Content marketing is hard work and it’s definitely a must for any hotel or any brand for that matter. Your content across all your social media websites is what will sell your rooms. In this blog I will share a few tips on your digital content with you.

First thing first, your content should be different on each social media platform. On Instagram, for instance, your content should be different than that which is on your Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest accounts. If you have the same content on all your social media platforms it means that you don’t give your audience different reasons to follow you on each of these channels – as I have explained in another video.

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1. Before you start creating content and posting it, you need to have a content strategy in place. The reason is very simple, you can’t just post pictures, write blog articles or create Periscope Videos without knowing who your target audience is, the message you want to put across and and who you want to attract. You need to have a content strategy in place.

As a hotel you need branded content, that is your job or the job of your agent. All your content needs to be branded and I don’t mean a massive logo on all your pictures or blog articles that go on about how great you are. What I mean is having a small logo on the side or your own hashtag. You need to create relevant content that is consistent with your brand guidelines.

Relevant content gives you the opportunity to sell. – Alexander Novicov

2. What do you want your outcome to be?

Once you know who your target is, it’s fundamental that you know why you are developing content for them. Sometimes I hear marketing managers say that they need to sell with via their content on Twitter & Facebook. What about your current clients? How do you increase loyalty? Well you can, for example, create your daily content for your current clients that already know your hotel and also create paid ads for your potential clients. That’s another tip for you. You have to decide what you want from your content strategy. Is it brand recognition, customer loyalty, or the ability to expose your hotel to new customers? Once all stakeholders on your marketing team can clearly state your goals, you should evaluate any content ideas or opportunities to create relevant content, and what content will achieve or not achieve your goals.

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Keith Wiegold, with the Content Marketing Institute, sums up point one and two by saying “the key to engaging content is to put the customer first, to solve the customer’s problems and answer any questions. This requires an understanding of their beliefs, feelings, wants and needs.”

3. Use professionals

Sometimes common sense is not common practice. Use professionals to do the job, whether that be a photographer, a person to create videos or a digital agency. Now, you might say that you can’t have a photographer every day at your hotel right? Well I’m not saying you need a photographer every day, but you can hire one to visit your hotel once a month and take creative pictures so you have content for the month. Video production as well, hire a person to do videos for you but please don’t do videos about how great your hotel is, do something creative. If you have an agency, double check what they are doing with other clients. I know sometimes it’s hard to understand if an agency is good or not BUT you can always see their blog and what they are writing about. Check that your content is not a duplication of what they have already written for another hotel client. Can you imagine having the same content idea as your competitor? I will be writing another blog on how to choose a digital agency, so more information on that soon..

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You probably have an iPhone, use that, yes I said it use your iPhone. It takes great pictures and you can obviously take an online course to learn about the basics and capture some daily pictures in your hotel. The reason that it’s fine to take a picture with your iPhone is because when you have a lot of excellent pictures from a professional you can add some pictures which are more ‘authentic’ and spontaneous. People will love that.

4. More and more videos

In a LinkedIn article about social video that I wrote, I explain why videos are important. I will just say this: create more and more video marketing. Use Periscope & Meerkat  ( you can do it via your iPhone or Android) to communicate with the world. Please use them now and you will thank me later.

More videos… live videos like Periscope & Meerkat can communicate a compelling message to help you get found by more prospects and communicate your unique message.

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5. Be unique

Is your hotel the same as the one down the street? I don’t think so. The difference between them can not only be found in the logo or the sea view from your hotel, the major difference is in your story, in your values, your service and all the other things that makes your hotel stand out. That’s why you have to be unique and not have the need to copy the concept or a picture that your competitor uses. You might have three restaurants and so on.

6. Tell your story like it’s 2015

Storytelling is fundamental,  in this day and age we need to be storytelling like it’s 2015. Meaning that now we have Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Email Marketing and other online channels where we can share our story with our audience in 2015. Tell your story and inspire people.

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7. Have a powerful blog

Invest in a very good blog and update it on a regular basis. As I mentioned in my other video you have to become a media company. Create content not just about your hotel, your area, your city but about your country. Don’t compete with other hotels, compete with yourself. Become better than you were yesterday and Think Beyond.

I hope this blog and video blog helped you. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel and never miss a video again. Also follow me on Twitter for daily beyond tweets.