Facebook is no longer just a social media website. It was, during the early 21st century – but now, the platform has become a massive advertising agency with the potential to connect companies directly to relevant customers. 1 billion users occupy the site’s servers today and the growth rate in beginning to flatten.
Hotels can do a lot to drive revenue through proper Facebook strategizing – merely having a Facebook page is not enough anymore. Guests need to be constantly engaged or your followers will forget about your property!
Facebook Is Still At The Top
While we may have a lot of different social media platforms to connect on, Facebook is still the one mothership that everyone returns to. Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and the other giants are scooping up market share by the million but that doesn’t decrease Facebook interactions. Tagging, news feed, commenting, page interaction, private messaging and the scores of other features that the platform offers are still not available on other sites and while individual login frequency might come down, user interaction is not likely to fall. People tend to share their holiday photos and interact with hotel pages, discuss trips with friends and even seek recommendations for good accommodation on Facebook. Moreover, the sheer volume of users makes it more probable for families and friends to share their experiences with even acquaintances.
Location-based Experiences
Guests who are continuously logged into Facebook give the company the ability to track their location at any time. This information is passed on to other relevant companies that can use it to attract guests to their points of sale – a hotel could offer discounts as a guest walks past a bar which are only applicable in that area. This personalizes the marketing experience and boosts the likelihood of the guest entering a POS terminal they might have just walked part otherwise.
Analytics and Planning
All sorts of user interactions on Facebook pile up over time. Be it a post, like, check-in, or share, any activity on your company’s page is tracked and recorded by the platform. This information can be used to observe patterns and deduce user behavior. Hoteliers will be able to plan out exactly how they want to advertise different age groups, and come up with various strategies to approach all types of guests. These refined analytics are expected to be rolled out soon by the company and will enable managers to plan marketing campaigns in a much more effective manner.
Personalized Recommendation
Facebook’s advertising strategy is being refined all the time as the company increases its focus on monetizing the massive social network, and constantly updated algorithms mean the post promotion tools are becoming more and more effective in targeting the right audience. So tools such as Boost Post and Promoted Posts will become more efficient at reaching relevant users, rather than bombarding someone who’s already seen the ad with multiple versions of the same ‘white noise’.
Facebook Interactions Are Primarily Earned
While the platform does have a lot of post and page boosting features that can be paid for, there’s nothing like organically growing your hotel’s page through simple interactions with followers. Responding to comments, addressing concerns and acknowledging feedback helps your company establish trust with its followers and boost its online growth. These are aspects that cannot really be ‘bought’. Guests come to trust a hotel after a good experience and following up on that experience through social networking, and building a relationship can give the property a much better impression than something bought through paid advertising – this is one of the site’s strongest points.