Facebook Sponsored Results for Hotels

Facebook is experimenting with Sponsored Results, which is a new kind of ad integrated within the social network. Unlike standard Facebook ads, which appear in the sidebar, and Sponsored Stories, which appear in a user’s home screen, Sponsored Results will be delivered as a hotel guest starts typing a query into Facebook’s search bar at the top of the screen. Here is a mock-up of what the ad is likely to look like.

One of the significant differences about Sponsored Results compared to other Facebook ads is that hotel page owners can pay for ads that target their competitor’s pages. Ad costs will be on a standard cost per click (CPC) basis.

Here’s how it works: Let’s say you have a hotel in Saint Paul, Minnesota. You know all your competitors in Saint Paul, and you discovered all of their Facebook pages. With Sponsored Results, you can now pay Facebook to place an ad to your Facebook page whenever a Facebook user types in the brand name of your competitors in Saint Paul. Pay for an ad for each of your competitor’s hotel pages, and you’ll have your bases covered.

These new Facebook ads come right in the middle of Facebook’s recent IPO disasters. Facebook has made significant strides the past few days, going from $19.92 per share on Friday Aug 3 to $21.85 today—but this is still a far cry from where they started in May: $38. Many experts see July’s revelation about Facebook’s Sponsored Results as a hasty attempt to increase their value.

Do you see Facebook’s Sponsored Results becoming valuable for your property’s social marketing strategy?