The hospitality and travel industries have based their businesses around visuals, positive referrals, and great customer service for years. The goal from these strategies is to win new business and keep that business coming back. Instagram has provided hospitality brands a platform to engage all three of these areas at an exponential rate. As millennials are aging and starting to value more experiences, like traveling, this social site is instrumental for anyone in the industry to capture new clients, promote their geographic area, and provide greater visibility. According to Cloudbeds, only 30.8% of hospitality brands are using Instagram, are you? Here’s how Instagram has helped travel & hospitality brands win more business:
Tells Your Story
Instagram utilizes high impact visuals and niche communities to create engaging brand stories. Sharing beyond just the basics such as what a hotel has to offer is imperative to captivate audiences. Successful storytellers like Ace Hotel, create a travel experience for their clients to engage with on their Instagram platform. They effectively:
- showcase the inside of their many hotels
- highlight historical data from their geographic areas
- integrate local and pop culture seamlessly
Connects with Millions of Travelers
Typically, hospitality brands are extension of a much bigger local community. Surrounded by scenery that can evoke feelings of wanderlust in just about anyone, it is something that hotels showcase and promote on Instagram. Effectively using hashtags has allowed brands to connect with the travel communities that are in the millions. Two highly popular hashtags #TravelTuesday and #Wanderlust have a combined twenty million posts. Travel community hashtags have proven to:
- increase visibility
- heighten awareness
- encourage guests to interact with your property and geographic location
Builds a Community of Brand Ambassadors
A case study done by Hootsuite on Canadian-based hospitality brand Tourism Jasper, shares the powerful impact their user generated Instagram campaign has had on their profits and morale. According to the study, tourists increasingly want to hear the opinions and real stories of other travelers. Tourism Jasper capitalized on the opportunity Instagram provides to showcase their breathtaking scenery and promote user generated pictures with their hashtag #MyJasper. Some key successes from their campaign included:
- Over 64,000 posts engaging with their brand
- 12,000 inspirational user generated stories
- 185% increase in social referrals to their website year over year
- 211% increase in shareholder referrals from social media year over year
Instagram has proven itself to be a powerful tool to leverage brands’ stories. Travel enthusiasts look to this platform to gain inspiration and satisfy a little bit of their daily wanderlust. Don’t let your brand miss out on this opportunity to generate awareness and convert travelers looking to book their next getaway.
