When you're running a business and operating on a budget, social media can get tiresome and a little overwhelming. Knowing the difference between Facebook and Instagram and how to use them effectively can make all the difference.
Plan
A great way to get ahead with your social media is to have a plan! Even if it's not your jam, having a simple weekly plan can help and once you get the hang of it you can stretch it out for the whole month : )
A simple strategy is a consistent mix of what's happening, locals and staff enjoying your venue/facilities, and what you offer is a good place to start.
TIP: Schedule your Facebook posts. You can sit down once a week and schedule all your posts for the week this can be extremely helpful and a great timesaver.
TIP: Monday - Post on the events coming up in the next week at the pub from trivia to tight ass Tuesday. Tuesday - post something funny or location-based; Wednesday - Post a local catching up with mates or enjoying a drink; Thursday - Reminder post on what is happening like 'Trivia Thursdays' or 'Footy Friday'; Friday - Happy hour, or a post about your friendly staff. Remember, Fridays people are gearing up for the weekend. Maybe something around a food special, or event that you're having on the weekend or staying the night.
It appears that Facebook is still king when it comes to communicating directly with your customers and sharing with them interesting content on a regular basis. Like events, live music, bistro specials. This will keep your business in their mind when they are searching for something that you offer.
The key here is knowing your audience. Facebook has over 2.4 billion users, over 70 million businesses and approximately 20 million people using Facebook Messenger. That's a lot of people and businesses for you to engage with.
Another fantastic thing about Facebook is that you can target people in your area very specifically around age, gender and interests. It is the most powerful social platform today.
Knowing what to post and when can be tricky, but once you start it gets easier to know the best times and what to post.
Here are some suggestions to start with:
- Pictures of what's happening in your pub, sports bar eg. sports event that your guests can watch on the big screen or your restaurant specials.
- Pictures of your accommodation, food and restaurant.
- Function space and food and beverage package if you have available
- Reviews from Tripadvisor accommodation or restaurant
- Offers eg. A beer on the house when you stay the night
- Create an event eg. events like 'Buy a Bale' charity fundraisers or Melbourne Cup.
Instagram is also up there as one of the most successful social media platforms. Now with over 1 billion users, and over 8 million businesses using it. It is highly visual and very popular with millennials. Now with Instagram stories becoming very popular and a fabulous way to create current topical engagement with your users.
A key to getting more engagement is to use hastags relating to your pub, pub name, location, event or happening. Eg #visitnsw #pupgrub #instagood #pubaccommodation #budgetaccommodationnsw
Some ideas for posts include:
- Photos of your property food, restaurant, accommodation and live bands etc
- Photos from your location could be a sunrise or sunset.
- Try posting a story of an event happening in your pub eg food, trivia winner, sunset in your location, sports events etc.
- You could also post the same things here and share across your Facebook at the time of posting.
Here are some top-level ideas to up your social media game. If you would like some more detailed help with your pub accommodation social media please reach out to us as we may be able to help you with a strategy for moving forward with more engagement.
