the-impact-of-social-media-on-bookings | Pebble Design

The Impact of Social Media on Bookings

I get asked this question a lot by my clients – How much time do we have to devote to social media?

After so many years working in the industry and with the rise and rise of social media, I too would expect this to play a bigger role in online marketing.

Being active on social media has very little impact on an independent hotel’s bottom line, latest research claims. The likes of Facebook are responsible for just 3.3% of the web traffic to hotels’ websites, according to a new study.

According to a new study for independent hotels and B&Bs by Eviivo, only 0.75% of bookings made for independent hotels and B&Bs originate from social media – compared to 74% of bookings which emanate from travel websites and OTA’s.

The results come from analysis of booking data for some of the 5,600 B&Bs and small hotels the company works with. The findings come despite almost six out of 10 (59%) accommodation providers polled admitting to using social media to encourage bookings. A quarter of those surveyed described social media is “very important” to their business and 36% spend five hours or more on it each week.

Of 2,000 consumers surveyed by eviivo, 44% said they checked review websites before booking a stay, while another 39% used recommendations by friends.

Some social media, I believe is still a healthy component to ensure that you are telling your story across all platforms. It also plays some value in helping SEO with link backs into your main website. It is also part of good branding to ensure that you are out there as much as possible, after all it is vital that any and every business is always increasing their visibility in the marketplace.

Having personally booked holidays using Pinterest and YouTube for content, only because the majority of European sites I was researching were so poor, there is a place for social media, just don’t get fixated on it, when time, energy and money can be spent on key marketing opportunities first.

Original articles from – Travolution


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