How to Create Viral Content for Your Micro-Resort
By Isaac French
I built an instagram following for Live Oak Lake that meant all the difference between being a hodgepodge “airbnb business” just like all the rest, and becoming a globally recognized destination doing crazy numbers, eventually resulting in a $1M/key exit.
Yep, it all came down to the social media presence.
Today I’m going to tell you exactly how to create content that will build a massive social media audience for your experiential hospitality property, and fuel 80% (or better) direct bookings rates for it.
Of course, partnering with influencers is also essential, but this is even more so. If you don’t have a convincing feed, you’re never going to build the momentum that it takes to keep and convert followers into guests.
If you’ve never created content, some of this may seem a bit theoretical. That’s ok. Once you dive in head first, you’ll start figuring it out, and things will make more sense:)
Let me say this first: Without a beautiful and unique property and guest experience, your efforts to build a following will fall flat. Don’t treat social media like some magical elixir to a property or portfolio that needs to be abandoned, and started over.
Everything begins (or ends) with a remarkable property and carefully crafted experience that is word-of-mouth-worthy.
Once you have that, you’re ready for this. Social media is just a great facilitator of word-of-mouth referrals, and as we’ve talked about previously, that is the greatest form of marketing, ever.
Ok, so you have a property, and the digital components of a great brand: a logo and a beautiful website which has been optimized for conversions.
In 2024, social media content is all about short form video. Pretty much every platform out there has pivoted to this, and you must embrace it if you want to build an audience. Instagram and TikTok (who knows the future?) are the 2 platforms you should focus on. Create for instagram and copy and paste to TikTok.
Now, the algorithm changes from time to time, so you’ll want to keep your ear to the ground and be experimental to see what’s working. For instance, carousel posts are being pushed quite heavily on both platforms as of late.
All your posts shouldn’t be video, but a majority should. Photo carousels are really valuable from time to time - maybe every 5-10 posts or so - in that they can be used to highlight some of the great photography you’ve been collecting of your property (from creators you host, and professional shoots alike).
Photos can show a valuable angle that videos can’t, like what exactly the kitchen will look like if the guests want to cook, or even tiny details like where the lights and switches are next to the bed.
Guests (especially some) tune into these kinds of things, and you can answer their questions and overall help convince them to book by posting a variety of cropped in and zoomed wide, inside and out, lifestyle and architectural photography via carousel posts.
Now for short form (the rest of your content), it’s really all about 4 things:
Consistency
Hook
Educational or entertainment value
Shareability
Consistency is vital. Consistency when you post (we post every other day, always), consistency in your style.
It’s especially important when you’re starting out to set times to create and post your content. You can do it daily, every other, or twice a week, but if you want any kind of real results, I’d stick with every 2 days at a minimum.
This will build the muscle and get reps in, which is essential.
The hook is SOO important. Can’t overstate that. If the first 3-5 seconds doesn’t capture my attention sufficiently, I’m going to scroll. And when I scroll, the algorithm is going to penalize your post.
Over the first 30 min to a few hours of a post’s life, the actions of everyone who sees it, both followers and not, are going to cumulatively determine whether that piece of content is going to flop, or result in hundreds of thousands, or maybe even millions, of views and therefore thousands of new followers (future potential guests) and thousands or tens of thousands of dollars of new direct bookings — the ultimate prize.
The hook can be something verbal or something visual, or both. It’s fine to experiment with different styles and formats when you’re just starting, but choosing a “look” will be important going forward.
Doesn’t mean every single post has to be identical, of course, but the algorithm rewards consistency in general. And this builds a strong sense of your brand for your feed, which is critical when people are deciding whether to book or not.
Every piece of content should either entertain or educate your viewers. Keep that in mind as you create and view your work.
Finally, optimize for shareability! Think to yourself, “what will make this video irresistable for my ideal viewer to share this with a friend?” Does it transport the viewer there and make them feel like they could be sitting by that fire or rowing on that kayak? Etc etc…
Does it end in such a way that you want to rewatch it? Rewatches and shares are like rocket fuel for the algorithm.
Of course, this email probably raises more questions than it answers, but hopefully you got at least one nugget from it. There are a ton of things I didn’t cover here for brevity’s sake, like how to structure your videos to make them engaging, how to edit (I recommend CapCut), how to use stories (very important to stay personally connected to your audience), using trending audios for virality, captions, comments, etc etc.
If you’re ready to go deeper, I’d encourage you to check out the masterclass where I have a deep dive with my content guru, Nate, on creating viral content.
Btw, Nate and his team at The Content House are awesome. I studied his approach and the results it bore for months before hiring them to take over Live Oak Lake. They really took our social to the next level. I highly recommend him if you’re considering subbing this piece of the pie out (which I don’t blame you for when you have your hands full with a million other responsibilities that come with building and running a property of this caliber).
Have a great week!
—Isaac