If you ever get demoralised by the lack of people engaging with your posts on your Bed and Breakfast Facebook page, this post is just for you. Here are 5 easy ways to increase your pages engagement:
1. Just Be Yourself
As a bed and breakfast owner, you are a natural host. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be in this business. Your guests warm to you and that is why your bed and breakfast is so successful.
Don’t be intimidated by social media. Just be yourself and show your warm, hospitable personality on your Facebook and Instagram pages.
I see a lot of bed and breakfast owners being very ‘formal’ on social media, trying to project a ‘professional’ image.
You have to get the balance right and you need to know your audience and the kind of things that they respond to, but most people on social media will be following you, for YOU - Somebody who is warm and down-to-earth. Somebody that they can connect with and feel that your bed and breakfast is the place for them.
2. Ask Questions
Imagine you were at a party or networking event and you just talked endlessly about you and your B&B, you would come away not knowing anything about the other guests or what they were interested in. It is the same on social media.
By asking questions, you can easily get to know who your target guests are and how to engage with them.
Nobody is going to follow you and your bed and breakfast on social media if there is no interaction. So, ask questions. Get to know your followers.
When they take the time to reply to your questions, make sure you reply to their comments. This is exactly what you would be doing in the ‘real world’ at your Bed and Breakfast.
For suggestions on what to ask and how to get more engagement from your social media pages, follow this link to 110 Social Media Post Ideas For Your B&B
3. Be Consistent.
This is the number one key to success on social media.
I see so many bed and breakfast owners who show up on social media for a few days, make some posts then don’t come back for months. They are the same ones that complain that social media marketing doesn’t work.
For your bed and breakfast to succeed on social media, get a large, active following and turn these followers into direct bookings, you need to post consistently. Day in, day out. Week after week.
As a B&B owner, I know how hard you work, but social media is not an option. It is a vital part of your branding.
If you really haven’t got time to post on social media, I have two options for you. Either use my social media calendar for suggestions on what to post every day.
OR.... let me do it for you. Click this link.
Whatever you decided to do, you MUST take some kind of action and post on your social media pages.
4. Don’t Bombard Your Followers With Ads
Would you follow a business on social media whose only message was “Buy my stuff. Buy my stuff” every day?
No, and your followers don’t want to be bombarded with sales messages.
If all you ever posted was “Come stay at my B&B” every day, your posts would become boring. People would switch off and probably not follow you anymore.
Yes, you need to promote your business. People expect that, but follow the 80/20 rule.
Your posts should be 80% engaging, interesting posts and just 20% promoting your bed and breakfast.
Remember, social media should all be about fun and engaging with your followers and potential guests.
If you are stuck about what to post each day, I have listed 110 Social Media Post Ideas For Bed and Breakfasts in this post.
5. Go Live
I have deliberately kept this one until last, because, depending on your personality, Going Live on social media can be scary.
Love it or loathe it, 'live video' is becoming more important on social media as people are reading less and watching more videos.
You don’t have to turn into Judith Chalmers (I am showing my age now!!!! ) but you can simply just create a video showing people your rooms, garden or local attractions.
You don’t even have to speak if you don’t want to.
I struggle with making videos, but I realise that this is the way social media marketing is going, and is the preferred way for a lot of people to consume content, so I am going to have to sharpen my presentation skills and bump my posts to the top of the Facebook newsfeed by displaying my content live.
My tip is for you to do this too. You…..and your followers….will thank me for it in years to come.
Don't get overwhelmed or discouraged
So here are 5 ways to increase engagement on your bed and breakfast social media pages.
I know from speaking to many of you, that you either don’t like social media or you just don’t have the time to think of what to post every single day. It can be demoralising if you put all of that effort into trying it and don’t get the results that you expected. It can seem like a waste of time if you don’t do it right.
The fact is, you can’t pretend that social media doesn’t exist and ignore it. Your followers and potential guests will expect your bed and breakfast to have a consistent social media presence.
If you have found managing your B&B social media pages challenging or too overwhelming, please either let me know in the comments below or reach out to me by contacting me at gary@thebedandbreakfastownersclub.com to discover how I can help you.
I can help you and your bed and breakfast to get more from your social media accounts to increase your direct bookings and profits.
Social Media Content Planner For Bed and Breakfast Owners