The travel industry has gone through a massive transformation in the last few years, mostly due to the increase of social media and high relevance of online marketing. Similarly, travel agencies have also gone gung-ho with the use Instagram to showcase some of the picturesque destinations, provide information on travel deals and connect with potential customers. YET…truth be told we are not all so pure inebriation of the popularity and some travel companies use FAKE likes and commenting to enhance their organic reach! We will be looking into how travel agencies employ these strategies and the possible effects on customer acquisition, and also the standing of their brands.
The Evolution of Travel Marketing
Until then, travel marketing had largely relied on the traditional advertising model — i.e., print brochures, travel magazines and television adverts. While these approaches yielded results in their era, they were not as interactive or real-time as what digital affords us today.
Travel Agencies Found a New Way to Their Audience Through Social Media Especially Instagram as a key social media platform to curate travel experiences, flaunt destinations through glamorous shots and build an inspiration for people wanting to travel.
Before social media became the king of online marketing, travel agencies would rely heavily on websites or email marketing to touch base with customers. But with the advancement of digital marketing, it has made the goal post more challenging and has led a change in approach to flashy and visual elements. The travel segment has evolved even more with the emergence of travel influencers who talk about their experiences and inspire the followers to make decisions accordingly.
Instagram in Travel Marketing
Facebook subsidiary Instagram has massively disrupted how travel agents advertise their services and destinations. The visual medium of the platform make it ideal for brands to display beautiful images and videos that epitomise wanderlust. Stunning images of beautiful, intriguing landscapes encourage people to travel while visual representations of amazing cultural experiences or luxury accommodation options is an awesome way to inspire people with the desire to book their next getaway.
Visual Storytelling
This analysis was based on photos posted by Russian travel agencies and MYTRIPS account demonstrates the power of visual storytelling. Brands can use enticing visuals that promote a sense of adventure and wonder, which bring emotions and experiences to life. Professional visuals allow travel agencies to interact with their audience, develop an urge for them to see it themselves.
In the current landscape, brands that want to differentiate themselves against competition should consider how they can leverage high caliber travel photography. Travel agencies that employ insights about visual storytelling in their social media strategies have been able to spark higher levels of engagement and interest from customers.
Influencer Partnerships
The advent of travel influencers has led to drastic changes in how travel agencies advertise their products. Specialized in providing a voice to brands that otherwise would have a more difficult time getting their message across, influencers — having developed solid niches with the help of followers who share an insatiable curiosity for everything travel — represent partners of choice for firms hoping to broaden their reach. InfluencersInfluncers are used to collaborate with travel agencies become they bring already existing audiences, while boosting the brand’s credibility.
Over time, the right influencer partnerships should result in more bookings and a growing brand reputation. By working with influencers who share their values, travel agencies can develop real content that speaks to their target audience without making it seem like a sales-pitch.
The Temptation of Bogus Interaction
However, with the competition for eyeballs rising on social media, some travel agencies have begun to cheat their way into people’s feeds. Brands are buying fake likes and comments more than ever to appear as popular in the hopes of attracting new followers.
Your Blog Posts Might Lose You all must be thinking that how can fake likes and comments would affect your blogging.
Fake Likes and Comments: these are phony interactions from bots or purchased services. By doing this, travel agencies hope to attract viewers who want to feel like they are part of a popular trend.
Earlier several travel agencies assume that the more number of likes and comments means higher visibility and engagement. And while this can be an effective tactic, it is not always the most authentic and customers will sense when you are only telling them part of the story. With that being said, now more than ever, the wise consumer is beginning to recognise inauthentic engagement and call out brands on it.
Fake Engagement — What are the consequences?
Fake engagement can also come with some serious consequences for travel agencies. Unfortunately, while it significantly boosts metrics (for a little while), it does not create genuine customer connections. When consumers feel as though a brand’s reputation is being bolstered unnaturally, this can damage their trust and your credibility and loyalty will suffer.
In the past, it was not uncommon for travel agencies to receive public ridicule once their practices of using phony engagement came to light. Over time, this breakdown of trust can lead to customer defection and brand negativity that would invariably reflect on sales and overall business health.
The Effect on Customer Perception
Using fake likes and comments take away personal experience of a customer with the travel agencies. If a traveler sees that a brand has a lot of followers and likes, they may be more likely to believe that the brand is trustworthy and a good bet. But when the business of creating artificial engagement is exposed, customer trust can erode heavily.
Trust and Authenticity
Consumers are looking for trusted information from reliable sources, and real-life experiences in the travel industry especially need to be authentic. By investing greater time in real engagement, brands can build trust and integrity with their audience. The public are much more favourable to brands displaying openness and transparency measures.
This will become an even bigger point of emphasis in the future. Eventually, consumers will vote with their feet for brands who provide real interactions and trustworthy information. Travel agents who care about authentic interactions with consumers are likely to preserve customer loyalty and trust.
Influencer Credibility
Add in all the fake engagement floating around, and that’s a big fat ding on their credibility. One problem associated with generating likes and followers via illicit means is that some influencers turn fake, which call into question the authenticity of their posts thereby breeding skepticism among their audience. When influencers practise deception, and in so doing harm their own reputations (as noted above), brands that choose to work with these allegedly duplicitous liars may also expose themselves as either indifferent or cynical.
When not that long ago, historically those who engaged sincerely and honestly with their audience are much better than the rest at building relations and trust. But in the future, brands will have to go the extra mile beyond checks to ensure no matter what influencer partners they work with uphold authentic engagement or risk some serious consequences affecting their reputation.
Some ways for authentic engagement
As the travel industry trudges through the era of phony engagement, brands need to craft strategies which are rooted in genuineness and add value to its interactions.
Building a Community
Fostering a Community: Building community is intrinsic to engaging followers in a more organic way. Travel companies must maintain a good relationship with their audience by way of dialog and connecting to people. Incorporate user-engagement Posts, reply to comments personally and User-generated content
Brands that choose to engage with their audience and create a forum for interaction tend to attract loyal communities. Travel agencies that build community have the ability to increase trustworthiness and longer-lasting relationships with consumers within current market conditions.
Exhibition of authentic Experiences
Showing real experiences from actual customers can make travel agencies more authentic. Brands can showcase real utility (testimonials, reviews, user generated content) to make their communication truly authentic. This strategy not only drives engagement, but also delivers social proof that might sway potential shoppers.
Certainly the show not tell experiential factor of travel will probably only increase in value in the future. Market Trends: Brands that are genuine and authentic in their marketing plans will find success amidst an over-saturated market.
Quality not Quantity
Travel agencies should stay away from the race of booking numbers and aim for engagement quality. Instead of being captivated by sheer follower logic or likes, will continue to engage your audience in brand-worthy ways. It may be in the form of promoting conversations, asking opinions and posting content that chimes with your followers.
Brands that have historically made quality experiences a priority, are emerging as leaders in engagement and loyalty. This focus on quality engagements, rather than quantity of engagements, is something that will only grow stronger in the future as it continues to be a pillar of any successful engagement strategy.
The Business Impact of True Engagement
Authentic engagement goes beyond brand reputation and affects business results directly. Engaged employees result in higher sales, boost customer loyalty and increase overall success.
Driving Bookings/Sales
Real engagement has been proved to increase sales & bookings. If you have social media followers who are active, they will more than likely check out your products and purchase. If a brand is trusted by the consumer, and the consumer feel an emotional connection to the messaging that is being delivered for that destination area than they are going to be more likely to book their next vacation through your agency.
The rise in revenue for brands that have been successful in creating real authentic relationships with their audience. Over time, the pressure of keeping people free will be even higher due to increased stakes, it is in every brand they manage their engagement levels to a much maximum.
Improving Customer Loyalty
As with all travel agencies, the homer MoT will be customer loyalty,logging in month after month with a solid repeat clientelist. This in turn leads to loyalty, as engaged followers are more likely to continue to engage and book again.
By helping them build communities and giving them opportunities to interact, they are able to amass another core group of loyalists that takes part in their content. It eliminates repeat business, increases turnover and ultimately helps with converting and traffic sales over time.
So the Future…. of Travel Marketing
With each new twist and turn of the ever-evolving travel industry, here are some trends anticipating in shaping marketing strategies and its impact on engagement.
Authentic user experience — I think we will see an even larger move towards authenticity in terms of how people interact on social media. These brands will likely create a loyal following the communicates complete transparency and true engagement.
- They can create and develop more interactive experiences, such as polls, quizzes, or even augmented reality (AR) content. Use of these tools by brands will enhance audience participation and engagement.
- More Closely Community Building: Asserting the power of a strong community Brands that craft interactions providing valuable help or that just start conversations with their audience will grow a band of loyal advocates.
- Data-Driven Strategies — As analytics tools get better and more precise, brands begin to receive an extremely detailed look into what their audience likes and when they are likely to engage with it. By being this data-driven, it will help brands to evolve their strategies and engagement.
Finally, fake followers and likes amongst the strategies travel agencies produce in social media. The PR landscape is unpredictable at the best of times with changes in social media and influencers. Refreshing the conversation with authenticity will be incredibly important for PR, to maintain credibility among consumers.
With genuine engagement, user generated content and authentic influencer partnerships travel agencies can form a relationship with their community, get quality results out of their efforts in the hard-to-crack digital-first world of business. This increased emphasis on transparency and ethical practices will indeed define the future of influencer marketing, making it possible for brands to form long-run associations with their potential customers.
Brands need to begin facing the reality of artificial engagement, and learn how staying real and engaged yield much more in return of their best interest. With careful tactics and the right approaches towards building trust between brand and consumer, travel agencies can better use Instagram to meet their objectives sustainably.