Making a Lasting Impression in the Instantaneous World of Social Media

Vietnam's largest resort Alma, situated in Cam Ranh, has officially been deemed one of the world's most 'Instagrammable' hotels.

We are very proud of this award and achievement.

Tens of thousands of readers of Luxury Travel Advisor voted Alma as the winner of the Asia and Indian Ocean bracket of the United States-based website's 'Most Instagrammable Hotel in the World' 2021 competition, placing the resort in the poll's top four resorts worldwide.

A stunning sunrise image of two of Alma's 12 swimming pools cascading down to the beach, with submerged sun loungers in the foreground, secured the resort's placement as one of the competition's 64 hotel finalists. The hotels were then pitted against each other over six rounds of voting.

The organizers of the competition were absolutely thrilled for our 30-hectare resort to be recognized in such fashion so quickly after Alma's December 2019 debut. Alma has everything to be the most attractive resort in Vietnam. Cinema, Water Park, an array of restaurants, pools, a jaw-dropping beach, an arcade, karaoke, bars and a lot more. With this amount of facilities and celebrities visiting us regularly, we never run out of things to share online.

It's often said that a well-crafted social media presence seems almost effortless on the surface, but behind the scenes it demands a lot of time and effort invested in not only strategic planning but developing truly compelling content. We say otherwise. Here at Alma, we capture and share everything as it is, without putting too much time or effort into portraying things better than how they really are. Our guests, and future guests appreciate the authenticity when it comes to presenting our resort experiences.

Most resorts in Vietnam put a lot of time and effort into "creating content", however in our case we have a stunning resort that looks good without filters or editing. Alma Resort is now officially the most attractive resort in Vietnam on social media.

Posts are great and part and parcel of any social media presence, yet the organizers found that videos and live streams resonate much more with social media users. Perhaps it's the movement that helps breaks up monotonous scrolling but to maintain the viewer's attention your content needs to be genuinely engaging.

We've had our staff including Le Ho Quoc Tuan and Maya Nguyen take on regular hosting gigs for the live streams, inviting viewers to virtually join them at our resort to discover exciting venues and services as well as take part in celebrations such as Christmas and the Vietnamese lunar new year, known as "Tet".

One live stream that immediately comes to mind took viewers inside Vietnam's largest gingerbread house in the lead-up to Christmas. Measuring 7.13m in length, 3.2m high and 3m wide, our life-size gingerbread house was made of 277kg of gingerbread – comprising 950 gingerbread wall tiles and 1500 gingerbread roof tiles – and festooned with 30kg of meringue, Christmas decorations and lights.

Another memorable livestream was that of our staff sharing great tips on how to make traditional Tet dishes to mark the new lunar year, the biggest event on the Vietnamese calendar. People who love to travel tend to love food, and learning how to make the likes of "Banh Chung", also known as Chung cake, with staff guiding viewers through each and every step with friendly banter is not only interesting but is also a window to Vietnam's fascinating culture, making the content all the more richer.

Now that everyone has a smartphone in hand, I highly recommend harnessing your staff and your guests' photographic and videography skills to afford your resort's boundless possibilities for generating engaging content. Your staff and your guests have a front row seat to your hotel, and you never know what could happen and who will be at the right place at the right time. In June 2020 a large dolphin paid a rare visit to the shallow waters of Long Beach right off our resort on Vietnam's Cam Ranh peninsula.

Alma lifeguard Nguyen Ngoc Tan, who took video footage of the dolphin, said the mammal seemed "fearless yet friendly" as he and his fellow lifeguards Nguyen Trung Phi and Vo Thanh Nhon approached it via jet ski. Our guests thought it was a shark when they saw its fin and scrambled to get out of the water. However, when we confirmed it was a dolphin, they relaxed and remarked that they felt so lucky to chance this moment; it's not every day you get to swim near a dolphin in crystal clear conditions. Estimated to be 3.5m long, the mammal later swam back to deeper seas. We had never seen a dolphin that close to the shore before and it may have been attracted to calmer waters as a result of less tourism activity in the wake of COVID-19. The compelling footage of the dolphin went viral in Vietnam.

Quality influencers are another fantastic source of content that helps bolster the appeal of your social media presence, not to mention them being profound ambassadors for your resort. From the outset, Alma has been very welcoming of ideal influencers, and our resort quickly become a magnet for Vietnamese celebrities including singers Quang Vinh, Bao Thy, Ly Hai and Dan Truong, actor Tuan Tran, model Jennifer Pham and many more.

As Vietnam's economy moves ahead in leaps and bounds, and many more people with increasing disposable incomes look to travel - and travel in comfort - these celebrities have a lot of sway with genuine and engaged followers in what I call the "new Vietnam". A Vietnam that is bold, that wants to make a statement, and looks to the future with unbridled confidence.

The key behind fostering a fruitful collaboration with these quality influencers is to do everything possible to ensure they genuinely feel enthusiastic about your product and that their followers feel this enthusiasm too. This hinges on you and your team giving them this feeling that staying at your resort is something special, on the back of making them feel genuinely welcome by giving them exceptional experiences. Thus, you must be genuinely enthusiastic about your hotel and what it can offer the influencer. It never ceases to amaze me when I hear stories of hotels insisting that they want to work with influencers and then, when the opportunity arises, only providing accommodation and breakfast and expecting the world in return. Or there is email after email between the marketing team and management negotiating one lunch or dinner for the influencer during their stay.

This is a job for many influencers and the least the hotel can do is feed them properly during their stay. It's then no surprise that the hotel later complains about the influencer staying in their villa promoting their cosmetic products. What else did you really offer for them? Of course we have to be cautious with our budgets, more so than ever before due to the global pandemic. However, my point is if you are serious about welcoming quality influencers, there needs to be an investment on behalf of the hotel. Afford the influencers good ol' fashioned hospitality fitting of a five-star hotel and the return you get back will generally be ten-fold.

From the outset, Alma has been very welcoming of ideal influencers, and the resort quickly become a magnet for Vietnamese celebrities including singers Quang Vinh (pictured), Bao Thy, Ly Hai and Dan Truong, actor Tuan Tran, model Jennifer Pham and many more.

In this age of information overload, where there is such a profound amount of content and messaging vying for our attention, it's easy to get overwhelmed and wonder where to start with a successful social media strategy. Social media can be a very effective communication channel and I view it as part of your hotel's communication toolbox, that really needs to be multifaceted so that your messaging can truly cut through. As there is so much noise now and things move so quickly, the challenge is capturing and keeping your target audiences' attention.