Google+ for hotels (part III)
If Google+ isn’t already on your priority radar, heads up that it recently surpassed Twitter with more user accounts, making it the second largest social media outlet. That doesn’t necessarily mean there’s more action on Google+, just more accounts. But it’s coming, and that’s especially clear when you look at who’s using it.
Millenials are the primary users (i.e., the ones to watch in travel): according to Social Media Today, 50 percent of Google+ users are 18-24 and 28 percent are 25-34. You might consider this when your working on your hotel’s Google+ details. For instance, Millenials live online, and they don’t expect to pay for it. Many of them will have WiFi cards, but if your hotel offers free internet, I’d put that at the top of the amenities list.
When it comes to hotel marketing on Google+, it can feel like an honest mess to figure out, but it’s not really that complicated. If your hotel doesn’t already have one, get a Google+Business Local Page (FYI, there’s a lot of confusion about Google+ Local, Places, and Business pages—and some of the confusion is just semantics. I suggest reading up on the ins-and-outs and, if you can, merging any previous pages into the Google+ Business page—which is effectively a Google+ Local page. Muddled much?).
Make sure to select local business so that your profile is available on Google maps and Google local search. This means you’ll have a better chance of appearing in that big chunk of Google Local results on a search page that I talked about in my last post. It’s a complex set of factors that determine which hotels are returned in a Local search, but I’ve recently heard it suggested that the total number of Google+ reviews can affect Local position as well as a property’s volume of followers on Google+.
The Colonnade’s profile (below) has an uncommonly good looking image on Google+; it’s something to aspire to with +576 and a crisp image. This property is one of few actively posting to Google+, something that can easily be integrated into your existing Facebook and Twitter activity. Seems worth it, doesn’t it, considering how many Millenials are (and will be) traveling in the years to come?
