Luxury Hoteliers Magazine 2nd Quarter 2018 | Page 36

property can help you achieve your goals for growth in followers as well as visitors to your hotel’s website without breaking the bank. The Langham, Boston recently invited a small group of carefully chosen local-area influencers to attend their world-famous Chocolate Bar brunch for Galentine’s Day – a version of Valentine’s Day that is about celebrating female friendship and is trending on social media. For just the cost of brunch for 10 people, the hotel received 60 posts and Instagram stories throughout the day, which led to an overall reach increase of 137%, including 2,763 visits to the hotel’s profile page, 325 website clicks, and a 10% increase in their total number of Instagram followers – within the first two days! Once you have set the stage for your guests to want to share content about your hotel, it is imperative that your hotel then engages with these content creators. A comment on their post thanking them for sharing their experience on Instagram is always appreciated. The most impactful method of letting your guests know you appreciate their business and their choice to share their experience is to repost their content, with their permission. This validates them to their followers but also gives your hotel the opportunity to share more diverse content on your Instagram page with your followers – a win-win for everyone. About the author Louise O’Brien is the Regional Public Relations Director for Langham Hospitality Group in North America, directly overseeing the public relations efforts for five hotels in North America, and acting as the liaison for all North American press initiatives on behalf of the Langham Hospitality Group hotels around the world. Prior to joining the team at Langham, Louise was a Vice President at DKC, in the hospitality and lifestyle divisions, focusing on launching hotels, restaurants and bars in New York, Chicago, Miami and around the world. She spent the previous portion of her nearly 15 year career as a destination specialist, serving as an Account Director on the South African Tourism account at Hawkins International in New York; Media Relations expert on the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority account for R&R Partners in Las Vegas; and Media Relations Manager for the French Government Tourist Office (now Atout France), servicing the entire United States. Louise started her career at KWE Associates, which was her first introduction to both public relations and the world of hospitality and tourism. A passionate traveler, she has visited nearly every continent and speaks conversational French and Spanish – or at least she tries. A graduate of Hofstra University, Louise majored in Philosophy and English and was a member of the Alpha Theta Beta sorority and served as Editor in Chief of The Chronicle, Hofstra’s weekly newspaper. Louise is a native of New York City.