Have you ever ever tried explaining one thing that has no direct comparability? On this recap of Social Pulse: Hospitality Version with Agorapulse’s Chief Storyteller Mike Allton, our visitor Stacy Feinberg shares what she is aware of about that problem. As a former educator turned social media skilled, she’s taken on the duty of selling luxurious glamping domes that mix the consolation of high-end lodging with immersive outside experiences.
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Stacy Feinberg: Certain. I used to be invited to show in a fifth grade throughout COVID, and I used to be instructing on-line and all the issues that got here with that, and it was a brand new faculty to me and a brand new curriculum and a brand new format, and I had simply had sufficient of the entire course of and I used to be in search of one thing new to discover, a brand new alternative.
And fortunate for me, my husband, Hal, was creating this excellent resort, Clear Sky Resorts, and in some way, by way of COVID, he bought this constructed. Our first 12 months open was 2021. I stepped up out of want. It discovered me, however it turned out to be the right factor that I had been in search of some option to categorical myself creatively and to showcase and get out the phrase about this superior new resort that we have been opening throughout COVID.
However it turned out it’s the right vacation spot since you may be in your dome. We have now a keyless entry, and we needed to carry that to the forefront, and with our funds, we knew one of the simplest ways to do this could be social media.
So I stepped ahead out of affection for the mission and in search of a brand new problem, and it’s simply been going since then.
Inform us about Clear Sky
Stacy Feinberg: Clear Sky Resorts is a glamping dome expertise. Our first location is by the Grand Canyon, so we have now a location in Arizona.
That’s our unique idea. It’s extra of a conventional canvas dome that you simply’re used to seeing, however it has wide-open panoramic home windows and skylights in each dome above your mattress for stargazing. However on the similar time, the same old expertise you’d get with a glamping dome doesn’t embrace air con and warmth, a personal toilet inside each dome, and a full-service resort expertise, which is what we provide.
We have now actions, we have now household occasions, we have now all types of issues like that. And we simply, this 12 months in August, opened our second location in Utah close to Bryce Canyon Nationwide Park, and that location is a glass-front dome. In order that they’re like glass and wooden. And so the entrance panoramic window is all glass, and you’ll simply open up your curtains and lie in your mattress and gaze out on the stars.
And there’s loads of glamping on the market, and there’s loads of Airbnb domes, however we’re the primary full-service luxurious glamping expertise we have now. We have now completely different numbers at every place. We have now 44 domes on the Grand Canyon and about 60 domes at Bryce Canyon. However we have now meals at every property. We have now stargazing excursions. We have now a full-service entrance desk. We have now customer support, hospitality, housekeeping, and all of the belongings you may count on. So it’s such as you took a four-star lodge room and popped it down in the midst of the desert, which is one thing no person else is doing.
What have been the preliminary ideas that you simply had from a social media technique and content material perspective for such a novel idea?
Stacy Feinberg: Oh, I had no concept coming in about what to anticipate!
I simply knew I had loads of love for the mission, and I used to be excited to let folks know.
And social media is a really efficient, cost-effective option to educate folks about your product. And so we needed to have a powerful social media presence, and we nonetheless have a few house workplace workers of about three and a half folks. I simply stepped into that position.
I believed it could be simply what I used to be in search of.
How do you suppose your background in schooling has influenced your strategy to social media content material creation?
Stacy Feinberg: It’s attention-grabbing. I didn’t know that there could be a lot overlap, however there’s in social media, as in schooling today, you want to seize folks’s consideration.
You have got, in accordance with my analytics, about two seconds on TikTok to seize somebody’s consideration and get them to note you. So, it’s about the identical within the classroom these days, it appears, and also you seize their consideration and you’ve got a transparent set purpose in thoughts, and you then break down your ideas and current them to the viewers in the best way that you simply wish to current them.
And you then take a step again and also you say, “Did that work?” Like, you need to assess and interpret your information after which alter your type to construct your relationships within the classroom or on-line. You construct your relationships.
I feel the primary factor that’s the identical is simply to repeat your self over and over. You suppose they’ve the idea, and you then get a query that you simply’ve simply answered. And also you simply always must be reinforcing your concepts, sticking to your objectives, and focusing in your content material.
So, I feel there’s much more overlap than I anticipated.
What different social channels are you centered on?
Stacy Feinberg: We’re on each channel. I’ve just lately been attempting to study Pinterest, which is of curiosity to me, however to be trustworthy with you, I do not know how Pinterest works, however I really like TikTok.
TikTok has been nice. We’ve been rising loads there. We’re additionally the strongest on Instagram. Instagram is our bread and butter. So Fb advertisements have been very productive for us. So we’re on Fb, however Instagram and TikTok are the place most of my consideration is targeted more often than not.
Mike Allton: I may see the character of your locations would play very properly with Instagram and TikTok with Pinterest, which you’ll wish to be fascinated with, simply a few of the recommendation to you is that the people who find themselves on Pinterest, planning their subsequent journey or trip or a hike, one thing on these traces.
So, you may take into consideration pinning content material that may be useful to them, and it could carry your locations to their consciousness. After which they might [be like] “Oh, okay, cool. I can keep at Clear Sky for this journey.” After which they might pin that to their board, which they’re creating, most likely a private personal board to assist them plan their subsequent journey to the Grand Canyon or Utah. One thing alongside these traces.
Stacy Feinberg: Which might be nice as a result of we don’t wish to get misplaced within the shuffle. We all know there are loads of nice locations to remain in very lovely areas of the nation, however we’re lucky; for my part, we have now a really Instagrammable property. There’s simply no finish to pure magnificence.
After which our domes at Bryce Canyon are very lovely. Our domes at Grand Canyon, a few of them are themed domes. We have now an 80s recreation room dome. It’s simply lovable and makes me really feel so completely happy. And we have now a Pac-Man adorned, and we have now a recreation desk which you could play, and so there’s loads of alternative for folks to put up us. And in order that works in our favor, too.
What position would you say that viewers suggestions performs in your technique, and the way are you discovering and surfacing that suggestions?
Stacy Feinberg: It’s large.
Viewers suggestions is big as a result of each single follower or potential follower refers to us as a possible visitor, and so we wish to give folks what they’re anticipating.
We wish to make sure that to set their expectations appropriately. And so if I’m getting loads of questions on one thing. I would like to supply readability on that in order that we are able to present them with an genuine illustration of what to anticipate after they come to Clear Sky Resorts, the place typically folks come and so they say, “This seems to be nothing like I used to be anticipating.”
And that would go both means. So we wish to watch out, and we wish to set folks’s expectations. And so their suggestions is like, “How [do] I function my feedback?” I get DMs. I take every part to coronary heart, so we are able to transfer ahead authentically and supply readability for them on their often requested questions.
How do you stability the necessity to educate folks and attempt to create content material that’s partaking and visible?
Stacy Feinberg: Once more, I’ve about two seconds to get anyone’s consideration.
So, lecturing will not be an choice. I simply have to—I like going again to instructing. I would like to satisfy folks the place they’re and assess their prior data. Like we name it KWL, what do they know? What do they wish to know? After which what have they discovered? It’s my job to place all that collectively.
And one of many issues I like to do is I really like to make use of Instagram Tales for this as a result of you’ll be able to put something in a narrative. You are able to do polls, you are able to do a Would You Relatively? You are able to do an Ask Me Something (AMA), one in all my favorites.
Moreover being tremendous partaking, it additionally simply provides you an amazing image of what folks wish to know. And so then you’ll be able to take that, and you’ll create from their data gaps, you’ll be able to reply it within the story, however then you too can create a Reel or a TikTok or what have you ever concerning the matter that they’re asking about.
Then you can also take that and run with it, as a result of not all people learns the identical means, and a few folks have to listen to issues loads of instances earlier than they get it. So you might have the power to create that in loads of other ways and loads of completely different types. Change the hashtag, change the font, and you’ll simply get your content material loads of traction that means. Once more, such as you mentioned, listening to your viewers.
Mike Allton: I really like the AMA tip. That’s large. Of us, let that sink in ’trigger they’re speaking about Marcus Sheridan‘s strategy, which is a traditional strategy to content material advertising and marketing. They Ask, You Reply, it’s basic. It’s one thing that loads of us as entrepreneurs lose sight of. We get enamored with campaigns and glossy objects and new platforms like Blue Sky and so forth, however on the core, we must be asking our viewers to inform us what they wish to learn about. And so then we are able to reply these questions as a result of it’s nice content material for the person who requested it. However there are 100 folks. 10,000 folks even have the very same query, and also you’ll assist them whether or not it’s whenever you reply it tomorrow or if it’s in a long-form piece of content material, like a video. They may hit upon that months from now, or they may discover it on Pinterest and anyone else’s board, like, oh yeah, that’s precisely what I needed to know. So, I really like that tip.
Are there any methods which were useful for serving to potential visitors perceive what makes your resort so completely different?
Stacy Feinberg: It’s all types of the identical reply as a result of short-form movies are nice. And such as you mentioned, particularly on TikTok, they simply resurface.
And when somebody’s taking a look at you and researching your property, then these come out to the floor, and simply repetition. Our often requested questions are often requested, so there’s some content material that I simply appear to concentrate on greater than others, and loads of instances we’ll get one thing like somebody will suppose that it’s an Airbnb, and they also gained’t be understanding the precise idea that whenever you come right here, we’re going to supply you reside music and stargazing excursions and horseback rides. Some folks won’t need, which could not be what they need. However once more, setting expectations. If you come right here, we’re not simply providing you this naked bones Airbnb or this naked bones glamping. There’s air con within the domes, and there are these alternatives and experiences that we’re offering that nobody else is offering within the business.
It’s such as you mentioned, there are issues that type of remind you of it, however will not be precisely it.
Mike Allton: No, that makes loads of sense.
One of many early interviews we had was with a lodge chain on the East Coast and principally round Philadelphia, the place you may say they have been like an Airbnb, however not likely ’trigger that they had particular person properties with out a regular lodge entrance desk type of a situation. However it’s additionally absolutely managed and concierge, and the entire thing. And so it’s exhausting to speak these, and your level is 100% legitimate. That’s the place the repetition comes into play.
How are you measuring success?
Stacy Feinberg: It’s been attention-grabbing that we’re utilizing all of the common methods information from our web site and Google, and when folks name the resort to make a reservation, we ask them, how did you hear about Clear Sky Resorts, and what made you interested by us?
And so we have now loads of anecdotal proof, however the factor that’s been attention-grabbing to me is that typically I’ll have a video hit on Instagram, and it’s speedy, the spike in bookings is completely simply real-time information coming at me. A video bought one million views, and we bought 100 bookings. It’s simply been loopy to see.
However we do observe information from our web site and all the normal ways in which we glance, and I attempt to see what’s working for me on Instagram. They’ve nice analytics there, and our meta analytics, we use that loads. So we simply collect as a lot information as we presumably can, and it’s been loads of trial and error, however we’ve had loads of success.
So it’s been very attention-grabbing to see.
Mike Allton: It’s a problem as a result of, in contrast to retail, you’re not essentially sharing hyperlinks with hyperlink posts. You don’t essentially have a store the place you might have that type of direct one-to-one information. We all know that this individual clicked on this put up and signed up, so it’s very a lot a let’s make a dotted line and hope we see some outcomes stemming from these viral movies. In order that’s superior.
Stacy Feinberg: We are able to try this on our advertisements. Fb makes that very simple to see. It hyperlinks proper to our cloud beds, and you’ll e book, and we are able to see what advertisements are working, however you’re proper, so far as common posts, it’s slightly, it’s slightly trickier. I can see who clicks on my hyperlink tree and who goes the place, however to comply with them, to attach the dots is slightly bit more durable.
Stacy Feinberg: I’m on Instagram all day lengthy and TikTok, in search of inspiration and seeing what the developments are, and checking creators.
And I’m enamored with the enterprise suite on TikTok proper now. It’s very helpful. You possibly can area of interest down to date, you’ll be able to area of interest down. So I’ll go on and I’ll go to the journey part, and it’ll present me a listing of business leaders and what they’re doing on their accounts. After which it’s going to present me the hashtags which are performing, and it’ll present me the music that’s performing. And people movies have been doing properly for us on TikTok. So, that’s my newest obsession, and I’m studying how you can work with that.
However a software that we use that isn’t essentially a software, perhaps, however we collaborate loads with influencers, so our property is Instagramable, and we like to do loads of work with native influencers as a result of they know their audience and what they wish to see.
And they also come and so they keep and so they take some lovely movies after which they get the phrase out. And so it’s been nice collaborating.
Influencers, too. That’s been an amazing useful resource for us and user-generated content material as properly.
So, we’ve been leaning on our group in that respect, and I’ve been studying loads from these folks, too.
Thank all of you for studying the highlights of this episode with Stacy Feinberg. Don’t overlook to seek out the Social Pulse Podcast: Hospitality Version on Apple, and drop us a evaluate. We’d like to know what you suppose. Don’t miss different editions of the Social Pulse Podcast just like the Retail Version, Company Version, and B2B Version.
