We’re nearing the end of the year and are getting ready for the big holiday rush, but now is no time to let your social media marketing slide and there have been a lot of new updates that have rolled out in the past week that are directly relevant to hotels and resorts.

So let’s dive in and look at each one.

Facebook Caught Inflating Video Metrics

Facebook has recently come under fire with the accusations that they’ve been inflating video metrics, making it look like people were watching more video than they were. Facebook has admitted to this in the past, but a current lawsuit is suggesting that the inflation was much higher than acknowledged. Instead of being inflated by 60-80%, research has shown that it was likely closer to 150-900%.

What This Means for Hotels & Resorts

Be careful when using video metrics to make big marketing or advertising decisions on Facebook. Until things are truly resolved, you may be getting false positives. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use video advertising, because even with inflated metrics it presents a great opportunity as an advertising format. That being said, watch other key metrics on these campaigns, too.

Facebook Releases “Instant Forms” For More Objectives

Facebook’s instant forms– previously known as “lead forms” — have been restricted to the lead generation objective. Moving forward, advertisers will be able to attach instant forms to the brand awareness, traffic, and reach objectives in newsfeed and Story ads on both Instagram and Facebook.

This update will also give us “platform reporting,” which shows advertisers whether an instant form was submitted through Facebook or Instagram so you can better determine which channel is more effective.

What This Means for Hotels & Resorts

Instant forms open up within Facebook, fill out as much of a user’s information as possible automatically, and provide advertisers with that data. They’re most often used to collect contact information like email addresses. Use them to your advantage, capturing guest information so that you can reach out to them with special, relevant offers at a later date.

Facebook Releases New Video Options

Facebook has just released two new video ad buying options on Facebook: In-Stream Reserve and ThruPlay.

In-Stream Reserve allows advertisers to choose placements in video that come from “the most engaging, highest quality” publishers on Facebook, increasing the likelihood that your ad will be watched fully by an engaged audience. These ads are purchased in advance.

ThruPlay gives advertisers more control over what they’re paying for, allowing them to optimize and pay for ads only if they’re watched either through to completion or for a minimum of 15 seconds.

What This Means for Hotels & Resorts

More control for advertisers is always a plus, especially with video ad metrics being inflated. Hotels and resorts can use this feature to increase the likelihood that they’re only paying for views of a substantial length. It can also help advertisers get those views by offering high-engaging, high-view placements.

Facebook Cracks Down on “Low Quality” Ads

Facebook has put a lot of effort into reducing “low quality” ads from appearing in the feed, and they’re taking further steps to do so. They’re now looking for certain triggers like misleading information or sensationalized language when approving ads.

Ads that are deemed “low quality” will either struggle to get the number of placements they should or may even be rejected all together.

What This Means for Hotels & Resorts

Most hotels and resorts won’t be hugely affected by this, as our industry isn’t known for bait-and-switches or misleading information like other industries. That being said, make sure that your ad campaigns are straight forward. You can still capture the excitement and luxury of staying at your resort without going over-the-top with hyperbolic language.

Instagram Announced “Promote” for Stories

Instagram has just announced their new “Promote” option for stories, which works exactly like Facebook’s and Instagram’s “boost post” options. Advertisers will be able to pay to have their already-running Stories appear in users’ feeds, like other Story ads that you’d run. This feature has not been released yet, but it’s being tested globally, so keep an eye out.

What This Means for Hotels & Resorts

Instagram Story Ads can take a little while to create, so this will be a great asset to hotels and resorts using Stories to connect with their guests. If you choose to use the feature, make sure to use an instant form in the Story so that you’re able to drive real results if viewers are interested.

Pinterest Releases “Promoted Carousel”

Pinterest has just rolled out a new “Promoted Carousel” ad format, which works similarly to Facebook’s carousel ads. Advertisers can add multiple cards to their ads, with each card featuring a unique image, title, description, and (if you choose) landing page.

Image source: Pinterest

What This Means for Hotels & Resorts

Carousel ads have higher-than-average performance (including CTR) than other ad formats on Facebook, so the same could be true for Pinterest. Use carousel ads to showcase different locations, or different features, rooms, or amenities in a single hotel or resort to show everything you have to offer.

Hospitality Social Media News is brought to you by Lodging Interactive, 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. For more information:

Telephone: 877-291-4411 Email: info@lodginginteractive.com / www.lodginginteractive.com

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