When I started getting my business on Social Media I started at zero. No likes, no followers, nothing. I knew that would change eventually as more people found the business online. When I look back where I started I know it wasn’t getting used to the technology or settings things up that scared me, it was putting myself out there.

Social media is a great tool to connect with people who have stayed at your park and those who are looking for somewhere to stay when they visit your area. I can understand how it seems scary at first but the value you can get out of it is way more valuable than you can imagine.

What If No One Likes My Page?

People will, trust me! As I said before, we started with nothing. And yet there are people coming in and out of the park all day every day. How we encourage people to like the page is by being upfront with them. When they check out, we ask them to like it. It’s that simple. If they have enjoyed their stay they will get on Facebook and like your page, most without even being asked to.

What If I Get a Bad Review?

If someone doesn’t like your accommodation they are going to talk about it on social media, whether you’re online or not. It’s better for you to be online and have the option to respond and work through their issue rather than the original complaint being there for the whole world to see. Every bad review is an opportunity to show other people that you care and that you listen to feedback. You can turn a negative into a positive, and people will appreciate that.

What If My Clients Don’t Use Social Media?

We get a fair number of retired Aussies where we are, and they aren’t as up to date on social media as our other clients, so we hold courses for them. They all have smartphones, so what we do is hold a session where they can come in and one of the staff teach them how to get on Facebook. The clients appreciate it because we help them out, and they don’t feel embarrassed to ask us for help as they might with a family member. It takes pretty much no effort for us, but the return on that effort is huge.

What If I’m Not Comfortable Putting Myself out There?

That’s fine, you don’t have to be. You can always get one of your staff to handle the social media side of things. We do this all the time. We just set some rules around what they can and can’t post.  You don’t have to run the accounts yourself, and trust me when I say my younger staff members are way better at social media than I am.

The advantages that you get from being online give your business a huge boost, and so many clients use it now. If you’re not online you’re only hurting your business.