User-generated content can take many forms: reviews, testimonials, comments, social posts, forums, videos, etc. And it is a content that basically works because of its reliability. Because everyone knows that a brand can pay a copywriter to write wonders about it. And when a potential consumer searches for content from this brand, they know that if another user has created it, they can trust it.
In fact, according to some statistics from Statista content sharing was the most popular social media activity in 2016 and $945 million in YouTube revenue was the result of this UGC.
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Thus, with respect to the tourism sector, the fact that travelers share their experience through social networks now more than ever is not a novelty. And if your potential customers are already generating content, why not take advantage of this behavior?
According to a recent study, 97% of Millenials post content on these social media when they travel. As you know, online reviews from your customers can be very influential because when planning a trip, potential guests do not only take into account the price.
When this
user-generated content
is taken into account and used well, it can significantly increase your brand exposure, and your hotel’s occupancy. In short, it can help you make more sales. That’s why today we’re giving you some tips on how to take advantage of user-generated content.
The basics:
1. Be active in social networks.
Being present on social networks is not enough, you also have to be active. Make sure your guests can easily find you by promoting your different social platforms, for example, from your hotel’s website and through the emails you send. Encourage your customers to post on their social profiles by creating interactive content.
2. Create your own hashtags.
This is obvious but essential. Create your own hashtags that will make it easier for your guests to tag you when they post about your hotel. These hashtags will make you gain more visibility on social networks. And they will also help you to follow the activity of your community users, in order to manage the UGC.
3. Use appropriate tools.
Think that when a guest tags your hotel in one of their posts, it appears in your newsfeed. However, if it is not labeled correctly, you will not receive any notification. For this reason, you have to use tools, such as Hootsuite to be notified even when customers don’t tag you properly. Thanks to these tags, you can see any of these users’ publications, whether they are text or visual.
4. Plan and analyze.
In addition, tools like HubSpot allow you to schedule your publications in advance and analyze the activity of your platforms to monitor the results. Automation and analysis in these cases is fundamental to save time, so that you can dedicate more effort to identify the content generated by your users.
5. Share the content.
In addition, you should always share, retweet, “like”comments, reviews, photos and videos posted by users in your community. And don’t hesitate to publish on your hotel’s website your guests’ comments posted on Trip Advisor or on their social media accounts.
6. Encourages reviews.
Never forget that even if social media is becoming more and more important, it is still necessary to encourage your guests to post a review on travel websites like TripAdvisor which are still very influential in the planning stage of a trip.
The second stage:
Now think that if you want to go a step further, you also have to perform a series of actions to boost your social media strategy.
7. Take advantage of phenomena.
Ideally, the users of your social media community should not only be your customers, but also potential guests. But before reaching them you need to create the reasons to encourage them to participate in your networks. And to do so, you must keep abreast of the most current phenomena. For example, you can set up a selfie station in your own hotel. As you may have noticed by now, the selfie phenomenon is growing and now not only Millennials are taking them.
Encourage your guests to use this station and post their selfies on their social media profiles. Publications in which they will be able to tag your hotel with the hastags you have created. This provides the ideal environment to continue working with the content generated by these users. And keep in mind that reciprocity is vital! Don’t forget to tag and thank your customers for the gesture.
8. Organize contests.
Plus, as you know, travelers love to share their travel experience. Take advantage of this content sharing trend and organize contests, for example image or video contests. Audiovisual content is the most demanded by travel consumers.
The reward whether it be dinner, overnight stays, tickets to local events or even free stays, must be in line with the level of effort required for the contest. When contestants have to put in the effort to produce content and you reward their talent accordingly, you get
more engagement
.
He thinks it is more interesting to share and consume content that reflects effort and talent. And by publicly announcing the winner through your hotel’s social media platforms, you can create more awareness for your future contests.
9. Focus on deep engagement.
Many of the social media actions that brands carry out are focused on engagement. However, sometimes this “falling in love” is superficial if you do not work to reach the heart of the client or potential client. Therefore, instead of just performing the basic actions to get more user-generate content, you must also strive to create communities that connect users who link to your hotel’s brand.
If you allow not only user-hotel engagement but also user-user engagement, you will see that this deeper connection is only a matter of time. In this way, not only will you be able to identify the experts in these communities (those who provide the most solutions and points of view about your products and services), but you will also be identifying your true promoters: your brand ambassadors. Who are usually
influencers
who facilitate the buying process.
10. It’s not just marketing.
User-generated content campaigns should not only focus on gaining awareness and sharing. You can also learn a lot from the content your users create. You can find out what their preferences are, how they perceive your brand, how they use your products and services, if there are any problems that you can solve.
User-generated content is credible, provides value to your hotel, creates loyalty and attracts new customers. Encourage your guests to share their experience to strengthen the relationship with users in your social media community. Because when travelers have to choose between two hotels, user-generated content makes the difference. There is no better proof that your hotel is worthwhile than a customer’s opinion.
