Since Facebook launched its Dynamic Product Ads in 2015, brands have uploaded more than 2.5 billion products, looking to capitalise on the targeted advertising opportunities. Now, with the wave of a wand and the change of a name (to Dynamic Ads), Facebook is looking to broaden its advertising horizons, and their first stop is the travel sector.
Right now, Dynamic Ads is limited to the promotion of hotel rooms, but it still provides that level of targeted advertising that marketers are looking for. For example, people who book a flight or scroll through hotel rooms on other websites will now see advertisements for hotel rooms in the city/location they previously searched. Facebook will examine their search history, as well as their Facebook profile, to target proximity, class of hotel and travel time-frames. Dynamic Ads will even be able to show real-time prices and availability.
The Marriott hotel chain was one of the first companies to use Dynamic Product Ads after it launched, before it was tailored for travel advertising, because the ads allowed them to get in front of people they otherwise might have missed. Marriott International’s VP of digital marketing and Marriott.com, Andy Kauffman, stated in an interview that he’s never seen anything at this scale that allows this degree of personalisation, and that he believes it “removes friction from the booking process”.
Facebook eventually wants to branch out into other types of travel bookings (rental cars, for example), as well as launching Dynamic Ads on Instagram, the video- and photo-sharing app Facebook bought in 2012 for $1 billion.
According to Susan Buckner, the Market Operations Lead at Instagram, Instagram shoppers visit the platform six days a week, consuming twice as much content as the platform’s non-shoppers. And with a conversion rate of 75% taking action after viewing a post on Instagram, Dynamic Ads are primed to make a significant impact.