The world of digital marketing is always evolving as travel brands try to keep up with consumer needs and the growing demand for transparency and authenticity. One strategy that’s growing in popularity amongst suppliers is leveraging user-generated content (UGC), such as photos and tweets that are shared publicly by customers across various social media sites. By leveraging user-generated content, new audiences are introduced to brands and experiences that they wouldn’t have otherwise explored, thus giving suppliers an additional market to focus on.
Consumers these days want to see how things really look and feel, instead of how brands want them to be viewed. A study by Offerpop found that 85% of consumers find visual user-generated content more influential than branded videos and photos. Although you’re starting to see travel brands incorporate this strategy more across different marketing channels, there’s still an open opportunity to incorporate user-generated content into your metasearch campaigns.
How User Generated Content is Being Used in Travel Marketing Now
A few travel brands have already started employing their audiences by adopting user-generated content into their online advertising, specifically on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. These brands aren’t just engaging with their guests, but they’re communicating with them and sharing their photos to promote their travel experience to other potential guests.
Loews Hotels found success with their #TravelForReal campaign that spanned across digital and print ads. The ads featured creative from Instagram photos taken by customers on-property, turning the guests into both the ad models and the photographers. They asked their guests to tag their photos with #TravelForReal so they could share an authentic perspective of the experience at their properties, something you can’t always get from traditional marketing visuals.
