Content marketing in five- star hotels: An analysis of strategies and their relationship with the digital audience in Ecuador

This research analyzes the use of content marketing on Instagram by five-star hotels in Ecuador through 2025. It addresses the need to understand how these institutions manage their digital channels to strengthen their image, attract audiences, and position themselves in a highly competitive tourism environment. The objective was to identify the content strategies employed and examine their relationship with the number of followers. Using a quantitative, descriptive-correlational approach, the last ten posts of 45 active hotels on Instagram were analyzed using an observation tool based on eight key dimensions of content marketing. The results show that corporate content and brand presence dominate the posts, especially through calls to action and the constant appearance of the institutional logo. In contrast, dimensions oriented towards social and emotional interaction, such as testimonials, mentions, or recreational content, have a marginal presence. Furthermore, a significant correlation was found between the number of followers and the number of years on Instagram, while no relationship was found between the observed content strategies and audience growth. We conclude that there is a predominance of unidirectional approaches in these hotels' digital communications, which could limit their organic reach, user engagement, and opportunities for differentiation in an increasingly relational environment.