Keeping your Business Healthy

Keeping Your Business as Healthy as You Can

In times of crisis it is essential to look at the positives: every disaster creates opportunities. Although it may be hard to see those now with costs mounting and revenue sinking to zero, there are some practical steps to take now we are sitting on our hands, for both your online presence and your recovery.

Your Team

For hostels that are closed: many of you still have paid staff still on your books (although they may be trapped at home in isolation). This is a great time to task them with being creative - ideas, opportunities and to contribute to your social media. All the tasks that no one every has time to have: now is the time. Get them to make videos for 'meet the staff' talking about their favourite places in your destination, researching the best online travel blogs to share, and answering all your reviews. Not only are your guests along with everyone else now sitting on social media all day - they are also looking for positive news stories. This is the time to get to know your customers, and get social with them online, try to keep customer relations up, let's call it keeping in touch.

Virtual Tasks

With Real Life on hold and in crisis management phase, it could be a good time to do all those virtual tasks such as updating web content, checking SEO, editing your third party sites, adding new photos to Google Business, checking on your Tripadvisor. This is the time to spring clean your online presence and get more social. Delete all those old pictures, check for broken links, update your foursquare, everything that gets left to the bottom of the list. Think of it as a time for customer relationship management, and an investment in lead generation for the future.

For physical tasks I'm sure you're all busy bleaching your whole building, but it's also a great time to get things ready for receiving guests again with a clean and shiny hostel. Take down all those old posters, add a lick of paint, or fix those squeaky doors. Some things can be done without adding any more costs - so focus on those first. 

Some ideas of online activities to keep your audience engaged or things you can do when you open again:

• Take people on a virtual tour of your hostel (for those of you open) or re-share old content to when things were more fun (Throwback posts)
• Run a competition to win free nights stay when you open again!
• Do you have video guides for virtual tours of your city that you can share? Many museums and galleries have them. Here is an example of a bunch of the world's best. There are also free concerts online worldwide, and theatre.
• Meet the staff video interviews (staff can film these at home themselves - a couple of minutes about the best things to do in the city, why they love it etc. These don't necessarily have to be lockdown videos! Unless you have some great ideas to be funny)
• Host an 'Ask Me Anything' #AMA on social so potential guests can ask questions about you and you will actually have time to respond. This should generate leads to bookings in the future
• Communicate with your customers on social media - reply to comments etc (be social!), ask guests to write reviews so you can add some good ones
• Try doing a 'secret city' where every day you post a less known tourist place in your city and get people guessing / tell people about it (to create intrigue to come visit later)
• Get creative, look at ideas for new packages etc to encourage groups later (family and friends reunions?) The Hangover from Corona party will be massive.
• If you have a loyalty programme, think of an incentives you could run (afterwards)
• Do you have gift cards or a voucher? People could buy now (before they run out of money) and claim their discount or bed later in the year.
• Decorate. Invite a local artist to paint a mural on a wall to make you selfie-tastic (if you are allowed out still)
• Think of 'experiences' you can add to your business later - you have plenty of time for ideas
• Promote your destination - work with local tourism boards. It looks like less people will be travelling when this all quietens down, and competition will be tough.
• If you have budget, set up a PPC advertising campaign to run in the future (so when people start travelling again, your pay per click starts to run)
• Offer stays to bloggers to get you promoted once they start moving around
• Host events at your hostel - people will be desperate to interact socially
• Create packages that include local activities to support businesses
• Keep posting on Instagram! Everyone is sitting at home bored
  

For a look at the future of the travel industry after this crisis, check out article here.

We hope these tips can help you keep your business busy and inspire you to get creative. Let's try to look at the positives!

For help or advice for your business, contact us at hello@hosteldoctor.com and we will try to help you keep your hostel business healthy.

Best Hostel Views according to Instagram

Want a Room with a View?

Instagram has put together a list of 30 of the best hostels with a view worth visiting for!

Has your hostel got the best views in town and didn't get a mention? We think Equity Point in Marrakech has got a great roof top view and deserves a mention!

http://www.thehostelworker.com/30-hostels-with-a-view-according-to-instagram/

Social Media Marketing Tips for Hostels

Research shows that 51% of people are likely to book somewhere their friends have enjoyed. And the place they talk about this? Social networks.  Don’t underestimate how important your reputation online is – so follow our tips to keep your hostel profile healthy!

Make sure you use platforms that connect with your market and brand. A facebook page and Twitter feed are great multimedia platforms for interacting with your potential customers visually and creating shares. Facebook visitors spend an average of 20 minutes online each day, and Instagram users spend twice as much time as those on Twitter. Google offers great search and has a range of applications from Maps to Google +



Synchronise
Don’t become overwhelmed - you can synchronise most accounts and focus on your quality of content not just posting to keep up. Creating a schedule is helpful if you have events to promote and showcase.

Interact
Social networks are about being social, and everyone can see them. Interact with your users, connect with potential customers, respond to requests and posts, if someone asks for advice on your page, don’t ignore it!

Keep if fresh
Keep your page exciting and engaging. Use social networks for promotions, news and events. Post pictures and videos that are relevant to your hostel, ultimately you want people to share your posts. Don’t post every day, post when you have something to say.

Use Multimedia
Your post is 39% more likely to engage users if it’s visual, so make the most of showcasing your product with photos and videos. Adding your name to your photos will promote you when shared too.

Check out our blog for advice on Facebook shares, how to use Pinterest, Google+ and top tips for Instagram and Twitter.

Top 5 Tips for Marketing with Instagram

1. Keep it Visual
Instagram is about capturing a moment visually and sharing it – this is the same message with any photography – you’re showing your audience, not telling them. Visually interesting shots create intrigue, show case your products and users, and transcend language barriers. Make a connection with followers, share an experience, inspire. Great for global marketing.

2. Share your story
Business is global and you’ll be attracting people from all over the world – show them yours. Take shots of your local area, points of interest, see through the eyes of a tourist and see what’s of interest. If you go on trips; document them. Think of it as photojournalism for the story of your brand. Everything is mobile now so take your followers on your journey to share your brand experience.

3. Be Human
Your customers will probably be quite familiar with the public face of your brand, but there is always an interest in the human element of your brand – your staff, the other customers, events and parties you hold, experiences. People love to feel like a VIP or have a sneak preview. Posting ‘behind the scenes’ pictures is great for creating interest and can be too. Include other customers having a good time in your images – they’re advocates of the customer experience and will share them also. Give people an understanding of the brand and those who are a part of it.

4. Promote it
A great way to increase your user engagement is through competitions and viral marketing – everyone likes to win. Create a hashtag for your competition and get users to post votes using this and accumulate ‘likes’ and followers. You can offer promotion codes or discounts and send direct messages.  Also remember that Instagram creates a shop window for your product, so you can make offers visual too.

5. Experiment with Video
You can use Instagram video or mix with photography to create stories, time lapses and demonstrations. It’s a great way to speed things up, show case your product in a short space of time, and just to add something a little different.