In recent years, the explosion of social commerce (commerce on social media) has created a significant shift in consumer behavior, and the hotel industry is not exempt from this trend. Travelers are not just seeking inspiration for their trips through social media; they also want to experience, interact, and even book directly on their favorite platforms. As the line between "content discovery" and "booking decision" blurs, hotels must seize the opportunity to turn social media into a potentially lucrative new revenue channel. Let's explore social commerce - a new and potential distribution channel for your hotel with Hotel Link.
Social Commerce has transcended the simple definition of an advertising channel to become a shopping behavior integrated into consumers' daily entertainment experience. If social media was previously a place to "admire beautiful photos and read great reviews," users are now accustomed to instant purchasing as soon as inspiration strikes, thanks to powerful technological support:
Native Checkout Integration: Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok have introduced features that allow users to complete transactions right there without leaving the app. This eliminates conversion friction and makes the purchasing behavior seamless.
The Power of Live Streaming & Short Videos: Live commerce features and the explosion of Short-form Video have created authenticity and urgency. Sellers can interact directly, answer questions, and create limited-time offers, fueling impulse buying.
Integrated Shops and Catalogues: Businesses can build integrated shops directly within their fan pages or profiles, turning the social profile into an official retail channel with real-time product catalogue updates.
Personalized Product Recommendations: Smart AI algorithms recommend products based on user behavior and preferences, displaying the right product at the right time, significantly enhancing the conversion rate.
In the travel and hotel industry, Social Commerce is not limited to selling physical products; it is reshaping the entire Customer Journey, from the Discovery phase to the Booking Decision.
Discovery & Inspiration: Gen Z and Millennials, the fastest-growing and highest-spending traveler groups today, tend to discover destinations and seek travel inspiration through short-form video platforms like TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Cinematic videos about hotel experiences, cuisine, and local activities have a greater impact than any traditional banner ad.
Trust & Authenticity: Younger customers trust real-life videos, authentic reviews, and content from influencers or other users more than traditional brand-produced advertising content. Social Commerce leverages this trust.
Instant Conversion: Booking behavior has changed: customers can decide to book via a link embedded directly in the video or description. Tools like Instant Booking Links, Swipe-up Links, or integrated Catalogues allow hotels to shorten the distance from inspiration (seeing a beautiful video) to action (payment).
Interestingly, users no longer draw a clear distinction between "entertainment content" and "commercial content." For them, if content about a trip, a destination, or a hotel is appealing, useful, and authentic enough, then booking becomes the natural next step to materialize the experience they just watched. Hotels must utilize Social Commerce to create engaging content and integrate the smoothest possible sales mechanism.
The hotel industry doesn't sell tangible consumer products; we sell experiences, emotions, and living spaces. These are the very elements that images, videos, and instant interaction on social media can convey more powerfully and persuasively than any traditional channel.
Here are the reasons why Social Commerce is a perfect fit for the Hospitality and Accommodation Sector:
Overcoming Website Limitations: Websites and OTAs often only provide static images and basic descriptions. In contrast, videos and motion graphics (Reels, TikTok) deliver a "sense of reality" and "energy" that other formats struggle to express. A 10-second video of a guest relaxing by the pool, enjoying breakfast on the balcony, or a romantic sunset moment on the rooftop can sometimes be more persuasive and inspire a booking more than a meticulously staged professional photo shoot.
Stimulating Immediate Desire: Social content touches emotions and stimulates the viewer's immediate desire for the experience, a crucial factor in selling products in the leisure and travel segment.
Seamless Connection: Social Commerce has condensed the journey from Inspiration $\to$ Discovery $\to$ Booking into a single platform. Guests watch a video, like it, click the product link (Direct Booking Link), and complete the transaction.
Reducing Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Hotels can eliminate intermediate steps, such as redirecting to an OTA or opening a new tab, where customers might be distracted by competitors. Direct sales through social media allow hotels to fully control the process, reduce reliance on intermediary channels, thereby significantly reducing the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and increasing net profit.
Overcoming Geographical Barriers: With algorithms prioritizing interaction and virality, a captivating TikTok or Reels video can spread organically to millions of people in different countries without the hotel having to invest additional advertising budget for each market.
Accessing Niche Markets: Social Commerce helps hotels more easily reach niche target customer communities (e.g., Vegan Travelers, Digital Nomads, Pet-Friendly Guests) through specialized hashtags and content.
Hotels can leverage low-cost but highly effective content sources instead of large, expensive advertising campaigns:
Leveraging Free Content:
UGC (User Generated Content): Content created and posted by customers (reviews, stories) has superior credibility and reach.
Utilizing Stories and Live Stream: Daily Story content or short Live Stream sessions showing room tours, common areas, or the breakfast buffet provide an authentic, lively view with extremely low production costs.
Building Trust: The transparency of Social Commerce is very high. Customers trust real-life videos (often filmed with a phone, not overly elaborate) more than staged and photoshopped ad banners. This trust is a solid premise for the booking decision.
Major and minor brands have proven that Social Commerce is a powerful conversion tool, especially when they focus on authentic content and shorten the booking journey.
Strategy & Execution: Hilton demonstrated that Social Commerce is not just for small brands. They used TikTok to create a series of entertaining content, focusing on real experiences, everyday moments, and small in-room amenities rather than just traditional facility advertisements. Hilton encouraged guests and employees to share their stories.
Key Results:
The campaign achieved Millions of Views and generated thousands of User Generated Content (UGC) pieces, significantly increasing brand recognition among young customers (Gen Z and Millennials).
Breakthrough Point: Hilton integrated Social Commerce by embedding direct booking links in the video descriptions and TikTok bio. This helped shorten the booking journey from "seeing an interesting video" to "deciding to book" without interruption.
Strategy & Execution: Airbnb, a brand built on unique experiences, leveraged the power of Live Stream. They collaborated with numerous Creators and Hosts to live stream real experiences at unique accommodations, from treehouses and glamping tents to luxury villas, on platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
Key Results:
Increased Booking Rate: Live Stream helped customers vividly imagine the space, lighting, and feel of the apartment in real-time, thereby building trust and increasing the booking rate for the featured listings.
Proving Effectiveness: Airbnb's results prove that live stream is an extremely powerful tool for accommodation products, as it eliminates any doubt about the authenticity of edited images.
Strategy & Execution: In Vietnam, many homestays and small resorts in tourist hotspots like Da Lat, Ha Giang, Hoi An, etc., have created a booking frenzy thanks to authentic, intimate TikTok review videos of rooms, dining experiences, and surrounding scenery. These videos are often made by customers or KOCs (Key Opinion Consumers).
Key Results:
Spike in Sales: Not a few places recorded a 20–40% increase in bookings after being featured in a million-view video. Customers watched the video, felt the emotion, and immediately searched for and booked the room.
Long-Term Impact: The effect of a viral video can last for weeks or months, bringing in a continuous stream of customers without large advertising costs.
Strategy & Execution: Marriott used a refined Influencer Marketing strategy on Instagram and TikTok, selecting KOLs/KOCs whose following matched specific hotel segments (e.g., food KOLs for luxury resorts, tech KOLs for city-center hotels). They not only requested beautiful photos but also required the embedding of a direct booking link or the use of the Swipe-Up feature on Stories.
Key Results:
Effective Conversion: This method ensures the advertisement reaches the right target audience and strengthens the Conversion Rate because the viewers already trust the referrer.
Measuring RoAS: Marriott could accurately track the Return on Ad Spend (RoAS) through specific discount codes or Tracking Links assigned to each Influencer, transforming Social Media from an awareness channel into a direct sales channel.
All these successful Case Studies share a core commonality:
Authenticity is Key: Content must be genuine, not overly polished like traditional advertising, to build trust.
Emotional Trigger: Content must tap into the viewer's desire for travel, relaxation, or experience.
Shorten the Distance: The most crucial step is to lead the customer to the booking point instantly (Instant Booking) by integrating Social Commerce, eliminating conversion barriers.
To transform social media from an advertising channel into a Direct Booking Channel, hotels need to implement a focused content and conversion strategy. Here are the suitable directions for accommodation of all sizes, from small to medium-sized, or boutique hotels.
Short videos (Reels, TikTok) are the number one content format for virality and emotional impact. Hotels need to turn ordinary experiences into captivating content:
Maximize effective video formats:
Specific Room Tours (10–20 seconds): Don't just film the room; focus on close-ups of unique highlights (beautiful view, bathtub, workspace).
Integrated Service Experience: Film the customer journey from check-in, to the spa, dinner at the restaurant, and concluding with a cocktail on the rooftop.
POV (Point-of-View) Videos: Simulate the guest's personal experience: stepping into the room, opening the balcony curtain, or the view of the sea/city from the bed.
Behind-the-scenes: Show customers the meticulous preparation process: housekeeping staff arranging the room, the bartender mixing cocktails, or the chef preparing breakfast. This increases authenticity.
Practical production tips:
Equip Simple Tools: Hotels don't need professional cameras; just equip marketing staff or the front office team with good smartphones.
Prioritize Authenticity: Film genuine videos, use natural light, and limit excessive editing or filters that alter the true colors. Maintain a natural tone and a fast, engaging pace.
The goal is to achieve zero-distance between inspiration and the purchasing action. Every piece of content must be a sales opportunity:
Integrate booking links:
Bio and Profile Page: Always place the official Booking Engine link in the bio (profile page) of all channels (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook).
Linkify Everything: Maximize the use of linking features: Link in individual posts (via a third-party tool if necessary), Link in Stories (Swipe-up/Link Sticker), and display the Link during Live Streams.
Utilize the Social Shop feature:
For platforms with integrated Shops (TikTok Shop/Instagram Shop), hotels can list their products: Attach all-inclusive staycation packages, Discount vouchers for services (F&B, Spa), or "limited weekend hot deals."
Clear and Urgent CTA: Every piece of content must end with a clear and attractive Call to Action (CTA): "Book now before rooms run out," "Check today's price and get an exclusive offer," "Complete the deal in 1 tap"...
Live Stream is an extremely strong tool for building credibility and creating a sense of scarcity, driving immediate purchases:
Suggested Live Stream Content:
Golden Hour Room Tour: Live stream room tours at sunset or sunrise to showcase the beautiful view and natural light.
Culinary Experience: Live stream the actual breakfast, introduce signature dishes, interact, and answer menu questions.
Q&A & Exclusive Offers: Dedicate time for direct Q&A about the hotel (policies, location, amenities). Introduce exclusive deals only for live stream viewers, creating an incentive for immediate purchase.
Filling rooms during the low season: Experience from many homestays in Da Lat and Hoi An shows that live stream can quickly fill empty rooms during the low season or on weekdays by launching deep discounts and limited-time offers.
The power of others talking about you is always greater than you talking about yourself.
The Power of Micro/Nano Influencers: Hotels do not necessarily need to invite expensive KOLs. Many micro-creators (5,000–50,000 followers) or nano-creators bring higher conversion efficiency because:
Lower cost and easier to manage.
More authentic content and closer to their followers.
Strong interaction and high community engagement.
Practical Implementation:
Offer vouchers or Invite for Experience (FOC Stay) to creators who align with the brand.
Clear agreement: Require the creator to commit to embedding a direct booking link (or special discount code) in the caption or bio for easy performance measurement.
Read more: The Secret To Boosting Direct Bookings For Your Hotel With TikTok UGC!
This is an extremely powerful tool to convert potential viewers into actual customers, especially when combined with the hotel's Booking Engine:
Using Pixels (Facebook/TikTok Pixel): Install these tracking codes on your website and Booking Engine to record user behavior:
Retargeting those who viewed social videos but haven't visited the website.
Advertising to those who visited the website or abandoned the cart in the Booking Engine.
Personalized Advertising: Suggest rooms or stay packages that match their interests (e.g., if they viewed a sea-view room, show an ad with a discount for a sea-view room). This method has a high conversion rate because you are targeting people who have shown clear interest.
Social Commerce brings traffic and inspiration, but the Online Experience is the factor that determines whether the customer completes the transaction or not. The customer's entire online journey, from clicking the social media link to payment, must be completely seamless, fast, and trustworthy.
Speed and Design: Customers primarily watch videos, like them, and click the link to open the booking page directly on their phone. Therefore, the website must be designed with a Mobile-First mindset: fast loading, neat layout, and easy to navigate with one finger. If the website is slow or difficult to read on a phone, customers will abandon it immediately (high bounce rate).
Functionality: Important buttons like "Book Now" must be easy to find and click. Images and content must automatically scale beautifully on all phone screen sizes.
Avoid Hidden Fees: If a customer is feeling inspired after watching a video, but upon entering the Booking Engine sees the price displayed vaguely, with too many hidden fees or the total cost unexpectedly inflated, they will immediately lose trust and exit the page.
Detailed Display: The Booking Engine needs to display the final total cost (Total Price) including taxes and service fees from the very first step. It needs to clarify the services included in the package (breakfast, cancellation policy) and highlight the Direct Booking Perks compared to OTAs.
Increasing Close Rate: Social media customers are accustomed to speed. If they have a simple question (e.g., "Are pets allowed in the room?" or "What time is check-in?") that isn't answered immediately, they will switch to another channel. Live Chat or a smart Chatbot helps provide quick interaction and 24/7 answers to questions, thereby increasing the close rate and reducing the cart abandonment rate.
Personalizing Interaction: The Chatbot should be programmed to handle common questions and seamlessly transfer complex conversations to a real support staff member.
Boosting Customer Trust: The brand experience must be seamless: the imagery and tone of voice used on TikTok/Reels must match the images and content on the website. If the TikTok video is very youthful and dynamic but the website is too classic and slow, customers will doubt the brand's authenticity.
Building Consistency: Use the same color palette, the same photography style, and a core message (e.g., "Paradise Getaway," "Authentic Local Experience") across both platforms to enhance trust and brand recognition in the customer's mind.
Proving Authenticity: Professional website photos should be supplemented with authentic videos (from Social Media) right on the homepage to prove that what customers see on social media is what they will receive upon arrival.
In the fiercely competitive travel environment, Social Commerce should not only be viewed as a tool to drive immediate room sales. Strategically, it is an essential channel for building Brand Equity and fostering sustainable relationships with customers.
Consistent Presence: When a hotel appears regularly on social media through videos, stories, and quality interactions, customers gradually memorize the brand's image, style, and core message.
Creating "Top of Mind Awareness": Maintaining this presence helps the hotel stay top of mind for customers. When they think about booking accommodation, your hotel will be the first choice that comes to mind (Top of Mind Awareness), bypassing the need to search on intermediary channels.
Humanizing the Brand: Social media is the best place for a hotel to express its "personality", friendly, luxurious, humorous, or close to nature. Behind-the-scenes videos and direct interaction help the brand become more "human," forming deep goodwill from customers.
Building Community: Hotels can create a community around their core values (e.g., sustainable travel enthusiasts, culinary lovers). This encourages customers to interact, share experiences, and feel like they belong to a group, transcending a mere transactional relationship.
Encouraging Repeat Customers: Customers follow a hotel not just to see offers but to maintain an emotional connection. When it's time to plan their next trip, they will be inclined to return (Repeat Business) to the brand they are familiar with and love.
Turning Customers into Brand Ambassadors: Satisfied and loyal customers will voluntarily recommend friends and family (Word-of-Mouth Marketing). These recommendations have the highest credibility and bring in a stream of quality customers with zero acquisition cost.
Deeper Customer Understanding: Every interaction, comment, and share on Social Commerce is a valuable data source. Hotels can analyze this data to understand exactly which amenities their target customers are interested in, how they react to specific price points, and which destinations are trending.
Long-Term Development Direction: These insights help hotels not just sell rooms but also reposition services, upgrade facilities, and build a long-term product strategy that aligns with the actual needs of the market.
In summary, the value of Social Commerce extends far beyond focusing on short-term room sales; it is a strategic investment in loyalty, brand recognition, and the sustainability of the business.
Social Commerce is not an add-on option; it is the new rule of the accommodation industry. Within the next 2–3 years, technological changes and consumer behavior will make direct selling on social media a prerequisite for hotels to compete and survive.
Dominating the Youth Segment: Social Commerce is expected to surpass traditional channels to become the main booking channel for the younger demographic (Gen Z and Gen Alpha), who grew up with social media and view instant purchasing as completely natural.
Frictionless Transaction: Technology will allow customers to complete booking, payment, and confirmation directly within the video or live stream environment (Native Checkout), completely eliminating the need to redirect to an external website.
Deep Personalization with AI: Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology will be integrated deeper to analyze users' video viewing behavior, interaction, and travel preferences. Social media will then propose highly accurate, personalized content and stay packages. Hotel A will be displayed to trekking enthusiasts, and Hotel B will be displayed to those who prefer luxury dining.
AR/VR (Augmented/Virtual Reality) Integration: The future of Social Commerce will integrate AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality). Customers can "walk through" and preview a room, pool, or balcony view directly on their phone or via VR glasses, creating an extremely powerful "Try Before You Buy" experience, boosting trust and driving the booking decision.
Live Stream Becomes a Retail Channel: Forms of live stream selling service packages, experience tours, and time-limited exclusive deals will become more common. Hotels will need professional Live Commerce Hosts to interact and close deals in real-time.
Metaverse and Digital Experience: Hotels can start selling digital experiences (e.g., virtual hotel tours, travel NFTs) in Metaverse platforms, attracting a new customer segment and building the brand in digital spaces.
All these predictions mean that hotels are not only compelled to be present on social platforms for communication but must turn social channels into a Point of Sale. Hotels that fail to invest in Social Commerce infrastructure and engaging video content will automatically be excluded from the consideration list of the largest-spending customer segment in the future.
Read more: Top 8 Emerging Travel Distribution Channels to Reach Potential Guests
Social media is no longer just inspiring travel; it is becoming a powerful booking channel for hotels. When social commerce and the online experience combine, hotels can shorten the booking journey, create engagement, and build the brand more effectively than ever before.
Investing in video content, live stream, UGC, and direct booking links is the key for hotels to catch up with this new consumer behavior.
If you want to turn social media into a truly effective booking channel, Hotel Link is ready to partner with you. From SEO-ready websites and a robust booking engine to efficient management tools, all are designed to help hotels grow sustainably in the digital age. Contact Hotel Link to start optimizing your revenue today!