Do you want to build an active presence on Pinterest? First, you need to create the perfect hotel page on Pinterest!
Pinterest is one of the top 2 fastest growing social networks. It recently hit 100 million users. Hotels should build a presence on Pinterest because topics like weddings, travel and food are extremely popular there, and it’s an ideal place to showcase visuals.
To build a robust presence on any social network, including Pinterest, you must commence by setting up the perfect page. If you set up an excellent Pinterest page, users will follow you and visit your website through the links placed on it – and if they like what they see, they might just book a stay!
To help fulfill that goal, we’re going to show you the basics of how to create the perfect hotel page on Pinterest in three steps.
1. Choose a good profile image:
Your Pinterest profile image measures 165 X 165 pixels. But Pinterest recommends you to upload an image which is 600 X 600 pixels (square shaped). The image will be resized to fit.
You must upload something that is easy to recognize as your profile image. As soon as people view your Pinterest profile image, they should know that it belongs to you. The simplest and best thing to do is upload your logo, since most people who visited your hotel or website will be familiar with it. If you want to get a little creative, you can create an attractive image with your hotel name on it.
If you feel that people would recognize a picture of your hotel better – for instance, if you have an iconic façade, like the Burj Al Arab above – you can add that instead.
An example of a good profile image is Powerscourt Hotel’s. They’ve used their logo, which most of their customers should be acquainted with.
2. Fill in all the page details:
After you add your profile image you should begin filling in all your details. Start with your ‘Business Name’. Keep it simple here too by only adding your hotel’s name.
Use the business name or something similar to it as your username, because it will appear in the URL of your hotel’s Pinterest page.
Next, add your location. If you have several hotels you could create an account for each and add the different locations so that people can follow the ones they visited or would like to. But if you want to just create one, you could add words like ‘All Locations’, ‘International’ or ‘Worldwide’.
Linking your Twitter account to your Pinterest page is a vital step too, as it will make it easy for people to locate your Twitter account. This will help you get more Twitter followers and tweets. Avoid adding your Facebook account, as Pinterest only lets you connect personal profiles and not business pages.
Add your website too, so people can visit it to learn more about your hotel and make bookings.
After you fill in all the above details, you should write your bio. Include information about your hotel and your Pinterest account. Let people know a little about your hotel’s personality. You can discuss your culture, or what you post on your Pinterest account and how that is going to benefit them. End with a call to action that asks them to follow you. You could also ask users to visit your website, but it would be better to build a relationship with them on Pinterest and get them to check out your website.
The Four Seasons Hotel has done a great job filling up accurate details on their Pinterest page. They have added a very recognizable business name and username. They have also added their website address and Twitter account. Not adding their Facebook account was a good idea too, and as they have hotels all over the world, they used ‘Worldwide’ as their location.
The bio is also well-written, intriguing – “you have to see [it] to believe” – and ends with an effective call to action.
3. Create at least 10 boards:
When people check out your hotel’s Pinterest page, they’re subconsciously asking themselves the question, ‘What am I going to get from this Pinterest page if I follow it?’ As soon as they think of this, they are going to check out your boards to see what topics you like to pin on. Some people might prefer following just a few of your boards instead of your entire page, so make sure you create at least 10 boards and fill them up completely.
The boards must be relevant to hotels in general, your brand specifically and the services you offer.
Some great topics to base your boards are food, weddings, travel, interior decor, gardens, etc. These are ‘fringe topics’ in the hotel industry, the kind you come up when you make a mind-map to find interesting topics to discuss in your content marketing. They’re hugely relevant to a lot of your guests. Add relevant and attractive board titles to these boards and write good board descriptions. Include a call to action here too.
You also get the option to add a cover image to your board. Usually, the first image you pin becomes the cover image by default. However, after you pin a few more images you can change the cover image. You should pick the pin that clearly reflects your board’s topic to be the cover image.
If you want to take it a step further, you can create a unique Pinterest board cover.
Here’s how you do it.
- First, create the image. It should be 217 X 147 pixels.
- Then, add the name of the board to it. You can also include a call to action like ‘Follow this Board’ or ‘Check out this Board’.
- After you create the image, upload it to the board you would like to add it to, and then choose it as the cover image.
You can also rearrange the boards any way you want to. As you can only view the first 5 boards ‘above the fold’ (without the need to scroll down on desktops and laptops), you should display your most important boards there. The least important ones should be placed at the bottom.
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts have done a great job creating several boards on their Pinterest page. The boards are highly relevant to their brand, and contain good descriptions and cover images.
Once you have uploaded a good profile image, added all the relevant images and set up and rearrange the boards, you should have created the perfect hotel page on Pinterest. When people check out your page after they see your pins, they’ll be sure to follow you and interact with your pins in the future.
How would you create the perfect hotel page on Pinterest? Which hotels’ Pinterest pages do you like most? Please leave your comments below.
