8 Must-Have Hotel Facebook Apps

You have heard all about how important social media is to the travel industry and more specifically the importance of social media for the hospitality industry. You have listened and hopefully you have taken action to introduce your hotel to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, FourSquare, TripAdvisor and other relevant social media sites.  But now, you are finding your foray into social media has fallen flat.

Start the year with a focus on spicing up the hotel’s Facebook page to grow fans, increase interactions and ultimately prove a return on investment on your page.  Pepper in some of the best hotel apps on the hotel’s Facebook page to attain your social media goals.  Adding tabs to your hotel’s Facebook page will not only make your page appear more interesting, but will actually give visitors more to do on your page!  Applications capture visitors’ attention, draw them in, push them to interact with the page and provide opportunity for fans to take action with the brand.

Flavor the Hotel Facebook Page with these Apps:

  1. Welcome Tab – Greet newcomer’s to your page as you would welcome guests into your hotel.  I would even recommend setting this tab as the default page that appears to new visitors.  Utilize the page to invite them to your hotel and ask them to like your page! Simply create your welcome app as an iframe and you are on your way to gaining fans to the page.
  2. YouTube – After you’ve welcomed your guest to the page, offer a tour to show them around.  By adding a YouTube app that connects to videos of your hotel, you can show off the property without leaving Facebook.  The video component is engaging and a fantastic way to show searchers your hotel beyond the photo albums.
  3. TripAdvisor– You can only say so much about yourself; offer visitors a chance to hear what others have to say about your hotel by adding a TripAdvisor app.  TripAdvisor will provide the html code to add a snippet of current reviews and hotel ratings along with a link to write a review.  This app is a great addition so long as your hotel has a high rating and mostly all positive reviews.  Otherwise it will just advertise the hotel’s weaknesses and have a negative effect on goals to drive revenue from Facebook.
  4. Twitter– Looking to share even more information with your fans?  Then add the Twitter application to the page.  The Twitter app pulls in all your tweets from Twitter to your Facebook page.  The app promotes your Twitter page to attract fans from Facebook to convert to followers on Twitter too.  Be sure to optimize your Twitter page with these helpful tips.
  5. Coupons– Everyone is looking for a deal!  Create a Coupons app to offer a deal such as 10% off dinner, or a free room upgrade to your Facebook fans.  The coupon app encourages visitors to like the page and is an extra incentive to take action and visit the hotel.  Plus, hotels can track the coupon and in turn measure ROI.
  6. Email Sign Up – Your page offers fans so much information but they still can’t get enough!  They want the opportunity to join a mailing list.  Add an Email Sign Up tab for fans to add their contact information.  Check out Constant Contact or MailChimp’s app to add a basic form and start transferring fans from Facebook to contacts on your email list.
  7. My Top Fans – Reward your fans and encourage interactions at the same time with the My Top Fans application.  The app evaluates interactions between the page and its fans to determine which fans engage with the page the most.  Once the app calculates the most interactive fans it features the fans on the page.  The app is great motivator for fans to interact with the hotel’s page to earn “Top Fan” status.
  8. Booking Widget – Let me guess, your primary concern with managing the Facebook page is proving a return on investment.  Add a booking widget to the page and start using Facebook as another source for making direct reservations.  Fans will love the convenience of booking a room right from the page and the hotel can start measuring a quantitative ROI.

Use this list of hotel Facebook applications as a starting point to add some more flair to the page.  These apps all aim to help increase page fans, lure fans to interact with the brand and in due course bring business to the hotel.

What other apps would you find beneficial to hotel Facebook pages?

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