There is no better way to capture the attention of potential guests and show off your great hotel than with a creative and engaging video. With more people than ever turning to the internet to meet their needs, the market is becoming increasingly competitive and no more so than in the hospitality industry. If you want your hotel to stand out from the rest, then creating a video which provides a 360 degree tour of your stylish hotel rooms, your luxurious restaurant or your welcoming reception area is a great way to draw people in and ensure that you are putting your best foot forward and clearly demonstrating why you should be the hotel of choice.
Not only that but since Google took over YouTube, they have adjusted the way they filter search results and so sites which also offer videos are more likely to appear on that much coveted front page of results when someone is searching for hotel accommodation. For this reason, ensuring that you have a high quality video on your site can also help you to reach your target audience.
So, you want to put a video onto your website but you aren’t sure where to start? Whether you decide to hire a professional video production company to do the hard work for you or simply want to have a go yourself, these top tips will provide you with a good starting point and the basic knowledge required to create something worth watching:-
Keep it short
In today’s pressured society, people want their information short and sweet and for that reason it is important that you keep your video snappy. Best practice suggests that videos under four minutes are best. It is also a good idea to stick with one style of video i.e. a tour of your rooms or an interview with staff/guests rather than mixing and matching.
Make sure it is high quality
If you are filming yourself then make sure you invest in a HD camera which will allow for quality filming. You could either look at purchasing a small HD camera or, alternatively, look at hiring one to save on costs. It is also important to make sure that the sound quality of your film is good. If you are filming someone speaking then make sure that you don’t just rely on your camera’s in-built microphone but invest in an external one. The last thing you want is for the person speaking to be unclear or muffled as this will automatically spoil the overall effect of the video, will come across as unprofessional and ultimately, viewers will be unlikely to continue watching.
Edit, edit, edit
There are many free programs available online which will assist you in editing your video and creating a final, polished piece which is worth watching.
Host your video externally
There are a number of great sites from which to host your final video such as YouTube and Vimeo. Not only can you easily embed your video into your website from here but you will also have the potential of additional traffic from visitors to the hosting websites as well.
Although creating a video may seem like hard work, the results will be well worth it and, if it increases your internet reach and attracts more guests to your hotel then it will most certainly have been worth it.
