SiteMinder recently published its Global Hotel Business Index for 2018. The report took an in-depth look at the key drivers of success for hoteliers across the world.
SiteMinder surveyed global hoteliers to find out how they approach their challenges and opportunities in 2018 and beyond.
The survey, which was answered by more than 550 global hoteliers from both independents and groups, covered everything from direct booking strategies and financial plans to staffing management and technology adoption, and of course, the future.
As part of the questionnaire, hoteliers were also asked which social media channels proved the most successful for their marketing activities. Here are the results…
The usual suspects dominate social media marketing for hotels – with one surprise
Hoteliers were asked choose ‘very successful’, ‘somewhat successful’, ‘not successful’, or ‘I don’t use this channel’ for all the major social media platforms. The most interesting findings included:
Very Successful
- Facebook – 30.62%
- Google+ – 15.11%
- Instagram – 11.53%
- Youtube – 4.17%
- Twitter – 3.58%
- LinkedIn – 2.78%
- Pinterest – 1.39%
- Snapchat – 0.80%
I don’t use this channel
- Snapchat – 84.69%
- Pinterest – 81.31%
- YouTube – 67.99%
- LinkedIn – 65.41%
- Twitter – 59.84%
- Instagram – 45.92%
- Google+ – 34.19%
- Facebook – 9.54%
What did hoteliers say about social media?
During the survey, hoteliers were also given the chance to provide direct quotes about their position on social media marketing.
Here’s a selection of the key comments:
“I believe this is a specialist’s area and we lack the the in-depth knowledge and know how to effectively manage this process in today’s fast developing technology space.”
“While social media helps our profile, it’s difficult to measure its impact in terms of actual bookings.”
“We mainly use Facebook, but our usage is limited since our target market is not the younger generations.”
What are SiteMinder’s insights on the findings?
There were a few surprises from the results. It was unexpected to see Google+ outperform Instagram, given the image sharing platform’s apparent compatibility with hotel and travel marketing. Instagram can be a very powerful platform to build brand awareness, create stories and evoke emotional desires. For hotels in popular tourist destinations and exotic locations, it should prove useful for engaging with travellers. For examples on how to use Instagram at your hotel, read this article.
While Snapchat was a popular trend for a while, it’s been realised as somewhat of a passing fad and with Instagram introducing identical features, Snapchat is not on the radar of hotel brands at the moment, and probably won’t be again.
It’s important to note how dominant Facebook is, looking at these results. Not only was it seen as the most successful social media channel, but its adoption far outweighs any other platform.
For many hoteliers, social media is not seen as a primary driver of bookings and revenue, and is consequently not utilised as strongly as it could be. YouTube, or video content marketing in general, is something hotels should try to get creative with and use to make powerful statements to prospective guests. In the travel industry, nothing speaks louder than stunning imagery that potential guests can share with their friends.
