Introduction to the tool
Facebook is a popular social media platform that also works well for tourism marketing. But how should you use Facebook in marketing? What kind of content should you post, and how often should you update it? Read this blog post for simple and effective tips on how to succeed in marketing and master Facebook!
Facebook is an important channel for tourism. You can share status updates, photos, or videos to inform customers about your business activities. On Facebook, you can also create events, which is a great way to attract customers to visit in person!
How to start using Facebook
Using and getting started with Facebook is easy. Watch the video below to see how to create an account!
How to use Facebook in a tourism business
Facebook is the most widely used social media platform globally, with over 3 billion monthly active users. This makes it an excellent place to reach a diverse audience. In 2024, Facebook offers even more advanced tools and strategies to help businesses improve the effectiveness of their campaigns.
For tourism entrepreneurs, Facebook ads provide an opportunity to reach potential customers directly. Facebook advertising is generally also more affordable compared to traditional ads. This makes Facebook marketing more accessible, even for marketing with a small budget. (DeSantis, 2024.)
Target group
Today, 2.7 million Finns use Facebook (Facebook Ads Manager, May 2021). Facebook ads also appear on Instagram, where there are 2.1 million Finnish users. Advertising can effectively reach both new audiences and existing customers, as there are plenty of eyes on the ads.
It is true that several new social media platforms have emerged, particularly for younger people, in recent years, and Facebook is now perceived more as a platform for older generations rather than the youth. However, young people can still be reached on Facebook: according to Ads Manager, there are around one million 18–35-year-olds on Facebook in Finland and 1.1 million of the same age group on Instagram. (Paronen, 2021.)
In tourism marketing, it’s also important to note that social media platforms vary by market region. For example, social media platforms differ across Asia. Facebook is a popular channel in Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore. Therefore, paying attention to regional preferences and the target audience is crucial when choosing the platform. (Visit Finland, 2019)
The content and communication with the followers
The basic pillars of Facebook posts are texts, images, and videos, as well as combinations of these. According to some sources, it is recommended to post on Facebook 2-3 times a day, but at least a couple of times a week. It is also said that the best time to post on Facebook is between 1 pm and 3 pm. However, many others have likely read the same thing, so this may no longer be true, as you’ll have to compete with so many other posts. Explore and analyze what works best for your business and find out if your followers are most interactive with videos, images, links, or just text. However, don’t rely on just one type of content. You can also create a separate page for your event. (Joki, 2024.)
Even if your company has thousands of likes on Facebook, that doesn’t mean each follower will see your posts. There are over 50 million business pages on Facebook, and up to 75% of them advertise their posts. As a result, your organic posts get overshadowed by sponsored ones. Another reason is Facebook’s algorithm, which aims to show users updates they’re likely to engage with (i.e., click on). If a follower hasn’t interacted with your posts, Facebook assumes they’re not interested in your content.
“Create content that teaches, entertains, makes people think, or otherwise adds value to their lives”
Ask your followers questions, respond to their inquiries, and generally be social. Create content that teaches, entertains, makes people think, or otherwise adds value to their lives. When you create valuable content for your followers, they will click, comment, and share it. All these actions are signals to Facebook that your content is valuable. And because your content is valuable, it should be shown to more Facebook users, increasing the reach of your posts! You can also target specific posts to be visible to certain types of people. (Joki, 2024.)
Marketing tools and metrics
Advertising on Facebook is easy to track through various metrics. Setting up these metrics is simple, and learning how to use them is easy, for example, through videos available on YouTube. Facebook’s own analytics tool is Meta Business Suite, which is free. Meta Business Suite offers many different tools all at once. You can also use third-party analytics tools like Google Analytics.
Tools available in Meta Business Suite are e.g. Meta Analytics, Meta Ads Manager, Events Manager, and Insights-tools. Meta Analytics is a powerful tool that provides in-depth insights into the performance of Facebook marketing campaigns and pages. This tool helps businesses track and analyze user activity and engagement across various Meta platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram. Meta Analytics consolidates data from different sources, providing a comprehensive view of customer behavior and the effectiveness of marketing strategies. The key KPIs for Facebook marketing are:
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): Measures how many users click on your ad after seeing it.
- Conversion Rate: Measures how many users who see the ad complete a desired action.
- Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): Measures how much it costs to acquire one customer.
- Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): Measures how much revenue is generated for the money spent on advertising.
- Impressions: Measures how many times your ad has been displayed.
- Engagements: Measures user interactions with the ad, such as likes, comments, shares, and clicks. (Slogan, 2024)
Special tips
- Remember to add a facebook-link to your homepage.
- Keep your page updated! Make at least a few posts per week.
- Visuality is important! Use good quality pictures to attract customers.
- Create events to boost your visibility.
- Remember to communicate with your followers. Answer their questions and listen the feedback you get.
An example of good use of Facebook
TUI uses their Facebook-page in many different ways:
- Communicates with customers, encourages discussion with prompts like “Have you been, imagine, tag someone who…”
- Short tips, inspirations and introductions to destinations
- Encourages dreaming and creates needs
- Beautiful images
- Call to action: “Read more, book now”
- Contests and giveaways
- Offers and promotions
References:
DeSantis, N. (2024). Beginner’s Guide to Facebook Ads for Tourism. Referred to 24.9.2024.
Joki, M. (2024). Miten parantaa Facebook-julkaisujen näkyvyyttä? Hakukonemestarit. Referred to 22.9.2024.
Paronen, I-L. (2021). Totta vai tarua: Kukaan ei käytä enää Facebookia. Mediashake. Referred to 22.9.2024.
Slogan (2024). Täydellinen opas Facebook-markkinointiin vuodelle 2024. Referred to 22.9.2024.
Visit Finland (2019). Matkailuyrittäjän kansainvälistymisopas. Referred to 24.9.2024.
Thanks for the blog, there was a lot of information about using Facebook in tourism marketing. Marketing tools and metrics were especially beneficial. The tips were also nice to read! Well done!
Thank you Asta!
Hi Emilia!
I am familiar with Facebook as an application, but I am not very familiar with business use. Your post was interesting to read and the videos nicely opened up more about the topics. In the future, I might consider starting my own business, and these tips on how to use Facebook will help a lot at that point.
Thank you for your text!
Thank you Aliisa and great to hear. Best of luck with starting your business!
I really liked your introduction text! It was exactly the kind that you see in the introductions of guides like this. You’ve written a great “hook” 😀 I also liked how you divided the text into different sections. Links open to a new window. Great job!
Thank you, Piia! And great to hear that the introduction was effective. 🙂
Thank you for your informative and colorful post. I am not an active Facebook user, so I was interested to know what opportunities it provides. I liked that you visualized your post, using many pictures and videos. It made it easy to perceive.
Thank you Anastasiia! Nice to hear that you liked the visuals of the blog.