Facebook’s New Flight-Ads Feature: Friend or Foe?

Selin Omurbek
Sep 9, 2018 · 3 min read
Travel and Hospitality Marketing

As a full time Paid Social Marketer and part time traveler, I decided to reflect on “Facebook Lets Advertisers Target Users Based on Travel-Related Web History”.

In a nutshell:

Facebook has introduced a new targeting option for the travel industry. Previously, companies could only “re-market” to people who have been interacted with their website, app and etc. With this new expansion to Facebook’s Flight Ads, companies can now target people based on their complete travel-related online footprints.

My take on this case:

As a digital marketer, I think this is a great feature that enables companies not only to view customers as a whole but also lets them gain access to cross sell audiences without purchasing any customer lists. Now, travel companies can reach potential customers without learning any personal information about them, which is great for privacy and transparency. They can also target people who visited or followed travel related Facebook pages but have not taken an action- have not searched for flight options. This would mean that smart travel advertisers could first create compelling content on Facebook which would attract new visitors, and then they can show their flight “deals” to them. Facebook is giving companies the power to create the demand themselves-this means they get to choose the timing and character of the travel demand-, and also lets them follow these leads to convert them into leads. So now companies can create demand for certain locations based on seasonality and customer interests. Sounds amazing, right?

Unfortunately, the part time traveler in me is horrified of this initiative, because Facebook enables brands to tap into user intent, which lets them better reach prospective buyers, and also to manipulate users. It’s a known fact that every time someone makes a travel search, the prices go up, which makes traveling much harder. If the whole point of social media marketing is to create profit for companies while helping people by offering them the services or products that they need, how is this right? Travel companies now will be able to create demand for locations that are less desired by creating gorgeous content and by constantly showing ads to people who aren’t actively planning a trip. In my humble opinion, this tool will take away the freedom of choosing where users wish to go and when to go, because it gives the companies the power to create demand. Remarketing to people who have visited that or another travel company’s website/page is one thing-obviously these people are interested in traveling-, but I dont think it’s okay to put ideas into people’s minds who have only visited a travel related Facebook page. A social aspect of this would be causing dissatisfaction about self and life, which could be very dangerous. Just because someone has engaged with a travel related page does not mean that they have the means to travel. If different companies constantly show ads to these people, it will create resentment and jealousy. Of course, Facebook protects itself by giving users the option to opt out of Flight-Ads by clicking on the upper-right corner of an ad, but I have real doubts on the number of people who actually know about this.

Finally, there are multiple sides to a single story, and I wanted to share both my professional and personal opinions on this new feature of Facebook. This case is definitely a dilemma for me, but I’m really excited to see how this will affect my personally life and also my day to day job.

Thank you.

Selin Omurbek

Digital Marketer — Fitness — Healthy Cooking and Baking

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