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.

Social media has been disrupting marketing for over a decade now. In that time it has become an essential pillar of every business strategy and an effective means to meeting objectives. But by itself, it’s not enough. Social media marketing must be paired with social advertising to drive success.

While CTV is still an evolving sector, its presence and influence have grown exponentially in a very short amount of time. In 2023, we anticipate advertisers will spend $62 billion on CTV, compared to $27 billion on linear TV. In the next three years, we anticipate a more substantial difference being the CTV ad spend around 50% of the total TV spend. Download our guide to learn more about this powerful ad platform.

The Data Download

Privacy and data security are the hottest buzzwords on the Internet. More and more users distrust how their personal data is being handled. Yet, in hospitality,  this information collection is integral to the continued growth of hospitality businesses as it helps provide a more satisfying experience to travelers. Hotels and other hospitality industry businesses use social media to help personalize the traveler’s experience and make it more enjoyable. The key to using this collected data is ensuring that usage is responsible and safe, so the traveler’s personal information is safeguarded and remains intact.

When a client decides to stay in a hotel, he is providing data the properties should ensure they can use for maintaining the relationship, with client approvals,  through marketing communications across different channels. It can be used for direct marketing or non-direct market. (First-party data) Also, if hotels and guests agree on sharing preferences and use them for more personalized communications, this is the perfect scenario for providing relevant information to a person engaged with our business and expecting to know more (Zero party data). This is the most honest and responsible communication flow. The industry clients can also agree on confirming the interest in the industry beyond specific properties, which allows hotels also to use key second data from partners, airlines, car rentals, etc

Why Hospitality Businesses Collect Data

Hospitality businesses need to collect data because it’s one of the key ways to connect business offers with the wants and needs of consumers. This allows both parties to benefit from the connection. Gathering data across all the various stages of a traveler’s journey is extremely important, right from the beginning of research to the final booking. All this information helps adapt the hospitality business to market needs and is extremely valuable for identifying potential business growth and innovation areas. Without this critical data, the hospitality industry would be left guessing about consumer needs and unable to provide essential services deemed valuable by travelers.

Responsible Use of Collected Data

Digital marketing growth has opened the door to more sophisticated targeting, which uses first, second, and third-party data. This data is captured from consumers and sometimes garnered from free digital tools. This information provides an ideal form of personalization, and at the same time, it raises some issues about how the industry respects a person’s digital identity and privacy.

The formula that all businesses should be using today doesn’t actually concentrate on first-party data but goes well beyond that. It should be using data that is volunteered by consumers or guests and which they’re willing to share with a business. For example, when a consumer announces to a hotel representative that they have a keen interest in specific culinary options, it should be responded to in the spirit of providing a proposal to that interest. The data should not be exploited, and the traveler should feel that their privacy has been respected. It is important to note that for consumers to volunteer data, they need to trust a brand. This means that all of the other interactions on-premise and online need to build and reinforce trust.

Data Security Threats for Hospitality Businesses

Hospitality businesses must stay aware of all trends regarding personal data and privacy. In addition, hospitality businesses must use data responsibly to grow and bring innovation to their industry. However, it has to be done intelligently, protecting consumer interests and enriching their experience on whatever journey they’re on.

The future of online transactions is moving toward more protection of user data and greater privacy. There are already features like this in place, such as the difficulty of using third-party cookies. Since these cookies provide a great deal of information about user behaviors and habits, replacing them with other meaningful data-gathering strategies will be hard.

The Keys to Responsible, Client-Centric Marketing

How can hospitality businesses secure the information needed to provide an enhanced experience for their clients? Using data, advertisers will reach ideal consumers who will convert and increase revenue. These consumers can be re-targeted in the future, and the information they provide can be safely encrypted to eliminate the security threat.

Rather than initiating META campaigns centered around conversions,–A META objective that was working well before users began opting out of tracking–strive to establish greater reach using the Reach campaign objective targeting audiences that have been engaged with previous campaigns. Examples of how to identify these opportunities include:

  •  Website visitors who interrupted booking transactions/shopping carts not completed

  • Top 25% of website visitors based on time spent and multiple-page visits

  • REACH campaigns objective will target these users, whereas CONVERSIONS campaigns will not because META flags such audiences as too specific.

  • Businesses already using these tactics have seen twice the custom conversions, twice the increase in property revenue, and 16 times the return on ad spend since the beginning of 2022.

In Summary

Gathering personal information from travelers is an essential aspect of the hospital industry because it allows for positive change in the business and contributes to business growth. Even so, this data must be handled with extreme caution because the consequences of having it exposed online could be disastrous to both the consumer and the business. Therefore, it’s clear that some new tactics should be used to gather consumer data. That part of that strategy should involve making the best use of first-party data while altering campaigns to focus on reach rather than actual conversions.

BCV recently took questions from the hospitality world. Here are the responses from our category experts on Strategy, Paid Media and Creative.

Brooke Jarchow, Brand Strategist

How often would you recommend posting?

First of all, it is about frequency as well as consistency. Our strategy relies on consistent regular posting to create community reliance and dependence on our specific brand. Fans and followers need to understand that fresh content will appear at regular times, in the same pattern, and that it will ultimately help to build a connection with our brand.

Additionally, we emphasize that the right mix of promotional content needs to be maintained. You’re not a Spam account, so never act like it. Our goal is to ensure that content provides our fans and followers with maximum value and is positioned as a two-way communication stream.

Is it important to get certified on the big three platforms, and how do you accomplish that?

Obtaining official verification on the major social media platforms, such as Instagram, will enable businesses and brands to have an additional level of trust. This increased trust will help the communities associated with those platforms easily identify people, businesses, and friends with whom they discover and interact.

How much of a role should influencer marketing play in the overall strategy?

Influencer marketing should be leveraged to drive upper-funnel marketing and awareness. Brands can tap into new audiences and increase exposure through this marketing tactic to expose their brand to larger audiences. Influencer marketing is also one of the best ways to generate a more well-rounded asset library, as long as the creator’s aesthetic remains aligned with the brand’s aesthetic.

Has BCV been working in the DEI space?

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) encompasses the symbiotic relationship, philosophy and culture of acknowledging, embracing, supporting, and accepting those of all racial, sexual, gender, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds, among other differentiators. Since social audiences continue to seek inclusion and support for diverse communities from their chosen brands, it’s more important than ever that brands begin to step into the conversation surrounding cultural topics.

David Pico, Director of Paid Media

If you could only budget for a single platform, which one would you choose?

Instagram and Facebook are the backbone for any social platform mix because they will help maximize your reach and engagement. All supplemental platforms such as YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and TikTok should be incorporated into your strategy according to your specific marketing goals.

What should we know about paid media?

First, there is no magic formula for monthly budgets for social media ads. This decision depends on your objectives, the platforms to be evaluated, the historical activity in all digital channels, and the competitive landscape. We can recommend different thresholds based on the industry, but each case must be evaluated individually.

Second, most of us want to know if paid media works! With Meta and other digital pixels, we can now track the impact of our ad spend in bookings and revenue, allowing us to optimize through the tactical actions driving the best results.

Third, there is always a lot of interest in what creative works. The best performing ad types are single images, slideshows, and carousels; But don’t put everything on one piece of creative. Consider A/B testing imagery, copy, and CTA buttons for future learnings.

Are there big shifts in 2022 with the cookies going away and IOS updates?

Yes, since the audiences are less tracked across channels (due to privacy updates), campaigns should focus on platform reach, adding first-party and relevant interested layers. Platforms have lost the capability of profiling consumers for performance, so the correct use of data is a key factor for success.

What information should be included in a social media report?

Always include Business and Media results. Business metrics most important are Bookings, Revenue, and ROI. Those are the final impact of advertising. Media metrics like engagements, CPE, link licks, CPL, Reach, CPM, Impressions, and CTR are all media KPI indicators that should be reported.

What will be the future impact of corporate distrust on social media content?

A report recently issued by Morning Consult states that trust is the most important key for connecting with consumers and that emotional drivers rank very high in importance. That creates ample opportunity to optimize paid efforts to target previous property guests to drive awareness while potentially building brand advocacy.

James Parrinello, Creative Director

Which creative type performs best? Is video still the highest driver of engagement?

Instagram has confirmed its algorithm will continue to prioritize video content, making Reels more discoverable across new audiences and existing followers. They’re a great way to repurpose existing video content and humanize & add personality to your brand. BCV clients see a 31% lift in engagement from video on Facebook. When using video content in paid media, clients also see a 12% increase in click-through rate.

What’s the best way to balance content production for all the various features in social media?

One of the keys to maintaining a good mix is recognizing video’s significance. For instance, Instagram’s adjusted approach to Reels is a testament to the importance of video. BCV recommends creating more quality content to be posted alongside images on all platforms. Long-form videos can be repurposed to create smaller, bite-sized video clips for Instagram, and these video clips can also be repurposed as Reels on Instagram.

What content would work for TikTok (especially luxury resorts)?

TikTok users love to discover – places, products, trends, tips, etc. Although content is largely viral videos and remixes, users seek inspiration and education. Your hospitality account should utilize TikTok if the target audience is a proper fit.

TikTok can be key for discovery among a younger demographic. Use TikTok trends to understand what resonates with Gen Z and inform content across other platforms.

Best-performing content typically features a human element or shares a first-person point-of-view. Music and sound are important elements; utilize TikTok’s extensive song library and provider licensing integration to plus up content.

Your hotel restaurants, bar and grill, and other food and beverage services directly impact profitability. However, they also have a profound effect on the guest experience. A four-star social media program ensures that you deliver on both counts.

Creating Your Content Cupboard

Several core elements make an excellent social strategy for a hotel restaurant. First of all, it is about the food, right? That means high-quality images of the food, the ambiance, and the friendly service experience. But it is also very much about when the food is available. Social media is perfect for reminding people of regular events like happy hours, seasonal menus, and holiday activations. Beyond just selling dinners, the specials and themed dinners are also a chance to showcase an engaged and enthusiastic staff. After all, these are the mini-masterpieces from your culinary team. We encourage you to create regular content about your kitchen professionals. Going behind the scenes with the Chef or sommelier makes great content, and really celebrates the joy of creating, cooking and serving delicious food. One more thought about the content that is often overlooked: Resharing content from the hotel itself. Social posts are a great chance for cross-promotion with the property. Grab their content and re-share it, adding your tags to connect the restaurant to other happenings on the property. It all feeds together to extend the reach. Just remember that you need strong content to support these efforts.

Serving Up Content

One important platform decision is whether or not the restaurant should have its own social media handle vs. being a topic under the hotel’s account. The property page should not be inundated with outlet content. Sometimes a hotel outlet can shine on its own, and you do not want to overload the property page with outlet content. The property has many different experiences and amenities that it needs to speak to. If the outlet is a major priority for the hotel, launching an independent outlet account is a solid strategic win. By creating an owned channel, there is no limitation on posting for the outlet. An outlet account is a place for the outlet content to really shine. However, just because you have separate profiles for the hotel and the restaurant doesn’t mean they have to be totally separated. Placing backlinks for both entities on social media and on-site helps search engine optimization. Ensuring the restaurant is included in Local Listings provides more search engine inputs for location, menu, contact information, and even reviews.

Putting Organic & Paid Media to Work

Generally speaking, the restaurant–more than the property–is a locally driven entity. Geo-targeting content that speaks to the local area is a good bet for organic. One strategy should be to feature the activities and venues near the property and call out that the restaurant is a convenient and delicious next stop. As far as paid media, local awareness ads are a huge success for outlet accounts. They can offer many different CTA options, including directions to the restaurant from the user’s location and even directing the user to their reservation link or menu. A final consideration involves the ability of a hotel restaurant to piggyback on the property. It is easier to put together special deals or events connected to the hotel than a local restaurant trying to package with another event. Think about limited-time offers as the most potent collaboration opportunity. Working with the hotel to create a special offer and advertise it on social media is a superb way to help both entities win.

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Learn how BCV helped Grand Hyatt Baha Mar pivot its social strategy and ad spend to motivate locals ➜

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For a F&B outlet to thrive, it must prepare to be relevant in all seasons. Since food photography is so important, what you have in your photo cupboard is vital. First, ensure that you focus on evergreen menu items that will likely never change. That way you have content to use year-round. In addition, it is a good idea to identify upcoming menu items that may not be on the menu yet but will be soon. For seasonal menus, the property will want to hold their own photoshoots for the new menu or ask a photo-savvy employee to capture a few menu items to augment the evergreen menu shots. Another great option is to plan ahead and budget for a professional photographer and videographer to shoot multiple set-ups in one package.

F&B helps round out a property’s offerings and fulfill the guest experience. One guest might want the convenience of a quick breakfast or snack. Others are looking for an elegant culinary experience, a place to watch the game, or the escape of a poolside drink. All of these outlets are opportunities to build emotional connections on social media. So do it well and attract guests wanting to hang out and spend more time on the property. And that means a chance to capture more share of trip dollars.

What is Metasearch?

Metasearch is one of those concepts that’s a powerful force, but is rarely mentioned by name. Put simply, Metasearch is a pay-to-play channel where a property buys ad placements on leading industry sites like Google (Google Hotel Ads), TripAdvisor, Kayak or Trivago to name a few. Those sites aggregate hotel room inventory from numerous channels. The available rooms are collected and displayed with price comparisons all on one site.

What Benefits Does Meta Present to the Hospitality Industry?

I’m confident in stating that most travel consumers will not know what metasearch is.  If someone asked a guest where they booked, they would likely say TripAdvisor or Google. This is why Metasearch is incredibly important in the overall digital mix for hotels, especially independent properties. Big brands and OTA’s with large-scale budgets try to dominate search. However, there are 3 opportunities for any given property to appear on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP):

Paid Search: A pure pay to play channel. This is achieved by dedicating budget to Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and leveraging Google’s auction-based model to pay for placements at the top of a google search page above the organic listings.

Organic Listings: This is achieved by a multitude of factors summed up in large part by having an effective SEO strategy with high-quality website content, structure, and technical SEO in place. Unlike SEM & Meta, Organic listings are considered earned placements – there is NO pay to play involved here.

Metasearch: Similar to SEM in that it is pay to play, metasearch operates on an auction model, and typically shows up underneath the Local Pack (Map, Property Name, etc.) section on the Google homepage.

In sum, it is in any hotel’s best interest to dominate the organic listings, as they should be the foremost resource of content on their property AND destination. They should also have a KPI-based approach to metasearch and SEM that aligns with the property’s ROI targets for these channels.  If you’re not doing this, your competition likely is and the OTA’s certainly are with their massive marketing budgets.

How is Metasearch Different Than Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)?

Online Travel Agencies (OTA’s), like Expedia and Booking.com are also aggregators. They collect information on hotel, car rental, airline, etc. inventory. OTA’s hold huge power in the overall travel industry. One strong reason they are so powerful is that they are present at numerous touch points in the consumer planning journey:

Dreaming: OTA’s are often used as price comparison shopping sites when consumers are considering which destination to travel to next

Planning: OTA’s help in narrowing a search further when a consumer is set on a particular destination, and now looking at which specific accommodation to book

Booking: OTA’s serve as a validation prior to purchase with their mass of consumer reviews

It is also important to remember that OTA’s often leverage metasearch channels to push their inventory. If a hotel is also listed on those channels, then the OTA is actually in direct competition with the hotel’s own inventory.

The OTA’s behave the same as an individual hotel that allocates budget for metasearch to drive direct bookings.  OTA’s have a certain amount of hotel inventory, and they look to metasearch as one channel to sell that inventory.  In fact, a consumer likely won’t see the difference between any of the channels and certainly doesn’t understand or really care who is adding rooms or where they originate. But hotels definitely care. Using metasearch channels, hotels hope to sell their rooms directly through their own booking engine and avoid reseller partner commissions of 15-25% for the same room on the same metasearch site.

How Can You Maximize the Potential of Metasearch?

Numerous factors contribute to maximizing the potential of metasearch. First, choosing the right partner to manage your metasearch campaigns is key. Leveraging meta is a niche tactic that is specific to the travel industry. Choosing a partner with hospitality industry experience is a must. Digging deeper, make sure that the provider is using an effective platform (or has built their own) to manage metasearch campaigns. Features to look for include advanced bidding logic.

The next thing to consider if you want to be successful in metasearch is how you manage your rate parity across all distribution channels.  Policing offending resellers who are undercutting you is critical.  If your direct channel is not the cheapest offering (or the same price as resellers), you might as well not invest in metasearch.  Consumers are price conscious and will more often than not go with the same room at the cheaper price, regardless of who is selling it.

Finally, the desired action/conversion from metasearch campaigns is a direct booking – Meta listing CTA (call-to-action) is deep-linked into the property’s own booking engine.  Wait, what does my booking engine have to do with anything?  Simply put, your booking engine is the landing page for meta campaigns, and if it does not have a good user experience, isn’t optimized for mobile traffic, etc. consumers may ultimately decide to abandon and book through another channel that may seem easier to complete their purchase on.

How Much of Your Marketing Budget Should You Put Toward Metasearch?

Ultimately, this will vary based on your market and what your competition is doing.  The rule of thumb, however, advises that you keep investing in any direct channel initiative that’s driving revenue.  As part of your marketing mix, metasearch should be used as an ongoing budget–and not a static spend. As long as you’re above your ROI/ROAS targets, you should keep refilling the budget regardless of where you are in the month/your budgeting cycle. After all, while your inventory might be ever-changing, the way you keep filling those rooms can be through a steady stream of metasearch traffic.

Pent-up demand is driving a wedding surge. 2022 is predicted to have the largest number of weddings since 1984; in parallel, BCV is tracking a 53% uptick in conversation searches for weddings YoY. That demand will continue upward. With over 2.5 million weddings expected to take place next year and even more couples already planning into 2023, travel marketers can intersect this fruitful market through strategic social positioning across multiple popular platforms.

Key Opportunities

  • Targeting. Locating and hitting couples who are “recently engaged”.

  • Timing. Engagement Season peaks during holiday seasons like Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, and Summer Months.

  • Trending. The Pandemic trend of once-in-a-lifetime travel with weddings in ultra-luxurious destinations appealing to couples, their friends, and family.

The wedding industry is growing, but also shifting. While weddings have always been meaningful, the pandemic put a lot into perspective for people. There was a shift in traveling over the last few years of the pandemic where staycations and drive markets were much more popular and easily accessible than trips longer in length or abroad.

“People have been saving up and dreaming of their next big trip, and they’re now ready more than ever to take it.”

Not only are couples eager to celebrate their love, but their friends and family are also eager to gather to celebrate with them. Some couples are going big and extravagant to make up for lost time, while others are focusing on an intimate wedding that they typically never thought they wanted.

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Learn how The Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland leveraged social media to position themselves as a top wedding venue among couples ➜

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This trend, on top of couples planning postponed weddings and eagerly wanting to celebrate love, has put luxury resorts and hotels in a leading position when it comes to wedding venues.

Safety will continue to drive venue decisions. Wedding destinations that have the ability for outdoor ceremonies and receptions, as well as various outdoor activities for wedding guests to partake in during their stay, have become increasingly popular during the pandemic. If it is a resort with a lot of land, activities, and outdoor space, this is a great selling point.

Four Seasons Washington, DC created a video highlighting their exemplary service

Using Social Media to get to ‘I Do!’

Key tactics to explore

  • Lead-Gen Ads

  • Beyond In-Feed

  • Amplified UGC

Lead Generation Ads are a great way to promote a property’s wedding offerings. We are able to get very specific with targeting and target those who are recently engaged, friends or family members of recently engaged couples, those who work within the wedding planning industry, etc.

Utilizing all of the various features social media has to offer increases your reach. It’s not enough nowadays to simply post in-feed and leave it at that. Taking advantage of other features such as IG Stories, IG Reels, etc, puts your content in front of a different audience. Also paid media extends your reach past your current audience, giving you the opportunity to garner new fans and new interest.

Carneros Resort & Spa combined UGC and video to create a truly engaging campaign

One unique social media tactic we used recently for a client was a wedding experience giveaway. To capitalize on couples who had to postpone their weddings, we ran the ultimate giveaway on social media. The method of entry was for users to comment, tagging their significant other, and explaining what the property meant to them. They included details on their postponed wedding and more about their relationship. This contest provided users with an outlet to express everything they’ve been feeling over the last few years. Providing such a detailed method of entry gave them more connection to the property, showing the property truly cared about their wedding. Promoting this contest on various platforms and social tools (paid media, IG Stories, collaborations, etc.), put the content in front of a wide variety of users.

The Wailea Beach Giveaway was a powerful tactic that shows how collaborating with other vendors expands reach

User-generated content is a great way to promote weddings on social media. UGC typically performs about 9x better than brand-owned photography and provides our followers with relatable content. Users are able to see what a real wedding will look like as opposed to staged imagery. With the continued popularity of influencers, users on social media trust real opinions and experiences shared on social media. They see UGC as more influential and will likely influence their wedding venue decision.

The Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland leveraged UGC to demonstrate the level of service

Tips from the BCV Strategy Team

  1. Prioritize Pinterest and Instagram

  2. Utilize these visual platforms to create lasting lookbooks (PinBoards, IG Guides) and intersect planners through targeted ads

  3. Drive discovery through immersive content

  4. Engage planners through video content showcasing virtual, 360-degree tours of venue space

  5. Create event-specific playlists across platforms, and continually optimize with seasonally relevant keywords

  6. Capture attention with informative content

Let the Journey Begin

On the road to hotel social media ROI, there are many stops along the way. In this article, we’re going to visit those stops and determine what the success factors look like for each of them. Do you think the only stop is the final destination of a booking? Let’s take a little trip and let me show you how each stop is an opportunity for social to intersect the buyer’s journey to inspire, inform and motivate a booking.

Stop 1: Dreaming Stage: Generate Brand Trust

Clients and prospects in the region consistently highlight the importance of high-quality content, In fact, for a high-end property, customers and prospects expect this as part of the journey.

However, appropriate content based on cultural factors of the country, and even the city, is critical for building trust. In the Middle East, what is OK for some, may not be acceptable for others. For example, whether or not a bikini is appropriate in a country or even a region.

Here are the points to consider in reaching travelers in the Dreaming Stage:

  1. Inspire with high-quality content–think like an influencer.

  2. Be intentional with placement–leverage the data and paid media.

  3. Lean in on new consumer behaviors–understand what’s driving interest and use it.

Stop 2: Planning Stage: Nurture Relationships

At this stage, it’s browse-and-burn as people surf between browser tabs to confirm destinations, pricing, and dates. They have a short list. Now they are looking for the signs to build trust and forge a deeper level of interactivity with a property.

Users in Morocco (60%), Egypt (60%), Saudi Arabia (59%), Turkey (56%), Israel (52%), and the United Arab Emirates (49%) are more likely to use social networks as part of their brand research than the global average.

Here are ways that social media can help foster those relationships:

  1. Spotlight your amenities and location–pile on examples of what makes your property and the region unique.

  2. Drive visibility of online reviews–when you have a good review, flaunt it a bit.

  3. Make policies upfront and clear–being credible goes a long way towards driving decisions.

Stop 3: Buying Stage: Drive Conversion

At this stage, things come to the moment of truth. The traveler has chosen their destination and time of travel. Often, this involves a final price comparison to book the right place. This moment is beyond the research stage. Travelers are focused on price and final ‘proof’ that they’re making the right decision. They look meticulously at the details, including influencers.

The TikTok platform’s top influencers in the Gulf region increased their followers by an average of 65% with user engagement highest in Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.

Here’s how to make sure they don’t ‘x’ out!

  1. Create FOMO through influencers–find their favorite places and tag them with your #property.

  2. Think strategically about giveaways–adding a little urgency at this point never hurts, so make it time-sensitive.

  3. Leverage paid placements to inspire purchase–providing a few more touch points at this time is often effective.

Stop 4: Experiential Stage: Dominate Share of Voice

They searched. They found. They booked. Give them something to share and keep the momentum going.

In our region, Snapchat might be a good outlet to expand Share of Voice. Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt are among Snapchat’s 15 largest national markets globally.

  1. Consider secret menu items–people love to be insiders and brag about their access.

  2. Activate a social media opp–if you build a way for people to share and be rewarded, they will share.

  3. Deliver excellent customer service offline and online–the power of people and personal response builds relationships.

In conclusion, the stops along the social media customer journey are an excellent way to engage and interact with prospective guests. Every stop creates the potential to allow a hotelier to wow them with helpful information, compelling images, and reasons to book. Do it right, and the level of engagement and communication elevates at each stop. It allows hotels to win trust and drive not just bookings and incremental revenue, but loyalty and repeat business.

Paid Social Media + Organic Content

It’s an exciting time in the paid media world, especially when buying media for the luxury hospitality category. New platforms like TikTok have emerged. Original titans like Google have evolved. And we even have a new dimension with Facebook and the metaverse! However, there is one fundamental opportunity for hotel social media. This article will explore the opportunity to leverage two powerful forces to increase results.

Two Sides of the Media Coin: Paid Media and Organic Content

Paid media has always involved buying ad placements in a variety of media channels. It has primarily been assigned the responsibility of driving traffic and generating leads.

Organic content is a critical part of the marketing effort with the rise in blogs, user-generated content, and other un-sponsored communications. It has traditionally been charged with inspiring and educating–with hotel brands hoping that would lead to bookings.

Remember the phrase, ‘Content is King’? Organic used to drive real engagement. In hospitality, gorgeous images from exotic locales received massive hits and shares. But today, organic reach is down to 3% in FB and 9% in IG. The King is still powerful, but more than ever it’s the Queen of Paid Social Media that is driving real revenue.

Long Live the Queen

There used to be a church and state type separation between paid and organic. That line has been blurred in the last couple of years. Nowadays, consumers can’t always tell the difference between paid and organic content in their streams. And that’s by design, thanks to social platforms.

All of the social platforms started out as organic content distributors. They gathered details about audiences, behavior and content consumption. As they evolved, they developed paid media offerings that leveraged the data collected from organic engagement.

Today, the tech ensures that your paid content will be present in the organic feed. In fact, paid content can have a bigger marketing impact if perceived as organic. And there is the opportunity for paid social media. Where organic content had the glamor job of inspiring the dreamers, informing the planners, and creating a bond with new and existing audiences, that role can now be shared with the Queen. Brands competing for travel dollars must buy the chance to engage in meaningful ways once reserved for organic.

In hospitality, an organic social presence is still a must. Social is the most popular platform for travel inspiration, comparison, consultations, and final decisions. It continues to generate data on what consumers click on–and who those consumers are. Paid social provides the opportunity to talk with them at the precise moment when a property or destination is in their initial thoughts or final shortlist. Because of their behavior and previous interest in organic content, a paid program knows when a hotel or resort has something to offer to them. And puts that information in their online journey. That can make a big difference in bookings. Each specific stage of the consumer journey is now a chance to buy an impression with a likely prospect.

There are multiple touchpoints in the digital landscape and that creates opportunities to strategically leverage organic content and paid social media. Yes, the paid media activities are designed to reach consumers in the lower part of the funnel who are actively planning to travel soon. But those consumers will have more probability of booking if they have received inspiring information about the brand and property in a previous campaign where awareness was the objective. Buying that space builds the critical mass of impressions and importantly, brand presence to drive consistent results. With both the King and the Queen in your hand, you’re playing to win.