Nine Ways Hotels can use Pinterest

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pinterestIt’s no surprise that consumers who are interested in planning their vacations or weddings turn to Pinterest for ideas. In fact, the platform continues to grow in popularity, as its usage doubled from 2012 to 2015, according to the Pew Research Center. Thus, it’s likely your guests are using it, too. For Pinterest, here are nine best practices for hotels.

  1. Inspire. You don’t necessarily need a call-to-action. Post high-quality, desirable photos of your hotel to inspire viewers to take a trip or plan a wedding at your hotel.
  2. Showcase the rooms and amenities. Make the customer feel like all they may need and want in a hotel is in yours by pinning pictures of rooms and amenities such as a pool, spa and fitness rooms.
  3. Promote events. Pin images of events that your hotel has hosted or will host to demonstrate that you are a popular destination for event planners.
  4. Promote tourist attractions. When booking a room at a hotel, the guests will take in to account the features outside of your hotel. Promoting nearby attractions like beaches, restaurants, local businesses, museums and more will help sell your hotel to potential customers.
  5. Run competitions. Pinterest for hotels provides an easy way to run contests and promotions. This encourages past and potential guests to engage with your brand. For example, have contestants pin photos of their favorite experiences while on vacation in your city, and have them include a hashtag.
  6. Drive more traffic to your site. Pinterest is next to Facebook and Twitter for the most visited social media platform. Make sure to add to your photos a URL that links back to your hotel’s website.
  7. Help engaged couples imagine their wedding at your hotel. How can your hotel cater to a couple’s big day? Post pictures of previous weddings (with permission) to help them visualize what your hotel can offer, from staging areas to sites for wedding party photos to where the band or DJ can set up.
  8. Create an interactive board. Create a board and invite former guests to post photos of their recent stay at your hotel. This way you are creating a meaningful interaction with your recent guests while receiving fresh, third-party content.
  9. Show off the meeting and conference space. What are the various room configurations? How many people can you hold in each room (think rehearsal dinner, reception, farewell brunch, etc.)? How flexible can you be?

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Revelation PR, Advertising & Social Media offers hotels, B&Bs and resorts services related to media relations, community relations, branding, group sales, SEO/SEM and social media management. Please contact Brian Lee, brian [at] experiencerevelation.com or 608-622-7767.

How Hotels Should Respond to Online Reviews

When it comes to booking a hotel, online_reviewsmore and more guests are basing their decisions on online reviews. According to a 2014 study by TripAdvisor and PhoCusWright, 77 percent of travelers reference reviews before choosing a hotel. It’s important that hoteliers respond to all reviews the correct way.

Following are tips on how hotels should respond to positive and negative reviews: Continue reading “How Hotels Should Respond to Online Reviews”

Using Augmented Reality to Enhance Guest Experience

INTRODUCTION

3D-augmented-reality-playmearAccording to Mashable, augmented reality (AR) is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video graphics or GPS data.

Here are a few ways to use augmented reality in your hotel and enhance your guests’ experiences.

USE AR BEFORE GUESTS STEP FOOT IN HOTEL

It should be no surprise that a study found that prospective guests want to know the features of a room during their decision-making process. Use AR to make guests feel like they’ve personally visited the property and seen the rooms and amenities from their mobile or desktop device.

Just by pointing your device in a certain way, potential guests can picture themselves sitting at the hotel bar or lobby lounge. If they point the device in a different direction, guests can read reviews and recommendations.

A campaign by Marriott gives its guests the opportunity to “travel the world” through virtual reality glasses.

ADD AUGMENTED REALITY DURING THE STAY

Augmented reality can help hotels improve customer’s convenience, including allowing guests to find their room easily by following a set of arrows on their phone or telling guests when their room was last cleaned.

Here’s another idea: each guest room in the hotel includes a wall map of the surrounding area. If the guest points their device at the wall, they can receive information about things to do around the area.

AR also can be used in other places in the hotel, including the fitness center. Add a screen to the treadmill so guests feel like they’re running on a beach, or put a screen on the stationary bike so guests can compete in the Tour de France.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Revelation PR, Advertising & Social Media offers hotels, B&Bs and resorts services related to media relations, community relations, branding, group sales, SEO/SEM and social media management. Please contact Brian Lee, brian [at] experiencerevelation.com or 608-622-7767.