Instagram is arguably one of the most essential social media channels in terms of Hotel Promotion since travelers use it as a medium to get the most reliable look at the accommodation’s offered experience. Although it is not a means of booking, it certainly contributes to the traveler's final decision and even more so to the exploration of the experience, they will live.
But how do we create our Hotel’s Instagram content that will really enhance our accommodation’s communication strategy? The answer is simple, but first, we need to understand in which way Instagram affects travelers.
More specifically:
- Potential travelers discover the places they want to visit through their daily Instagram scrolls. Therefore, an impressive and, above all, recognizable hotel content, contributes to bringing new audiences to our accommodation, as it will be easily distinguishable. Creating an aesthetic identity and discernible experiences become the key to success while there are many accommodations that have managed to open new markets through their Instagram audience.
- During the market research on hotel booking, many travelers check the Instagram Accounts of their candidate accommodations, which they have discovered usually in OTAs, in order to get a more real-life picture of the hotel. The consistent updating of your hotel’s profile with a more ‘realistic’ content, which should be different from the branding photoshoot, plays a decisive role in enhancing the trustworthiness of the accommodation, as well as the final choice of the traveler.
- In most cases, when the booking is completed, more and more travelers explore the hotel’s profile to see the real experience they offer. At this stage, the storytelling character of the content plays an essential role, since travelers discover both the real feeling of the hotel and the things-to-do. In addition, here lies the possibility of future upselling of services but also the avoidance of cancellation, as travelers will already be engaged with the experience.
Step 1: Use a cell phone with a very good camera resolution. Don't plan your shots, let them occur naturally during the stay, As a normal traveler would experience them.
Hotels, most of the time, upload to their various channels impressive shots from their official photoshoot. However, a social media channel like Instagram requires special material, as it is a medium in which people tend to “capture” their personal experiences in a more casual way. Hotels should also follow this rule so that their posts do not look like advertisements. For this reason, instead of professional equipment, two high-technology mobile phones with very good camera resolution were used, in order for the result to appear as natural as possible, while maintaining its high standards in terms of photo quality. By the same token, Instagram’s photoshoot material was not planned but followed the natural course of the visitor’s stay, capturing the experience in the most realistic way, so as not to produce sophisticated shots, which will reduce the real image that travelers want to find when logging into a social media account.
Step 2: Identify the storyline of your accommodation's experience and select landmark elements and reference points, Which will offer a recognizable character to the Instagram material that will be created.
As the recognizable identity of the photos is the key to the success of a Hotel Instagram Account, the first thing that was identified in the Astra Villa Project was the elements that would make the photos identifiable, aiming that an image would directly be linked to the property. Thus, either specific objects or spots with a characteristic view were selected and highlighted, in order to set the stage for the recognizable experience. Then, a spontaneous Storyline was developed, dividing the shots into categories such as Design Lifestyle, People and Signature Experiences, in order to get a more methodical material production. These material categories will be the skeleton of all communication and the canvas of Instagram communication from the hereafter.
The Landmarks:
After selecting the signature spots, they were included in the appropriate category, aiming at a more engaged communication with the audience.
The People:
As people play a key role in the experience offered by a hotel, they are also an essential part of our Instagram communication, allowing for immediate and dynamic engagement of travelers with the faces of the accommodation. More specifically, the Project presented:
- The Manager: It is the service reference point of the specific villa.
- The Housekeeper: The most central person to assist travelers, with whom they have daily contact.
- The Chef and his team: They care about one of the unique experiences of the accommodation
The Signature Experience:
Each accommodation must provide one or more unique experiences, which Instagram gives you the opportunity to present in the most realistic way. The Astra Villa Project, both with its specially designed services and its unique operation service, provided two pillars of signature experiences for its Instagram Feed, which were captured in the most direct way.
- The Cliff Barbeque: A special private event set up on the pool terrace, focusing on Monolith Barbeque, combined with the perfect personalized service from the Villa’s Food Crew.
- The Stunning Sunset: The world-famous Santorini sunset, framed in a unique way in Astra Villa, enhancing the feeling of the phenomenon.
