Following a spate of concerns about privacy and data protection, it’s safe to say Facebook has suffered a blow to public trust in recent months.
In response to a string of bad headlines, the social network is once again marking their dedication to improving user experience by giving people more control over what they see on the platform, who sees them, and how their personal data is used.
Inevitably, most of these changes make life more difficult for marketers trying to boost their organic reach, but that doesn’t mean you should abandon hope completely.
In today’s blog, we look at 3 of such recent changes, and how you can work with them to maximise your chance of reaching your audience on Facebook.
A Revamped News Feed
The Facebook News Feed has been getting a big makeover, with the new algorithm increasingly favouring interaction with people over interaction with brands. Facebook also anticipates that its users will spend less time on the platform.
Pretty disheartening for those of us who have spent significant time striving to engage our audience on the platform, right?
But here are a few strategies to consider:
Teaming up with influencers: now that Facebook is foregrounding content from individuals over content from business pages; it’s a great time to think about building relationships with key figures from the travel industry or local community you could potentially collaborate with.
Facebook Stories: the platform’s insiders have recently stated that Facebook Stories is likely to be the “future” of brand engagement on Facebook – become an early adopter and you may secure an advantage over your competitors.
New Data History Tools
Personal data control is the hot topic of the times. Consumers want to know how companies are using and storing their data and crucially, they want the power to access and delete it for themselves.
Facebook’s soon to be released Clear History feature is a response to this need and allows users to see the websites and apps that store their Facebook information, and delete that data if they wish to.
What exactly does this mean for your hotel’s Facebook marketing campaigns? If you use Facebook plugins on your website (“Like” buttons, for example), your guests now have access to the information that these plugins collect and they can choose to delete it – erasing its connection to their own Facebook profile.
Depending on adoption rate, there’s no denying that the new Clear History feature could make it a lot more difficult to effectively target your guests with ads.
However, on a more positive note, the change may mean having to take a fresh, deeper look at who your audience really is, which could reveal some new and interesting findings you hadn’t considered before.
Negative Customer Feedback = Less Ad Visibility
Facebook wants the ads it displays on its platform to lead to positive consumer experiences only, so it’s now banning ads from brands that have poor satisfaction ratings.
Brands will be given fair warning to improve though, according to the network’s statement on the change, but: “If feedback does not improve over time, we will reduce the amount of ads that particular business can run.”
This one is a no brainer: the better customer experience you provide for your guests, the more ads you’ll be allowed to run and the more successful your marketing campaigns will be. A big part of this means honing in on transparency within your ads and paying particular attention to the photos and videos you choose. The more clear and honest you are, the more likely you are to reach and exceed guest expectations, which leads to better satisfaction ratings.
Facebook is evolving to put user experience front and centre. But that doesn’t mean it no longer holds great marketing opportunity for brands willing to roll with the times and adjust their strategies.
Are you ready to adapt your hotel’s Facebook strategy in the wake of these changes? Let us know in the comments below!
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