How to promote your LGBTQ+ hotel on social media

Know your LGBTQ+ audience

First and foremost, to successfully promote your hotel to an LGBTQ+ community, you need to know what that community looks like on social media. This is your target audience. Ask yourself: What age group are you trying to reach? What’s their average income? Do they have any common interests or characteristics? And most importantly: Which social media channels do they use?

Once you know who makes up your LGBTQ+ audience on social media, do some research on how they engage with other brands. What content do they share? Do they communicate in a specific tone of voice? Whatever your findings may be, make sure your social media content matches the language your audience uses. LGBTQ+ customers tend to prefer brands that seem more human, so don’t be discouraged to use more conversational and informal language on social media.

Also it’s important that the photos you post are representative of an LGBTQ+ audience. This doesn’t mean you need to only share photos of gay couples – a photo of a single man will work just as well. We recently published an article on how to make sure your hotel’s brand identity attracts LGBTQ+ travellers. Have a look, it might help you find some inspiration for your hotel’s social media content!

Promote interesting LGBTQ+ content

While you may be tempted to use your social channels to promote your hotel and upsell, don’t overdo it. The key to winning your LGBT audience’s heart is to do it subtly while sharing a large variety of engaging content alongside any promotional posts. Think of your social media channels as a sort of concierge service and share tips on local LGBTQ+ events and activities near your hotel.

A great way to attract an LGBTQ+ audience is to offer promotional packages for LGBTQ+ events, such as your city’s local Pride parade. Promoting LGBTQ+ specific rates and packages will demonstrate your hotel’s LGBTQ+-friendliness, improve your reputation within this community and ultimately increase your average occupancy rate. Have a look at how we advise hotels in New York to promote themselves for this year’s World Pride. You might just learn a thing or two for your own hotel!

Engage with your audience

While having excellent content is important, don’t forget that the key way to grow your LGBTQ+ following is by engaging with your social media audience. All too often we’ll see a hotel spending a great amount of time optimising their posts, only to then fail at interacting with their followers. Always monitor any mentions you get, and reply to all comments and messages, whether they’re positive or negative. This will truly help you build more trust and loyalty from your followers.

What’s more, social media engagement is an excellent way to show your individuality. In an industry with unlimited competition, standing out is key. And what better way to do so than by having a reputation for being an LGBTQ+ hotel with a fun and unique personality? Don’t just copy-paste your standard ‘thank-you-for-your-message’ posts – have some fun with your responses! Hotels with quirky comebacks are ones to be remembered. For some (rather entertaining) post ideas, have a look at these brands that excel at the art of social media comeback.

Promote your LGBTQ+ hotel on social media

If you’re keen to promote your hotel on social media and increase bookings from LGBTQ+ guests, find out more about our services or register your hotel today.