This technique is also great for Google+ posts, sharing on twitter and pinning on Pinterest
If you missed the last post about leveraging Facebook Photos, you can find it here https://chefforfeng.wordpress.com/2012/08/24/a-quick-tip-for-bed-and-breakfasts-to-leverage-facebook-photos/
Because photos are the one thing that is shared most often on social media and especially on Facebook, take the extra step (and the extra minute) and leverage them one step further for your marketing.
The addition of text to your images leads an additional trackback to your brand, you can include calls to action as well.
For those without desktop photo editors I recommend
- http://pixlr.com/editor/
- http://splashup.com/
- http://www.citrify.com/
- http://www.lunapic.com/editor/
- http://fotoflexer.com/
http://pixlr.com/editor/ and http://splashup.com/ both include a way to add space around your photo or image. The option is found up “canvas size”.
One of my personal favorite Facebook pages is https://www.facebook.com/TheGSDC. Where they make good use of leveraging text on photos by encouraging comments and holding photo caption contests.
A person who sees a shared post may not necessarily visit the Facebook page it originated at, but if something in a caption sparks their interest (like recipes for example) it can help drive traffic to your website or blog.
Chefforfeng's Weblog 
Wow, that’s really great collection, pictures are very necessary for your business as well as marketing.
And if it’s not available for the Innkeeper to grab some photos, call a photographer, a friend, a neighbor, someone that can take a descent image. I’m sure you can work something out with a pro photographer. It’s tough for everyone in this economy, let’s help each other.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Unique-Angles-Photography/127057614739
Very True Marcus, I know many an inn that’s worked out a deal with a local photog and both benefit from it.
This might need to be a class at a PAII or midAtl conference. I think too many innkeepers do not put enough weight on this aspect of their business. They need to have a digital camera, and snap snap snap and use them! I have passed this one, thanks for this article!
I agree, will suggest it to both
I love this article. The thing is, it actually requires work, and too many innkeepers don’t put any time toward their social media, via blog or otherwise. Photos sell, they are the best opportunity for us to share what we have at our inn. Facebook is free, blogging is free, twitter is free, linkedin, google+ all free! No more balking at marketing when all of this is there at our fingertips to utilize!
Agree that it does take work and time, my take on it though, is if it takes you 2 minutes to modify a photo or post to social media and you get two bookings for a special out of it or a multi-day booking, 2 minutes of your time = fill in your room rates/package rates here. And yes it is all free.