Social media platforms such as Twitter, Flickr, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube have transformed marketing possibilities for the hotel industry, providing new and unprecedented opportunities to communicate with potential guests and clients. 

 

In these testing times for Ireland’s hotel industry, making your hotel brand stand out presents enormous challenges, given high level of competition, price sensitivity of hotel rooms bookings and an excess capacity of 10,000 rooms, built during the boom. Buying an impactful advertising campaign is out of reach for most.  Social media provides an alternative and cost effective way of initiating conversations about your brand, creating new advocates, securing new visitors and keeping in touch with clients.

 

Business travellers are amongst the highest users of mobile and social media applications are integral part of communication; from taking care of personal items, exploring the local area and connecting with friends and family.

 

Social media is a ‘must-have’ in any strategic brand PR programme and has been proven to boost business, reach influencers and impact on the bottom line. Those hotels that ignore social media stand do so at their peril and risk becoming irrelevant.

 

 Here are 5 things that social media can do for hotel brands:

  

1.    communicate at point-of-need and create new business

2.    reinforce your brand message and help it go viral

3.    project and communicate your hotel brand’s personality

4.    real-time, two-way communication

5.    improve your online reputation