In these fast-paced times, companies that want to have a social media presence have to go beyond simply creating an account and adding occasional content. Creating a digital presence is a continuous process, and it takes time and effort to maintain and grow an audience.
It is vastly important for vacation rental managers to understand social media itself, and to use it efficiently to promote their business. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram make this process creative and fun, with the capability to reach a vast amount of people. Exploring these platforms and how best to use them is the first step in unlocking social media’s potential for any business, and particularly for vacation rental managers to reach future guests.
Build Your Brand Personality
Developing your business’s brand personality is the first step in creating a solid foundation for your social media. Essential building blocks for creating a brand personality include relevant photography, a personal tone, and direct communication lines from your audience to management. Once you start to build your brand personality and grow your positive client/audience interactions, a positive brand reputation will follow.
It is important to note that different platforms can be utilized in different ways. For example, Facebook is a great platform to share images, specials/updates, and connect on a more personal level with your audience. Instagram works beautifully for the vacation rental industry because of its focus on eye-catching photography, whereas a platform like Twitter is used for short and often quirkier messaging tactics. Each one of these platforms, when utilized properly, can bring in positive attention and continued support from your audience and guests.
Plan Ahead & Stay Connected
Social media can seem a bit overwhelming at first, but one vital feature is the ability to pre-schedule posts and content. Facebook’s Creator Studio shows published and scheduled content for any page being managed by your company. Recently, the platform was updated to allow linking between Facebook and Instagram posts, making sharing content more straightforward than ever before.
While planning multiple posts at once is helpful for time management purposes, it would be a mistake to walk away from the computer and assume that the job is done. It’s important to keep an eye on your audience and guest communications on a daily basis. Vacation rental managers or other company representatives should frequently check social media platforms for direct messages, comments, and other forms of communication. It’s important to prioritize a clear communication line between the visitor and customer service. Guests will feel more connected to a company that has their best interests in mind. The faster the reply to an issue, the higher opinion the visitor will have of the business.
Metrics, Metrics, Metrics
Lastly, one of the biggest advantages that social media gives a business is tracking their audience’s behavior. Once you have established your social media goals and aligned your brand personality, you can see your strategy fall into place. Engagement, likes, comments, shares, and clicks will be the most significant category to track. If engagement is high, then the campaigns are working, and if not, changes need to be made to be successful.
This is just the tip of the iceberg that is social media. There are tons of tools and tricks to utilize each platform successfully. Thankfully, RealTech Webmasters is here to help with every social media need!
