In 2015, social media promotion and video go hand in hand and  hotels companies can no longer ignore the importance of video. In order for the hotels to remain  relevant, with their customer groups, they will need to respond to the ever changing behaviour of  consumers and craft social media strategies to include locally relevant video content.

With the new Facebook Video feature, social media posts with video content are taking over Facebook’s newsfeed.  The video posts are driving a higher organic reach versus image only posts, 8.7% vs. 3.7%.  Facebook also released new video metrics that provide great insights into your ongoing social media effort.

b8b hospitality recommends developing short videos (up to 30 secs) to share with your Facebook fans to increase engagement and friends.

The costs associated with these videos are very limited, mobile phones produce a high enough quality, so your focus should be on making a concise video that will resonate with your followers and able to be easily shared.

Once you upload a video to Facebook you can optimize it via Facebook Video Feature for higher engagement.

To invite views to take further action and explore more visual content you can add a Call to Action “Watch More, Book Now”.

I searched in random hotels in Helsinki, Malta, Dubai in Facebook to see what engagement some hotels have accomplished.

In Helsinki, the new Hotel Indigo has taken the lead, with some personal videos. Hotel Arthur has a nice promotional video. In  Dubai The Address Downtown Dubai  have some slick promotional videos of their hotels. In Malta Marina Hotel Corinthia Beach Resort  have great features on their You Tube channel, ¨Take me to Marina¨ Mayfest 2015, video shot with GoPro, which could be shared in their Facebook page.  I argue that more can be done to engage the customer in more ways than this.

• Create some interesting competitions, and the winner is announced on the Facebook video channel.
• Have a small narrative on the video by the staff. It makes the clip more personal.
• Place your YouTube videos on your Facebook page.

Hilton Eugene, Oregon, USA , took advantage of the video feature by announcing the winner of their Mothers Day Facebook Newsfeed contest.

They developed a 24 second video on their mobile device, shot the video in the hotel’s kitchen with the chef announcing the winner.

The video format made the content relatable and captured the attention of viewers in a way a text or picture post could not. The video generated great buzz (207 views in less than a week) and terrific engagement (101 Post clicks and 44 Likes, Comments and shares).

Consider also a live streaming or broadcasting app by Twitters, such as Periscope.

Live streaming has come along way in the last decade. Luckily today we have mobile devices that can record in HD and stream over 4G and/ or wifi. The user experience is a lot better for live streamers and viewers. The Periscope is true audience participation because with live integrated hearts and comments while you broadcast. It is the instant feedback that traditional broadcasters have been dreaming for years. You can engage with the audience as you present, and that’s what the makes this app a game changer. The broadcast will expire from the Periscope channel in 24 hours, but it can be saved and featured on the hotels You Tube channel.

• Make a daily news update from the hotel, what is going on in the hotel.
•  Introduce live broadcast as part of  a wedding package in the hotel
• Create a destination  update to introduce your neighbourhood or the opening of a special event.

Ellen Degeneres the daytime TV show star featured Periscope. Click this Link, and be inspired.