In our era, the impact of social media and Internet on the travel and accommodation industry is beyond dispute. In this context, while securing their position, these popular channels may control and affect personal preferences. People now check out TripAdvisor before choosing a hotel to stay at, where to visit, where to go on a holiday and prefer Booking.com for reservations.
According to a study, over 70 percent of adult Internet users use social media sites actively and 8 of every 10 social media users prefer social media to communicate with companies instead of their websites.
How can you use the 80 / 20 rule when determining which social media channel will bring the most effective customer flow or which site will ensure the best results when carrying out social media marketing?
What is 80/20 and its possible impact?
Let’s first have a brief look at the 80/20 rule. According to the Pareto principle, aka 80/20, 80 percent of results to be reaped from something stems from only the 20 percent of reasons related to that thing.
Briefly, it says: “80 percent of bookings made through a hotel’s website is made by the 20 percent of those visiting that site.” This percentage consists of users that constitute the “major minority” and “minor majority”. In this respect, “major minority” is low in number, but high in terms of impact, while “minor majority” is high in number, but low in terms of impact.
Social media engagements that function as a guide
In the modern era, many travel and accommodation sites operate in the field of social media marketing. In this case, how can the 80/20 rule guide a hotel in deciding which social media marketing channel to operate in to increase the customer flow?
When applied to social media marketing, this rule shows that only 20 percent of hundreds of travel and accommodation sites are effective in terms of providing efficient customer flow.
Correct targeting for accuracy
What one should note here is to make sure to find out which social media channel is included in the 20 percent part. If one aims to receive the highest flow of customers in a short time, s/he should be present on the strongest social media channel. Of course TripAdvisor or Booking.com are among such sites; however, a specific group of customers might be the target if a hotel is a niche hotel. Say that you have a boutique hotel with the concept of an ecological hotel. This hotel can receive more efficient results if it is present on a site related to ecologic hotels rather than TripAdvisor.
80/20 effect on your own website
Based on this information, the 80/20 rule can be applied to increase a hotel’s efficiency on its website and social media channels in terms of customer flow. Here, the most important criterion is that the percentage of promotions directly related to sales should not exceed 20 percent of all posts. Say that a hotel posts 5 times through its social media accounts. Only one of them should be directly related to hotel sales, while the remaining 4 should consist of informative, entertaining and interesting posts.
You may use the 80/20 rule both for the promotion and sales of your property. Besides, HotelRunner has all the features you need to achieve this. Meet HotelRunner today and start earning immediately.
