“More than 90% of fans never come back to visit a Facebook Page again after liking it.”
So you have been spending all of your time getting people to like your hotel/hostel/restaurant Facebook business page, however now when you post something new, you don’t seem to be reaping anything like the number of likes, shares and engagement as you have in the past. Why is that? Big question.
Due to the increasing ‘busyness’ of our newsfeed, Facebook has created its own algorithm to monitor how your customers view your business page and more importantly, what content they actually receive (this also applies to your personal page).
Have you even noticed?
On the personal side of Facebook, do you ever notice that you haven’t seen any updates from some of your friends that you have been connected with for years? When you go on their pages they have had three kids, moved house and post picture of their cocktails every single Friday. Why did you not hear about this?
Facebook has created a new rule for users that filters your newsfeed based on what the algorithm ‘thinks’ that you’ll like and from people that you’re mostly likely to engage with. By doing this, friends that you have not looked at for a couple of weeks will disappear from your news feed entirely as Facebook has decided you are no longer interested in this information.
By applying this to your hotel, restaurant or hostel business page, if a customer has not interacted with your page recently, your content will drop from their news feed, hence the lower level of likes, shares and engagements. The statistics can be as little as 10% visibility from your total page likes, and even less for engagement rates.
What is Facebook Edge Ranking and the Edge rank factors to consider for your business page?
There are 3 key components of Facebook’s Edge ranking to consider:
Affinity score is measured by the relationship between the user and the page. For example if you have a lot of shared connections, like similar pages and have friends in common this will increase your affinity score.
Weight is split into two types – posts and interactions. The weight can vary from a photo post, a video post, simple text or a status update. Regarding the weight of interactions, shares and comments require more from a user than a simple ‘like’ and therefore are more heavily weighted and reach more users.
Decay is exactly what you think it is. The longer the post is sitting there unnoticed the worse the results will be for your business. Most interactions occur within the first few minutes of a post so timing is key to reaching your audience.
How can I get customers to see my business online?
Great content is essential, it is important to keep a stream of enticing posts and media on your Facebook page that will keep customers visiting your page and interacting with your business.
The more engaging your posts, the more people will see your page and the higher your affinity score! Rich media has been proven best to entice engagement from your guests so invest in 360 videos, VR and the like for best engagement.
Do not forget to respond to all of your guests that have stayed or visited your hotel, hostel or restaurant. Social media is a two way street.
A little money goes a long way
If you are willing to go the extra mile to get results that convert your social media followers to direct bookings then Facebook offers a great platform to do so.
Paid campaigns are the new route to reaching your audience direct and converting.
To get out in front of your target audience, Facebook now wants you to pay for adverts. As Facebook’s main revenue stream comes from their advertising, they have invested a lot into their advert manager allowing you to take advantage of a plethora of resources to create amazingly targeted campaigns to reach your audience and convert. They are always adding new features and channels within the platform to ensure you are getting the most for your money and having a resource pool of the latest tools.
To get started you can put a small media spend behind campaigns and A/B test the best adverts that convert, you will see results very quickly and can pivot if necessary
If you are willing to spend a bit more, Facebook offer a second tier of an Adverts Manager for the serious campaigners, minimum media spend is £100.00 but this opens the door to even more resources to convert your guests.
Can we help?
If you think we might be able to implement social advertising for your hospitality business then do get in touch with me today and we’ll be happy to discuss options with you!