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Page 1: Facebook - Leonardo Worldwide• Apps Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel,
Page 2: Facebook - Leonardo Worldwide• Apps Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel,

social media cheat sheets for

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Page 4: Facebook - Leonardo Worldwide• Apps Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel,

With 1.7 billion users on Facebook 1, it’s never been more important to use it as a marketing platform to reach and engage your guests online. A Facebook page makes it easy for travel shoppers to find your hotel online, and it allows them to begin their shopping journey with a great first impression. So sit down and buckle up as we take you through the most crucial elements of your Facebook page in our Cheat Sheet for Hotel Marketers.

Did You Know?19% of US leisure travelers chose their destination from Facebook. 2

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Page 5: Facebook - Leonardo Worldwide• Apps Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel,

Your profile picture will, in essence, be the face of your page (pun intended). It’s the first thing people see when they visit your page, and it’s the image people will see when you comment and post. Be sure to use a high quality square-shaped image with a size of at least 180 x 180 pixels to represent your hotel in the best light possible.Custom URL in the address bar.Be sure to create a Facebook vanity URL to make your page as unique and memorable as possible. By default, Facebook gives you a URL with randomly assigned numbers that are meaningless to guests, so modify your URL to accurately represent your property (ex. www.facebook.com/YourHotelName).

Your cover photo goes here, and it’s your most visually capturing feature. It has the largest real estate for visual storytelling on your page, so you need to use it wisely. Post a photo that shows off a bit of your hotel’s personality or use the space to showcase a recent promotion. Your cover photo will impact travel shoppers’ first impressions of your hotel, so choose a high quality image with a size of at least 851 x 315 pixels.

If you’re still unsure about ideas for your cover photo, then just take a look at The Palms Hotel’s Facebook page. They’re masters at getting the most out of their cover photo by periodically changing it to showcase beautiful exterior shots, charming wedding photos, current events, special promotions, and more!

cover photo

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Hotel Giraffe

The Palms Hotel

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Page 6: Facebook - Leonardo Worldwide• Apps Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel,

Use this section to quickly communicate crucial information to travel shoppers who are researching their next trip. You can take advantage of the About section by showcasing your:

• Address• Phone number• Hours of operation• Location on a map• Apps

Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel, check out special promotions, and even book directly through Facebook.

Creating an app specifically for special offers and promotions is essential since 55% of travelers “liked” Facebook pages specific to a vacation 4 – excite travelers with offers before they reach their destination. The apps’ thumbnail images will catch users’ attention, drawing users in to click on them. Upload thumbnail images with a word or two that can quickly describe what the app does at a glance.

about

apps

Side note: Don’t judge your page’s performance on “likes” alone – the key to success is engagement and interaction with your fans. You can have many “Likes”, but actual guest input, comments, and shares are genuine and more important to your hotel.

• Likes and visits• General hotel information• Photos, videos, and reviews• Posts from other Facebook users to your page• Pages that your page likes

Hotel Giraffe

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Page 7: Facebook - Leonardo Worldwide• Apps Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel,

Aim to post compelling photos rather than plain-text status updates since those images will capture users’ attention and potentially increase the amount of engagement from them. People are more likely to interact with a photo that they find interesting, funny, or informative – make them laugh or post a special offer to effectively reach them. In fact, photos are so powerful that 52% of Facebook users said their friends’ photos inspired their holiday choice and travel plans. 6

A bonus to posting more photos than plain-text updates is that any images you post will show up under the “Photos” section, which essentially creates a collage of thumbnails that show off your hotel’s personality at a glance

photos

Las Terrazas Epicurean Hotel

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Page 8: Facebook - Leonardo Worldwide• Apps Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel,

a Your cover photo is visually compelling and represents your hotel story

a Your profile picture quickly conveys your hotel’s brand

a Your hotel Facebook page has a customized URL

a Your “About” section gives travel shoppers the “snackable” information they need

a You target Facebook users with unique special offers and promotions

a You encourage guests checking in to share their experiences on social media

a You engage with past, present and future guests by responding to questions and comments

a You’re engaging with a compelling visual story using multi-media Facebook Apps that allow shoppers to take a virtual tour of your property

a Your Facebook content is visual and personalized

a You include photos and videos of local attractions, events, and your staff and guests

a You post content that encourages fans to engage with you, like questions and polls

a You make sure to tell a consistent hotel story across all channels, including social media

Postingprofile

engagement

Check Out Where You Stand on Facebook

DoubleTree Hotel Bethesda

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Page 9: Facebook - Leonardo Worldwide• Apps Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel,

A great way to build a strong visual story on Facebook is by looking at what other successful hotel pages are doing.The Palms Hotel has done an excellent job of re-posting local events and images of interesting shops in their community, taking advantage of their location and creating another reason to stay with them.The Cape Los Cabos hotel is a fantastic example of using guests to generate visual content for free. Guests can upload photos to Instagram and tag the Cape Los Cabos, and the hotel uses those images on their website and social media channels, allowing them to have a virtually endless supply of fresh, unique images that really capture their hostel from an authentic perspective.

tips for telling the best visual story

The Palms Hotel

The gates are now open, roam free through your hotel’s Facebook page with your newly found confidence! Visual storytelling is the future of hotel marketing, so start taking your digital marketing strategy to the next level with our Cheat Sheet.To keep yourself on track, use our checklist Strategically Social: Step Up Your Hotel’s Visual Storytelling on Social Media, and never miss a beat.

where to go from here

Did You Know?29% use Facebook for vacation inspiration. 7

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Page 11: Facebook - Leonardo Worldwide• Apps Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel,

Today’s consumers are social-media savvy and one of the most popular ways to search for travel inspiration online is through social media sites like Twitter. In fact, the site has over 313 million monthly active users, who send 500 million tweets a day!8 In addition to getting travel inspiration, today’s online travel shoppers use Twitter to research hotels and gain a deeper understanding of what they can offer. Once they’re at their destination, 71% tweet while on holiday.9 On Twitter, you can search for people actively talking about your hotel brand or location, engage with travel shoppers searching for their next trip, and join in on the conversation to get your hotel on the radar.

Considering the amount of people relying on this network for travel ideas and sharing their travel experiences, it’s essential that hoteliers make the most of Twitter to reach and engage travel shoppers – and convince them to stay. This Cheat Sheet explains what you need to know to tell a compelling hotel story on Twitter.

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Page 12: Facebook - Leonardo Worldwide• Apps Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel,

The first thing travel shoppers see when they visit your hotel Twitter page is your cover photo. Capture travel shoppers’ attention with a visually-compelling header photo that makes your hotel stand out. This is the place for you to be creative, like Hilton Hotels, which showcases travelers snorkeling in beautiful clear waters, and even goes further by encouraging travel shoppers to share their #HiltonStory.

On the other hand, your hotel’s Twitter profile picture should represent your hotel brand, such as your hotel’s logo.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but a few words can change its story, said author Sebastyne Young, and he couldn’t be more correct. Once you’ve got a captivating header photo, and a clear profile photo, then get started on your short description, which is the space underneath the profile photo. In this space, you should quickly explain what makes your hotel unique and what you can offer travel shoppers. This description should enhance the story that travel shoppers learn by viewing your cover and profile photo and provide context to understand why your hotel would fit their travel needs.

Consider how the Hotel Galvez tells travel shoppers that they’re the only historic beachfront hotel in Texas, or how citizenM hotels stands out by categorizing itself as a “new breed of hotel.”

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Hilton Hotels

Hotel Galvez

Did You Know?A picture is worth a thousand words, but a few words can change its story, especially on Twitter.

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Page 13: Facebook - Leonardo Worldwide• Apps Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel,

A tweet is a compelling, short message – just 140 characters or less – that can help you engage with prospective, current and future hotel guests by showcasing what makes your hotel story unique, joining conversations that are already happening about your hotel or location, and broadening your social community.

Keep in mind that your “tweets” are a reflection of your hotel and what it represents - so show off what makes your hotel unique: the stunning views of your hotel, the local nightlife, or your favorite nearby restaurant.

Your hotel story could also include the people who make your hotel unique – your guests and your staff! If you’re not sure what your hotel story is, then join in on the conversations happening around you to get an idea of what travelers are looking for. Are your potential customers looking for a place to relax? Your ocean view rooms are part of your hotel story, so snap a picture and let your Twitter travelers know.

Twitter’s new visual layout makes it easier than ever to show off your hotel’s features. The new layout made room for a large, visually-appealing cover photo which you can take advantage of by adding a photo that really shows travel shoppers what your hotel is all about. The new layout also makes your tweets that have received more engagement appear larger in your Twitter stream – and you’ll notice that the most engaging tweets are ones with photos. In fact, adding a photo to your tweet can boost retweets (increasing exposure of your tweets) by 35%!10

tweeting 101

Fairmont Hotels

Four Seasons Hotel

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Make sure that you are using proper spelling, grammar and punctuation in your tweets – since you are representing your business, after all. However, this does not mean you are not allowed to use a conversational and fun tone. Just remember to keep it professional.

Best practice tip: Make your hotel story more personable by showcasing photos of your hotel’s staff behind the scenes or of your happy guests relaxing by the pool.

If you have a story to tell, but no one is there, does anyone really hear it? There’s no point in creating a compelling hotel story if no one is listening! You want to share that story – by amplifying it on Twitter. One of the best ways to get your hotel story across the Twitterverse is by interacting in conversations happening around you. You can start by following people who share your interests. Is there a local bar famous for its nightlife? You can include these local attractions as part of your hotel story, tweet about it on Twitter, and increase your audience – the amount of potential hotel guests who are visiting your hotel story.

Is your hotel a popular wedding destination? Make your hotel story more personal and relatable to future guests interested in this feature by “re-tweeting” (or sharing) these photos on your account. Not only will you be showcasing what your hotel has to offer, you’re also exposing a new side of your hotel story.

Be Professional but Fun

join the conversation

Water Beach Hotel

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Page 15: Facebook - Leonardo Worldwide• Apps Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel,

Studies show that 44% of people are most likely to respond to and engage with brands that post photos than any other type of media.11 This is especially true for the travel industry! What’s more enticing – reading about a relaxing beach vacation or seeing a photo of a happy traveler lying on the beach, with a drink in their hand?

Photos share a part of your hotel story that words alone cannot. Give travelers a true sense of your hotel by including rich media – photos, videos and virtual tours – on your Twitter page. Videos show off your hotel’s experience and allow travel shoppers to envision the experience they’ll be having at your hotel. Plus, using videos in tweets can boost retweets (the social following you’re building) by 28%.12

Tell a visual story

Aloft Hotels

Hilton Hotels

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Page 16: Facebook - Leonardo Worldwide• Apps Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel,

a Your cover photo is visually compelling and represents your hotel story

a Your profile picture quickly conveys your hotel’s brand

a Your short description section gives travel shoppers the “snackable” information they need

a You include photos and videos of local attractions, events, and your staff and guests

a You post content that encourages fans to engage with you, like questions

a You make sure to tell a consistent hotel story across all channels, including social media

Posting

profile

Check Out Where You Stand on twitter

Sol Wave House

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Page 17: Facebook - Leonardo Worldwide• Apps Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel,

a You entice Twitter users with unique special offers and promotions

a You encourage guests checking in to share their experiences on social media

a You engage with past, present and future guests by responding to questions and comments

engagement

DoubleTree by Hilton

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Page 18: Facebook - Leonardo Worldwide• Apps Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel,

The Epicurean Hotel uses compelling images and rich descriptions in its hotel story, which makes it stand out on Twitter. From their mouth-watering close-up images of their famous cuisine to tweets announcing contents and special offers, the Epicurean tells a story that travel shoppers want to hear and see. The San Juan Water Beach Club knows how to showcase its personality online, which is why their hotel story stands out. Not only do they post photos of their guests enjoying their amenities, they also suggest ideas of local attractions to visit and activities to try, like rooftop cocktails and pool massages.citizenM hotels plays up its visual storytelling on Twitter, with nearly every tweet including a photo, and publicizes events occurring in and around their hotel, enticing their followers - and giving them a reason to book.

learn from the pros

The Epicurean Hotel

citizenM hotels

Hotel marketers that showcase their hotel story on Twitter will be one step ahead of the competition, showing potential guests why they should choose their hotel over others. Use this Cheat Sheet to make the most of your hotel Twitter page, and start reaching and engaging travel shoppers on this important social channel!

where to go from here

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Page 20: Facebook - Leonardo Worldwide• Apps Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel,

Instagram has over 500 million active users and has emerged as one of the fastest growing social platforms. There are over 30 billion photos already shared, with an average of 95 million photos uploaded every day and 4.2 billion likes daily. That is an unbelievable amount of engagement and content being produced worldwide.13

Instagram launched in October 2010, skyrocketed since being acquired by Facebook in April 2012 and has revolutionized the way we consume visual content. Data from the Pew Research Center shows that Instagram has already passed Twitter in popularity among adults in the U.S. Engagement on Instagram is 15 times that of Facebook’s.14

Want to make the most of this channel? This Cheat Sheet will break down everything you need to know to tell a compelling visual story on Instagram.

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Page 21: Facebook - Leonardo Worldwide• Apps Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel,

Simply put, Instagram is an easy-to-use, fun visual storytelling outlet that allows you to capture wonderful moments and authentically share your hotel’s story. Vibrant visuals and explosive rich media will create an emotional connection with your guests and the great content you produce will help travelers envision the experience they can have at your hotel.

Nowadays you can essentially have your own creative production suite all wrapped up in a smartphone. The capabilities have greatly improved so shooting high quality video and photographs can literally be done in 60 seconds. And in this digital age where visual storytelling is the best avenue to connecting with prospective guests, Instagram is a digital marketer’s best friend.

Instagram is a purely mobile application, so in order to sign up for an account, you must download the app on a mobile device. You can enter your email address or login with your hotel’s Facebook account.

Create your username, fill out your information and choose your profile photo. Your hotel’s Instagram profile picture should represent your hotel brand, such as your hotel’s logo. A perfect information section is a brief, two sentence mission statement about your hotel, what you do and what makes you unique.

The Fairmont Hotels & Resorts’ information section explains who they are and what they offer and includes a customized hashtag and a direct link back to their website.

why it’s important for hotels

The Fairmont Hotels & Resorts

instagram 101

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Page 22: Facebook - Leonardo Worldwide• Apps Use Apps to create an interactive element for travel shoppers where they can view your hotel’s multi-media, take virtual tours of your hotel,

It’s important to keep a consistent presence when posting on Instagram.

There is certainly no shortage of creative elements you can bring to life on your Instagram page. You can showcase your rooms, amenities, and magnificent dishes from your restaurant, community events, nature, inspirational quotes, staff members or behind-the-scenes moments at your hotel. The app’s filters allow you to play around with its overall complexion.

Encourage your guests to upload photos of their stay and tag your hotel’s page or use a designated hashtag so you can easily find it and repost on your page.

Inspire your staff members to be content producers and have them take pictures in and around your hotel to show an authentic feel for what everyday life is like at your property.

creating content

use user generated content

The Library Hotel

Did You Know?There are over 30 billion photos on Instagram, with an average of 70 million photos uploaded every day.

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The best place to start when building your Instagram following is to look within your hotel’s community. Think about local restaurants, entertainment outlets, sports teams, bloggers, news publications, local photographers or journalists.

Perhaps your hotel has a special promotion with local restaurants, schools, and people in your community who are top engagers with your posts. You can type their names in the search bar or look them up online and typically an organization’s website will display all their social media credentials. Take advantage of your Activity Feed to find out who your network is engaging with and following.

Cross-promoting your content on all social platforms will greatly expand your reach. When you make a picture or video live on Instagram, it provides the option to post it to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or Tumblr. That way, you can get your social media followers from other channels to flock to your Instagram page as well.

growing your following

The Library Hotel

Did You Know?You can protect your photos online with free watermarking apps.

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The entire premise of Instagram is designed to have fun, tap into the right side of your brain and show your creative expression of your hotel. Instagram is loaded with cool features to play around with that help you better convey your story through unique and artistic lenses. Here are four tips to help kick start your creative momentum.

1. Filters: Instagram keeps up with the evolving trends in photography and have expanded their palette of filters to help facilitate your original expression. You can adjust the colour and contrast and play around with the settings to find a filter perfect for the situation.

2. Repost: The Photo Repost App is your go-to-tool for sharing UGC (give photo credit). If guests upload an awesome picture of their visit or there is a local festival going on and you want to repost photos, this tool makes it easy.

3. Videos: Use video to show a quick virtual tour of your hotel, an interview with an employee or guests sharing their visit (there’s a 15-second limit).

4. Hyperlapse & Slow-Motion Video: Hyperlapse is a new tool that allows you to create amazing time lapse videos and speed them up. You can increase to 12x the original speed. This is a cool way to do a fun and quick virtual tour of your hotel. New versions of many smartphones allow you to shoot videos in super slow motion and manipulate which frames you want to slow down.

get creative

Filters on Instagram

Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts

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Best Practice Tip: You can protect your photos that go online with free watermarking apps such as Marksta, iWatermark or PhotoMarkr. This will produce a stamp at the lower section of the image displaying your hotel’s name to ensure authenticity and copyright privileges. This isn’t necessary all of the time but it is a great tool to keep in your back pocket if you ever need to protect your creative work.

Hashtags are a very important device to expand your hotel’s reach across all social platforms. Research the most popular hashtags that are relevant to your hotel. For example if you’re showcasing a new dish from your restaurant, you could use #foodie, #nomnom, or #BBQ.

When looking up popular hashtags it will also tell you how many posts have been produced under that thread. These hashtags can expand your reach when you post your content on Facebook and Twitter as well.

There isn’t a set-in-stone time on when to post on Instagram because users will interact with your content regardless of the time. Spread out your posts throughout the day and measure your engagement. The length of your captions can be whatever you want them to be – a quick sentence explaining the image or a thought-provoking anecdote tying into a bigger story.

Reach More Travelers with #Hashtags

Timing and Length of Posts

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Instagram doesn’t have a built in analytics tool so you can start off by creating a benchmark set of figures on how many likes, comments, new followers you acquire a month and evaluate which style of image or video do the best. You can also take advantage of free tools such as IFTTT, Zapier, Simply Measured and Iconosquare to help measure the growth of your engagement for you.

Instagram is a great tool to tell your hotel’s story in a visual and fun way so get started using the tips in our Cheat Sheet. More and more travelers want to see what makes your hotel unique and Instagram can be a great platform to help you show it.

instagram analytics

where to go from here

Fairmont Hotels

The Hoxton Hotel

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a Your profile picture is visually compelling

a You provide snackable information and a direct link back to your hotel’s site

a You’ve started following new users in your community related to your hotel

a You have created a strategy on what style of photos and videos you want to post

a You are using hashtags, filters and are linking to Facebook and Twitter

a You tell a consistent story with everything you upload

Posting

profile

Check Out Where You Stand on instagram

DoubleTree

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Rich media has exploded onto the digital marketing scene. In fact, Cisco predicts that by 2017, video content will account for 69% of consumer internet traffic. Engaging, high-quality video compels people in ways that photo and text alone cannot, by striking an emotional cord within the consumer. They’re powerful, easy to use and affordable, which is why any well-rounded digital marketing strategy needs video.

Did You Know?Video now appears in 70% of the top 100 search results.

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Rich media helps you differentiate your hotel from the competition. Video provides travelers with a better understanding of the experience they’ll have at your hotel and instills confidence that this is the right choice for them.

YouTube is a primary source for travel inspiration. More than one billion people watch more than six billion hours of video on YouTube every month.15

Anyone can create and curate videos for their property. The million dollar question is, what type of content are they looking for? Eighty-eight percent of YouTube travel searches focus on destinations, attractions/points of interest or general travel ideas. People want to connect with creators and brands, so all roads should drive back to the ideology of “help, not hype” when designing videos.

Like it or not; video is here to stay. Conventional wisdom would err on the side of not waiting any longer to incorporate it into your digital marketing strategy and use video to express your hotel story. This Cheat Sheet will give you the tips to get started creating video and then sharing it on all your sales channels.

why it’s important for hotels

Did You Know?In 2014, subscriptions to top travel channels on YouTube increased 106% year over year.

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Map out a strategy of what you want to highlight, what sort of videos you want to shoot and a projected timeline for completion. What is the general objective of these videos? Are they fun? Straight to the point? Entertaining? Informational? Remember, everything revolves around your hotel’s story. So if you are shooting a quick virtual tour of your restaurant, what type of story are you trying to convey?

Sketch out an idea of who you want in your video, what you wish to highlight, where you will shoot it, what day and time, the equipment, cast and props needed and who is in charge of script development (if required). It may seem like a daunting task, but by putting pen to paper and mapping out your objectives, it will help mitigate any wasted time and stress. Plan the work, work the plan.

video 101

Did You Know?YouTube subscribers watch 86% longer per view than nonsubscribers do.

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Switching up the style to how you create your video content will not only help with its organic search rankings but will cut through the clutter online and offer a variety of stories to your travel shoppers. Here are six types of video you can create:

1. Video tours: These videos walk prospective guests through your hotel, highlighting key features, amenities, activates, guest rooms and help them envision their stay at your property. Virtual tours can be shot on a smartphone, and can be short enough for a Vine video (six seconds), similar to what the White House publishes on their account.

2. Testimonial videos: 87% of people who see positive reviews online are more likely to visit a destination. Encourage guests to take part in your testimonials about their favorite part of your hotel. This can be as simple as a 30-second video taken from your smartphone and uploaded to social media.

choose your video type

White House Video Tour on Vine

Guest Review Video of the Hilton Puerto Vallarta

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3. Employee videos: This is where the personal touch comes in. Involve your manager or an employee presenting the hotel or a specific area in a positive light. It could show a “day in the life” at your hotel or stories about your employees.

4. Scripted ads: These videos are typically professionally shot by a production team that will create long-lasting high quality content usually for your website.

5. Behind-the-scenes: Everybody loves seeing some sort of behind the scenes footage, whether it is for a professional sports team or celebrities at the Oscars. Showing the lighter side of your hotel and the fun that your staff members have will be a massive emotional booster for shoppers to feel better about their purchasing decision. You could even do a daily video posted on your Facebook page of the forecast for the day or showcasing local events on the weekend. All it takes is a smartphone.

6. Snackable videos: Vine videos are the definition of snackable content. They are easy to shoot, fun to plan and require zero editing. It could be as simple as a short, continuous loop of how to make a new cocktail, guests dancing in the lobby or a snapshot tour of your pool area.

The Dramatic Backdrop by Best Western Premier Queen Hotel

Vine Video by Fearrington Village

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Today’s smartphones have the technical capabilities to shoot quality photos and videos and effectively render them in professional quality. In fact, an entire episode of the Emmy award-winning TV show, Modern Family, was shot using smartphones, tablets and laptops. You can essentially be your own professional crew but you can also look to get a local, independent team where their services will include: script development, research, editing, audio and lighting. You can also encourage guests to share their video vantage point of their stay and you can repost it on social media to highlight their perspective. Using professional imagery helps showcase your hotel in the best light; adding user-generated content (UGC) into the mix adds an authentic element to your hotel story.

The Marriott is exceling at incorporating guests into their content creation. Their Travel Brilliantly campaign encourages users to share suggestions on what they would like to see in their ideal hotel to be and they create videos stemming from the winning ideas.

Now that the various formats on how rich media can be produced is laid out, here comes the fun part of what the actual substance of it will contain. According to a recent survey conducted by Software Advice, 68% of shoppers would be most encouraged to book at a hotel after watching videos of amenities, whereas 32% want to see features and information about nearby activities.

When you break these metrics down even further, 57% of those polled want to see the guest rooms, suites and common areas and 20% wish to see supplemental amenities such as the spa, pool or gym.16

Professional vs. User generated video

What do Guests Want to See in Videos?

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A multi-channel approach to stretching out your rich media content is the best way to have it seen by more eyes. You should publish your videos to your hotel website (50% of customers prefer to watch videos on hotel websites) and you can also repurpose or re-use the videos on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Vine, and Twitter. You can also create a consistent video blog similar to what Maximilian Hotel has done with theirs.

Hotel Josef and Maximilian Hotel’s Creative Director, Clementine Amiraux, is a content machine with all the innovative and creative ideas she curates and implements for her hotels. Clementine has her smartphone attached to her at all times when exploring life in and around the two properties in case a story needs to be captured and shared. The properties’ blog details the hottest events going on in Prague and tips of the week for those new to town and looking to immerse themselves in the local culture. They even host a neighborhood orientation tour and a daily sightseeing jog and shoot short video on their adventures.

Clementine has taken her hotel’s content to unbelievable new levels with their video blog series, “Praguing Around with Clementine,” taking you around the town, historical landmarks and sharing interesting tidbits of information about the community. She’s managed to clearly differentiate the properties from the competition with compelling content. Hoteliers can certainly take more than a few pages from Clementine’s book and build their own video strategy following the template she created.

Publishing Your Videos

hotel spotlightsMorning Run by Maximilian Hotel, Prague

Praguing Around with Clémentine

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a You have mapped out what you want to showcase of your hotel

a You have your shots planned, equipment, cast and script prepared

a You have a qualified editor and editing program ready (if necessary)

a You have a timeline for when the videos will be ready

a You have a content calendar for the month

a You know how to stretch one video into multiple content pieces

organizing and amplifying your work

getting started

Check Out Where You Stand with video

Travaasa Hana, Maui

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a Your videos showcase your hotel’s authentic story

a You use video to show a unique perspective on your rooms, amenities, staff and city

a You create multiple video types, from employee testimonials to snackable restaurant shots

Are You Telling Your Hotel’s Story?

Understandably, many hoteliers might be a bit hesitant when it comes to planning and shooting video because it is a bit outside their realm. Just remember that this is meant to be a fun project and doesn’t have to be filled with stress. Do your research, ask the opinions of those that have been there before and approach this as a new challenge to conquer. Don’t be afraid to add your personalized touch when promoting your videos and let your audience know this is your first video conducted and any feedback would be great to help your team evolve.

Outline your clear objectives, how you will go about achieving them, and your timeline and measurement for the videos. You don’t need to break the bank on expensive production crews when there is unbelievable technology at your fingertips. Get out there and have some fun shooting life at your hotel!

where to go from hereBrandon L. visits Fairmont Mayakoba

Our 1st Year - A Retrospective by Epicurean Hotel

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About LeonardoLeonardo is a technology company serving the global hospitality industry. We provide e-marketers at hotel brands, management companies, hotel properties and travel websites with technology solutions that improve the way they present their hotels online to travel shoppers.

Our core products include Vizlly, a cloud-based Multi-Channel Digital Marketing System that makes it easy for hotel marketers to create and publish websites, mobile websites, social media apps and digital brochures for third party travel websites; VScape® Digital Asset Management System, an enterprise-level digital asset management and distribution tool that helps hotel chains better source, manage, organize, store, and publish media assets to direct and indirect online channels; and MediaConnect, advanced connectivity for travel websites to access the industries definitive source of hotel certified visual content. Key to all products is our extensive connectivity. Using our VNetwork, the largest travel website network in the global hospitality industry including GDSs, Meta Search sites, OTAs and more, hoteliers can publish their content and stories to millions of travel shoppers all over the world on the channels, devices and platforms they use to shop for hotels online.

For more information about Leonardo, visit www.leonardo.com.

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SOURCES 1 http://www.statisticbrain.com/facebook-statistics/ 2 http://static.hosteltur.com/web/uploads/2012/12/Text100DigitalIndexTravelTourismStud.pdf 3 http://blog.lab42.com/techie-traveler 4 http://www.spiral16.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Social-Media-Travel-Infographic.jpg 5 http://www.spiral16.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Social-Media-Travel-Infographic.jpg 6 http://blog.lab42.com/techie-traveler

7 http://www.mdgadvertising.com/blog/vacationing-the-social-media-way-infographic/ 8 https://about.twitter.com/company 9 https://blog.twitter.com/en-gb/2014/travelwithtwitter-twitter-users-and-summer-hol-iday-tweeting 10 https://blog.twitter.com/2014/what-fuels-a-tweets-engagement 11 http://www.slideshare.net/performics_us/performics-life-on-demand-2012-summary-deck 12 https://blog.twitter.com/2014/what-fuels-a-tweets-engagement 13 http://instagram.com/press/ 14 http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/242659 15 YouTube Statistics http://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html 16 Software Advice Study http://www.softwareadvice.com/hotel-management/industryview/online-travel-videos-2014/

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