A significant number of travelers have integrated social media and Internet search practices into their everyday lives. Consumers are using social-sharing platforms to research destinations, get feedback in the form of reviews and to share their experiences before, during and after their trips. Potential customers will henceforth expect to see their travel agent's presence online, and using photos and videos is an easy way to engage and build audience share.
As travel agents embrace social media, figuring out a way to generate engaging content remains a challenge. That's why a winning strategy for creating new content to share with fans and followers is to leverage photos and videos.
Posting and sharing photos or videos are quick ways for agents to meet the demands of creating fresh content. What's more, multimedia content can be shared on multiple social platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Plus, Instagram and Vine.
The best types of images are those that help depict an agency's travel niche and help drive prospects and clients to respond to a unique call to action. Photos of sunsets, food and exotic locations are some popular themes that promote engagement.
Here are three tips to help travel agents incorporate photos and video into social marketing campaigns.
1) Use your mobile device
I have a 16-year-old daughter who is either taking photos on her iPhone (mostly selfies) or is looking at photos posted by her friends.
Joining my daughter online are millions of people who are capturing life's moments on their mobile devices and sharing them on sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
If I had to pick one app that every travel agent should use for capturing and sharing photos, it would be Instagram, which is owned by Facebook.
If I had to predict which app is going to make a difference in 2014, I would say Snapchat. The company has taken steps to tighten security after a recent breach, and its 23-year-old co-founder turned down a $3 billion offer from Facebook, then a $4 billion bid from Google.
I am definitely going to keep my eye on this smartphone app and figure out how to apply it to my marketing.
Snapchat is a photo-messaging app that enables users to exchange images that automatically delete after they have been viewed.
Some say that this app could replace texting, and for some it already has. The app also enables users to add context to words.
When using your mobile device to take photos, keep in mind the following:
- Make sure your lens is clean. I did not realize how dirty my iPhone lens was until I cleaned it.
- Shoot with the HDR (high dynamic range) option on your iPhone (this option is accessible when taking a photo with the Camera app on the iPhone). Basically, the app takes three photos, then merges the data to create a super-high-quality image.
- Get comfortable using the autofocus feature by pressing and holding your finger on the subject to produce nonblurry photos.
2) Share videos on Vine, Instagram and YouTube
Shooting videos from your mobile device is a great way to generate content. Short-form videos (those that have a time restriction) can be shared on social networks like Vine or via the Instagram video feature. Longer videos can be uploaded to YouTube.
Travel agents can use video to showcase their expertise in a variety of ways, such as product and destination reviews, how-to videos and success stories, among myriad other forms of presentation.
Video editing apps can help travel agents create compelling movies. I use iMovie on my iPad to create videos that combine short video clips, photos and narration. There are Android and Windows Phone equivalents to iMovie available, as well.
3) Use hashtags in your posts
Hashtags provide a means of grouping messages together by topic. Travel agents can use them to help categorize their social media posts with other updates.
The use of hashtags helps agents direct their social media posts into the right community streams on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google Plus and LinkedIn.
The benefit of using hashtags is that when people are searching for content about a subject, your posts will show up on the results generated from their searches.
An article published online by Instagram revealed that the most-Instagrammed locations of 2013 included Times Square in New York; Disneyland in California; and the Bellagio fountains in Las Vegas. All three of the subjects are popular vacation destinations, and travel agents can use hashtags in their posts to be included on these search terms.
Below are some ideas for how to incorporate hashtags into social media updates:
- Hashtag your favorite destinations and break it down by region. If you happen to be in Hawaii, you could use #Hawaii, #Maui, #beach, for example.
- Hashtag what you are doing. Popular choices include: #swimming, #running, #spa, #skiing, #cruising, #luxury.
- If your brand is not well known, stick with broader hashtags to be included in conversations. Include these general travel hashtags into your posts: #travel, #travelgram, #vacation, #traveling, #trip, #tourist.
- These are good Instagram hashtags: #instatravel, #instagood, #instadaily, #instaplane, #iphoneonly and #instamood.
Carrie Finley-Bajak is a social media consultant who specializes in building travel industry branding online. Contact her at cruisebuzz@gmail.com.