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Social Media Landscape for Hotels: In-House Vs. Outsourcing Perspectives

By Florence Quinn President & Founder, Quinn PR | January 2024

In the dynamic landscape of the hospitality industry, the role of social-media management has become increasingly pivotal.

Hotels face a critical decision when it comes to crafting their digital presence: Should they handle their social media internally or entrust the task to external agencies?

This article delves into the perspectives of six industry professionals, each offering unique insights into the advantages and drawbacks of both in-house and outsourced social-media management.

Mauri Berry, vice president of marketing & digital strategy, Remington Hospitality: Bringing Social Media In-house

Pros of In-house: Managing a staggering 130 properties, Remington Hospitality is shifting from outsourcing to in-house social-media management, beginning with 15 of its own assets. Mauri Berry, who is overseeing the move, sums up the key advantages here.

Control and Cost Management: Berry emphasizes the importance of having better control over social media strategies and managing costs efficiently. In-house management allows for a more streamlined approach, ensuring that the messaging aligns seamlessly with the brand.

Brand Knowledge: The in-house team at Remington becomes not only the executor of social media but the owner and steward of the brand. This intimate understanding allows for more authentic and compelling storytelling.

Cons of Outsourcing: One of the significant challenges highlighted by Berry is the issue of "expense creep." Agencies, over time, can become increasingly costly, driving hotels to consider in-house options for better control and cost-effectiveness.

Unique Approach: Remington is taking a phased approach, launching in-house services as a proof of concept for 15 of their own assets. Once proven, they plan to scale and offer social media services to third-party managed hotels, particularly those with unique narratives, such as Autograph Collection properties. "By bringing it inhouse we have greater control, less expense, growth, more accountability and greater speed to market," noted Berry.

Morgan Jones, co-founder and creative director, TAKE OUT, a social-media firm: Balancing Flexibility and Expertise

Pros of Outsourcing: As seen through the eyes of Morgan Jones, outsourcing offers hotels certain advantages.

Flexibility: Agencies like TAKE OUT provide flexibility, allowing clients to adjust scopes based on seasonal demands and evolving marketing priorities. This adaptability caters to the dynamic needs of the hospitality industry.

Industry-Wide Knowledge: Outsourcing to agencies provides hotels with a broader perspective. Agencies, working with multiple clients, offer insights into industry trends and creative stimuli derived from a 360-degree view of the market.

Pros of In-house: Jones also acknowledges the benefits of in-house management, particularly the depth of brand immersion that an internal team can achieve. In-house teams have the advantage of being deeply immersed in the brand's identity. This hands-on approach allows for a more intimate understanding of the brand and its day-to-day operations.

Insightful Tip: Jones points out that hotels often bring social media in-house for budget reasons. "When this happens, they typically are not as focused on their long-term social strategy," said Jones. "They're really trying to get organic social to work immediately." However, even with an internal team, they frequently turn to external agencies for creative strategy execution, especially for photography and videography. In terms of understand and executing on organic, paid, retargeting, creative and Influencer work, "it would be nearly impossible for one inhouse person to be able to do all of this," noted Jones.

Vanessa Williams, general manager, The Vinoy Resort & Golf Club, Autograph Collection: Real-time In-house Content Creation

Pros of In-house: As general manager of The Vinoy Resort & Golf Club, Autograph Collection, Vanessa Williams worked with a social-media agency, before making the decision to bring social media inhouse. This experience gives her a unique perspective on the question.

More Content Creation: With a full-time, in-house person dedicated to social media, Williams says they can capture more video, images and content. Part of the decision was fueled by her desire to give the various venues in the hotel their own social-media platforms. "With an agency there is a limitation on how much content they can capture," said Williams. "It would be costly to have an outside agency managing multiple outlets."

Content in Real Time: A social-media team member onsite full-time can capture and post news, happenings and opportunities as they occur. Real-time content creation allows for spontaneity and the posting of authentic moments that would have not been possible to capture in pre-planned agency shoots.

Cost Efficiency: The shift to an in-house approach eliminates the need for external agency costs associated with shoots.

Challenges of Outsourcing: In addition to enumerating the benefits of in-house management, Williams sheds light on the limitations of outsourcing content creation. External agencies may face challenges in capturing diverse content for multiple outlets within a hotel. The cost of managing multiple outlets through an agency can be prohibitive.

Impactful Outcome: Real-time in-house content creation at The Vinoy Resort & Golf Club has not only enhanced community outreach but has also provided a more dynamic and authentic portrayal of the hotel. The pros of in-house content creation far outweigh any cons, fostering a more direct and genuine connection with the audience.

Michael Cady, Chief Marketing Officer, Charlestowne Hotels: The Dual Nature of Social Media

Choices: Michael Cady provides a nuanced perspective on the dual nature of social media, paid and organic.

Paid Social Media: Cady believes that paid social media is best handled by the firm that does the paid digital advertising. Charlestown Hotels sees a 15- and 20-to-one return on paid social. They also use it for brand awareness and email acquisitions.

Organic Social as a Research Tool: Cady asserts that organic social media serves as a research tool for potential guests. After exploring websites and review platforms, guests often turn to a hotel's social media pages to verify if it aligns with their expectations. "Organic social media is not the lead reason why someone books a hotel," emphasized Cady. "It can be a supporting factor."

Segmentation and Revenue Considerations: Cady introduces the concept of segmentation, emphasizing that the choice between in-house and outsourcing should be based on the revenues and segmentation of the hotel. Some hotels may require an over-the-top social media presence, while others may focus on organic social as a supporting factor.

Three Options: For organic social, Cady recommends three options. The first option is to hire an organic social-media agency that will provide content, do quarterly photoshoots, and write captions. The second, which is the most minimal and least expensive way, is to create quarterly grids with content collected from four seasonal photo shoots. "This option provides a nice-looking, social-media page that consumers will see when they turn to social media to check out a hotel before booking," said Cady. The third way is to have someone on site capture content. "While this sounds good in theory," cautioned Cady, "there are very few team members at a hotel who can do this, and when they leave, they have to be replaced, so it stalls."

F&B: Organic social media takes on greater importance for a hotel's f&b outlets. Many people will select a restaurant based on its social media. Cady will often source a trusted local supplier of content or hire a social-media agency that just does food and beverage. To market food and beverage, TripAdvisor and Yelp are also critical.

Strategic Insight: Charlestowne Hotels utilizes paid social media for various creative strategies, achieving remarkable returns. Cady stresses the importance of high-quality imagery for both organic and paid social media, emphasizing authenticity and style.

Leora Novick, founder, Persephone Social: The Strength of a Collaborative Team

Benefits of Collaboration: Leora Novick emphasizes the importance of collaboration in successful social-media management. "There are some fantastic social media managers out there," said Novack, "but successful social media is a team effort. And being a resource to that one onsite person is huge."

Building a Think Tank: Novick underscores the success of Viceroy Sugar Beach's social media work, attributing it to a team of five Persephone social-media experts. A collaborative approach, drawing on the knowledge of individuals experienced in the luxury hotel space, creates a powerful think tank working together on behalf of hotels.

Onsite Liaison: Novick highlights the role of an onsite champion, acting as a liaison between the agency and the hotel. This collaboration ensures real-time insights and strengthens the partnership between the agency and the hotel.

Strategic Approach: Persephone Social recommends conveying the brand's essence through both organic and paid strategies, offering a comprehensive and cohesive approach. "A lot of people still think social is young people and pretty pictures," said Novick. "It is hugely important to run a paid program, including retargeting." According to Novick, it's the paid program that produces direct revenue.

Amy Draheim, president and founder, ABD Creative: The Challenges of Keeping Up

Pros of Outsourcing: Draheim posits that it would be difficult for one in-house person to keep up with social media platforms and trends, as well as partnership and UGC work.

Social-media Platforms: Social has many platforms, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X, and it is important to know the demographics of the people who are on each, how to use each platform and which ones are best for your hotel and goals.

Trends: It is incumbent on the social-media team to know what the trends are in social media and among hotels. They must also be on the pulse of what is and is not working in social media at any given time.

Partners: Collaborating on social media with partners, such as CVBs, can significantly increase a hotel's social reach.

User-generated Content: Draheim recommends that a hotel lean on user-generated content (UGC). Not only does it provide additional content but "a personal review is worth so more and does better," said Draheim. "UGC is like a TripAdvisor review on Instagram." If beautiful models are photographing themselves at your pool and tagging the location, all the better.

In conclusion, the decision between in-house and outsourcing for hotel social media is multifaceted, influenced by factors such as control, cost, flexibility, and the need for real-time content creation.

Each professional interviewed provides valuable insights, allowing hoteliers to make informed decisions based on their unique brand identity and objectives. The strategic considerations outlined by these experts serve as a guide for navigating the intricate landscape of social-media management in the hospitality industry.

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In the event that you have chosen to have your membership automatically rebilled, unless and until you notify HotelExecutive that you wish to cancel or terminate your membership to HotelExecutive, you hereby agree and authorize HotelExecutive's Internet Payment Service Provider to automatically renew your membership to HotelExecutive on a continuing basis and to charge your credit card (or other payment means you have selected) to pay for the ongoing cost of your membership. You hereby further authorize HotelExecutive's Internet Payment Service Provider to charge your credit card (or other approved payment means you have selected) for any and all purchases of products, services and entertainment provided to in, at, through or in association with HotelExecutive.

13. PRIVACY POLICY

The following is the Privacy Policy for HotelExecutive

We can be reached via telephone, email, or online at our contact page. When you visit our site we do not log any information regarding your domain or email address. Information Sharing: We do not share user information with any third parties other than via press release distribution as described below.

Hotel Newswire is a newswire service that distributes press releases on behalf of our users. If you decide to submit a press release for distribution through our system we will transmit your entire press release including any personal information therein contained to our media contacts and online distribution points including search engines. This is the only redistribution of your information that we engage in. Your submission of press releases through our system indicates consent with this policy. The information we collect during your registration process is used to notify users about updates to our service and inform users of any special events hosted by Hotel Newswire. This information is not shared with other organizations for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

Cookies: Our system requires the use of cookies to enable the user to log back into our website to access information from the newswire, without having to log in each time using the required username and password.

If you do not want to receive email from us in the future, please let us know by following instructions included in our communication with you. Users who supply us with telephone numbers online may receive telephone contact from us regarding their account, or informing them of new products and services available on the HotelExecutive website. If you do not wish to receive such telephone calls, please edit your account and remove your phone number from your account profile. This can be done from your user account menu.

Ad Servers: We do not partner with or have any relationship with any ad server companies. From time to time, we may use customer information for new uses not previously disclosed in our privacy notice. If our information practices change at any time, we will post the policy changes to our website to notify you of these changes and provide you with the ability to opt out of these new uses. If you are concerned about how your information is used, you should check back at our website periodically.

Upon request we provide site visitors with access to all information (including proprietary information) that we maintain about them. Users can access this information by logging in to their account.

Security: We always use industry-standard encryption technologies while transferring and receiving user data exchanged with our site. We have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of information that we have collected from you on our site. We do not store credit card information in our systems.

If you feel that this site is not following its stated information policy, you may contact us.

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