Why use printed holiday cards when you can use an animated e-card like this one we created for InterContinental Miami! #McConnellMoves
Video reaches more people than any other content type shared on Facebook. So if you’re using this social media giant you should be doing some type of video marketing. Luckily, Facebook Live provides a convenient and effective way to add video to your Facebook content mix.
We touched briefly on Facebook Live’s importance last year, but knowing that it’s important and knowing how to use it effectively are very different things. That’s where this post comes in.
Facebook Live Basics
One of the most appealing parts of Facebook Live is that it’s easy to get started. You just need a phone, tablet or webcam and a Facebook account. The culture of Facebook Live means you don’t need to invest in professional lighting or a pretty backdrop, the audience doesn’t expect a highly polished product, just solid content.
The best place to start with Facebook Live is probably with best practices. Here are the 8 recommendations Facebook officially lists on its website for making the most out of your Facebook Live videos:
- Tell fans when you’re broadcasting ahead of time.
- Go live when you have a strong connection(to the internet).
- Write a catchy description before going live.
- Ask viewers to subscribe to Live notifications.
- Say hello to commenters by name; respond to their comments live.
- Broadcast for longer periods of time to reach more people.
- Use a closing line to signal the end of the broadcast.
- Be creative and go live often!
These tips are a great starting point for Facebook Live success but you’ll discover your own best practices as you start to produce live video. Here are some more tips from professionals already using Facebook Live.
A Few More Tips From Around the Web
Repurpose video content – We found this idea on a recent blog from DOYO Live , a local digital marketing conference. Just because the video is no longer live doesn’t mean it’s no longer valuable. Be sure to get all you can out of a single FB Live session by sharing the no-longer-live video on Twitter or an email newsletter.
Preview what you will be talking about – This bit of advice, also from DOYO Live, sounds obvious but is easy to overlook. In the heat of the moment it’s easy to jump right into your content but for the audience, a quick overview of your subject matter will help them determine if the content is relevant.
Be relevant to the right audience – Hotelbusiness.com used the example that if you’re a warm climate hotel you should promote your great weather to guests who live in cold climates via a live video. Pay attention to what makes the most sense to your audience and take advantage of it.
Prepare and Practice – Just because the video is live doesn’t mean it needs to be impromptu. Plan what you’re going to say and practice a few times before starting your stream.
Using Facebook Live at Your Hotel
Now that you’ve got an understanding of what makes a good Facebook Live Video here are some hotel specific applications for it.
Property Tours – Doing a live tour can give potential guests a much better idea of what your hotel is all about. Doing the tour live has the added benefit of enabling guests to ask questions in real time. Answering questions throughout the tour will help you build trust with guests while efficiently delivering useful information to them.
Room Tours – Give guests a look at where they’ll actually be staying. This can be especially useful for suites that usually involve guests who are more particular about their accommodations and will want a better idea of the space than just a couple of photos on the internet. Again, the live video means you’re able to interact with guests and adds a little more salesmanship to the event.
“Ask the Concierge” Q&A session – Even though yelp and similar sites have made finding local food and drink hotspots easier than ever, guests still appreciate advice from a real person. If your hotel has a concierge, post a weekly, “ask the concierge” session. It will provide guests the opportunity to learn all about their destination and plan where they are going to eat, go for a run or enjoy themselves ahead of time. Travelers who enjoy the planning aspect as much as the trip itself will be especially receptive to this. If your hotel doesn’t have a concierge, another knowledgeable staff member will work as well.
One Last Bit of Advice: Consistency is Key
Be sure to create your content on a regular basis. The amount of video you make is actually less important than keeping a regular schedule. It’s better to post one video every month than to post 12 in one month and nothing for the rest of the year. Consistency can build audience expectation and create a coherent brand around those videos . Creating a content calendar is one of the best long-term recipes for success in any content marketing endeavor!
Today’s blog post was fueled by coffee with just enough cream. Until next time, be well!
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We put together this video landing page to help Mandarin Oriental New York promote their newly renovated suites. The hotel revealed their new suites through a series of personal tours and hosted events and this teaser video was used as an evite to give recipients a sneak peak to entice them to see the suites in person.
Our McConnell Moves campaign isn’t just a creative gimmick, there are some powerful reasons to add animated and video elements to your marketing efforts. Check out these 5 reasons your marketing needs movement!
1. Animation can revolutionize your email marketing efforts
In 2014, computer giant Dell experimented with an animated gif based email campaign. Rather than a static image, their message featured a spinning, rotating and flipping-open laptop. The results of the campaign were astonishing. According to marketingsherpa.com, Dell generated 109% more revenue, a 42% increase in click rate and a 103% increase in email conversion rate through the gif campaign compared with their usual quarterly benchmarks.
2. Video is great for SEO
Struggling with website traffic and findability? Video might be your magic bullet.
According to 60secondmarketer.com, “In search results, video and animated videos have a 41% higher click through rate than written text.” Plus, videos are shared 12x more than pictures and text on Facebook, which means that adding video content to your social media mix can help increase the number of inbound links to your website, further bolstering your SEO ranking.
It’s also important to keep in mind that while Google is the world’s #1 search engine, YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world so if you don’t have a decent youtube presence you’re missing out on a ton of potential web traffic.
3. Video and animation can be effective without being complicated
The high-def cameras attached to our phones and easy-to-use publishing platforms like YouTube and Facebook means you don’t need a big budget to create highly shareable content. In fact, simpler is often better. According to Forbes.com, “whiteboard videos” (you know, the kind that features somebody drawing on a whiteboard with a voice over narration) are 3x as likely to be shared on social media than videos of talking heads.
4. Entertaining videos can actually increase a customer’s intent to purchase
You’re probably thinking… “it’s great that videos are highly shareable but can they really help improve my bookings?” Well according to hubspot.com, “enjoyment of video ads increase purchase intent by 97% and brand association by 139%. So if you create video content that’s fun to watch, it could have a pretty significant impact on whether or not guests want to stay at your hotel.
5. But don’t take our word for it…
Stats and case studies are nice, but sometimes knowing that your industry peers are actually using a new marketing tactic can be the most powerful information when deciding to change. Luckily 52% of all marketing professionals think video has the highest ROI of all content types. And going back to our first point about Dell, apparently their email success wasn’t an isolated event. 60% of marketers say that video improves email conversion rates.
Today’s blog post was fueled by green tea, which seemed like an appropriately healthy option for #McConnellMoves. Until next time, be well!
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Social media success is harder than most people think, but making your page at least look professional is easy if you follow a few basic rules. Resolve to make your hotel’s social media pages look great in 2017 with these best practices.
1. Size your cover images correctly
Cover photos are the largest image on your social media profile on Facebook and Twitter, so they’d better look good. Posting a cover image with the wrong size will lead to pixelization, weird stretching and even having parts of the image cut off.
Use these cover image sizing guidelines to avoid problems:
Facebook: 828 x 315 pixels
Twitter: 1500 x 500 pixels
Besides cover images, correct sizing is a must for all your page’s visual assets. Check out this cheat sheet from make a websitehub.com for correct image sizing for all social media platforms.
2. Don’t use an external shot of your hotel for your cover image
It’s nice to give guests a “wow” feeling when they first pull up to your hotel, but what’s more important is what they can see from inside the hotel. Use your cover image real-estate to help guests imagine what their stay will look like. Highlighting cool views of the city or interesting locations inside the hotel are great ways to do that.
3. Use a graphic to make text less boring (and get around Twitter’s 140 character rule)
The Westin Princeton surrounded a guest’s testimonial with an eye catching graphic, which not only made their timeline more appealing it also let them bypass Twitter’s 140 character limit, since some of the text was part of the image.
4. Use your logo as your profile picture
There’s a time and a place for creativity and it’s NOT in your profile picture. Just use your hotel’s logo (preferably the version that references your property’s location). As you can tell by the example below, things get a little cluttered when you try to fit a more detailed image in the small profile photo area. Notice how the Westin Princeton’s profile looks cleaner than that of the Westin Chicago North West.
5. Feel free to use text in your cover photo
Using text in your cover photo is a great way to catch people’s attention. The Westin Georgetown used text to in their cover to spread their brand messaging in a visual way. The Rittenhouse’s use of text in their Twitter cover image is especially well done, it gives an at-a-glance explanation of the hotel.
6. Resize your Instagram profile picture to avoid cutting off text
Since Instagram uses a circular profile image it’s easy for text to get cut off. Be sure to resize or reposition your image to avoid this issue.
7. Let guests do the work for you
High quality images submitted by guests are a great way to make your social media page prettier while showcasing real-life guest enjoyment. Kudos to Ritz-Carlton for this awesome example.
This week’s blog post was fueled by 2017 coffee, it’s like 2016 coffee but more futuristic. Until next time be well, and check back next week for the start of our McConnell Moves social media campaign.
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