Where would you turn if you needed more butts in seats or heads in beds?
- To your pied pipers
- To your sales staff
- To social advertising
- All of the above?
As a busy travel & tourism pro I’ll bet you’d choose #4—all of the above. Attracting new clients and keeping strong relationships with existing clients is probably at the top of your to-do list. If you chose #4, I’m glad to see you’ve included social ads into your mix.
Social ads are the ‘way of the world’ when it comes to sky-rocketing the number of people you reach online. Here’s a couple of social ad hacks used by pros in our industry.
Custom Connections
Imagine if you could reach out to people who have taken that first big step as a potential new client of yours by clicking ‘like, comment or share’ on your social posts?
Here’s some examples of focused ways to turn them into brand loyalists:
- Target your next ad to people who have interacted with a recent Facebook Event of yours. Simple!
- Connect with anyone who has reacted or interacted with your business page. Simple!
- Do you have a video that was viewed by a ton of people? You can create an audience of just those viewers. Simple!
- More targeting tips here.
By choosing ‘Custom Audience’ then selecting ‘Engagement’ you’ll discover how to target the above viewers as well as the other options shown below:
Figure 1- Facebook Custom Audience Options
Who’s Planning to Travel?
Imagine targeting people who have expressed an interest or desire to travel?
A new ad opportunity called “Trip Consideration” has just rolled out on Facebook. An amazing way to target users who are in the early stages of considering a trip. You’ll need to have the Facebook pixel installed.
DMO’s, Tour Operators, Attractions and Travel Consultants will benefit from this new tool.
Facebook identifies behavior that indicates a user is thinking about traveling. (e.g. visits Facebook pages of certain destinations).
Then, businesses can push travel ads to that user offering cruises, air deals, hotel bookings, etc. that relate to the page they were visiting.
Even without expressing intent, Facebook’s ‘Trip Consideration” ad tool enables travel & tourism pros to target people when they just start the planning process. Savvy advertising pros will provide inspiration to aid in the trip consideration and planning phase.
Trip Consideration Ads Guide
Here’s how to get started:
- Open your Ads Manager account
- In the Objectives section select Conversions
Figure 2 – Choose Conversions as your marketing objective
- Choose your Audience and Placements. (create new audiences if you need) Keep in mind that you can use Facebook targeting tools to filter this audience, and Facebook will automatically optimize to serve your ads only to those with travel intent.
- In the Optimization for Ad Delivery section, choose the “Prioritize delivery to people who plan to travel” button. (see below)
Figure 3- Facebook Ads Manager & Trip Consideration
- Fill in the sections for identity, format, and links.
- Facebook suggests using images that serve a brand-building purpose, or showcase a top deal or destination.
- Review and submit your trip consideration Facebook ad for approval!
What a great way to reach more travel-ready millennials and other demographics planning to travel.
Forging connections with new clients and strengthening relationships with existing clients is a surefire strategy for keeping butts in seats and heads in beds.
Which of these two social ad strategies will you try first?
Related Articles
How to Launch a Solid Social Marketing Campaign
5 Simple Social Marketing Tips to Gain More Fans
Social Marketing Strategies for Travel and Tourism
About Catherine Heeg
Catherine Heeg is a recognized social media trail blazer passionate about social media and marketing in the tourism and hospitality industry. She takes the mystery out of marketing!
She creates and delivers meaningful, dynamic workshops that meet your unique needs in the Travel, Tourism & Hospitality Industry.
Catherine and her team help travel, tourism and hospitality pros design and implement social media marketing strategies and tactics that drive traffic to their social and web sites. Learn more…
Do you need a roadmap for your social strategy? Let’s chat and see if there’s a fit to work together to strategize your social marketing.
Join me socially: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, SlideShare and Pinterest.
When you ‘like’ my Facebook page you’ll have access to Free Resources just for travel pros!
Professionals who are serious about taking consistent, winning actions every day to build their business and achieve measurable results love working with Catherine.