By: Trey Sheneman
December 15, 2014
Atlanta, GA: The hotel industry, being as legacy driven as it is, rarely adapts to trends during said trends’ “sweet spot.” Historically, hotels come running to the table much later in the shift, just as other, more agile industries–like retail and ecommerce–have already dined and dashed. The rise of social media has been one of those trends. Hotels rushed to the plate toting other industries’ knowledge about what does and does not work on social. Marketers have claimed that social is lost in the shuffle, it’s never a direct channel, and, if it has any effect at all, it may only be a factor in how reputation affects ADR long-term.
As an industry, we’re on Facebook at just the right time.
Facebook is not a “has been” anymore; based on recent updates, Facebook should very much be a right-now focus for 2015, and here’s why:
- Facebook has introduced mobile-friendly CTA buttons that allow hotels to push prospective customers and loyal fans from the Facebook native application into the mobile booking platform. Ad dollars can finally be correctly spent in the mobile space without fear of loss of action due to wonky connections or non-responsive booking experiences.
- Lookalike Audiences, released earlier in 2014, have provided new ways to marry email and social together into joint campaigns. While independent hotels will benefit from this update more so than branded ones, the point still remains that you can use your email list to grow your email list, as well as to grow your top line, and Lookalike Audiences on Facebook makes this possible.
- Those hotels with Food and Beverage outlets can now use Facebook’s Local Awareness ads to ensure that their local community stays in the know about specials, new menu additions, and events, whether they become a fan of the hotel on Facebook or not.
If you are a hotel owner or operator who has spent the last few years managing your Facebook community without clear goals, please do not lose hope now; you’ve laid the framework to tap into the “pay-to-play” environment Facebook has become. The good news is that this will be by far one of the cheapest channels you invest in and all the revenue you gain should be relatively commission-free while directly connecting you to your customer.
At Pipeline, we specialize in Facebook marketing for hotels. If you need help sorting through these changes or want to look at outsourcing your social media management, then we can help. Give me a call today at 678-814-4601 and we can create a budget that’s right for your bottom line.
