Lay My Hat

Facebook and me have never made it. If there's a button "like" or "be my friend" just for Facebook itself you'd not get me clicking it. I know, it's me, but I just find it fiddly and awkward and frankly a bit childish.
BUT EVERYBODY SAYS "You need to get into social media".
So this is my question, looking for honest answers:
"Does it really bring you business or is it just the trendy thing to do? I mean is it worthwhile persevering?" "If you set up a business page, does it really bring you any business?"
I always feel that it's a bit like one of those, "Recommended by Lonely Planet" stickers that people put in their windows. They help to reassure but don't really bring in the customers unless they're already there.

I know some people get a lot of bookings via FB. I have only had a few enquiries but where I do find it works well for me is keeping in touch with previous guests who then rebook.

My holiday apartment FB page hasn't brought me anything, but I have one for my art and that is working out fantastic for me. So not sure if it works for holiday lets or not. Personally, I don't look on FB for my holiday stuff, would be interested to hear what others say.

I absolutely get where you are coming from Costabravarent. I have been on Facebook with a personal profile for years (joined when my children did just to see what they were up to and I was probably the oldest person on there at the start!) but have resisted having no more more than a handful of friends, hardly ever logged in, as I just don't see the point when you can email them anyway. However, I thought it would be a good business move and made a page for my cottage in March this year. I put the page as a link in my signature to potential guests and I hope that it adds a bit to my already copious amounts of information - I share other people's pages to advertise what is going on at the moment etc. I do this probably only about once a month.

HOWEVER, I think that unless one puts in a considerable amount of work (and crucially, time), posting daily or weekly and linking and generally promoting the page, it probably does not add much except legitimacy. I give it very little time and as a result, I suppose, have not ever had an enquiry generated through there. Others, twittering madly and generally interacting in the cyber world probably get far better results from it.

I think I may be in the minority but I get 90% of my bookings from Facebook and have a waiting list via FB for 2018

Social Media is the way forward, just look around you, everyone has smartphones etc, it's the way people live nowadays and getting your friends to like your page and then recommend your home is priceless

Have a look at my FB page and see how much I interact with our guests - it makes it much more personal

Just my two penneth worth

Sandra

Yes, Social Media is all about personal interaction. I've had quite a lot of interest via my FB page, but really need to start and update it more often.

arkvilla wrote:
Social Media is the way forward, just look around you, everyone has smartphones etc, it's the way people live nowadays and getting your friends to like your page and then recommend your home is priceless

I think so much depends on your target market. It's great that you do so well from social media, Sandra, and clearly your market is of the 'always connected' variety . Mine isn't, and I suspect that applies to a lot of us. So little point in trugging away trying to get bookings from Facebook if your market isn't primarily made up of FB users (of my guests, I'd say that less than 25% use FB).

That said, I do have a FB page, but I use it to keep in touch with guests past and future, not to sell.

I don't post often enough on Facebook as I'm offsite so can't quite get that enthusiasm going to post anything relevant.

I feel a Facebook page can add a personal touch to your business and credibility. Scammers don't have Facebook pages and I know guests feel some reassurance in seeing some of the more personal messages which Facebook lends itself to. I for example, add pictures of my own trips to the property or DIY projects to my Facebook page.

Indirectly I reckon this must increase business.

I too am a FB sceptic; I have bitten the old bullet and started to use it for the business.

Absolutely, zilch.

I know social media is the way forward and do put in some effort, but I have to admit that I see it all as a 'kin pointless exercise.

Don't get me on twatter - now that is a waste of space:-

"What you doin?"

"twatting you"

"G8 pickin me nose now.."

"mite av a coughphee"

Now I have had a booking from Twitter. It was totally unconnected to the apartment-someone I followed through my profession

I have a FB page. Had no bookings from it - much of my target and existing market are older, shyer, etc... so they don't interact very much.

A few past guests are fans, they like and share my photos... and the page definitely gives one more small layer of credibility for prospective guests to check out.

I post my own photo's around once a week and share lots of other local businesses' stuff, restaurants, photographers, beach sports, etc... so for a visitor to scroll through it I think it looks colourful and inviting. I don't expect much else from it.

Now Twitter, (which I'm also on) bores me rigid and I can't quite see the point of it but am struggling on..........

Same here, got a Facebook page but never had a booking from it. I try and post as much as possible, but really struggle to find anything interesting to say. It's certainly an uphill struggle and requires a lot of time and commitment.

tavi wrote: Now Twitter, (which I'm also on) bores me rigid and I can't quite see the point of it but am struggling on..........

In comparison to FB I have had a good few bookings through Twitter!

Social Media is hype. It is said that you will never be found without SM. However search engines do not give results for SM.
It is all about advertisements. The platforms gain money from this and just like listing site V our website using GoogleAds, we do not have enough money to compete.

I post to our FB Page and Twitter feeds daily during April-September and most days the rest of the year. We've had FB Page since 2008 and Twitter long before that.

For the number of bookings generated it's not worth it, but TBH it doesn't take long to post a few pics, news of what's going on, local events etc. and I find it's quite fun.

If it was just an attempt to bring in business I would have packed in ages ago.