Social media advertising represents the largest portion of digital ad spend for travel marketers in 2018 at 30 percent—and that number will continue to grow. As Facebook and Instagram continue to launch advertising products to help travel marketers and address their specific needs, you can expect travel marketers to continue spending on the platform—55% said they plan to spend more this year.
In The 2019 Report on Facebook and Instagram Advertising for Travel we surveyed more than 600 travel marketers from 46 countries around the world, representing brands across the spectrum of airlines, hotels, DMOs, cruise companies, OTAs, metas, attractions, homesharing, and more, to learn how travel marketers are using Facebook and Instagram. Here are some of the key trends we observed:
#1 Facebook Ad Usage is Increasing Across All Formats
Facebook and Instagram have launched several new advertising opportunities in the past year, such as the ability to advertise on Facebook Stories and new audience targeting options for travel marketers within destinations, hotels, and flights.
On average, over half of all global travel marketers plan to spend more on Facebook and Instagram Ads in 2019—with the largest year-over-year change seen with how many marketers plan to use specifically Facebook Dynamic Ads for Travel (now Facebook Travel Ads) and Facebook Stories. This comes as no surprise, especially with Facebook’s continued effort to add new features, like Stories, across their entire platform (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp), creating a more engaging place to share in real time.
In 2018, 79 percent of travel marketers used Facebook Ads, and that number will continue to rise with 65 percent of travel markets reporting they plan to spend more on Facebook Ads in 2019. Todays’ travel marketers are becoming more savvy when it comes to travel-specific ads—with 57 percent planning to use Facebook Dynamic Ads for Travel in 2019.
Video ads used on Facebook are also a favorite of travel marketers—with 60 percent reporting they plan to use them in 2019.
