Do you have a website with social media icons linking to your social media accounts? Have you been a bit too busy to update it recently? If so please read on…
A potential client, who owns a hotel, came to me wanting to rank better on Google locally. I had a look through a couple of dozen competitors and I found a common theme. Very few of them had updated their twitter or Facebook accounts in a long time. The longest was a whopping 5 years since their last post.
Now I can understand a website becoming outdated. A business has hired a web designer who doesn’t update the site and the owner doesn’t have the skill set to do it themselves. I can really understand that. It’s a common issue for many.
What I don’t understand is when a business owner has the tools to keep the information fresh and engaging via social media but doesn’t utilise it. That, in my humble opinion, is stupid!
When I’m looking for a holiday I look for updated information. I am much more inclined to book a holiday if the content is up-to-date. I want to know the silly things like a new menu, pictures of the newly decorated room I’d be staying in, recent testimonials and exchanges. I love to see ENGAGEMENT from the place I’d be staying in. For me I want a warm, humorous, friendly feel coming from the owner of the place I’ll be staying in.
I will ALWAYS book a holiday from an engaging business compared to one that never bothers and I’m sure I’m not the only one. If I’m booking a holiday with a big company I look at the reviews. If I’m after a family run accommodation I want to feel the warmth from the people who own it. Nothing makes that experience more cold and neglected than staring at a Twitter account that was last updated in 2011.
Most people who use social media already know it only takes a few seconds to post a tweet or Facebook post. Saying you don’t have time is a fib and it’s one that everyone who used social media knows.
There are companies who offer training on how to use social media, some will even do it for you. If you are one of the many businesses who advertise your social media accounts on your website, but don’t use them, I would suggest it is better to not have them on the website at all. If you really can’t spare a few seconds a day on this, to engage with customers and other businesses then social media isn’t for you.
Be warned though! Social Media is a powerful tool to drive bookings and sales. It may not be immediately obvious in terms of money in your pocket but I book holidays because of engagement and won’t book without it. Having a social media account and not updating it, to me, is worse than not having one to begin with.
