@phdthesis{Siebler, type = {Bachelor Thesis}, author = {Jana Siebler}, title = {Instagram and Facebook in the hotel industry in the Black Forest - an analysis of social networking of hotels and its importance in today’s world}, pages = {56}, abstract = {Social media and social networks are terms which appear daily in all sort of different contexts. The importance of such online platforms is growing day by day. People spend an immense time of their everyday life in such networks. Therefore, it is not surprising that marketers have encountered the great opportunity coming along with this. This paper contributes to the little research on follower demographics and delivers an insight into the hotel industry in the Black Forest. It attempts to close the knowledge gap of comparing social media followers of hotels to actual hotel guests, shows how hotels can integrate social media in their marketing strategy and why it is relevant for different market participants. Moreover, a comparison of possible target groups was made. For analysing social media followers of hotels, own primary data was collected in form of an email survey of hotels in the Black Forest. The findings were afterwards compared to actual tourist demographics derived from a former hotel guest survey in the Black Forest. According to responses of 85 hotels, the study found that hotel guests are usually from older generations (60+) and mainly male, whereas hotel social media follower tend to be younger (around 30) and female. This shows the possibility for hotels to target customers, different from their loyal customer base, via social media. Secondary data helped drawing further conclusions. Instagram clearly supports hotels to attract new customers. It has high relevance for hotels, as well as individuals, and can be integrated in each step of a marketing planning process. Target group analysis of current guests and potential new clients, who are present on social media, has made clear that both are coming with advantages and disadvantages. Hotels should enter new markets to enlarge their customer group, however, not at the dispense of loyal guests. Loyalty and customer relation management in the accommodation industry will always be an essential point.}, language = {en} }