6 Quick Tipps For Using Instagram As A Hospitality Business

This is a guest article by Imran Azam, founder of thisisreel and snapchat guru.

In a short space of time AirBnB has built an industry disrupting service that taps into a travellers desire to connect with others on a human level. For the hospitality industry the challenge has been for brands to connect with guests on a human level in order to develop deep relationships, provide authentic experiences and distinguish themselves from the competition. Offering an efficient and quality services just is enough anymore.

Blog post by Daniel Zelling, founder of opensmjle.

Instagram for hospitality businesses – a no-brainer or a waste of time?

Looking into new ways for marketing your brand via social media channels? Ok, then continue reading…

Facebook, Google+ and Twitter covered? So what could be the next big thing for hospitality brands?
Well, did you have a look at Instagram yet? Well, why not? Here some key stats:

75 million daily users
200 million monthly active users
8.33 Mio. new users each month
1.2 Billion new likes a day
Since June 2013: Introduction of 15 sec. videos

Sounds like a network to be considered? Ok, agree, a good part of the community is still based in the US. But wasn´t that the same for our friends from Facebook or Twitter back in the good old days? Do you remember? Alright, in case you’re not on Instagram yet, it is probably about time to apply your resources there as well.

Let´s look into what works best with this photo and video sharing social network growing your audience and increasing engagement via Instagram to ultimately, well, sell your services, right?

Why use Instagram as a hotel or restaurant?

Instagram could be a perfect option for connecting with your fans in a new way. As an image- and video-based platform it is ideal to increase brand awareness and user engagement, e.g. by using dedicated promotions. But, the best things in life sometimes ain´t for free…why?

The more your brand participates in the community sharing compelling content…
…the larger your fan base will grow and…
…that´s the base for generating buzz through public and private campaigns, as well as giveaways or contests later on.

Ok, but where´s the issue? Well, all of above means dedicated resources to cover all that! And that´s not for free in most cases.

Still curious? Ok, then here´s 6 quick hints on using Instagram as a business:

1. Brand awareness & brand loyalty
A great example is American Airlines (the link to leads to one of their most active accounts).
The air-carrier uses Instagram to build brand loyalty among passionate travelers. All campaigns focus on sharing high-quality, authentic images of all topics related to aviation, including exterior and interior shots of aircraft and views from the wing; and certainly all pics are tagged with the hashtag #AmericanView. Here two example screenshots:

Scandic Hotels for example uses Instagram mainly for product and service branding. But they are aware of existing limits with this network:
For example active links cannot be posted on Instagram postings and like that it is impossible to use a tracking system analyzing conversions like newsletter registrations or generated room nights as a direct linkage to the website – this could change in the future though! Here the main Instagram site of Scandic International celebrating the last visit by famous chef Jamie Oliver.

2. Inspiration:
In line with the 5 stages of travel and a study conducted by Google in Asia Pacific on the influence of social media in the ‘dreaming’ and ‘planning’ phases Instagram can easily be added as a channel of inspiration. Instagram is a great visual stimulation tool serving as inspiration for hotels, resorts or destinations. Here the 5 stages of travel overview based on a Google study in Asia Pacific on the influence of social media in travel:

3. Images:
Striking visual content more than ever stimulates the interest of potential guests and buyers, and it’s the most important factor in fan engagement on Instagram for brands. Here three key aspects to consider by Ekaterina Walter, author of ‘The Power Of Visual Storytelling’:

opensmjle.-Prezi-Screenshot_Ekaterina-Walter

When it comes to images any business should differentiate into two options:

Smartphone photos: Great for in-the-moment photos and instant uploads, e.g. holiday pictures and sunsets
Photos by professional photographers: For HD images to highlight specific products

Here´s an examples of a nice branded Instagram campaign – Lonely Planet’s ‘LPinstawalk’:
It encouraged participants to post their favorite photos of the cities tagging them with #LPinstawalk. In this example Lonely Planet even combined that with a prize: 15 participants won a three-hour guided walk of London led by destination expert and Lonely Planet author Sally Schafer and prominent urban instagrammer @mrwhisper, as well as a copy of Pocket London. Here one example for the #LPinstawalk in use:

4. Contests & #Hashtags
Contests are a great way to engage with fans. They generate buzz and each side benefits. Your fans have a chance to win something they like and you have an opportunity to reach a wider audience and gain new followers and brand ambassadors.
Here´s what you should do:

Keep it simple, fun and brand-related:
If it’s too generic, you’ll get irrelevant photos from people who aren’t interested in your brand or products.
Use a unique hashtag:
Without a hashtag, you won’t see all entries or be able to track your success. Using a hashtag that includes your brand’s name gives you the added benefit of branding your campaign.

In this example from KitchenAid you can see how key information and the respective #hashtag were included in the image positioning their brand and product.

Additional #hashtag hints:

Use hashtags thoughtfully keeping in mind that overuse may kill engagement.
The right hashtag powers campaigns and make them more popular.
For the usage of hashtags Instagram is very similar to Twitter.
Goal when creating your own hashtags: Create unique ones, e.g. in correlation with your brand, and with relevance to your followers.

5. Instagram Videos – 15 seconds of fame
Since June 2013 Instagram added the possibility to add 15 seconds videos in addition to their photo services. Nice feature: Video producers have the possibility to enhance the look and feel of their videos with 13 new filters whilst in the process of creating on Instagram. Certainly a big help for non-professional video producers helping to enhance the quality providing a more professional and aesthetically pleasing result.

With their 15 seconds videos this gives creators breathing room to tell their story. The longer time frame, e.g. compared to Vine (subsidiary of Twitter) is typical for brands, as especially online video ads tend to have the same timeframe -most certainly no coincidence. So the key features of Instagram videos are:

Time frame to tell your story: 15 seconds
Filters for a more professional appearance: 13
Last shot editable in case not up to the directors standards
Previously created videos can be uploaded and edited to fit Instagram allowing brands to create polished, professional, and tailored video messages
Sharing: Instagram allows direct sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, Email, and Foursquare.

Here a nice example video by Marriott Hotels using Instagram´s 15 seconds video to tell their story:

6. Instagram Direct
Instagram Direct allows Instagram users to send pictures and videos privately, like a direct message on Twitter or a private message on Facebook. And yes, only you and the person or group you send a message to will be able to see the image/video and related conversation.
Now, this means for brands certainly to have the opportunity to reach their most engaged fans via a direct message, e.g. by reaching out to individual followers or by creating a group message distributed to up to 15 followers which can even be segmented based on location and demographics.

A really promising feature for direct marketing messages which, so far, is still underestimated. The first brands in hospitality picking up on this feature in the right way could gain a new channel for promoting their brand. Just think about specific offers sent via Instagram Direct videos to your followers that no now else would see or get…sounds interesting? Here the official Instagram Direct video to learn more:

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Hints for Instagram Direct:

Look through your photo stream to find your most engaged fans, e.g. fans who comment a lot or favorite your photos more than others.
These fans are the most likely to buy your products and services.
You may create a group of these fans to introduce new products, special promotions, announce giveaways and contests or drive traffic to your website.
You still have to use a picture or video to get started, as Instagram Direct doesn’t support text-only messages AND
When using Instagram Direct for marketing, please use something creative and interesting. Otherwise this could appear spammy and result in users unfollowing you.

Conclusion:
Instagram definitely is not a 100% no-brainer, as using it in a professional manner involves preparation, building and managing an audience constantly, staying on top of the latest trends and functionality and more…but if you are ready to take advantage of the nice functionality – even if only for creating and sharing with Facebook or Twitter, then it is a great tool and definitely not a waste of any marketers time.

Finally, in case you decided to opt for using Instagram for photos or videos consider that you always should try to be personal and before starting to post you first should try to learn more about whom is your potential target group. What are topics they like, what visuals do they engage with and what could be branded stories they are likely to pick up and talk about. For new trends on Instagram try to act quickly, but hej, don’t worry if you miss one – in other words be resilient and keep trying.

We wish you a lot of fun trying Instagram as your new social media marketing channel. Any requests on how to use Instagram for your brand? Let us know via hej@opensmjle.com

Any experience yet with Instagram usage as a brand? We would be very curious about the results and ideas. So please let us know via hej@opensmjle.com or share it via the comment field below. Happy #instamood, #picoftheday, #instasmjle,…

Related links:
Social Media Examiner – Create Winning Instagram Profile
Eyefortravel – Social Media and Marketing | 6 Ways To Build Your Presence On Instagram
Leonardo Blog – Vine and Instagram Part 1

6 Quick Tipps For Using Instagram As A Hospitality Business

Instagram for hospitality businesses – a no-brainer or a waste of time?

Why use Instagram as a hotel or restaurant?

Still curious? Ok, then here´s 6 quick hints on using Instagram as a business:

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