A small & sustainable eco-hotel, a countryside hideaway: that’s StrandNära. Located on Öland, Sweden, this eco-hotel by Erica & Mikael Anerhaf has built up an impressive following on Instagram. Strong hotel Social Media Marketing can definitely contribute to being fully booked throughout the year – and getting back on top of the game after, let’s say, a pandemic 😉 Okay, this year isn’t going to be a homerun for anyone, but getting your marketing right can at least help you to make the rest of the year a (small) success. Even if it’s just building up your brand for next year.

We, at the Tremento Team, firmly believe that a sustainable lifestyle is a good idea at all times. It’s better for the world, the climate and society in general! Now, let’s dive into this lifestyle and hotel social media marketing a little more with Erica, from StrandNära. Oh, and do make sure to give them a follow on Instagram!

1. How would you describe StrandNära and why did you decide to become the innkeepers? 

StrandNära is more than an eco-hotel. It is a home with a certain atmosphere. A home that welcomes its’ guests in an unpretentious and relaxed way. We always put the guest at the center of our attention. We focus on quiet luxury, good organic food, and comfortable, beautiful surroundings.

Only 200 meters from the sea, we offer a tranquil & scenic accommodation near the idyllic village Stora Frö. Close to natural charming spots & the world heritage Alvaret, we offer a sustainable concept. This comes through in the way we live, eat, and experience the island.

Within walking distance, you will find southern Öland’s longest beach with shingle, Herb Garden, Pottery, Haga Park’s surf center, and the nature reserve Beijershamn. The bike and hiking trail passes outside our garden further along the sea & the world heritage area.

StrandNära was originally intended to be a summer residence. It was built as a summer home by Mrs Julia, who opened the beautiful house for guests in the summer of 1926.

The building was thoroughly renovated in 2008-2020 by its owners, me myself, Erica, and Mikael Anerhaf. We carefully furnished and preserved the beautiful house. I focused on creating an atmosphere that is true to the natural surroundings and history of the place while maintaining the feeling of visiting a warm, private home. The eco-hotel is open all year long and we send you a warm welcome to the island and StrandNära.

We hope that with StrandNära we are able to inspire other people to have a sustainable lifestyle. Together we can contribute to sustainability and a beautiful future. 

2. What did you do in terms of marketing the hotel?

We are very careful about where we do marketing. It has to be exactly the right place for our company profile. We mostly use our website, Instagram & Facebook accounts. Also, we worked with some magazines that focus on quality and sustainability, meaning: they have the same priorities as we do. 

3. How important do you think social media marketing is for StrandNära?

Very important – this is where we communicate our story and get the chance to create personal relations with our customers.

Tremento’s observation: We stumbled upon the Instagram of StrandNära a while ago and it’s easy to see why they are performing so well.

• The long captions (which, unfortunately, we can’t read) are clearly telling a story and not just selling something.
• A consistent overall aesthetic in their feed.
• A mix of content: the area, the hotel itself, their staff, special occasions, and food!

4. What would you advise other BnB or hotel owners to do to get more guests and bookings?

Do what you love and you will love what you do. Create your dream and others will come to you and keep your dream alive together with you.

5. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned when it comes to hotel social media marketing?

Plan the marketing, choose exactly what channels you want to be seen on. Take responsibility over your own marketing, don’t buy advertisements that do not match your priorities or profile (like advertising in a magazine of which its values or style do not align to your own). Make sure every penny spent is putting your company in the right place. Also, dare to say no, dare to place high demands on placement, content, and appearance. Make sure that you are in the right spot!

Tremento’s tips: plan your marketing using our simple structure of Spark, Foster, Move. We will be explaining this system in our upcoming membership program! We also recommend you use a simple tool to plan your marketing, like Hootsuite. This tool is completely free up to 30 posts and 3 social media channels. Plenty for any small brand! Just sign up and get going. You could also use a tool like Later or the Preview app for Instagram, but we recommend Hootsuite because of how well it works with different social media platforms and the very easy way to organize your posts.

Let’s make hotel social media marketing EASY!

Are you struggling with social media? Finding it hard to come up with new content ideas, and reach more people? Then check out membership program, where we give you about 4 prompts per week and many actionable tips.

These prompts will go combined with an explanation. Every now and then they will also include a graphic template (for, for example, canva.com) and tutorials. We will also be uploading handy tutorial videos about marketing tips, tricks and basics.

So, if after reading this interview, you are wondering, but how do I use the question function on Instagram Stories? Or how to even use Instagram Stories? Then no stress: these things will be tackled in our membership program, too. We will make social media marketing fun instead of a struggle.

Free Facebook Group ?️

Just a final little thing: are you already part of our Hospitality Marketing Facebook Group? If not, please join! It’s 100% free. You can find the group right here: click.