By Victoria Hsia
Facebook Advertising has always proven its value for brands striving to reach the platform’s massive audience, but now it may become even more valuable. In a recent announcement, the social media platform revealed upcoming changes to its News Feed algorithm which prioritize organic content from family, friends, and groups. This means that users can expect to see less organic brand content, giving brands more pressure to invest in Facebook Advertising in order to maintain and build reach in the News Feed.
While Facebook continues to limit brands’ organic reach, it also continues to develop more effective Facebook Advertising opportunities including Facebook Dynamic Ads for Travel (FBDAT). These ads have only been tested by a handful of hoteliers, but the results have been promising so far.
What are Facebook Dynamic Ads for Travel?
Facebook Dynamic Ads for Travel refer to ad formats that are specially designed for hoteliers to reach and capture audiences who have demonstrated travel intent with highly relevant and personalized ads. With ad placements across Facebook, Instagram, and the Audience Network, FBDAT can be used for both retargeting and prospecting across devices. The ads work as follows:
- Retargeting: Ads retarget website visitors who have initiated a booking with dynamic copy and real-time rates that automatically populate based on the traveler’s dates searched, destination, and other details of the trip.
- Prospecting: Ads target broad audiences, including people who have expressed destination-level travel intent through their website browsing and Facebook activity, but have not visited the hotel website.
By targeting people who have displayed property-level or destination-level travel intent, FBDAT allows hoteliers to reach potential guests as they move through the booking funnel and streamline the path to purchase. This results in more direct bookings, lower cost per booking, and higher return on ad spend.
How Can Hotels Capitalize on Facebook Dynamic Ads for Travel?
- Retarget website visitors. Launch FBDAT ads that serve as a form of reservation abandonment by retargeting website visitors with ads that display the rate for the dates searched. Mention the hotel’s best rate guarantee to encourage travelers to book direct.
- Reach new audiences. Implement FBDAT with broad audience targeting to attract travelers who are in-market to book a trip to your destination. Promote relevant special offers and highlight the hotel’s key selling points through the ad copy and image.
- Add a dynamic price overlay. FBDAT gives brands the option to add a price overlay to the image in the ad. This is a great way to capture users’ attention as the ads stand out from other posts in the feed.
- Promote multiple properties. Multi-property hotel brands can utilize the carousel ad format to showcase multiple properties. For example, a brand can target travelers planning a trip to Austin with a carousel ad that displays all properties in Austin with an image and rate for each.
According to a study conducted by Facebook, people spend five times longer on Facebook than they do on travel-related sites or apps. Facebook Dynamic Ads for Travel ensure that the right audience sees the right content at the right time, which leads to higher conversion rates than traditional Facebook ads. By leveraging travel intent data and a dynamic ad format, this marketing tool has the ability to boost direct bookings in a manner that is automatic, efficient, and adaptable.
