Social media implementation plan for accommodation service provider

For this learning assignment I will use my learning outcomes to make a social media implementation plan. This plan is targeted toward accommodation service providers, and I will use my knowledge from my own experience working as host in accommodation service provider company. 

The aim of this plan is to gain brand awareness, increase engagement with potential guests and get more incoming bookings for the accommodation service. Having a clear intentional social media plan which works as marketing plan how to increase incoming bookings makes the accommodation services grow and floras. 

 The target group of this implementation plan is travelers in business and leisure, locals that want gateway in the age group of young and old. The target groups are quite broad and hence why it is important to focus on the different tools and strategies that can work for many kinds of people.  

 

Social media tools

Using combination of different tools can all together make the plan stronger than using only one social media tool. Using combination of the listed social media tools will help the accommodation service provider communicate with guests and with potential new guests, get to show the brand image, and increase incoming bookings. Because it is harder to gain returning customers in accommodation service is important to make happy customer and share the experiences, so those new customers can more easily choose the service.  

Social media channels: 

Using social media channels such as Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok you can easily share information about the services and make it easier to get seen by potential guests. Since accommodations are highly visual, prioritize high-quality photos and videos of your accommodations, facilities, and nearby attractions. Sharing traveling tips of local recommendations and what kind of experience guest could have while staying can add more value for the potential guests. In social media channels user generated content can be used to make the brand more seen either with paid or free user generated content. “Free” user generated content means, for example sharing an Instagram post of some guest that has tagged the accommodation to the accommodation’s Instagram account. “Paid” User generated content can be an example of collaborative with some social media influencers. This collaboration can be such as the influencer get free night and they need to make content from their experience to their social media account or make content to the accommodation’s social media accounts.  

Other media:  

Having a well structed website for the accommodation service provider is that key. The website should be easily navigated and clearly show the brand of the service provider. A brand can be shown via logo, photos, colors, fonts and with the content tell the potential guests more information about the service provider. Guests having a possibility to share their experiences and review from previous night spend at the accommodation can make future potential more likely to choose the service. 

Weter you can book the stay on the official website or via online traveling agencies, it is important to provide excellent quality pictures and have a broad description of the service offered. In this case one of the media where many potential guests will read and discover the accommodations is online traveling agencies in short OTA. In these channels is important to interact with the guest and answer reviews which help to get new guests. 

TripAdvisor is one of the great ways to get accommodation to be seen via user feedback and reviews. Since we people most of the time are more willing to choose a service or place by what we have heard of it and especially because of the positive feedback. TripAdvisor is full of honest reviews and people's experiences. As we people are different so are our opinions and for these reasons it is important as an accommodation provider to respond to all feedback would it be good or bad. Answering the feedback and reviews show the potential new guest that the accommodation service provider is responsible and cares about making the guest feel welcome and comfortable.  

 

Data privacy

When talking about social media, it is important to member data privacy and how important it is. When sharing content, you should be careful to see if the person in the content is recognizable and if yes, you would need to have permission to use the content. The permission needs to be written and the user needs to accept it, for example when doing collabs the other party needs to know and accept the term that the content can be used in the accommodation’s social media and in marketing purposes. Part of data privacy is also accepting the privacy regulations of the platform which will be used and to be aware of them.  

 

Updating and maintaining the plan

To maintain the plan it is important to keep it up and not stop posting or updating the information which is provided to the potential guests. Update information and content of special events that are happening in the surrounding areas and make seasonal content available. Awake the social media with seasonal offers or campaigns usually gets a rush peak to the social media channels, but it is also good to members not to do these too often. This plan can also be done free but as a company it can cost something, if not directly but in the way of giving discounts or free service in return of content.


Reetta T.