What Just Happened in Social Media and what it Means for Hotels - March 15, 2019

Facebook Releases New Management Tools
Facebook has just released a flurry of new formatting updates and management tools for Page and group admins. These new changes include:

• The expansion of subscription groups, which allow businesses to create paid, subscription-only groups
• Searching membership requests by name, so you can ensure certain audience members are granted fast access to your group.
• Page admins can respond to Instagram private messages through their Facebook inboxes

What This Means for Hotels & Resorts:
Improved ease of use for Page and group admins is an asset for hotels and resorts and any of the social media managers that work for them. Groups have become a strong marketing strategy, and having the ability to better manage branded groups that center your hotel or resort can provide a better experience for you and your guests.

And take note of the Instagram messaging showing up in the inboxes of Facebook Pages. There are also rumors that Instagram is testing messaging on the desktop version of their site, and all of this lines up with their grand plan to integrate the messaging apps from Messenger, Instagram Direct, and WhatsApp by early next year.

Pinterest Expands Ad Access to Four New Countries
Pinterest has released ad access to four new countries, including business accounts in Austria, Germany, Italy, and Spain, who previously didn't have this feature available to them yet, even though countries who did have the ads already were able to target audiences in those countries.

What This Means for Hotels & Resorts:
It's not uncommon for hotels or resorts to have businesses in multiple countries. If this applies to you, and one of your business accounts is located in Germany, Italy, Spain, or Austria, you now have the opportunity to run Promoted Pin campaigns. They can be an effective way to generate site traffic, especially if you target keywords like "dream vacation" or "mountain resort."

Instagram Releases Follower-Sorting Feature
Instagram is testing and slowly releasing a new follower-sorting feature on the mobile app. Business profiles can sort their follower list by who has been there the longest, and who was most recent to join.

What This Means for Hotels & Resorts:
While this feature may not seem too impressive at a first glance, it actually has huge potential for hotels and resorts.Your most long-term followers, for example, could be potential brand advocates. Your most recent followers, on the other hand, may benefit from some active relationship-building, like an effort to reach out through a private DM to welcome them to your channel or offer a special coupon code for booking.

YouTube Updates Its Penalty System
YouTube has updated and simplified their penalty system for creators and community members. Now, if users violate a rule, they'll be given a warning with no immediate penalty on their channel aside from the removal of the offending content. After the warnings, if violations are still made, YouTube will freeze the ability to upload new content twice, before terminating the channel on the third strike.

What This Means for Hotels & Resorts:
All brands on YouTube should be following their guidelines as is, and most hotels and resorts do that well. The majority of guidelines focus on things like language, inappropriate content, and scams or misleading information. As long as your external links are taking users exactly where you say they will, you'll pretty much be in the clear.

YouTube Confirms Crackdown on Giveaways
The YouTube community has recently noticed that videos featuring on-platform giveaways have been flagged more often, and YouTube has confirmed that while giveaways and contests aren't being banned, they're cracking down more on certain violations. Specifically, giveaways cannot be used to link to external websites that are solely designed to increase engagement metrics.

What This Means for Hotels & Resorts:
If you want to host giveaways or contests on YouTube to promote your hotel or resort, make sure that you're following all of their community rules. You can still use giveaways to increase brand awareness and generate engagement on-platform with on-platform videos.