We have all heard about
Instagram, followers, hashtags and so on.
Today, the social network is
approaching tourism companies, as the latter can use it to communicate, promote
their brands and target new customers.
Indeed, the largest sharing
photo platform, launched in 2010, has reached a total number of 600 million
monthly active users, and half of them are even considered as daily active!
More than 40 billion photos
have been shared on the platform since its creation; and 75% of the most famous
brands already use it, on a basis of almost 5 posts a week. Tourism brands use
this network even more than other brands, and are for this reason, considered
as the best Instagram presence at the moment.
But everyone can
wonder, why tourism brands should
communicate via this specific network?
Society has evolved; people
and travellers want to be inspired and inspire others. They changed their way
of discovering, consuming and sharing experiences. Indeed, 35% of Instagramers
use the platform to discover new places and 48% to choose their travel
destination. Statistics are even higher for Millennials who, for 89% of them,
plan their travel activities according to fellow travellers’ content.
Before booking any trip,
travellers have the need to look at online reviews but also get “real”
feedbacks. Millennials are aware of this new trend, as 97% share content of
their travels.
Figures show that 75% of
Instagramers act after seeing a post of a brand. They visit the website,
research the brand’s products or even purchase it. They engage 10 times more
than with Facebook! And the fact of having an active online presence, increase
the brand perception up to 20%.
All in all, what tourism
brands have to do, is:
- Create a brand identity and build positive brand awareness, by showing followers they are valued.
- Engage with users: communicate with them in real-time, encourage interactions, react to their complaints, and create significant relationships. It will humanize the brand, which will then be more appreciated and visible.
- Use the network to build databases of consumers and keep widening it.
How to use Instagram?
- Be consistent: use high resolution images, and keep the same design (style or color). The objective is to create recognizable posts to represent the brand’s value and ideas; but also favor a long-term strategy by sharing posts frequently. (1/day or 5/week). Cross post pictures with other social media networks and marketing channels to drive people to the company’s Instagram page.
- Keep sharing relevant content: be informed about the latest news, but do not use clichés or fads.
- Think about Followers first: encourage interaction with them (comments), value followers generated content (pictures submission, photo contests), use influencers to boost the volume of users and enhance the brand (with the same values as the brand’s). Brands’ goal is to create a close relationship with its followers. All in all, tourists will become the brand’s promoters.
We can finally agree that this method is successful, as #Travel counts
up to 162 million posts, so the market does exist.
Good examples of this success are: the official Tourism New Zealand
account which has one of the biggest databases with more than 581K followers;
but also, Fjord Norway, which succeeded in bringing the Natural Wonder
Trolltunga to the world stage with Instagram.
Hurry up! Create your account and start
positioning your brand! :)
References:
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