Posted on Aug 22nd 2013
in Social Media
There are now over 1.15 billion Facebook users worldwide, and the typical user creates an average of 90 pieces of content a month, according to recent data from the company. With such a mass of content piling up every day, getting your resort’s message seen by your guests is not always easy.
So how do you get noticed by the people that matter? Here are 10 posting strategies to promote engagement, improve visibility and drive more traffic to your resort’s website.
1. Post When Your Guests are Most Active Online
Several studies have shown that the majority of Facebook users are most active in the early morning or evening – unsurprising, when you consider many workplaces now have strict restrictions on social media use during office hours. Peak mobile internet usage times have consistently tied with the hours most people spend commuting to and from work, while recent data shows that as many as 80% of smartphone users between the ages of 18 and 44 check their devices within 15 minutes of waking. Taking all this data together, it makes good sense to concentrate your posting efforts outside business hours when more of your guests are likely to be available to respond to your content.
2. Encourage Engagement
If you’re trying to generate Likes, don’t be afraid to remind your Fans to hit the Like button. Equally, if you’re looking for comments or shares, it pays to ask for them outright.
For example, “It’s another day of clear blue skies here on the Gold Coast, click share if you’d love to be here with us”
3. Include Exclusive Discounts
Acknowledge and show appreciation for your Facebook fans by running special offers and discounts exclusively for them.
One of the best ways to do this is to use Facebook Offers to create discounts which show up in Fan’s news feeds, increasing the likelihood that they’ll get seen and generate a response.
4. Don’t Forget the ‘Pin’ Function
If you have an important post that you really want guests to see and engage with, don’t forget about the “pin” function. Pinning posts to the top of your Timeline will help get what you’re saying seen for a longer period of time.
5. Promoted Posts
Another great way to get your content noticed is to make use of Promoted Posts. This relatively new Facebook feature gives you the option to turn anything you post on your Timeline into an ad that displays at the top of user’s newsfeed’s. You can choose to display your ad purely to Fans and friends of Fans, or target it to a particular age or gender demographic from your entire Facebook audience. Either way, Promoted Posts are a great way to increase your reach and get your resort’s name in front of both current and potential guests.
6. Pose Poll Questions
Asking your fans occasional questions using Facebook’s poll function helps create an interactive dialogue between you and your audience.
You can use polls to get valuable feedback or even to improve engagement by posting about a topical subject like The Ashes. When posing poll questions, using words such as “why,” “would”, and “should” is the best way to drive higher response rates.
7. Highlight Posts
Want to make a particular post more prominent? Highlighting a post will increase its size so that it spans both Timeline columns, boosting its visibility in front of your Fans.
8. Use Visual Content
Video and images are one of the most powerful ways to stand out on any online platform, but particularly on Facebook where a glut of new content is posted each day. Social network specialists Roost have found that images generate an average of 50% more impressions than any other type of content on Facebook and are 22% more likely to prompt users to interact with a brand.
With these stats, and the popularity of purely visual platforms like Pinterest in mind, it pays to incorporate photos and video into your social media marketing campaign wherever you can. You might post a photo of a recently refurbished room, create a tour video showing off your best facilities or share a video of a local event, for example.
9. Share Posts from Other Business Pages
Sharing posts created by other businesses is another way to boost traffic and increase engagement.
Not only is this a great way to network with local businesses, it also helps get your resort’s page in front of many more pairs of eyes. That’s because each time you share a post created by another business, it will display highlighted on their page, giving you a public relations boost and a chance to widen your reach.
10. Keep it Concise
Research has shown the business posts under 80 characters consistently generate better engagement rates than lengthier posts. Keeping your content short and sweet at between 1 and 40 characters is the most effective way to generate engagement.
Are you putting these strategies into action to boost your visibility and engagement rates on Facebook? Let us know in the comments.
Related blog posts and service:
- The 411 on The New Facebook Insights Page
- The 411 on The New Facebook Insights Page
