Professional, In-House, or User Generated: Which Should Your Hotel be Using?
Choosing the right photos for your hotel is crucial, and it can either set yourself apart from the competition or end up making you look tacky and undesirable. Your hotel’s visual storytelling simply makes the difference during the shopping journey, and can ultimately impact your bottom line.
So that begs the question – with so many options for sourcing visual content, which method should your hotel be using? We’ve narrowed it down to professional photography, in-house photography, and user generated content – let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each:
Professional Photographer
In-House Photography
User Generated Content (Through Social Media)
It’s All About The Context
Before you can decide on which method you want to use, you have to first think about how you’ll be using the photos. Different channels call for different standards – posting photos to your social media pages, for example, is considered more informal, meaning you can get away with imperfect photos (in-house photography or user generated content). Typically, photos posted on your main website or on 3rd party travel channels demand a closer attention to detail (professional or in-house photography).
Freehand Miami
However, it all depends on your hotel’s personality in the end. Take a look at how the Freehand Miami takes advantage of user generated content to present a vibrant and rich story. Their photo stream is entirely created from images submitted by guests on Instagram! Not every hotel can pull off a visual content strategy like the Freehand Miami, but it’s important to find what works best for your hotel and your brand guidelines. There is no right answer, so get creative and start thinking about how to get the most out of your visual storytelling.