Earlier this month, during National Small Business Week in the US, Facebook announced three new features aimed at empowering small businesses. One tool, in particular, sparked our interest as being potentially useful for hotels; Appointment Bookings.
Facebook describe the new tool as allowing “service-based businesses on Facebook and Instagram [to] accept and manage appointments, customer information and send appointment reminders — all from their phone.”
The social media giant appears to be gradually rolling out the tool within the platform and we’ve been exploring it’s value to hotels. Although not a great fit to acquire more room bookings, it’s potentially useful for other hotel services that can be booked in time slots. For example spa services, golf bookings, and afternoon tea.
Overall, the main benefits for hoteliers are;
- Manage your appointments and schedule them for free directly from your Page
- Schedule and share your availability, allowing customers to book with you at any time
- Use automated appointment reminders to reduce no-shows
While appointment bookings don’t appear to be enabled on all accounts yet, we would imagine that it’s only a matter of time before all hotels can benefit. In the meantime, we’ve prepared a step-by-step guide below on how to set them up when they do become available on your hotel’s Page.
