Hospitality Social Media Marketing News Update

Spring is in the air and we can all use a little social media distraction from the news headlines!

Over the last month, there have been an abundance of social media changes being announced and rolling out, and some of them will be particularly important to hotels and resorts soon. Let's take a look at all the new social changes that matter most to you.

Facebook Adds "One-Time Notification" To Messenger
Facebook has restrictions in place that restrict businesses from reaching out to customers and followers on their own; starting March 4th, 2020, they have 24 hours to respond to users after the user first interacted with them.

There are exceptions, and the "one-time notification" option is one, allowing guests to opt-in to receive relevant follow-ups or messages that are important to them. This API is available for businesses and marketers to start using right away.

What This Means for Hotels & Resorts This new feature doesn't mean that you can reach out to guests at any point, but you can set up Messenger so that guests can opt-in for special notifications. You could set up a feature, for example, where you remind guests about their reservation several days in advance, or where you can alert them if a previously-booked suite opens up.

Facebook Audience Network Is Eliminating Mobile Placements Facebook has announced that on April 11th of this year, they'll no longer support mobile web and in-stream placements of ads through the audience network. There are a few months left, and Facebook has acknowledged that ad performance may fluctuate once the change goes into effect.

What This Means for Hotels & Resorts This change won't hit hotels and resorts significantly and long-term, though you may see some ups or downs immediately following the changes in mid-April. Keep an eye on your campaigns, and remember that you can always stop optimizing for these placements early if you want to change up your campaigns now.

The FTC Releases Statement Warning Influencers The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently released a statement saying that they were going to more clearly monitor influencer marketing, noting that "undisclosed" posts from influencer marketers could result in financial penalties. They flagged Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok as platforms where violations were more common.

What This Means for Hotels & Resorts Make sure that any campaigns created with influencers are clearly disclosed as being sponsored. This will keep both your brand and your influencer partners in good standing. If platforms have native sponsored tags (like Instagram), make sure that you're using them.

Massive Instagram Password Leak Risks Account Security Last month, social tech startup Social Captain experienced a massive data breach. A website bug allowed any user to access any Social Captain's user profile by entering in their account ID. Once in, they could view the individual's login credentials. Thousands of Instagram passwords were exposed.

What This Means for Hotels & Resorts If you've ever used Social Captain to help you increase your Instagram followers or even think that you might have, remove access immediately. Though the bug was fixed, Instagram did state that the company was in violation of their guidelines. You'll also want to change your password and enable two-step verification.

Twitter Allows You to Thread Days-Apart Tweets Twitter is rolling out a new feature designed to facilitate conversations, even multiple days apart. The idea is to add "a new thought to an old tweet," threading Tweets even if they're posted on separate days.

When posting, look for the option that says "Continue thread," and select a previous tweet. The feature is slowly coming to iOS, and will likely start rolling out on Android soon.

What This Means for Hotels & Resorts The goal here is to reduce broken threads, boost conversation, and keep good content relevant. Hotels and resorts can use this to elaborate more on past posts, update guests with new information as it becomes available, and potentially re-engage guests.

TikTok Acquires Licensed Music TikTok is an increasingly popular platform, and they've now got a deal with global independent music licensing agency Merlin. Their music can now be used on TikTok, bringing legal music to the platform which users can soon add to their own videos.

What This Means for Hotels & Resorts TikTok is a minor player compared to larger platforms like Facebook and Instagram, but you shouldn't count it out. It can be particularly valuable when targeting younger demographics of potential guests, as it's particularly popular with Gen Z users. Take a look at the platform, and even if it's not a great fit now, keep an eye on it long-term.