The Top 3 Social Media Platforms for Marketing Hotels
A strong social media presence is crucial for reaching new guests and building brand loyalty. With so many platforms available, it’s important to focus on those that deliver the best return on investment. Here, we delve into the top three social media platforms for marketing hotels, based on reach, engagement and targeting capabilities.
1. Instagram: The Visual Powerhouse
Why Instagram?
Instagram is a highly visual platform, making it perfect for showcasing a hotel’s design-led rooms, characterful locations and unique guest experiences. With over 1 billion active users, Instagram provides hotels with an expansive audience and excellent community growth opportunities.
Key Features
High Engagement Rates: Instagram’s users are highly engaged, allowing you to build a loyal following of potential guests.
Visual Storytelling: Prioritise Reels and Stories to create an immersive narrative about your hotel’s atmosphere, amenities and nearby attractions.
Influencer Collaborations: Partnering with travel influencers and user-generated content creators can boost visibility and lend credibility to your hotel brand.
Best Practices for Instagram Marketing
Use High-Quality Visuals: Invest in professional photography and videography to highlight your hotel’s unique selling points.
Leverage Instagram Stories: Share behind-the-scenes content, guest experiences and real-time updates to keep your audience engaged.
Run Targeted Ads: Use Instagram’s advanced targeting options to reach potential guests based on demographics, interests and travel behaviours.
Example: A luxury boutique hotel can post aesthetically striking videos of its suites, collaborate with travel creators for storytelling content, and use Reels to showcase daily life at the hotel. It can also highlight the hotel’s culinary offerings via Instagram Stories; see our article ‘How Do I Advertise My Luxury Restaurant on Social Media?’ for more guidance on utilising Instagram for your restaurant.
2. TikTok: The Trendsetting Platform
Why TikTok?
TikTok has exploded in popularity over recent years, with over 1 billion active users. Its short, engaging video format is ideal for hotels to get creative and capture attention. TikTok's algorithm gives your content the potential to go viral, helping you reach a large and diverse audience.
Key Features
Viral Potential: The algorithm boosts engaging content, giving your hotel the chance to go viral and reach a broader audience.
Creative Freedom: TikTok encourages authenticity and creativity, making it the perfect platform to showcase your hotel’s personality and behind-the-scenes moments.
Influencer Marketing: Working with TikTok travel creators can help you tell authentic stories and showcase your hotel’s unique qualities.
Best Practices for TikTok Marketing
Create Authentic Content: Use fun, short videos to showcase unique aspects of your hotel, such as special guest services, events, or local attractions.
Participate in Trends: Engage with relevant TikTok trends and challenges quickly to increase visibility, but ensure you only do so with trends that align with your brand and messaging.
Use Carousels: Explore still image carousel posts with valuable and informative content to encourage saves and shares.
Example: A trendy city hotel can use TikTok to create fun, behind-the-scenes videos of their staff prepping for an event, join trending challenges and collaborate with travel creators to create content that resonates with young professional travellers.
3. LinkedIn: The Professional Network
Why LinkedIn?
While often overlooked in the hospitality industry, LinkedIn is an exceptional platform for hotels to raise their profile through one of their most valuable assets—their fantastic employees. Instead of focusing solely on company pages, LinkedIn allows hotel employees to act as brand ambassadors, sharing insights and experiences that help build the hotel's reputation organically and authentically. This employee-driven advocacy can boost visibility in a meaningful way.
Key Features
Employee Advocacy: Encourage your willing hotel staff—especially senior executives, department heads and concierge teams—to share their thoughts and updates on life at the hotel. Authentic voices from within your teams can elevate your brand in a way that company posts often cannot.
Organic Engagement: Content shared by employees tends to generate higher engagement because it feels more personal and relatable, which helps foster a stronger connection with their networks.
Corporate Social Responsibility & Company Updates: While employees can post day-to-day updates, the company page can focus on promoting CSR initiatives, partnerships and events, adding a professional layer to your hotel's public-facing content.
Best Practices for LinkedIn Marketing
Encourage Thought Leadership: Senior staff can - if willing - be encouraged to post on their personal LinkedIn profiles about their professional experiences and topics they care about, such as hospitality trends, guest service tips, new menus and partnerships.
Recognise & Share Employee Wins: Highlight employee accomplishments - from awards to exceptional guest service stories - on both the individual and company LinkedIn profiles.
Promote Events & CSR Initiatives: Employees can share their involvement in hotel-organised events or CSR initiatives, showing authenticity and increasing visibility to their personal networks.
Offer Internal Guidance & Incentives: Provide employees with tips and resources on how to effectively use LinkedIn, and recognise active participants through internal incentives and rewards. Offer examples of post ideas and encourage willing staff to share their unique experiences within the hotel.
Example: A hotel department head can share behind-the-scenes insights on preparing for a major corporate event, while the company profile highlights a new sustainability initiative or partnership.
Conclusion
Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn each offer valuable and sometimes overlooked potential for marketing hotels. Instagram’s visual storytelling, TikTok’s trendsetting potential, and LinkedIn’s employee advocacy provide powerful tools for attracting guests, building partnerships and enhancing a hotel’s online presence. Implementing a clear social media strategy across the platforms that align with your hotel’s commercial goals is key, and will enable your marketing team to allocate resource effectively.
