How to Use Instagram to Promote Your Bed and Breakfast
If your bed and breakfast isn’t on Instagram yet, you’re missing out. Boasting more than 400 million users, Instagram is quickly becoming one of the most popular platforms for social interaction on the web. Here are some tips to get the most out of this free marketing tool.
The idea is simple: Post one photo, give it a great filter and share what you’re doing with your friends and followers.
It quickly captured the hearts and minds of young people, who have been using Instagram for years, but now older demographics are signing onto the site.
Here are the best ways to promote your bed and breakfast to potential travellers on this photo-centric social networking platform:
Post your B&B’s features but let them tell your property’s story
Instagram isn’t the place to post a simple photo of a generic room at your bed and breakfast. Save these informative pictures for your hotel website.
Instead, post a picture of the welcome sign that greets guests as they enter your property. Explain why it’s there or tell the story of why you chose that sign.
Highlight the details, and share the features that you offer at your B&B, but do it in a way that tells a story and shows people what the experience is like at your bed and breakfast.
Offer a glimpse behind-the-scenes
People love the fact that social media gives them an insight they would not otherwise have. Use your Instagram page to share more about what it’s like to operate a bed and breakfast.
Take photos of your delicious breakfasts and let your followers know what you are serving that day.
Let the gardener show off the latest blooms and the tools they use to keep everything looking fresh and beautiful.
If you get their permission first, you might even snap a few photos of your guests enjoying themselves. Ask them more about their stay, and share their story with the world.
Use hashtags, and use them often
Hashtags are an Instagram staple, as they make your posts searchable on the platform.
Through hashtags, you and your guests can find each other. Consider creating a hashtag specifically for your B&B and encourage your guests to use it.
Be sure to search your own hashtag regularly, and engage with customers who are talking about you.
Brag about the local area
While you will be using Instagram to promote your property the majority of the time, remember that people are booking your rooms in order to explore the region around you.
Post about a great dish that you can find at a local restaurant that’s within walking distance of your bed and breakfast. Share a shot of the sunset from a gorgeous lookout point.
By promoting the local area, you’ll encourage guests to travel to your region and stay at your B&B.
