Travel and Hospitality Marketing: Facebook Video Ads 101

Video marketing is critical in today’s world, particularly when it comes to the travel industry. Why? According to a recent study Google conducted with Ipsos MediaCT, two out of three U.S. consumers watch online travel videos when they’re thinking about taking a trip. Couple that statistic with the fact that this year video content will represent 74% of all internet traffic, and video marketing essentially becomes a no-brainer.

Think about videos you’ve watched online that have influenced your own buying or travel decisions. A compelling video tells a story, one that allows you to feel like you’re experiencing the journey or vacation. Through the power of video, you’re able to show your destination or resort in way that beautiful images cannot always do on their own. Video increases demand, and gets people to dream and plan their next getaway.

The data supports it: video is a large part of the travel planning journey for consumers. As a travel marketer this is a significant opportunity for you to inform, inspire and influence potential travelers with video. Often times, when we talk about video people naturally think about YouTube. While YouTube is absolutely an effective platform, video viewing has also grown significantly on Facebook by 50%, and video posts on Facebook have higher engagement.

Here are three reasons to love Facebook video advertising:

• On average, people re-visit their Facebook’s News Feed 14 times a day, which means you have multiple opportunities to reach consumers;
• Facebook video ads allow you to target your custom audience based on their interests, behaviors, age, gender and location; and,
• You can reach people with your video ads across multiple devices: desktop, tablets and mobile.

Tips for Creating Great Travel Marketing Facebook Video Ads

#1: Grab the User’s Attention Right Away

Your goal is to immediately catch the user’s eye so that they will stop scrolling through their News Feed and be drawn to your video. This is where the quality of your video comes into play. Make sure your video quality is good from the start.

#2: Know your Target Audience

In order to produce video content that is valuable, relevant and will connect with your audience, you have to know who you’re targeting with your ad. Are you looking to attract travelers who have already visited your website but haven’t yet booked a trip? Or maybe you’re highlighting romantic packages for couples? Spend some time identifying your target audience, and also check out Facebook’s helpful audience platform.

#3: Add Captions

Don’t forget about captions! Since Facebook automatically plays video without sound, using captions to help convey your message means that if your user doesn’t turn on the sound your message will still resonate. Facebook makes this process fairly simple, and allows you to generate captions automatically when creating your video Facebook ad.

If you haven’t created a Facebook video ad before, check out our helpful post: Getting Started With Facebook Ads for a complete guide. We’d also recommend checking out Facebook’s Video Ad Best Practices, for some additional tips and helpful resources.

And now we’d love to hear from you! Have a great Facebook video advertising success story to share? Any other tips you would add to our list? Please comment below, and let’s discuss!