Becoming more social

In the latest webinar hosted by HOSPA, Harry Fielder, CEO Umi, community chair Hotel Marketing Association, discussed the role of social media in hotel marketing with Chloe Parry, content marketing executive, Carden Park.

Attendees heard about the latest changes to Instagram and Facebook, which have included greater use of AI to influence suggested posts, something which can be used by content creators to extend reach.

Video remains popular on all platforms, with new features including trial reels on Instagram encouraging creators to move on from images alone. Parry said: “If you created a video, and it's a little bit different to what you usually do, and you're not too sure about it, you can try a trial reel and then if it performs really well, give it a go and post on your main feed.

“A lot of creators are seeing an increase in their engagement overall because they are posting trial reels.”

Turning to Facebook, Parry told attendees that she anticipated a return to a focus on more content from friends over recommended posts. She said: “They are looking to bring back the original experience, in its own tab. You would see your friends posts, and that is it.

“I think that would be really quite nice, instead of seeing all the noise of recommended pages instead. It's not confirmed if businesses will also be included in that, but it’s definitely one to keep an eye on, because that could be really good for engagement; people who already follow us are already interested in us as well. So the likelihood is, the engagement is going to be really good.

“They are also turning every video post into a reel. Video is not going anywhere and they want you to concentrate that.”

Parry credited the rise of TikTok during lockdown for the increases use of video, adding that social media content creators had to have a more diverse array of talents than in the past, adding: “it’s very difficult now to have a social media manager that does absolutely everything.

“Having a content team is becoming more and more crucial to create that content that stops the scroll. And then you have all the analytics side as well. I is difficult to do it all on your own.”

Within analytics, Parry said: If we post [videos] on a Monday or a Wednesday, they perform a lot better. So have a look at your analytics. See when your followers are online and have a little play with it as well.”

Looking at the choice available, Parry concluded: “Instagram is possibly one of the most important [platforms] to be on at the moment, because so many people use it, especially when booking holidays. I do it myself.

“TikTok is a necessity for us, because we get so much business through there. It does take a lot of time. It's been an awful lot of learning for us. We've seen great growth, but it's a lot of commitment.”

Addressing frequency, Parry added: “We were posting every day on every app. And we sat down, said: ‘You know, our engagement isn't as great as it used to be’, and a lot of people are seeing that. Their engagement dropping because there is such a sheer amount on there now.

“So we've decided to start stripping it back. At the moment we're posting three times a week.”