A lot has happened in the last two weeks in the social media world, and there are some big changes happening that will directly impact hotels, resorts, and other businesses in the hospitality industry.

Let’s take a look at each one and discuss what it means for you.

Facebook Offers New Stories Templates & Instagram Direct Features for Businesses

Facebook has just launched a new customizable Stories template that can be used for Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. This template will help businesses create more high quality Stories content quickly.

They’re also offering a new integration for direct messaging, allowing businesses to respond to Messenger and Instagram direct messages all from their Facebook inbox. This new functionality comes alongside brand new options to set up saved replies and away messages through Messenger.

What This Means for Hotels and Resorts

Any features that allow us to market more quickly and at a larger scale can benefit busy hotels and resorts. The Stories template will help create dynamic Stories faster, and since this is a major feature on both Instagram and Facebook, this will be something to use if you’re struggling to create content as it is.

The messaging features are also a great asset. If you’re going to be unavailable for a few hours, you can let guests know when they can reach you. Saved replies can be created for commonly-asked questions like “What’s your checkout time?” or “Are there gluten-free dishes on the in-resort menu?” Create canned responses that can be used to speed up your team’s response time, which is a win-win for everyone involved.

YouTube Testing Ability to Reserve Ad Space

According to Social Media Today, YouTube is testing a new feature that would allow advertisers to reserve ad spaces up to 120 days in advance. This is slightly different than scheduled campaigns, which don’t guarantee placement.

What This Means for Hotels and Resorts

This feature is still brand new and we don’t have a ton of information about it just yet. That being said, the option to reserve ad space months in advance will potentially make it much easier for any hotels or resorts that want to tie in to major events, or run campaigns during times of peak activity. If you know there would be a big event near you– like the Super Bowl, or a major conference– you can plan accordingly.

Instagram Rolls out Branded Content Tags for IGTV

Instagram’s branded content tags aren’t available for all users just yet, but they’re getting another functionality while still on their limited-release. They’re now available for select users in IGTV, which will flag any paid partnerships directly on the content.

What This Means for Hotels and Resorts

Establishing transparency and trust is important to win over the trust of your guests, and sponsored tags will help with that. If you’re working with any influencers, for example, to show off your hotel or resort, make sure they’re using those branded content tags if available to you.

Instagram Releases a “Restrict” Tool to Limit Trolls

Every platform has problems with trolls and cyberbullies, and Instagram is working to put a stop to it– at least on their platform. They’re rolling out a “restrict” feature, which allows you to essentially automatically hide comments from certain individuals. After you “restrict” them, they’ll be the only person able to see the comments they’re leaving.

What This Means for Hotels and Resorts

As a first line of defense, blocking users who are causing problems for your hotel or resort can work, but the restrict option has its benefits, too. Sometimes, certain users need to believe they’re reaching you and your audience, so blocking them might encourage them to take their negativity elsewhere; allowing them to think they’re commenting publicly can keep them content without impacting you or your guests.

LinkedIn Rolls Out All-in-One Insights

LinkedIn has just announced a new Insights and Research tool, which is essentially an all-in-one hub that will help marketers use actionable LinkedIn data to improve their performance.

This new Insights tool will include the following information:

• People Insights, including your audience’s location, the topics that resonate with them most, what content they’re engaging with, the influencers they follow, and their skills.

• Industry Insights, including trends and research for vertical-specific data in terms of marketing, including high-level B2B marketing trends and ideas to set you apart.

• Advertising Insights, including analytics on branding techniques and advice on aligning your sales and marketing departments for a cohesive LinkedIn strategy.

What This Means for Hotels and Resorts

LinkedIn has enormous potential when it comes to helping you reach guests who may need an event venue or lodging for business-related travel. These insights offer new levels of detail about how to better engage with your target audience across the platform and make these campaigns more successful.

About Lodging Interactive

Headquartered in Parsippany, NJ, Lodging Interactive is a full-service digital marketing and social media engagement and reputation management agency exclusively servicing the hospitality industry. Through its web design and search optimization division as well as its CoMMingle Social Media Division, Lodging Interactive provides effective Internet marketing services to hundreds of branded and independent properties as well as management companies, restaurants and spas.

CoMMingle has established itself as the largest provider of reputation management services for the hospitality industry, handling over 200,000 guest review responses. The company also offers fully managed Live Chat agents for hotel websites through its LiveChatForHotels.com division.

Lodging Interactive is an HSMAI Adrian Award winner and has won awards from the International Academy of Visual Arts, Interactive Media Awards, Horizon Interactive Awards, Web Marketing Association, Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts, and Travel Weekly’s Magellan Awards have recognized Lodging Interactive as an industry leader.

Lodging Interactive is a proud supporter of the Hotel Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) and the company’s president, DJ Vallauri, currently serves on the Board of Directors of HSMAI’s New York Chapter and is a Forbes.com Agency Council contributor. For more information, please contact sales@lodginginteractive.com, 877-291-4411 or visit the company’s website.