You may think Instagram is a social media channel positioned for the bloggers or the fashionistas of the world; however, Instagram has a large community filled with businesses from all industries. The network is “a highly engaged global community with more than 500 million active accounts,” according to Instagram. Because of its recent popularity, Instagram has decided to roll out a new profile exclusively for established businesses, allowing hotels to reach and connect with more guests than ever before.
Converting your hotel’s personal Instagram profile to a Business Profile is easy. Follow the following steps to make the switch:
- Go to your Business Profile and tap the icon in the right-hand corner.
- Scroll down and tap “Switch to Business Profile.”
- Click “Log in with Facebook” and choose the profile you’d like to associate with your Business Profile.
- Review business information, update as needed, and lastly tap the “done” button to complete the process.
Instagram’s Business Account Features
Business Profile
After you have made the switch to your Business Profile, you will notice a few unique features. The most obvious update is the call-to-action button which allows your hotel to choose how potential guests can contact your team. You will also notice your hotel’s address and website are now listed underneath the “about” section. This allows guests to easily navigate directly to your website and determine where your hotel is located.
By clicking the “contact” button, guests will have the option to call, text, email, or get directions to your hotel. Guests will be more likely to contact the hotel using this user-friendly feature, yielding higher conversion rates.
Instagram Insights
Before Instagram’s business update, access to your hotel’s performance was limited to manually finding your top performing post by clicking through each post individually. Since the update, you are able to learn more about the demographics of your audience including: gender, age, location, the average time your followers are on Instagram on a typical day, and the days of the week when your followers are most active. You are also able to see the top posts sorted by impressions, reach, engagement, likes, or comments. Having this information accessible allows your hotel to determine which posts resonate better than others which ultimately contributes to your overall marketing strategy.
Instagram Ads
Although Instagram ads have been available for marketers through Facebook, the new update allows businesses to promote a post directly through the mobile app. In order to promote content through the app, the post must already exist.
Once you have chosen an existing post or created a new post, you can begin setting up your ad. You have the option to either send people to your website or have a guest directly call your hotel.
After choosing your objective, you must update your call-to-action button. For example, if you are promoting a special rate, you would want to change the button text to “Book Now” so that guests know exactly what action you want them to take. The next step is to create an audience. While Instagram allows you to choose an automatic audience, Blue Magnet recommends creating a custom audience. By creating a custom audience, your ads will be relevant to the individuals they are delivered to. You would not want your wedding post to be shown to married couples because they are not in the market for a wedding venue. Lastly, you will be asked to set a budget for your campaign.
After clicking “next” in the top right corner, preview your ad to make sure it is free of spelling and grammatical errors. If this is your first time running ads through the app, you will be required to add a payment method; this information will not transfer over from Facebook Ads Manager. To submit your ad for review, click “promote” in the right hand corner. Once your ad is published, monitor its performance through Instagram Insights.
Instagram Stories
While Instagram Stories are not exclusively a business feature, I wanted to note how a business can incorporate the new update into their strategy. Stories are great because they allow you to share moments throughout the day without over sharing and clogging up a user’s feed. They give your team the ability to easily share photos and videos of your property, team, or event. For example, if your team hosted an employee birthday party, you could share live moments from the party. This allows guests to see “behind-the-curtain” and engage with your hotel on an even more personal level.
Reap the Benefits
With Instagram’s new business tools, your hotel is able to save valuable time connecting with individuals and also refine online marketing strategies to reach potential guests. If you have not made the switch, you are just a click away from growing your presence on Instagram.
To learn more about setting up your Business Profile, managing your hotel’s Instagram account, accessing Insights, or launching promoted posts contact our team.
