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Eight Ways To Not Be Socially Boring

don't make your content boringNobody likes boring social media, and if you’re following our guidelines on how often you should post , you simply cannot afford to be boring.

We’ve heard it a hundred times, ” I run a motel, I do the same thing every day… and that’s pretty boring to me.”  It very well might be boring on a personal level, but that must never be passed on in Social Media.

Eight ways not to be boring in your social media channels

Be Helpful
Become the source for local information and resources that your guests need. If you have a shuttle service that departs for the local attraction at 7:30 am, post about that ahead of time reminding your followers about that service.

Be Relevant
Don’t post outdated information. People don’t need to know that your 7:30 am shuttle left at 7:30 am. That does them no good at all.  Don’t waste your followers time with useless information.

Be Engaging
Adding pictures, videos, and other forms of media to your posts result in a higher level of audience engagement. People like to see things, not just read things.

Be Giving
Share fun ideas, give out meal or entertainment suggestions, if you have discount opportunities, give those as well. Your audience requires a sense of value for following your social media.

Be Open
Repost other helpful and engaging content that your local business partners are posting. If you don’t have a repost arrangement with businesses in your area, now would be the perfect time to set one up.

Be Available
If someone has taken the time to tag you, or post something directly to you, you need to take the time to reply to them. That’s how Social Media works.

Be You
You’re not a corporate robot, your social media shouldn’t be either. You may allow your personality to shine through on your social media, provided that you follow tip #8.

Be Professional
Ensure everything you have to say is said in a professional, business-like manner. If it’s not something you would say directly to a guest, then don’t say it on Social Media. Confused about that? Here’s what not to say on Social Media.

Sotellio Can Help You

If you are still convinced your content is boring, why not let us have a go at it? It might be that your content just needs a pair of fresh eyes to see your world. Contact us today and let’s get the conversation started.

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Never Tweet About The Following 5 Things

Twitter is an amazing tool that allows people and organizations to quickly communicate with their audience.  It can be a source of great information, as well as a jungle of worthless trash. It’s important to know what your business should and should not be tweeting about.

In our opinion, you should never tweet about the following 5 things:

  1. Don’t Tweet about Internal Business Matters
    If the mantra “it’s just business” applies to whatever the subject matter is, it probably has no value to your audience.

    There are plenty of other ways to communicate with staff members. Publicly is simply not the way.
    .:.
  2. Don’t Tweet about Anything Negative
    A tweet can (and usually does) last forever. Anything said in a negative manner will just end up haunting your business.

    While it may very well be true and your guests may fully agree with you, your future guests may see those tweets and decide to stay elsewhere.
    .:.
  3. Don’t Tweet about Your Guests Without Permission
    A tweet about a guest having a wonderful time is all well and good, but never assume you have permission to do so. Ask, and if possible, get a release.

    We don’t know much, if anything, about our guests lives back home. No amount of assumptions can be made on what information he or she may want others to know. Nondisclosure is key.
    .:.
  4. Don’t Tweet about Your Competition
    Unless you’ve got a mutual (and hopefully documented) social campaign, you don’t want to say anything positive or negative about your competition.

    Legal matters aside, it’s just not professional or kind. As a hidden bonus, stay away from the passive aggressive tweets about your competition as well. Keep things focused on the positive of your property.
    .:.
  5. Don’t Tweet about Anything Political
    It doesn’t matter what your stance is on any issue, you’re sure to offend someone else with your opinion. Keep away from anything political for your business.

    We all have opinions; some stronger than others. Political opinions simply don’t have any place within a property’s Social Media.  Don’t even hint at anything political in nature. Just stay far away from that as possible.

Always make sure what you’re tweeting is adding value to the lives of the people following you. Ensure that you’re not wasting their time with irrelevant information or nonsense. What we say on Social Media is often times what the public bases their opinion of us on.

Not sure what to tweet about? Sotellio can help! Contact Us today and ask about a free consultation.

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Unique Hashtags And Who Should Use Them

Hashtags are nothing new. They’ve been around nearly as long as the Internet has been public ally available.  Hashtags have been used to denote topics and interests since around 1988; and we’ve come a long way since then.

There’s nothing mystical or magical about a hashtag. There’s no governing body that regulates them, there’s nobody who can lay a claim on a word or phrasing of a hashtag.  They’re simply tools that make it easier to group like-minded thoughts, comments, opinions and other forms of media together.

Hashtags play an important role in Social Media, since the wide adoption of hashtag searching and grouping has taken hold. If someone is interested in a particular topic, say the city of Orlando, they can search their chosen Social Media platform for #Orlando.  One thing to keep in mind is that since there is no governing or regulatory body around hashtags, anyone can use one for anything – so you may find a few stray topics or ideas when searching for a Hashtag.

For Hoteliers, a hashtag is nothing short of free publicity.  For example, a location could use it’s name, or variant of their name as a hashtag. For example, the “Restful Inn” could use #restfulinn as a hashtag, and then add that hashtag to all of their social media pictures and posts.

Furthermore, the good folks at the Restful Inn could ask their guests to do the same. A simple sheet of instructions asking the guests to use #restfulinn when they’re posting things around the Inn would do wonders.

This strategy is not without risk, however. Clearly, if things are amiss at the Restful Inn, and the staff is asking guests to use the hashtag; there could very well be some negative side effects. However, as long as the Restful Inn is running a well groomed establishment, issues will be at a bare minimum.

The only limitation on hashtags is space. People often use two or three hastags to convey context. There could be a picture of a nice breakfast plate with the hashtags #perfect #breakfast #orlando #restfulinn . Those hashtags reveal a lot of what the poster is trying to convey with their post.

Now the Restful Inn, combined with their guests, are lighting up Social Media with pictures and posts from their fine establishment. When interested parties search for a cozy little place to stay when they’re in Orlando for a convention, those pictures will come up, along with the related hashtag – and when those potential guests see the pictures from other people who have stayed there? That’s when the magic really happens.

Sotellio caters to the Social Media needs of the independent Hotelier. We have several affordable plans to choose from, and will work one on one with individuals to meet their needs. For more information, contact Sotellio today.

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Take Regular Pictures Of Your Location & Share Them

take pictures on a daily basisTaking regular pictures from around your establishment is one of the easiest ways to keep the search engines quite happy with your updates.

You don’t need any expensive camera gear for your daily pictures, either. In fact, your phone will actually serve better for this job then anything fancy. Your phone, combined with a Google My Business Account, can be one of the most powerful Social Media tools you can work with.

You just need to take the pictures and upload them to the proper location within your Google My Business account, and tag them appropriately. The whole process shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, and if you’re walking your property anyhow, you might as well grab some photos.

Some ideas of what to take pictures of:

  • The sunrise over your building, sign, trees, etc
  • The front entrance of your location
  • Your Pool (if you have one)
  • The clean, well lit, and safe parking lot you have
  • Your location as seen from the street
  • Your Front Lobby / Welcome area
  • Your Rooms

Some ideas of what not to take pictures of

  • Guests (unless you have a release form them)
  • Staff (staff changes and can lead to take down demands)
  • Areas that need improvement
  • Anything that may violate OSHA working regulations
  • Anything that’s dirty, not cleaned, or out of place

You should be taking pictures on a regular basis – multiple times a day – and sharing them via Twitter, Facebook, or any other Social Media Services you have – and making sure they’re uploaded to your Google My Business account.

Photos taken on current day devices (phones and digital cameras) have the ability to add location/gps information to those photos. If you’re taking the pictures for your Social Media accounts, ensure that this feature is enabled. The big search engines have the ability to retrieve that meta-data and can display your pictures in search results.

Sotellio can work with you and teach you exactly what kind of pictures would work best for your property. We’ll let you know when the best time for you to post those pictures are,  and (most importantly) how to measure the return on those pictures.

Check out our plans page; if you don’t see one that fits your budget, contact us for a custom quote. We’d love to work with you.