The Local in St. Augustine, Florida, is doing hotel Instagram marketing right. This boutique motel has built a recognizable, community-driven brand—proving how hotel Instagram marketing can go far beyond just showcasing rooms. With 43.3k Instagram followers and consistently high engagement, they’ve transformed their social media into a powerful marketing engine.
Let’s break down exactly how they’re doing it—and what you can take away for your own hospitality business.
Table of Contents:
- Marketing Strategy: What Makes The Local Stand Out?
- Instagram Content Strategy
- Key Takeaways
- Three Things You Can Do Right Now
Marketing Strategy: What Makes The Local Stand Out?
1. A Website Freebie That Actually Works
Most hotels rely on a basic “Sign up for our newsletter” prompt on their website. The Local does it differently—and better. Instead of just asking for emails, they offer immediate value:
🗺 “Sign up for The Local Guide—your go-to list of St. Augustine’s best breakfast spots, nightlife, and hidden gems.”
This simple tweak is a game-changer. People are way more likely to subscribe when they get something useful in return.
If you run a hotel, motel, or Airbnb, ask yourself:
- Are you giving people a real reason to sign up?
- What local knowledge could you share that would make your newsletter more appealing?
Screenshot from The Local – St. Augustine website.
2. Instagram Strategy: Story Highlights & Content Performance
📌 Clear, Organized Story Highlights
At the top of their Instagram profile, The Local has neatly categorized Story Highlights that make it easy for potential guests to find the information they need. Their highlights include:
📍 Or Motel
🎤 The Amp
🍽 Local Eats
🚪 Room Tours
💆♀️ Amenities
☕ Local Biz
✨ Progress
This structure makes their Instagram feel organized, user-friendly, and engaging—an essential part of any hotel Instagram marketing strategy. If your highlights are cluttered (or missing altogether), take this as a sign to clean them up!
Screenshot from The Local – St. Augustine’s Instagram page
📲 Instagram Content Strategy
📌 Content That Locals and Visitors Want to Share
The Local doesn’t just post about their motel—they create content that people want to save and share. Here’s what works best:
✅ Event Guides – Posts like “What’s Happening in St. Augustine This Month” have thousands of shares and saves. Their fall events roundup, for example, got 10.9k likes and 39 comments—because people genuinely needed that info.
✅ “The Perfect Day in St. Augustine” – Instead of pushing their motel, they focus on the local experience, making the content much more shareable.
🤝 Collaborations That Boost Reach
The Local frequently partners with coffee shops, restaurants, and event venues in the area. Many of these posts are collaborative, meaning both The Local and the featured business share them—instantly doubling exposure.
A perfect example? Their post about St. Augustine Distillery used the caption:
“The person who sent you this wants to visit St. Augustine Distillery with you!”
This type of built-in call-to-action encourages tagging and direct shares—one of the most effective tactics in hotel Instagram marketing for driving organic engagement.
🎤 Influencer Partnerships Done Right
Instead of randomly giving away free stays, The Local carefully selects influencers who fit their brand. This results in genuine, relatable content that resonates with their audience.
The key? They choose people who align with their target guests—proving that authentic influencer partnerships can elevate hotel Instagram marketing results.
🔥 Trending Content Formats That Work
The Local leverages Instagram trends in a smart, intentional way. Some of their most engaging formats include:
📌 “Send this to the person you want to stay at The Local with!” – A simple text overlay on a video that prompts direct shares.
📌 “This is your sign to visit St. Augustine” – A popular trend that taps into FOMO (fear of missing out).
📌 Local Spotlight Content – Posts like “Our Favorite Ice Cream Spots in St. Augustine” encourage local businesses to reshare the post, boosting reach even further.
The result? Their posts aren’t just getting likes—they’re getting shares, saves, and direct messages. That’s the kind of real engagement that leads to actual bookings.
If you want to direct access to my library of content ideas just like these, then head over here.
Key Takeaways
- Turn your email sign-up into something valuable—a simple local guide works wonders.
- Organize your Instagram Highlights to make it easy and intuitive for people to find what they need.
- Create content that people want to save and share—event guides, itineraries, and local recommendations perform exceptionally well.
- Use collaborations strategically—feature local businesses and use collaborative Instagram posts to tap into their audience.
- Create content with a built-in CTA—posts like “The person who sent you this wants to go here!” drive organic engagement.
- Work with influencers that truly align with your brand—authenticity is key.
Three Things You Can Do Right Now
1️⃣ Turn your email sign-up into a lead magnet – Offer a free local guide, checklist, or itinerary instead of just asking people to subscribe.
2️⃣ Audit your Instagram Highlights – Are they organized and useful, or just a cluttered mess? Time for a refresh!
3️⃣ Collaborate with a local business this month – Feature a restaurant, coffee shop, or event venue and create a collaborative Instagram post to tap into their audience.
Final Thoughts
The Local isn’t just good at hotel Instagram marketing—they’ve mastered branding. Everything they do—from their Instagram colors to their content style—feels consistent and recognizable. And that’s exactly what makes their marketing so effective.
But here’s their real secret weapon: they focus more on building a local audience than a guest audience.
Most hotels make the mistake of marketing only to travelers. But who actually recommends hotels the most? Locals. I’ve mentioned this in my newsletter article and I’ll say it again: turn locals into your biggest ambassadors!
Embed yourself in the local scene—promoting events, businesses, and concerts. This, in turn, brings in more guests through trusted recommendations.
This approach is far more sustainable than chasing one-time visitors. A strong local presence leads to:
- More word-of-mouth recommendations
- Higher social media engagement
- A steady stream of new visitors from local referrals
If you run a hotel, motel, or Airbnb, this should be your biggest takeaway:
💡 A local audience is the key to long-term success.
If you want to implement these strategies for your own business, check out my latest YouTube video, where I break down how to copy some of their templates (and why they work) 🎥👇
And if you want more hospitality marketing breakdowns like this, then sign up for our newsletter and get the latest strategies straight to your inbox! 🚀📥
