Is Facebook Marketing Effective for Hotels?

It’s widely accepted today that if you want to sell to consumers – whether it’s travel, electronics, used cars or pet food, you need to be using some sort of social media. As travel and accommodation marketers, this is amplified because what we are selling is a dream, an aspiration – something that your potential guests are fantasizing about as they scroll Instagram on their lunch break, before bed after a chaotic evening looking after their kids or sitting on the packed train en route to work.

Although there’s no official figures, it’s estimated that the average person sees between 6,000 and 10,000 ads every single day. That’s a lot of content! But how much of that content truly resonates with the audience who are aimlessly scrolling past it?

Facebook Advertising is unique because it is so targeted. Whether your goal is filling your bookings on a certain weekend or you’re looking at building your long-term brand awareness, Facebook can target your specific desired audience and present them with the exact content you want them to see. Sounds great right? If you get it right, absolutely. If you get it wrong, you’ll be pouring money down the drain for clicks and impressions that are never going to lead to a booking.

Tailored Precision for Unprecedented Results

In today’s digital age, social media marketing has become an essential tool for businesses to reach their target audience. Hotels, in particular, can benefit greatly from social media marketing strategies, with Facebook being one of the most effective platforms to boost their online presence and drive direct bookings.

Facebook marketing for hotels involves creating and sharing engaging content, running targeted Facebook ads, and utilizing the platform’s booking engine to drive conversions. With over 2.8 billion monthly active users, Facebook offers a vast audience for hotels to connect with potential guests and build brand awareness.

One of the key advantages of Facebook marketing is its tailored precision. Hotels can target specific demographics, interests, and behaviors to reach their ideal audience. This allows for more efficient and effective marketing, resulting in higher engagement rates and increased bookings.

To maximize the benefits of Facebook marketing, hotels should develop a comprehensive social media strategy that aligns with their business goals. This includes identifying their target audience, creating engaging content, and utilizing Facebook’s various marketing tools.

What is the Future of Facebook Marketing for Hotels?

As social media continues to evolve, so do the opportunities for hotels to leverage Facebook marketing. With the rise of visual content, hotels can utilize platforms like Instagram and Facebook’s Stories feature to showcase their property and amenities.

Additionally, the use of chatbots and messaging apps can enhance the customer experience by providing personalized and timely responses to inquiries and bookings. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also streamlines the booking process, leading to increased conversions.

Another trend in Facebook marketing for hotels is the use of user-generated content. By encouraging guests to share their experiences on social media and reposting their content, hotels can build trust and credibility with potential guests. This also creates a sense of community and fosters brand loyalty.

In conclusion, Facebook marketing is a powerful tool for hotels to boost their online presence and drive direct bookings. By developing a comprehensive social media strategy and utilizing Facebook’s various marketing tools, hotels can reach their ideal audience and achieve unprecedented results. As social media continues to evolve, hotels must stay up-to-date with the latest trends and adapt their strategies to stay ahead of the competition. So, go ahead and boost your social media marketing with Facebook marketing and watch your hotel’s brand awareness grow like a blue pink purple sunset.

See more: Social media for tourism

Favourite features of Facebook Advertising

One of our favourite features of Facebook Advertising is the ability to create custom audiences based on the pages viewed on your website. One of our regional Victorian clients, Castlemaine Boutique Accommodation, had an issue earlier this year when Metropolitan Melbourne went into lockdown – meaning the majority of their target market was unable to travel to Central Victoria due to an outbreak of COVID-19 in the greater Melbourne area. As well as this, borders to other states were locked off – meaning the only guests they could accommodate had to come from regional Victoria. To make things even more complicated, they had limits on the number of guests who could stay in each house – meaning the larger group accommodation was still off limits.

With Facebook’s targeting abilities, we could use Facebook Pixel data to create a custom audience comprised specifically of visitors to their website who had visited the pages of smaller accommodation options, then building on top of that, we created a lookalike audience (people who have similar characteristics and traits to those visitors), and finally we made sure the only people who saw that ad were located in regional Victoria. This tailored approach resulted in bookings during an otherwise unusually quiet period for a normally busy accommodation provider who had been largely affected by the pandemic and the restrictions that followed.

If you want to find an agency to help you with Facebook advertising, the Heads On Pillows team is made up of brilliant pay-per-click (PPC) marketing specialists, digital creatives and designers with extensive experience designing and implementing successful, high converting Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram), Google Ads, TikTok Ads and Bing Ads campaigns. Contact us now!