What just happened in social media and what it means for hospitality.

The last few months have been a whirlwind of social media updates coming from every direction, many of which have been fueled by the Facebook controversy. In the midst of all the news, it’s been difficult for many of our clients to sort out which changes are most relevant to them. Take a close look at all the updates below and see how they’ll affect hotels and resorts.

Some Facebook Page Admins Need to Be Verified

Facebook has actively been making a large number of changes to protect user privacy. One of those changes will directly affect many hotels and resorts, as the admins of Pages with large follower counts will need to be verified.

What This Means for Hotels

There’s a lot we don’t know about the specifics of this update—we just know that it will be happening. Facebook hasn’t yet announced what counts as “large followings,” or how admins will be verified, but keep an eye out for this, and we will, too.

Instagram Is Getting Ready to Launch Nametags

TechCrunch recently shared the first look at the soon-to-be-launching Instagram nametags. These nametags are a copycat of Snapchat’s QR codes, and they’ll allow business profiles to create unique images that people can scan with their Stories camera to follow you on Instagram. Image source: https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/09/instagram-nametags/

What This Means for Hotels

Any feature that makes it easier for guests to follow you on social media is automatically a good feature. You can place small signs around your hotel or in your guests’ rooms or brochures containing the new nametag and encouraging them to share their experience and tag your hotel in the process.

Streamlining the process and making it easier for your guests increases the likelihood that they’ll follow through, giving you more followers and possibly more UGC all in one fell swoop.

Instagram is Testing a Q&A Sticker

Another Instagram feature—which is likely slightly further down the road than the Nametags but hopefully still coming soon—is a new Q&A sticker. This feature will allow Instagram users to ask questions in a Story. Users will be able to respond privately. It’s like a more elaborate version of the current polling sticker, which already has proven to deliver great engagement. Image source: https://wabetainfo.com/instagram-to-support-question-and-answer-sticker/

What This Means for Hotels

Hotels and resorts can use this feature to jumpstart conversations with guests and get direct, private feedback. You can ask followers what special offers, services, or packages they’d like to see from you. You could also ask what their favorite part of their stay was, and then ask if you can share their response publicly. In the latter instance, you could make this part of a social media contest, offering an incentive like a free night, dinner on the house, or an upgraded room for the winner.

Snapchat Released New Spectales

This is a small update, but it’s one that could affect resorts and hotels. Snapchat’s spectacles work as a hands-free camera that you wear, looking like sunglasses. They capture what you see in circular photos and videos, and automatically load your content to Snapchat so you can choose what to share.

The new spectacles, which were just released, are smaller in profile, making them more comfortable, and they’re also now water-resistant.

What This Means for Hotels

You can link a single pair of spectacles to multiple different devices, and syncing them is easy. If your hotel has some extra money to spend for social media marketing, you could have a few pairs of spectacles on hand for guests to enjoy while on property. This could encourage Snap creation, and more UGC in the process.

Hospitality Social Media News is brought to you by Lodging Interactive, a full-service digital marketing and social media engagement and reputation management agency exclusively servicing the hospitality industry. Through its web design and search optimization division as well as its CoMMingle Social Media Division, Lodging Interactive provides effective Internet marketing services to hundreds of branded and independent properties as well as management companies, restaurants and spas. For more information:

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