Supporting Maximized Direct Bookings by Delivering the 'Reason to Choose' Through Threads

Hinotori Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Yohei Osaki), which supports marketing for regional tourism and accommodation facilities, is strengthening its 'Comprehensive Marketing Support' service aimed at increasing sales and direct bookings for lodging facilities. Building upon its existing Instagram management, the company is now officially launching support utilizing Threads as an optional service.

This support leverages the high-shareability platform Threads as a new touchpoint, delivering the charm and value of accommodations through 'words' to expand connections with potential guests who are not yet familiar with the property. Furthermore, by designing pathways to Instagram and the official website, the service connects interest generated on social media to booking consideration, thereby boosting direct reservations. In actual supported facilities, Threads accounts have achieved 11,000 followers and approximately 4 million monthly views within about one month of launch.

Background | Channel Strategy Aligned with Target Audience is Key to Maximizing Direct Bookings

For increasing direct bookings, social media is a crucial touchpoint for accommodation facilities. However, many properties face the following challenges:

- Awareness and followers grow on social media, but conversion to actual bookings remains difficult. - Instagram-centric operations lead to a fixed and limited audience reach. - Facilities struggle to establish self-driven customer acquisition channels to break free from OTA dependency and price competition.

To make social media an effective entry point for reservations, it is essential to go beyond single-platform management and strategically design messages and roles tailored to each channel’s unique characteristics.

Threads is a social platform where empathy and conversations naturally emerge from text-based content, making it easier to reach potential guests who are not yet familiar with the accommodation. Hinotori designs pathways to connect interest generated on Threads to Instagram and the official website, providing end-to-end support from awareness to booking consideration.

Hinotori’s Proposal | Creating New Customer Acquisition Touchpoints for Accommodations Through Threads

Hinotori’s Threads utilization support is offered as part of its comprehensive marketing support service, designed to increase sales and direct bookings for lodging facilities.

The service includes concept refinement, target audience design, linguistic articulation of key messages for social media, and pathway design between Instagram and the official website. Threads is not used merely as an information broadcast channel, but as a new touchpoint to engage potential audiences.

On Instagram, the accommodation’s atmosphere and stay experience are conveyed intuitively through photos and videos. In contrast, Threads delivers the property’s philosophy, stay scenarios, and connections to the local area through 'words,' reaching potential guests who have previously been difficult to engage.

Based on comprehensive support combining OTA sales strategy, revenue management, social media operations, influencer campaigns, and official website optimization, Hinotori connects interest generated on Threads to Instagram and the official website, supporting the creation of pathways that lead to direct bookings.

Key Features of Threads Utilization Support

1. Linguistic Articulation of the Accommodation’s 'Reason to Be Chosen'

Beyond facility features and room details, the service organizes experiential value during stays, relationships with the local community, the property’s philosophy, and user value for the target audience, articulating the 'reason to be chosen' and refining the overall concept.

2. Unique Post Design Leveraging Threads’ Characteristics

Leveraging Threads’ strengths, the service delivers the accommodation’s appeal to users unfamiliar with the property and those in early stages of travel planning. Rather than duplicating Instagram content, it designs themes, angles, and tones that foster empathy and conversation through text.

3. Designing Pathways to Instagram and the Official Website

The service designs cross-platform pathways and booking funnels on the official website so that users who engage with Threads can confirm the property’s atmosphere on Instagram and proceed to booking consideration on the official site.

4. Operation Improvements Linked to Sales Strategy

The support is integrated with OTA sales strategy, revenue management, and official website improvements, going beyond mere awareness campaigns to deliver comprehensive customer acquisition support.

Threads Operation Results

Hinotori has already supported Threads operations for multiple accommodation facilities.

Facility A: Approximately 11,000 followers and 4 million monthly views within one month of launch

Facility B: Approximately 2,000 followers and 350,000 monthly views within one month of launch

Single post drove up to 800 new Instagram followers

Currently operating for 4 facilities, with multiple achieving measurable results

Multiple facilities have reported: 'We’ve had guests who made reservations or visited after discovering us via Threads.'

*Results may vary depending on facility conditions, operation period, content, and status of existing social media accounts.

For Facilities Facing These Challenges

- Using Instagram but feeling limited in reaching audiences beyond current followers - Posting on social media but lacking a sense of conversion to bookings - Unsure how to articulate the accommodation’s appeal in words - Wanting to convey stay value that cannot be fully expressed through photos and videos alone - Seeking to reduce OTA dependency and increase touchpoints leading to direct bookings - Wanting to reach new traveler segments with emerging travel interests - Unclear about how to differentiate usage between Instagram and Threads

About Hinotori’s Comprehensive Marketing Support

Hinotori’s Comprehensive Marketing Support is a service designed to increase sales and direct bookings for accommodation facilities, supporting clients from strategy development through execution and continuous improvement.

The service begins by visiting the property to understand its unique features, regional characteristics, sales performance, and target audience, then supports concept development around 'what should be communicated.' Based on this concept, it combines social media content, photo shoots, official website improvements, OTA sales strategy, revenue management, influencer campaigns, and advertising operations to build customized customer acquisition funnels addressing each facility’s specific challenges.

Main Support Areas Include:

- Strategy, concept, and target audience design - OTA sales strategy - Revenue management - Social media operations (Instagram, Threads, etc.) - Influencer campaigns - Photo shoots and creative production - Advertising operations - Official website optimization - Booking pathway improvement

- CRM initiatives (e.g., LINE) - MEO optimization

- Public relations and PR campaigns - Data analysis and improvement recommendations

Threads utilization is offered as an optional component within this comprehensive support, aimed at expanding touchpoints with potential audiences.

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Case Study (Comprehensive Marketing Support)

Bettei Hanashuiseki (Ishiwara Onsen, Yamanashi Prefecture)

Increased direct booking ratio to a maximum of 45% through concept redesign and SNS integration

At Bettei Hanashuiseki in Ishiwara Onsen, Yamanashi Prefecture, Hinotori implemented concept redesign and revised the booking pathway starting from SNS. As a result, the direct booking ratio increased from 10% to a maximum of 45%, shifting to a customer acquisition structure independent of OTAs and regional trends.

Challenges

- Heavy reliance on OTA-driven customer acquisition, leading to vulnerability to price and condition-based competition - Sales and occupancy rates were subject to regional pricing trends and demand fluctuations, making it difficult to maintain internal control - This resulted in unstable profit structures and a lack of ownership over customer acquisition