Nowadays, more and more people are likely to rely on online reviews when picking a restaurant, looking for entertainment, or choosing a travel destination. The era of polished looks, perfect smiles, and photoshopped pictures has ended, making room for more genuine content often generated by users.
What is User-Generated Content?
User-generated Content or UGC is original content created by the brand’s customers and published on their social media accounts and other platforms. In a sense, it has replaced word-of-mouth as the new trusted source of information. UGC gives customers a unique opportunity to participate in a brand’s activity instead of being an observer, and it appears more genuine compared to traditional advertising.
The hospitality field is among the top industries benefiting from the UGC. The number of TripAdvisor reviews is higher than ever, and people are looking for travel destinations and hotels on social media. It’s crucial not to overlook the marketing efforts of your truest fans — your visitors. Of course, first, you have to make their experience pleasant and encourage them to create and share the content.
Encourage Guests to Share Their Experiences
To encourage guests to share their impressions, it’s important to create the right setting:
- Instagram-worthy Design: Add visually striking elements or create “attraction zones.” Photogenic spaces like designer interiors, photo zones, unique art installations, or elegant dining setups will encourage visitors to take pictures.
- Unique Room Features and Gifts: Focus on details that stand out — luxurious bedding, unique decorative elements, and high-quality materials. Thoughtful touches, like welcome gifts or personalized cards, can inspire guests to capture and share them.
- Rewards: Encourage guests to use branded hashtags, such as #DreamHotel or #RelaxInParadise, and tag the hotel in their posts. You can offer small rewards in exchange (e.g., discounts, free drinks, or desserts). This approach can also apply to platforms like TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Booking.com.
- Good Internet Access: Provide fast and free Internet access, so your guests can share their experience in real time. Engage actively on social media by responding to guest posts, thanking them, and sharing their content. Guests love when a hotel takes a moment to interact with their stories — it gives them an incentive to post more.
- Personalized Service: Focus on providing exceptional service and personalized attention to exceed guest expectations. When the experience is memorable, guests are naturally inclined to share it genuinely with others. If there were some gaps in the service, make sure to apologize and offer a complimentary drink or a discount.
A significant advantage of UGC, particularly from a business perspective, is its cost-effectiveness — it can deliver exceptional results with minimal investment.
Collaborate With UGC Creators
UGC comes with a human touch, but its spontaneity can also make it unpredictable. Factors like low seasons, fewer visitors, or inconsistent quality can disrupt the content flow. In such cases, partnering with UGC creators or influencers who specialize in producing high-quality materials can bridge this gap.
In 2018, I launched a UGC course to teach students how to collaborate effectively with the hospitality industry. It was built on my experience of interacting with brands (over 50 partnerships), hotels (over 30 collaborations across 15 countries), and travel businesses (blog tours and collaborations with ministries of tourism to showcase cultural, architectural, and resort highlights of various countries). Since then, I have taught over 800 students how to build collaborations, creating win-win partnerships that truly make an impact.
For example, recently, we worked with Hotel Daniel Vienna. We discussed and highlighted all the hotel’s strengths in advance (i.e. design solutions, unique features, and service offerings, such as in-house bakery, and additional services like scooter rentals, and honey production).
Then we brainstormed creative concepts that would align with the hotel’s brand and analyzed social media trends that could be adapted into the marketing strategy. Based on this, we produced content, handed it over to the hotel for use and also published on our own pages in social media. We were amazed by the results: our creatives achieved the highest reach among their content –– 80, 000 people; they re-engaged the existing audience and attracted new ones, increased page views, and drove more bookings. The conversion rate to website visits alone reached +123%. It was the best and most effective collaboration they had ever had.
Measure and Analyze the Effectiveness of UGC
In order to measure the effectiveness of UGC, you need to monitor a range of metrics that can directly or indirectly indicate its success. These can include:
- Tools like Sprout Social, or Brandwatch for tracking brand mentions, hashtags, and keywords on social media platforms.
- Engagement metrics in the hotel’s social channels — likes, shares, saves, and comments serve as valuable indicators. An increase in followers is nice too, but it’s a secondary metric and shouldn’t be the primary focus.
- Google Analytics helps monitor traffic to pages containing UGC and analyze user behavior. Track the number of clicks from social media to the official website or booking pages. Look at the time spent on the website and repeat visits after engaging with UGC.
- Hotjar visualizes how users interact with UGC on your website through tools like heatmaps and session recordings. It can show you the areas for improvement and the “hottest” spots to put the most valuable info.
You can also use the web analytics tools to study how the UGC impacts the Customer’s Journey from the first interaction to booking. Monitor changes in hotel ratings on review platforms after integrating UGC. Make it a habit to analyze the reviews and the overall reputation of the hotel.
Trends in UGC to Shape the Hospitality Industry in the Coming Years
Based on the history of my collaborations (especially the last ones — Nhow Milano, Avani Palazzo Moscova, Grand Ferdinand) I’m seeing a shift in the UGC trends. The following tendencies are becoming key for creators and people watching them:
- Video Content: Platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts are driving the popularity of short-form videos. Hotels can leverage this by encouraging guests to share clips of their stay. Additionally, live streams showcasing real-time experiences will gain traction, and offer authentic and engaging content. UGC creators specializing in hotel content will play an increasing role in producing such material.
- Authenticity and Trust: Consumers are gravitating toward genuine and unfiltered reviews. Hotels will prioritize encouraging honest guest stories, utilizing contests, bonuses, or incentive mechanisms to collect these. Such narratives will become integral to marketing campaigns, enhancing credibility and building trust.
- Interactive Content: Engaging guests through interactive elements like polls and surveys will be on the rise. Moreover, technologies like augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) will enable immersive experiences that guests can share with others, further enriching UGC strategies.
- Personalization: Hotels will analyze UGC data to tailor personalized offers, event recommendations, and services that align with guest preferences and interests, improving overall customer satisfaction and loyalty.
These shifts in UGC trends signal a new era in hotel marketing, where authenticity, real-time engagement, and personalized content are key to connecting with travelers. As these trends continue to evolve, hotels that adapt quickly will not only enhance their online presence but also create deeper connections with their guests. By applying these strategies, the hospitality industry can achieve greater relevance, stronger customer relationships, and an even more compelling brand presence.
