GDPR has everyone scrambling to make big changes, and in the midst of all of it, there’s a handful of big social media changes that have slipped through unnoticed, coming from both Facebook and Instagram. In this latest edition of our biweekly newsletter, we’ll take a close look at the ones that will directly impact hotels and resorts.
Instagram New Call to Action Buttons Include Booking Options
New Call to Action (CTA) buttons are coming to Instagram soon. These new options include Reserve, Get Tickets, Start Order, and Book. These new CTA buttons will work alongside a number of different partners, including Booksy, ChowNow, OpenTable, Reserve, Tock, Yelp Reservations, and SevenRooms.
What This Means for Hotels & Resorts
Previously, hotels and resorts (and the restaurants and salons within them) had to rely on a “call us” or “message us” CTA to encourage reservations, sending users through an extra step. Now, users can book reservations at your resort, appointments at a salon, or even order room service right through Instagram. Convenience is key, especially for guests on vacation.
Instagram Updates Inbox for Better Guest Interaction
Instagram is rolling out a new, simplified inbox that’s designed to improve communication. This inbox will automatically sort messages into a direct inbox, and a pending inbox. The direct inbox will only have messages sent by users, eliminating the onslaught of Stories mentions. There will also be new features that allow you to star and filter your conversations for improved follow up.
What This Means for Hotels
Improved guest interaction is something all hotels and resorts strive for, and with guests increasing turning to Instagram to message us, it’s essential that we’re able to identify any incoming communication and respond in a timely manner. This will make it easier to follow up if necessary, making it a little simpler to provide exceptional customer service on this platform, too.
Instagram Tests Native Payment Option
Instagram has made big strides when it comes to selling through the platform, and now they’re testing native payment options that will allow them to sell on the platform. And don’t worry, this isn’t just for ecommerce businesses; an Instagram spokesman confirmed that users will be able to utilize feature when booking appointments and reservations at restaurants, salons, and—you guessed it—hotels.
What This Means for Hotels & Resorts
Though this feature would take a little while to roll out, there’s a lot of potential for usage amongst hotels and resorts. While guests can absolutely still book reservations through your site, having an additional channel of selling—especially one that’s so visual and filled with social proof from past guests—can help you get more bookings and keep your rooms full. You can also use this feature in your resort’s restaurants and salons, letting users know up front that this is an option so they don’t have to worry about the hassle of carrying cash with them.
Facebook
Facebook Updates Ads Reporting
Facebook has announced that they’ll be updating their Ads reporting interface for faster review and analysis. There will be a drag-and-drop feature that will let you choose which metrics you want to include in your reports, and will allow you to analyze factors like age, gender, placement, and more. This will start rolling out within the next month.
What This Means for Hotels & Resorts
Faster and easier ads review means that hotels and resorts will be able to better determine what campaigns are working and—most importantly—why they’re working. You may find different audience niches to target in future campaigns so that you can increase bookings and increase ROI.
Facebook Adds New Features to Live Broadcasts
Facebook has introduced three different live broadcast updates that are designed to make it a little easier for Pages to go live. They’ve already rolled out the ability to crosspost live videos to multiple different Pages as unique original posts, increasing views. Persistent stream keys are now available, simplifying the process of collaborating with different locations and team members. They’re also testing a rewind feature, that will allow users to rewind live videos, catching up on what they’ve missed while the video is still broadcasting in real time.
What This Means for Hotels & Resorts
If your hotel goes live on Facebook, these are all features that you can take advantage of to get more out of live. Share your content to different Pages (especially if you have a salon and restaurant in-resort with different profiles) for maximum views, and use the persistent stream keys with encoders to coordinate with multiple team members, potentially broadcasting from different sister resorts or even different locations within a single resort.
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: