Carrie Finley-Bajak
Leveraging video content to take advantage of how consumers use sites like YouTube, Instagram and Vine can help generate leads, build brand awareness, increase user engagement and improve search engine optimization.
Short-form videos like the ones captured and shared on Instagram and Vine are better for reporting real-time events, while longer videos do well on sites like YouTube.
Agents can focus on videos that provide information geared to the research and discovery phase of a buyer's journey. These types of videos get to prospects as they are becoming more aware of travel options.
Keep videos focused on demonstrating expertise and adding value, and try to use imagery that helps buyers see the destination or experience.
Create a series of videos to attract a larger audience. For example, if an agent is a cruise seller, a series about Caribbean cruises would be a good fit. Videos could show the various itineraries as well as ship profiles to help generate leads.
People search Google and YouTube looking for information about destinations, specific products or experiences they want to discover. Agents can provide helpful information with the following types of video:
•Product reviews from site visits, fam trips or inspections (without guests or agents in the video frames, please).
• Travel guides about destinations and attractions using slideshows or video montages from photographs and video clips with background music or narration.
• Tutorials about how to do something. For example, make a tutorial about how to pick a cruise ship cabin.
• Question/answer videos inspired by comments on social media, an agent's website or sites like TripAdvisor.
• Interview industry insiders at trade shows and events.
Editing and producing videos
It's not necessary to have the latest and greatest video equipment to make usable movies. Agents can upload videos made with digital cameras, smartphones or webcams. In addition, video montages from still photographs with background music are super simple to make.
Try out different tools to help create videos. The options listed below vary by price but in most cases, free trial versions are available.
For newbies:
- PowerPoint. If a travel consultant can make a PowerPoint presentation, she or he can make a video. The newer versions of the software have a broadcast feature.
Good for beginners:
- Windows Movie Maker.
- iMovie (for the Mac and iOS devices, e.g. iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch).
Gets more advanced (and expensive):
- Adobe Premiere Elements is software that enables users to create movies with easy-to-use editing options.
- Final Cut Pro is not recommended for beginners but is worth a trial run to see what is available for advanced users.
Worth looking into:
- YouTube Creator, a mobile app that enables users to create and upload videos to YouTube from a mobile device.
- ScreenFlow. This software enables users to record actions on a screen. A lot of videos these days are screencasts, which are great for tutorials.
- GoPro. Perhaps your office wants to do something totally different. These HD-quality, waterproof cameras can take your audience into the heart of an experience.
YouTube generation
Although there are a couple of video-sharing communities that travel agents can use to swap, stream and view videos, YouTube is the best.
The following viewership statistics published by YouTube.com can serve as motivation to travel consultants who think that YouTube marketing is not worth a try.
- More than 6 billion hours of video a month are watched on YouTube, almost an hour for every person on Earth.
- Every minute, 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube.
- Millions of subscriptions happen each day. The number of people subscribing daily is up more than 300% since last year, and the number of daily subscriptions is up more than 400% since last year.
You can set up a YouTube account from scratch or from a Google account (YouTube is owned by Google). Then create a YouTube channel for your business. By default, your new channel will come with a Google Plus page. Linking a channel with Google Plus is an easy way to share public videos.
Add channel elements like an avatar, channel art and include a business description. These items should match current branding, similar to an agent's website and social media accounts.
Include links to your website(s) and social media accounts, and start uploading videos.
Best practices
Spend some time defining your target audience. Try to see where your demographic is spending time on YouTube.
What channels inspire you? Search for popular travel topics and subscribe to your suppliers' YouTube channels to be notified of new content. Also read through the comments to see which videos are popular and why.
Use Google Search Stories for inspiration, and ask your suppliers if they have a YouTube channel you did not know about.
Leverage video for lead generation: All videos that a travel professional makes need to include a call to action, e.g., instructions to visit a website where a capture page is waiting to get an email address. Other types of calls to action could be something as simple as asking a viewer to like or subscribe to your YouTube channel.
Use video content to boost search engine optimization: Use targeted keywords that might help your website or video rank better on Google search results. After videos are recorded, agents need to make sure video titles and descriptions have keywords.
Spend time with the Google keyword planner to find out if people are searching for the words that you are using in your video, title and description. There is no reason to include words that are not generating traffic.
Learn to curate: Not ready for prime time? Camera-shy agents can begin by curating videos; for example, from tourism boards or supplier websites.
Create custom playlists on YouTube of videos you think your audience and email marketing list would like to see.
Embed YouTube videos into your website or blog. Vlogs are blog postings primarily in video form. Try embedding video into posts and then write about the content of the video for your website subscribers. You can then share the link from your own website on other social media sites to drive traffic back to your website.
Learn how to turn your YouTube channel into a valuable marketing tool. Spend time at YouTube Creator Academy to learn more about how to become a viral sensation on the video-sharing platform (it's free).
Use YouTube Analytics to measure the performance of your videos. Stats such as how many people play your videos and how long they watch are key indicators of success.
Collaborate between channels. Figure out ways to join others with the same subscriber count.