Hotels need networks. You have room for conventions, guests, and parties. But you won’t get those contracts if you don’t know how to network in the digital age. Equip your marketing team with the best tools on the market so they can broadcast the excitement of everything you have to offer.

Bridging the gap between the online and offline audience can be tricky, but if you have the right tools in place, it’s not quite as difficult.

Here are a few examples of hardware and software your marketing team can utilize to enhance your social media presence.

Hardware

Large conventions are places for fun, games, competitions and more, and your team should capture all of it. Nobody likes a camera shoved in their face, but someone on a smartphone is discreet. The iPhone 6S Plus has a stellar camera, as does the Samsung S6 Edge. Have part of your team take photos of the event for later use.

Tablets are wonderful tools for conducting surveys. Conduct a survey to see how participants are enjoying the event. Your social media team can have a small booth, or base of operations in the middle of the action.

With the information taken from these surveys, the media team can get a feel for what people like about the experience, and what the hotel can do better. Not only that, but the media team can also focus marketing on the areas customers indicate need the most attention.

Laptops are no longer just laptops. 2-in-1 hybrids now dominate the shelves, and have saved both the tablet and laptop market simultaneously. Consumers want a versatile machine, like a laptop, with the simplicity and interface of a tablet.

Enter Lenovo Yoga series. These 2-in-1s have strong construction, built with magnesium-alloy frames. Inside, Intel’s 5th Gen Core makes the devices powerful. Not only do they run conventional, robust computer programs, they also are compatible with mobile apps and detachable from the keyboard, which makes them versatile machines.

Software

Social media platforms are varied and vast. Discuss company objectives and future goals that can be achieved through social media.

For instance:

• How many likes on your company’s Facebook page are desirable within the first quarter?
• How many Twitter followers?
• How many Instagram likes per picture are achievable and what a realistic goal to work toward?

While it’s easy to look at likes, followers and favorites to judge your social media progress and influence, there are in-depth tools that track what kinds of posts, tweets, and grams get the most attention.

Hootsuite, Buffer, Sprout Social, and AgoraPulse are all examples of dashboards that help your team keep track of the most popular content you’ve created, whether advertisements for the space your hotel provides, or pictures of convention-goers having a great time.

Each of these programs provide similar services such as post schedules, social media calendars and enable your team to post to all social media platforms from one simple dashboard.

However, the interface of each is different, and the nuts and bolts are nuanced and varied. Certain functionalities work best for different people, which is the reason there are so many programs.

Listen to your social media team about which they feel is the most appropriate for your online goals.