CHANGING HOW HOSPITALITY DOES SOCIAL
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ENTER THE META DOJO

The terminology surrounding “meta ads” can be a bit confusing. To grasp the various types of meta ads, it’s essential to first delve into ad formats and placements. Specifically, let’s take apart the different types of Meta ads used to advertise luxury hotels.

THE “ADVANTAGE+” FEATURE

Regarding placements, the “Advantage+” feature is the top choice in hospitality. Meta employs AI to tweak the ad format for various placements, ensuring that the most effective ads are highlighted across different channels such as feeds, stories, reels, messenger, FB ad networks, and more. Additionally,  multiple single images and videos can be used in Advantage+ to create dynamic ads originally built in the different placements. For example, let’s say you can have pictures of the hotel room and amenities and videos about the destination’s lifestyle. Advantage+ will create and promote multiple ad types across all the placements and optimize them based on performance.

THE META ON META ADS

If Advantage+ creates, distributes and optimizes ads from your existing material, then let’s break down the types of content you can create on Meta.

Slideshows

Slideshows allow you to showcase the best visuals of your property swiftly. The most prevalent ad format in the hospitality sector is the “slideshow by difference.” This entails a video slideshow that combines images of lifestyle, rooms, food & beverage, amenities, and destination. As powerful as this format can be, there is a drawback to consider. Because they can feature many images, slideshows sometimes lack a narrative, presenting images in a seemingly random order. Think of the slideshow as a mini-story with a beginning, middle and end to keep it compelling.

Videos

Videos continue to stand out as the most impactful ad format. They offer a concise visual narrative that delves into the hotel’s identity and experiences. This format provides flexibility in style and resonates more with the placements increasingly favored by users. Traditional videos are also a popular choice in this industry. The only downside we see for video content is the cost to produce and the need to change up the videos based on the offer to keep them in sync and relevant.

Single Images

Single Images can be effective for retargeting, especially if a user has previously been captivated by a more visually rich format like a slideshow or video. However, they can stay flat with the support of other, more comprehensive ad types during prospecting. Their impact is further diminished if the images are average and lack a unique artistic or distinguishing touch.

Carousels & Collections

Carousels & Collections have the potential to be both engaging and imaginative, provided they incorporate creative and visual storytelling. Carousels come into play when there’s a need for visual promotional storytelling or showcasing multiple products or services in a single ad. Much like the Slideshow format, the Carousels format must feature captivating content to encourage users to view the entire carousel.

AVOID THE ORGANIC TRAP

For luxury establishments, the beautiful surroundings and deluxe accommodations create gorgeous content. There is a common feeling that the content itself is all that’s needed to drive traffic and bookings. Luxury properties must avoid the trap of solely boosting organic content, opting instead to fuse various ad types into their campaigns for superior business results. Use the organic and ad combo to create a one-two punch that really connects with consumers.

META ADS FOR MEGA RESULTS

In the realm of luxury hotel advertising, we’ve discovered that Meta ads such as slideshows and single images are remarkably cost-effective. Specifically, they shine in the area of retargeting and are often the top-performing strategy. Videos have, of course, been gaining traction on their own for decades and are now making real headway as ad content.  Videos perform particularly well in areas of awareness and reach.

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Learn how BCV helped Salishan Coastal Lodge drive conversions with engaging ad formats ➜

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A POWERFUL OPPORTUNITY

If there’s one thing to take away from this post it is the power of Meta’s detailed targeting capabilities to use, repurpose, and optimize your posts. Which means that putting the time into your posts is totally worth it.  In all formats, creativity takes the forefront in determining the success of ads. We consider creativity to include the content, images, text of the ad, AND the ad format itself. We’ve learned that A/B testing can dramatically enhance an ad’s efficacy and pinpoint the optimal blend of ad type and copy. The time you take to get those ads polished and pre-tested and optimized empowers Meta to work its magic.  Putting your great content into Meta creates an ongoing loop of formats, data, and blended content that is satisfying and drives success.

BCV keeps a constant pulse on emerging consumer behaviors across the digital landscape to understand the impact on travel. Read more about the latest social media updates and trends in our August report.

Learn about the necessary planning to move forward with any influencer activation.

At BCV, we’re always looking to our colleagues–and clients–for new ways to leverage hotel social media marketing. Frequently, this takes the form of a robust forum where questions from hospitality leaders are answered by our team and shared here. After a recent AMA, we’re back with answers to your burning questions from experts on our Strategy, Paid Media and Creative teams.

Lindsey Sagnella, VP, Strategy & Innovation

What are the best AI tools for hospitality marketing?

It’s important to note that dozens of AI tools exist with a range of specialties, from design to content, legal assistance, marketing, and more. The best overall AI Chatbot is ChatGPT, advancing its technology at lightning speed (ChatGPT V4 just launched recently). However, Jasper is a great alternative with more features that can support marketers.

How do you anticipate AI affecting luxury travel, where service touch points are highly important?

AI has the ability to make waves in the luxury space through personalization. AI-powered personalization can transform the guest experience by more quickly and accurately synthesizing customer data. Imagine a 24/7 digital concierge capable of fulfilling requests, answering questions, and making personalized recommendations for every guest.

Where do you see the largest areas of opportunity for hotels on social media?

Hotels definitely underutilize influencers. Influencers offer an invaluable access point to a trusted audience who could very well be your next guest. They let you amplify your online reach in a really organic way.Community management is another area where hotels could improve. Social users, especially travelers, expect the same level of customer service online that they receive in person. This means being available 24/7, adding a human touch to responses, and leveraging those conversations to make customer experience improvements. Brands that are present 24/7 and ready to capture these high-intent customers will improve guest satisfaction, which translates into loyalty and in turn, produces higher ROI.

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Check out what emerging social trends Lindsey has her eye on and how they can lead your audience to your property ➜

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David Pico, Director of Paid Media

How many campaigns should we run each year? How many per quarter?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to this question. The number and frequency of campaigns you should run really depend on the business objectives you’re trying to achieve. For example, you might want to run two campaigns targeting different parts of the sales funnel: An upper funnel Post Elevation campaign focused on acquiring new leads by promoting your branded content.A lower-funnel retargeting campaign focused on converting high-intent prospects and repeat customers.Segmenting these into two separate buckets will create a more comprehensive strategy for business and help drive awareness and ROI simultaneously.

How do you get the most out of your advertising dollars on social media?

First, set clear goals for your paid social campaigns. Social is a powerful channel that can help you accomplish many different objectives, from increasing brand awareness to increasing sales. Still, focusing your efforts and optimizing based on the right KPIs is important.Also, consider how social can complement your overall digital marketing mix across other channels like programmatic, CTV, SEM, and metasearch. Think about what social can do better than other channels and lean into those strengths.Last but not least, keep an eye on your competitors, and make sure your organic content is performing well, and carving out a unique, ownable space in the market.

James Parrinello, Creative Director

Which platform do you think will win the short-form video race? Do you think TikTok will emerge on top overall now that it also allows long-form videos?

The reality is that no platform will win the race because video as a format has already won. Video content is the most important format to have in your library. However, brands that want to make video work across platforms need to make sure they’re editing their videos to match each platform’s video formats and user expectations.

Do you have any suggestions for improving video performance on social?

One tip for video content success is to think about audience targeting. For example, did you know video content has higher engagement in Europe and Southeast Asia? Additionally, consider the kind of video content you’re posting. Educational content (think dance videos, cooking tutorials, etc.) gets some of the best view numbers due to people watching over and over in an effort to learn/digest the content.

Why do you think Instagram Reels perform better than Stories?

Such a great question. Reels have the advantage over Stories for a few reasons:Reels are served to users via their feed and discovery tabs, while stories need to be sought out by users. Reels automatically play on a continuous loop, increasing their views, versus stories users have to tap to advance or replay manually.

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Learn how Instagram Reels helped the Four Seasons Hotel showcase the brand’s identity and share its unique stories ➜

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How long do trends stay viral? How do you know which ones are worth jumping on?

Not all trends will be relevant to your audience, and what goes viral is unpredictable. The best action plan is to weigh a trend’s relevance to your audience. If it’s something that will resonate with them based on demographics or sociographics, plow ahead. Regarding timing, some trends last 8 hours, and some last 8 days. We advise moving as quickly as possible to adapt the trend to your business so you’re recognized as leading the pack.

How do I stay on top of trends?

The best way to stay on top of trends is to create a personal TikTok account and follow creators. Trends often stem from TikTok and make their way over to other platforms and older generations 3-4 weeks later. If you don’t have the time to do that on your own, hire an expert partner like BCV to help with your social strategy.

Guest Post by Carrie Plungis, Marketing Manager, The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay

It’s another sunset in paradise. A bagpiper walks the resort property along the cliffs to serenade guests. Perched on a rugged Pacific coastline with breathtaking ocean views, you feel like you have been transported out of this country. And while this hidden gem is only 30 minutes over the hill from San Jose, our proximity to Wine Country and the excitement of the Bay Area and Silicon Valley we are constantly looking for compelling ongoing booking opportunities to attract new guests.  In this market, that requires a combination of in-house customer-focused knowledge and social media agency expertise.

Craft a Visually Stunning Feed

The resort has created a compelling social media aesthetic that amplifies the exciting things about the property. We like vibrant posts and colorful videos featuring intriguing imagery that you can get lost in. We also like the feed to show a bit of diversity, especially since our target area is fairly broad. Our resort appeals to golfers, yes, but also to families or ladies looking for a weekend away and to a variety of people from the Valley. That means we need a lot of high-quality content. Regular professional photo and video shoots really help keep the pipeline filled.

The diverse audience also impacts our social media strategy and focus on growing followers. We’re trying to create clout with our social accounts, to create a name for ourselves so people recognize our property when they see a photo of us. The goal is to create an authentic account with followers that want to see what we’re posting, what new activities we’re offering, and really come check in on us throughout the year to see what they’re missing out on in this extremely scenic community. Knowing when audiences are most likely to book at a given time of year and then delivering targeted social media campaigns to them is constantly shifting. An agency partner who keeps on top of media buys and spends helps keep the revenue in line with the ad spend.

Booking for Diverse Audiences

Building on that goal of regular bookings from a diverse population, our social media footprint is designed to encourage our followers to embrace everything Half Moon Bay offers. It’s really a unique town, with a very agricultural base. It’s a small town with less than 10,000 residents, but it offers amazing opportunities to learn about local farms, experience nature and beaches and more. So, we want our footprint to be about what the resort has to offer by embracing the town of Half Moon Bay. This expands our reach to include people looking for a resort, yes, but also interesting off-the-path things to do. We’re creating a destination with the resort at the center.

To ensure your accounts get that bookmark or follow, and this is probably no secret, you just have to have quality content that is continually changing and growing with your resort. You always need to schedule your content refreshes, plan ahead for them, communicate well with your property team, and work with your agency for good-quality photos. I’ve seen internal teams that settle for a low-quality photo because it goes with whatever relevant holiday might be happening that week. Or to make a deadline. Or because they don’t have anything better.  Of course, this does your feed an injustice. And in a market like ours, with lots of enticing trips for our wealthy clientele, we make sure that every post fits our brand. Keeping channels full and content fresh is a constant–and we need our agency’s firepower to help with volume and quality.

The Value of an Agency Partnership

Beyond posting, we are able to keep up with all the platforms and content changes happening in the social sphere because of our agency. In fact, with a sophisticated audience, many in or involved with the tech industry, being current is critical. The social platforms change every six months to a year. This is why I rely on my agency partners, who are informed on everything that’s happening and everything in the pipeline. As an in-house marketing manager, it’s impossible to keep track of all the trends across all the marketing tools we use, so we rely on BCV.

All in all, I’d say that the relationship between the agency and the resort is a lot like the bagpiper who plays in our hills each sunset. The best things happen when a natural fit and complimentary services reinforce each other. From content strategy and creation to understanding the audience and the technology, there is always something to do. And I’m just glad I don’t have to play the bagpipes to attract new guests.

Part 2: A Checklist to Activate your Start, Stop, Keep Strategy and More

Now that you know the Start, Stop, Keep strategy and have a plan in mind, let’s get down to work. Before you start, it will help to have the spreadsheet or password log for all of the accounts you want to audit. We recommend that you also have a list of any new social products or features that you are investigating, and if time permits, a basic understanding of how they work and what you want to get out of them. Finally, your historical stats will be helpful–in whatever shape they are in!

The following is a very thorough dive. The broad categories such as profile, admins, etc. are a quick review to make sure they are current and reflect any changes in brand or team. Spend more time on the Content and Channel sections–ideally on a quarterly basis. Most of all, enjoy the adventure!

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What To Expect

As one of the Disney-area’s most anticipated new hotels, JW Marriott Bonnet Creek was thrilled to open its doors to the Orlando market. Promising a unique & family-focused experience, the JW Marriott Bonnet Creek easily set itself apart from the competition with features like a rock climbing wall, kids conservatory and the first ever, JW Marriott family suites.

In 2022, Sedona began to see tourism take a dip following the pandemic boom. With this in mind, Orchards Inn needed a campaign that could reinvigorate interest in the destination, particularly during its shoulder season. Thus, the Seizing Sedona campaign was designed to appeal to the summer adventurer in all of us.

What You’ll Learn:

  • How to leverage trending design

  • The importance of a custom hashtag

  • Blending various social features together seamlessly

Our social media audit guide is a top-to-bottom review for you to utilize as your evaluate your social media efforts. At first glance, it might seem obvious. You know what channels you use. You post and look at the results. That’s an audit, right? Yes and maybe not. We help you take your audit a couple of steps further allowing you to have a solid overview of what’s working, what’s not and what could be improved.

What To Expect

Grand Hyatt Vail had a unique advantage during the pandemic, an expansive amount of land for guests to safely and responsibly partake in outdoor activities.