Are you a Twitter newbie and looking for ways to better your hotel’s Twitter strategy? Sending a message in 140 characters or less seems simple enough, but there are many actions you can take to grow your followers and create interest about your hotel on Twitter. Follow these seven steps and soon you will be on your way to being twitficient (knowledgeable when using Twitter)!
1.) It’s All In The Name!
Create a username that is closest to your business name and easy to remember. You will want other twitter users to be able to know what you represent just by seeing your Twitter handle. Consider including the brand name and location in your username. As you grow and connect with other Twitter users you will be mentioned and your messages will be retweeted. It’s best if people remember your name and who you are; the more simple and clear the name the better!
2.) Appearance Is Everything!
Just like your hotel’s website, you want your Twitter profile page to clearly represent the atmosphere of the actual hotel. Create friendly background colors and textures and include easy-to-view pictures of your hotel. Let followers know what your hotel looks like and give a picture to your Twitter voice!
3.) Content is King!
This can’t be said enough and it’s so incredibly true. What you post on Twitter must be relevant and interesting to your followers. Engage your audience with interesting content and you will find more people responding, retweeting, and mentioning you on the network. Tweet about happenings at your hotel, new specials, highlight the on-site restaurant, feature star employees, and anything else exciting about your hotel. Position yourself on Twitter as an expert on the local area. Make recommendations for local attractions, the best spots to dine, and all upcoming events in the area. Within your tweets include links to informative sites, pictures, hashtags and Twitter lingo to connect with your followers and gain even more!
4.) Interact!
There’s more to just sending messages on Twitter; it’s a great place to listen to other Tweeters and join in on the conversation. Connect with past guests, current guests, potential guests, travel enthusiasts, other hotels, local businesses and attractions, sports teams…the list is endless! Respond directly to their tweets, ask them questions, retweet interesting messages, give a shout out to another Tweeter in a message, and follow back other accounts. There are many ways to interact with other Tweeters and it only helps to establish your hotel as a significant Twitter account. Twitterers will easily find you on the network, see you are an active and captivating Twitter account and quickly hit the follow button.
5.) Talk to Your Guests!
It’s as simple as asking your guests to follow you on Twitter. Just like you want a good review left on TripAdvisor, you want your guests to follow you on Twitter. Let the front desk be an additional voice and advocate of your Twitter account. When you have a satisfied guest inform them of your Twitter account and ask them to follow you! Stay in front of your past guests on Twitter, and they will remember you and make you the hotel of choice in your area. Plus past guests can recommend your hotel with a mention on Twitter and continue to interact with your tweets about the hotel.
6.) Create Hype!
What better way to grow your network than create an incentive to follow you. Offering a prize will grow interest and followers on your page. You will find new followers that are interested in the prize, but create a new customer by captivating them with your content, promotions, hotel specials, and events.
7.) Promote!
Go beyond creating your account, tweeting good content and connecting with travelers, businesses, and community. Promote your Twitter account through offline channels and sites apart from Twitter. As mentioned above, gain followers from guests at your property. Besides asking guests to follow, create flyers to place on property with information about your Twitter page. Even direct them with a link or use QR codes for guests with smart phones to immediately connect with your page. Add a link to your Twitter page on all hotel personnel’s email signatures. Add Twitter widgets to the hotel’s webpage for travelers searching the hotel to connect with on Twitter. Don’t forget about other social media networks. Use Facebook as a platform to direct current fans to your Twitter page. Get creative and promote your Twitter page through different channels and watch your followers grow and interactions increase!