What makes our in-house agency’s social content some of the best in the country? We’ve got one word for you: storytelling.

It’s simple, really. We have learned that creating exceptional content is essential to establishing a travel brand. That’s why we use high-resolution images and clever captions to tell visual stories that convey our beachfront experience – instead of selling our hotels with daily, persistent and mundane sales posts.

Our content strategy is a mix of trendy hashtags, beach life mantras, inspirational quotes and local event posts, supplemented with an everflowing supply of user-generated content (UGC). We like to keep it simple and fun, visually appealing and easy-to-read. This gives us a competitive advantage and increases our organic reach.

We love what our users are posting and saying about our hotels and destinations. So we share it freely and encourage our guests to keep it coming. User Generated Content has become a cornerstone of our content strategy, because viewers love to see REAL people having REAL fun. It’s also a great source of destination photography, deepening relationships with our guests who are excited the hotel has chosen to share their work on our platforms.

Guests and prospective visitors want to hear the story of our hotels from someone outside of the marketing department. UGC allows us to showcase memories our guests have made at every property, giving us true insight to what our guests like and what they want out of their vacations. (How’s that for relatable?)

We’re also well known for our ‘live like a local’ advice, which we distribute to establish ourselves as area experts, sharing ‘in the know’ tips and tricks to enhance guest experience while further trademarking our laid-back, fun personality.

When fans (or naysayers) comment on our pages, we respond to them in a friendly and conversational way to increase guest engagement. If someone posts a criticism of one of our properties, we publicly and transparently address it to show them we care, and that we are working to turn things around.

In 2014, we moved from sharing a majority of curated content to creating custom tiles. Today, we almost exclusively post our own branded content, including area event information, reviews and fun, customized posts.

We have even incorporated Real Time Marketing into our content strategy, always seeking opportunities that have a natural tie-in to our business. We stay on top of trends, news and current events so we can be reactive on social media.

Social listening helps us track the social activity around our hotels and within our communities. With these technologies, we can identify influencers and leads, surprise and delight our guests, and pinpoint areas of success and weakness. We use this data to gain a competitive advantage over other hotels in our market, increasing direct bookings and revenue.

But enough of the jargon. If you’ll excuse us, we have to get back to telling our story …