Create a list of must-visit attractions in your vicinity that incorporates a mix of popular hotspots and ‘hidden’ local gems. This is a great way to increase awareness and interest while highlighting your property as an ideal homebase. Your community will also thank you for sending business their way.
We recommend creating a seasonal bucket list rotation to create urgency for limited-time events as well as year-round relevancy!
@chicago.by.ren7 things you have experience this summer in Chicago #chicago #chicagotiktok #chicagosummer #chicagothingstodo #thingstodoinchicago♬ dreams – favsoundds
Similar to the tingling feeling you get when you use a scalp massager, Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, or ASMR videos aim to trigger audio or visual stimuli that create a sense of relaxation. It’s a simple yet effective way to frame a stay at your property as a peaceful and sensorial experience. It can be as simple as the sound of drinks clinking together, housekeepers laying out sheets, fingers tapping on counter tops, or a video of a massage experience in your spa. Additionally, there are many ASMR Influencers out there, making it a great collaboration opportunity.
@theritzlondonPreparing for a guest arrival in a Ritz suite. #TheRitz #TheRitzLondon #ASMR #HotelSuite #LondonHotels♬ Sweet Sunset – Tollan Kim & dulai
While this may seem like a playful opportunity to poke fun at the competition, as a hospitality brand, the potential drawbacks far outweigh the benefits. You should never run the risk of alienating prospective customers who are fans of the competitor you’re devaluing. Reputation and trust in your brand is key to success. Channel your efforts into connecting with your audience through positivity and inclusion, not the inverse. Your content should always focus on the value that your brand offers in order to build long-term relationships with your customer base.
We’ve all seen them. It’s another easy way to catch the audience’s attention, but amassing views can’t be the only goal. Any piece of media marketing should always have the brand’s best interests in mind and be deliberate in what it’s conveying. Prank videos forego featuring anything substantial, relying instead on shock value or suspense—not to mention videos in this trend always seem to get some sort of backlash. Especially as a hotel, you don’t want to be advertising any unwanted surprises to begin with. Don’t portray any situation that’s at the expense of guests or workers
Two Popular Hotel Prank Trends
@arnienegreteBest Hotel Prank Ever♬ Funny video “Carmen Prelude” Arranging weakness(836530) – yo suzuki(akisai)
@houseofhighlightsThey gotta be quicker than that 😂😅 (via @chelscoaxum) #prank #fails #vacation♬ original sound – House of Highlights
If you’re looking for a surefire way to lose trust in both your audience and the algorithm, look no further. Think about the last time you saw the headline of content be something along the lines of “You’ll Never Believe This…” only to be underwhelmed when you watch the video. That’s clickbait. It’s designed to farm engagement through misleading prompts and direction. This ethically questionable tactic to catch the audience’s attention was popular on social media in the 2010s but has long since outgrown its novelty. Platforms have evolved since the era of clickbait, algorithms will catch on to these trends and hinder the reach of your videos because of it.
@eloisefouladgarI really thought this glass slide was safe..😨😩♬ Home – Edith Whiskers
A prominent hotel brand in the hospitality industry, sought to bolster its brand presence and engagement on Instagram. The primary objective was to transition casual likes into meaningful follows, thereby cultivating a robust and engaged community. The overarching aim was to enhance visibility, extend reach, and foster brand loyalty among its target audience.
When the world’s best luxury hotel brand—crowned by Times Travel UK in 2024—set out to tell a story of serene indulgence, BCV delivered more than just a campaign. #PlungeIntoTranquility became a masterclass in how thoughtful storytelling, crafted through the lens of visual calm and exclusive experiences, could move hearts—and bookings. Set against the backdrop of Oberoi’s most breathtaking escapes, this campaign didn’t just win attention—it won Gold.
As the country celebrated Ramadan, this luxury resort in Al Jubail looked to leverage the opportunity of having locals and visitors alike dine with them at Tent.
With a short window of time to capture diners, the property turned to social media as their preferred digital advertising channel. With more than half the world on social media, paid social presented the best chance of success due to it’s precise targeting and expansive reach.
In 2022, a 5-star luxury hotel in Hawaii & it’s restaurant, were awarded the Forbes Travel Guide Five Star rating for a second year in row. This accomplishment is especially remarkable as they are the only Hotel & Restaurant in Hawaii to receive this prestigious rating.
To amplify visibility of this tremendous achievement, we hosted a giveaway for social users offering the prize of a 5-star dining experience at the hotel’s notable restaurant. Spreading awareness of the property’s Forbes Travel Guide recognition offered a golden opportunity to grow the hotel’s audience + drive social engagement in a way that was also simultaneously rewarding to users.
