“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there”. Lewis Carroll
This is a quote we often use in The B&B Team’s ‘Better Way to Learn Innkeeping’ seminars for aspiring innkeepers.
We suggest our seminar attendees need to focus on where they want to live. It helps them focus on where to start looking for inns for sale. You have to know where you are going.
This line of thinking can also relate to how small business owners/innkeepers should approach managing their social media.
- Focus on the what, meaning which social media platforms will be most effective for your inn.
- Focus on the when, how much time you should plan on spending on each platform.
I found a good blog on social media tips for small businesses. ’21 Social Media Marketing Tips for Small Businesses.’ Interesting that the author used many Lewis Carroll quotes to illustrate the sometimes overwhelming tasks associated with social media. This article is chock full of good information, worth a read and a save for future reference.
“The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down what seemed to be a very deep well.” Chapter 1- Alice in Wonderland
Do you sometimes feel like you are falling down the rabbit hole of social media? To avoid the tunnel it takes a game plan. I will take some key points from the 21 that the author lists. Points I believe relate to our small business niche. Points I hope will help you focus.
Facebook, blogging and email newsletters will most likely be your first platforms to attack. If you are in love with the image driven platforms like Pinterest and Instagram, go for it. They can be very powerful image tools. No platform is a requirement.
1. “Concentrate on your target audience and your goals from social media. In a world of choosing social platforms to concentrate on for small businesses, less is often always more.”
2. “Take on what you can handle-and nothing more.” i.e. Scheduling, making a posting plan. I know an innkeeper who planned his social media on his weekly calendar. Facebook Monday…Newsletter Wednesday…Bogging Thursday. And most important, be consistent.
3. “What sort of content is your audience looking for?” Start with your location, location, location and all the offerings your area provides. This shows and tells the special experience your guests will be having. Your goal is to educate and entertain. Keep your readers engaged. Suggest NOT to bombard them with your ‘discounted, buy one get one free’ specials. Yawn and delete. ( You can always sneak your offers in AFTER you have engaged them with your great content).
4. “Use high quality, crisp visuals. Recent research shows images increase social media engagement. Twitter updates with images in them receive 150% more retweets than those without and Facebook posts with images in them receive 2.3 times more engagement than those without.” Show them the money shots.
5. “Be patient! A lot of small business owners don’t know about all of a platform’s capabilities, or get frustrated when they don’t see a high engagement rate or grand following right away.” Frustration can lead to inertia. Don’t let that happen. Keep posting regularly, focus on the what and the when. And by all means…
“Remember what the Dormouse said…feed your head.” (with knowledge that is!). White Rabbit lyrics. Jefferson Airplane. Couldn’t resist that quote, it just popped in my head!
The rabbit hole of social media is not something you want to fall into. Hope this helps you focus as well as inspire you to find your old childhood copy of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Fun reading in between posting.
Thanks for Listening,
Janet Wolf
