We only have 24 hours in a day, and sometimes it’s just not enough… the entire idea of ‘content’ can be slightly overwhelming for hoteliers, we know. As if you don’t have enough to do with everything else that seems more pressing and directly linked to customers and bookings. However, content can be a very valuable and worthy resource for customers, it has the ability to interest potential guests and keep existing guests coming back. Content marketing can result in increased sales, cost savings and a loyal customer base.
Your content has the power to inform, entertain, be useful, and it can also inspire – very important. A shift in traveller priorities has meant that people are now leaning much more toward experiences, supporting local and being mindful in relation to sustainability.
59% of people are willing to pay higher fees to make their trip more sustainable
There is so much you, as a hotelier, can do to support and inform these urges. Doing so will attract more guests to your property.
Managing your time and practicing common sense
If you have a blog, you must update it on a regular basis. This doesn’t have to be every week – you just need to decide on a schedule that works for you and make sure you stick to it. This is important for consistency. It’s no good setting up a blog if it’ll only be sitting there with two or three posts from years ago. The good news? It doesn’t always have to be spanking new posts you put together – you can repurpose content too!
Planning
Before you even get to any titles, you need to sit down and plan your content accordingly. This goes for your blog content and social media – remember, you can use a lot of content from your blogs for your social channels – whether that’s taking excerpts from the piece and reposting or just linking back to the content on your website. Outline on your content calendar what kind of content it is so everyone involved knows. Your content calendar should also outline:
- Specific content bucket (what kind of content is it – local, offer, spa, wedding etc)
- Time of post or scheduling
- Copy and image/video/link
- Who is responsible
- Whether the content is in progress or published
You can download a free content calendar template here
Repurposing
Repurposing your content is a way of recycling existing content by either using key attributes and turning it into something new for a different channel (like social media) or taking an old blog post for example and updating it accordingly. It’s a great, time-saving, savvy way of contributing to a smart ongoing content strategy. It also means you’re potentially reaching more customers by using your content and reformatting across channels.
In relation to repurposing older blog content, this is where your planning comes in handy. Plot out key dates you’d like to post content around and take a look back at your previous year’s posts. Are there any that can be updated? For example, content around St Patrick’s Day, the Midterm Break, Easter, or summertime? Perhaps there is localised blog content you have already created detailing out your area’s top bars, restaurants and hiking trails. Can you update these pieces with any new spots? Your Google Analytics and historical social media data can also give you an indication of the content pieces worth repurposing.
Download our 2022 key dates calendar!
When you are thinking about your content, split pieces into two categories – topical (timely and reactive – cannot be repurposed) and evergreen (content devised around topics that aren’t necessarily timely – these pieces will last longer and can be revisited for repurposing).
What are some ways of repurposing your content?
- Like we said, the first way of repurposing your content is by revisiting healthy pieces from years gone by and updating them. You can figure out what is worth updating by checking your data and analytics, but also by practicing common sense and deciding what titles are still relevant, or what could be refreshed and given a new lease of life.
- You can repurpose your blog content by creating bite-sized pieces of video or visuals using key points or elements and post to your social channels. This is a great way of potentially reaching a different audience and also using the opportunity to link back to your website – a win win!
- Do you send out an email newsletter? By either creating an email series or using your email newsletter to repurpose timely, useful or inspiring content, email is a brilliant way of reaching a different type of audience yet again – and similar to refreshing your content for social media, key snippets (ideally with some kind of visual element) is perfect for an email newsletter or campaign. You don’t need to overload your reader – keep it simple and eye-catching
- You can repurpose your content to better answer FAQs, too. Of course you need to have a dedicated FAQ page, but they don’t need to be primarily functional – perhaps you can take an FAQ you notice coming up a lot and create a blog out of it too! Useful and entertaining, all in one
- You can use customer testimonials for social media content or product pages. This is a great way of reinforcing user generated content – which is so important
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