More than 1.2 billion people use Facebook and many of those spend upward of one hour per day on the platform or its connected apps. Moreover, the people who run it have a sophisticated profile of almost every single user: their age, occupation, location, what they like, where they go and how they spend their money. Without doubt, this is one of the most powerful marketing tools in the world, so how can hotel marketers benefit?
Why should hotels use video advertising?
We are quickly overwhelmed with text and verbal information and the pace at which we are bombarded with it has increased, especially on the internet. Because of this text based or narrated advertising has become less effective in any given sector. Anyone searching for hotel accommodation even briefly will be bombarded with side bars, annoying pop ups, emails and other devices from paid search companies. Weakly targeted, these adverts don’t differentiate and infuriate potentially loyal customers. You will have undoubtedly experienced it yourself.
In contrast, receiving information through video as part of our social media browsing helps us home in on what is important to us. We select movement, colour, shape and aesthetics quicker than we can decode words. This is hard wired into our brains. We live a life where we are constantly scrolling through information and video makes an instant impact and has the power to make us pause
Video message and length
TV advertising and those pre-video adverts on You tube etc… are long and most of us click off ASAP. You need to use visual impact and be clear about what you think will engage quickly. For example, is your hotel video production to wedding packages; conference & events; a touch of luxury; or an opportunity for health or stress management? Use your clear idea to be the focus of your hotel advertising video. Whatever you decide it needs to be short, around 10-15 seconds with punch!
Evidence suggests that if someone clicks on to your hotel video they are more likely to follow up by visiting your website so that needs to be consistent with your Facebook message too. Don’t forget to add a minimal amount of text to your hotel advert on Facebook too, since as much as 85% of content is played without sound! Do include a call to action, getting people to sign up for a newsletter or requesting a call back can dramatically increase the post engagement and conversion to sales.
Facebook uses much better audience targeting
You may have heard the news items about how brand adverts were wrongly paired with inappropriate you tube adverts. That will never happen with Facebook which has a very sophisticated algorithm to target hotel video adverts to people you are trying to attract based on parameters set by you.
Below is an example of targeting in action for a Facebook advert. You can set by geography, demographics, lifestyle and interests. As you select your audience it will show you how many people are in your preferred targeted audience. No other advertising channel has such a sophisticated link between real-time client info and a means to link it to target adverts for that person or group:
Linking to your website landing page
If your advert is a generic one about your hotel and its features then link to your home page. Make sure, however, that the home page and the advert images are consistent and recognisable – for example colour scheme, the features in the advert – the bar, the lobby, the spa etc… So, if your website isn’t up to date with your projected image, change it now!
Alternatively, if it is a specific feature of the hotel you are advertising, for example, your wedding package or a themed weekend then make sure your advert links to those pages on your website. Test and measure the impact of different versions of the advert, then you can make the most of your investment by doing more of what works well.
What is the minimum effective budget?
As with any advertising campaign, it is important to be clear about what you want to achieve and to rigorously evaluate its effectiveness. Here are some pointers which you may want to consider:
- Do you want to use a Facebook advert to improve or update your contact list for direct mail shots?
- Do you want to test the market for a new offering?
- Do you want it to lead to a direct conversion?
For each of these outcomes, the cost is different. Some commentators suggest an email contact may cost £0.50 and a direct conversion worth £100 to you may cost up to £30. There are ways you can tilt the odds better in your favour.
Whilst some spend thousands of pounds it is possible with smart action to do an effective campaign on £5 a day. Here are some tips to making that £5 work for you:
- Focus on people who know you best to build a fan base. You can start with a .CSV file of your email subscription list which you can upload and use for your targeted Facebook campaign. Word of warning only upload those people who have agreed that you can share their data otherwise you could be in breach of the data protection act
- Consider running a competition for a free stay at your hotel which involves a “like and share” element
- Link to a discount code for an event or hotel wedding package linked to an advert click through which they could use when booking online within a given timescale.
Whatever your video marketing needs we can advise you on the best way to get more conversions for your bucks, so please feel free to email us or call 01563 509005.
