📋 Trends Report: Facebook 2024

Useful insights and strategies for the hospitality industry to increase growth and engagement on Facebook in 2024.

Jan 09, 2024

This report examines the latest trends and best practices, helping hotels and restaurants stay ahead of the competition in this fast-moving and dynamic industry.

Whether you're a hotel, restaurant, or travel agency, this report serves as your guide to maximising the potential of Facebook marketing for your business.

New Features
Facebook User Insights
Consumer Behaviour
Engagement Trends
Conversion Trends
Customer Service Expectations
Technology Trends
Challenges for Hospitality
Opportunities for Hospitality
Action Plan
References

Let’s Check In

New Features

Facebook is the largest social media platform, with over 3.05 billion monthly active users worldwide.

In 2023, Facebook introduced several new features to enhance user experience and engagement. Features of note to the hospitality industry include:

Reels Insights

Facebook added Reels Insights, allowing users to gain valuable analytics and metrics about their Reels content. This feature helps content creators understand the performance and reach of their Reels videos.

Add Yours Sticker

Facebook introduced the Add Yours sticker for Reels, enabling users to contribute to collaborative videos. This feature allows users to add their own clips to a Reels video. The feature offers a unique opportunity for restaurants and hotels to engage with their customers and build a community around their brand.

Some strategic ways you can capitalise on this feature:

Ask customers to share their dining experiences using the "Add Yours" feature, a digital word-of-mouth recommendation.
Challenge customers to plate a takeaway dish and add their video to the Reels chain; you could offer a prize for the best presentation.
Start a Reel around a cultural event (like Cinco de Mayo or Chinese New Year) and have customers add their own celebration dishes or traditions.
Encourage guests to share their memorable moments at your venue, creating a montage of testimonials.
Create unique hashtags for each campaign to make the content easily trackable and encourage broader participation.
Respond to participants and share the best contributions on the restaurant or hotel's main page to show appreciation and foster a sense of community.
Ensure all Reels align with your brand's image and message to maintain a consistent brand identity.

Meta Verified

Meta launched Meta Verified to increase trust and authenticity. This premium service offers a blue checkmark on profiles, indicating verified accounts, and provides other benefits to verified users.

As with any tool, its effectiveness will depend on how well it is integrated into a broader marketing and customer service strategy.

Here are the key advantages that Meta Verified can offer hospitality businesses:

Increased Trust and Authenticity

The blue checkmark immediately signals to customers that the hotel or restaurant is an authentic and trustworthy establishment.
It helps distinguish the official page from fan pages or potential impostors, ensuring guests interact with the genuine brand.

Improved Visibility and Reach

Verified accounts may receive preferential treatment in search results, making it easier for potential customers to find the business.
Posts from verified accounts could be prioritised in users' feeds, increasing the organic reach of the hotel or restaurant's content.

Enhanced Customer Support

Verified accounts have access to better support channels, allowing for quicker resolution of issues or assistance with the platform.

Protection Against Identity Theft

The verification status helps protect businesses against identity theft and fraudulent activities by clarifying the official status to everyone.
It solidifies the hotel or restaurant's claim to content and branding, preventing misuse or misrepresentation.

Increased Marketing Opportunities

Being verified can make a business more attractive to potential partners or sponsors, as it signifies credibility.
It can also facilitate collaborations with influencers, who prefer working with verified businesses for promotions or endorsements.

Customer Confidence for Transactions

For hotels, a verified status can assure customers they are dealing with the official site during the online booking.

When restaurants offer exclusive deals or online ordering, verification can give customers the confidence to engage in online transactions.

Community Chats

Facebook is rolling out the Community Chats feature for Messenger and Facebook Groups. This feature enables users to engage in real-time conversations with other members of their communities, fostering more interactive and dynamic group interactions.

Hotels and restaurants can capitalise on Facebook Community Chats by creating dedicated chat spaces for enthusiasts, local foodies, and travellers, encouraging them to share experiences, reviews, and recommendations, fostering a sense of community and loyalty among participants.

By engaging in these chats, businesses can gather feedback, provide personalised customer service, and promote events or special offers directly to engaged consumers.

Community Chats can be used for interactive sessions, such as Q&As with chefs or hotel managers, which can deepen the relationship between the brand and its patrons, potentially leading to increased word-of-mouth marketing and customer retention.

Facebook Users

On average, Facebook boasts an impressive 2.085 billion daily active users (DAUs).

The platform continues to experience a year-over-year growth rate of 5.1% for daily active users. This consistent growth reflects the platform's enduring popularity and ability to engage users daily. 99% of user accounts access the platform via mobile phone.

Facebook has a slightly higher male user representation, with 56.8% of users identifying as male, while 43.2% identify as female.

However, it is important to note that women are the most frequent Facebook users, with 77% of women and 61% of men actively engaging with the site.

Just under a quarter of the world's population of over 8 billion are daily active users, with 400 new users signing up to Facebook every minute.

Millennials continue to favour Facebook, with 69% using it compared to other social media platforms. In contrast, only 37% of Gen Z users are active on Facebook.

Despite its massive user base, Facebook has experienced a decline in the average daily time spent on the platform, which currently stands at 30.9 minutes.

This decrease is due to younger users spending time on other social platforms like TikTok and YouTube.

As younger demographics gravitate towards alternative social media outlets, Facebook must adapt and innovate to retain their interest and engagement.

Over 200 Million businesses use Facebook.

Consumer Behaviour

Many factors shaped consumer behaviour in 2023, including global economic trends, a move toward frugality and conscious spending, online shopping, social media influence, and a transformational shift in consumer research.

Global economic factors, particularly inflation, have prompted consumers to prioritise essential goods and display caution in significant financial commitments.

There's also been a noticeable trend towards conscious and ethical consumption, with consumers making more deliberate choices aligned with environmental impact and ethical sourcing.

The online shopping experience has continued to evolve, with technological advancements such as augmented reality, AI-driven personalised recommendations, and social media platforms influencing purchasing behaviour.

Consumers spend an average of 33 minutes per day on Facebook; a significant portion of users, 67.5%, are active daily.

For social commerce, Facebook is a key player; 19% of consumers start their online shopping searches on Facebook, highlighting the platform's role in the buyer journey.

However, there is some consumer scepticism regarding data protection, with only 18% of users feeling that Facebook protects their data. This could influence how consumers interact with the platform, particularly regarding privacy and sharing personal information.

Engagement Trends

Facebook engagement refers to users' interaction with content on the platform. It includes a range of actions such as likes, comments, shares, views, and clicks on links.

Engagement is a key indicator of how compelling and relevant content is to an audience. It is an important metric because high engagement rates often lead to increased reach and visibility due to the platform's algorithm favouring high-quality content that stimulates user interaction.

The median engagement rate for brands on Facebook stands at 0.060%, surpassing the median engagement rate across all industries on Instagram, which sits at 0.47%.

Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups have been around for a while and are a powerful tool for community building and engagement.

With over 1.8 billion people accessing Facebook Groups monthly and more than 70 million admins and moderators managing active groups, the influence of these communities cannot be understated.

Hotels and restaurants can foster loyalty and encourage repeat visits by creating a space for guests to connect and interact. Groups offer an invaluable channel for personalised communication, enabling targeted feedback and sharing exclusive offers, which can drive bookings and visits.

Groups function as a valuable tool for market research, offering insights into customer preferences and current trends while facilitating word-of-mouth marketing as satisfied members become brand ambassadors, sharing their positive experiences within their networks.

Media Engagement

Different types of content on Facebook garner varying levels of engagement.

Photo posts lead the pack with an engagement rate of 0.12%, followed closely by status posts at 0.11%.

Over a billion Stories are shared every day on Facebook.

Video posts exhibit an engagement rate of 0.08%, while link posts trail with a rate of 0.04%. 500 million people watch videos on Facebook every day.

Optimal Posting Times for Maximum Engagement

The best times to post are on Wednesdays at 9 am and 1 pm, as these periods experience the highest traffic and engagement.

Additionally, weekdays from 10 am to 1 pm, particularly 9 am, 11 am, and 1 pm, demonstrate heightened engagement.

Conversely, the worst times to post are on weekends, especially after 8 pm or before 5 am when engagement is at its lowest.

Avoiding early mornings and evenings, specifically before 5 am and after 9 pm, is advisable as these periods exhibit the least daily engagement.

Check your Meta Business Suite for performance analytics and the best times to post.

Conversion Trends

Over the last year, Facebook ad results improved for most businesses, with engagement metrics increasing and advertising costs decreasing. Marketers can reach a total potential audience of 2.249 billion users with ads on Facebook.

The click-through rate increased for 9 of 19 industries using Facebook Lead Ads. The average conversion rate in Facebook ads for lead gen campaigns across industries was 8.25%.

The industries with the lowest average cost per click for lead-gen Facebook ads were Travel at $0.96, Arts and entertainment at $0.87, and Sports and recreation at $1.11.

The average click-through rate in Facebook ads for traffic campaigns across all industries is 1.51%. The average cost per click in Facebook ads for traffic campaigns across all industries is $0.83.

Successful Facebook ads require impressive visuals to attract attention, and some of the best CTRs come from industries that can wow Facebook users with the promise of a good time.

The industries with the highest CTR were Arts & Entertainment at 2.55%, Real Estate at 2.45%, and Restaurants & Food at 2.29%.

For hotels and restaurants, these metrics imply that Facebook remains a cost-effective platform for reaching potential customers. The increased engagement and decreased advertising costs present an opportunity to invest in Facebook ads to drive bookings, reservations, and overall brand awareness.

Hotels should consider using Lead Ads to attract potential guests by showcasing attractive travel experiences, exclusive offers, and packages.

Similarly, restaurants can use Facebook ads to highlight their unique dining experiences, special menus, and events to attract more customers.

Customer Service Expectations

Customers increasingly use social channels, particularly Facebook, to seek brand support. Negative feedback and issues related to service, reservation problems, and food quality are frequently reported to businesses by customers via Facebook.

According to the Sprout Social Index, 53% of consumers report increased social media usage over the past two years.

76% of consumers value businesses that prioritise customer support.

How brands respond to such issues matters significantly. Half of consumers say the most memorable brands on social media react to customers.

Hospitality businesses should reply promptly to customer service messages on Facebook. All customer enquiries should be answered within one business day, as allowing more time to elapse reduces customer interest.

Technology Trends

In 2024, we'll see the convergence of Tech and the metaverse, opening up new possibilities for immersive experiences. The intersection holds excellent promise for Meta and its vision of enabling unprecedented human-machine interaction.

AI

With the advancements in AI, we are witnessing a shift towards AI becoming a primary way for people to interact with machines.

Meta's AI-powered Ray-Ban Meta glasses are an example. These glasses combine vision and language understanding to see the world from the user's perspective and provide meaningful assistance to wearers.

From translating foreign languages to generating captions for photos, these glasses offer hands-free, intuitive interactions without needing a separate device.

Mixed Reality

Another key technology that Meta invests in is mixed reality (MR).

Unlike traditional personal computing, MR represents a fundamental shift in how we perceive and interact with digital content. In 2023, Meta released the first mass-market mixed-reality headset, the Meta Quest 3, which has already seen strong adoption and positive user feedback.

Mixed reality (MR) opens up an array of groundbreaking opportunities for hotels and restaurants, revolutionising the customer experience and operational efficiency.

From enchanting virtual tours of hotel rooms and restaurant dining experiences to interactive 3D menus that allow guests to visualise dishes before ordering, MR offers a new dimension of engagement and immersion.

MR can also be deployed for staff training, providing simulated environments for employees to refine their skills and expertise without real-world consequences, ultimately enhancing service quality and professionalism.

MR empowers hotels to curate one-of-a-kind guest experiences, offering personalised rooms that transform virtually based on individual preferences and allowing guests to customise their spaces with virtual decorations and amenities.

The technology facilitates remote assistance and concierge services, allowing guests to interact with staff for recommendations, reservations, and support through a virtual concierge. Event organisers can visualise and customise spaces, leading to more tailored and engaging experiences.

Equally impressive, MR can aid in wayfinding within expansive hotel complexes and restaurants, guiding guests with virtual signage and arrows, leading to seamless navigation and enhanced guest satisfaction.

Beyond Generative AI

While AI has made significant strides, there is still room for further advancements. Meta's AI research teams are focused on exploring new frontiers beyond today's generation of generative AI models.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Meta is building generative AI into all its products and reaffirmed its commitment to an "open science-based approach" to AI research.

"In the last year, we've seen some really incredible breakthroughs — qualitative breakthroughs — on generative AI, and that allows us to now go take that technology, push it forward and build it into every single one of our products," Zuckerberg said.

"We're going to play an important and unique role in the industry in bringing these capabilities to billions of people in new ways that other people aren't going to do."

Challenges to Prepare For

Answering all customer enquiries within one business day.
Managing increased consumer expectations for support.
Addressing negative feedback and service-related issues.
Protecting against identity theft and fraudulent activities.
Growing group memberships.
Managing and nurturing community groups and chats.
Content creation.
Social selling

Opportunities for a Competitive Advantage

Verification offers protection against identity theft for businesses.
Increased marketing opportunities through enhanced trust and credibility.
Boosting customer confidence for online transactions.
Upselling and cross-selling via social commerce conversations via community chats.
Promptly responding to customer service messages.
Deploying Facebook AI-supported ads for cost-effective marketing.
Target Millennials

Action Plan

Add a Facebook Reels Strategy to your marketing mix for 2024
Encourage User Generated Content (UGC) with the Add Yours sticker.
Review Reels Insights to optimise campaigns.
Sign up for Meta Verified
Build loyalty and drive social commerce with Community Chats - invite your Brand Ambassadors and Employees to take part.
Your Facebook Strategy should focus on Discovery, Customer Service, Lead Generation, Social Commerce and Community Building.
Create a Group to accompany your Brand Page.
Work with Influencers and Content Creators to plug any gaps in video production resources and capabilities.
Update your Social Media Guidelines to reflect the latest Customer Service expectations.
Learn more about the Metaverse and Mixed Reality for Immersive Campaigns

If you’re having trouble visualising what this might look like, watch Ready Player One, Free Guy and Spider-Man Far From Home - specifically Tony Stark’s glasses)

What are your plans for Facebook in 2024? Let me know in the comments - got a question? Use #AskDawnGribble on your favourite social media channel.

Here's To Your Success 🥂