In my opinion, Instagram is one of the most powerful social sites for marketing travel brands.
Just think about this: It has thousands of professional photographers, power users, videographers, storytellers and travellers working for you.
You may not even know it but this army of passionate people are documenting your destination and driving traffic to your door. Check out this page on Digital Marketing – “Spreading The Word“. It’s something Instagram does well.
A Brochure of Places & People to Visit
Instagram showcases destinations, hotels, culture, people and attractions in the world’s most exotic places. It includes tropical escapes, hideaways, all-inclusive resorts and luxury villas. Visit lifestylesoftheartisan on Instagram to see how Image is selling Travel in a low-key and compelling way.
Many travel brands are now reaching out to Instagram travel accounts that match their ideology. Tourism companies can ask influencers to include images of their property and shout it out. Hotels, destinations and travel brands can also share professional Instagram photography (repost) on their own site to bolster its appeal.
Authentic Engagement
What Instagram has done – better that any other site for travel – is blend stories with amazing images and video in an easy-to-view brochure of destinations. It eliminates the majority of spammers so they can’t use it to promote themselves or their affiliates. You are not allowed to place links to any site in the comments of your image. In fact you can have one URL only and that is in the profile BIO of your account. The result is that it is far more authentic than many of the sales and marketing sites on the net.
People who post to Instagram are professionals and passionate travellers who love to share. Users are drawn to its beautiful, professional images and videos. There are also candid shots and genuine encounters with real people and events. The world is a camera with just about every traveller being able to capture a unique moment on the spot with a smartphone or a professional mirrorless camera by Nikon (Z series) Panasonic, Sony, Cannon and pretty soon, all camera makers.
A World View
Today smartphones have both wide-angle and telephoto capabilities as well as, in many cases, superior lenses. Even the pros are beginning to see that a smartphone is all they need to get professional results. We also have very sophisticated image processing software with presets, filters, special effects and masks on apps like Quickshot that are affordable and easy to use.
AI has now come to Video for camera processing. There are apps that will take your videos and images and render them in an intelligent sequence with appropriate music – all on autopilot. Majisto is an example of this. I was very impressed with how it chose the perfect segments to show and synchronized them to the music. It will save you hours of work. I don’t think the resolution is the greatest but I have not as yet upgraded to the professional version.
Ultimately I believe that the key to capturing the moment is being in the right place at the right time. Special effects and stunning shots are great but for being able to see and capture an unbelievable sunset or an amazing scenario, someone with camera has to be there.
And with a camera in every pocket, someone with an eye for the original or the absurd will be there to shoot it for us.
Marketing Your Hotel or Destination
So you can see something of the power of Instagram. But if you can’t add links to your hotel, destination or attraction, what is the point?
Here are a few ideas on how you may use it for marketing:
1. For creating awareness, Instagram is unbeatable.
2. You can add links if you promote the post. It cost $30 for 6 days with thousands of impressions the last few times I did this. I was able to link to any page I wanted.
3. If have your own Instagram account, you can post hotel rooms and facilities with link it to your landing page.
4. You can ask influencers (Insta pros that have 1000 or more followers) to shout it out to their followers or post it on their sites. They will charge you a bit but it will be peanuts compared to most internet options.
5. Want to use a stunning photo you see on Instagram? Just ask them if they will let you use it. 9 times out of 10 they are happy to share so long as you give them credit. The advantage is that you get a trending image along with the tags and photographer’s name driving more traffic to your profile.
Check out the 7 tips on how to master Instagram marketing and
Benefits of Instagram for Travel Brands.
Our Instagram Mission
Lifestylesoftheartisan is marketing travel. We showcase travel – hotel, villas, places, attractions, history and culture of a destination.
Our main focus is on the people, culture and heritage of a place.
Ordinary and Extraordinary people. Our team will meet with artists, business people, entrepreneurs, shop owners, restaurateurs and community leaders of all kinds.
We love everyday people – farmers, fisher folk, coconut vendors, foodies, beach vendors, street vendors and artisans. They are the salt of the earth and we try to capture them at work and get an insight into their craft and their life.
9 out of 10 travellers will tell you it is the people who make the difference, This can rub both ways and a tourism destination must invest in their people to give them the sense of pride in their work, culture and heritage.
People are your best ambassadors.
Instagram Travel Marketing: A Powerful Tool for Travel Brands
Join us to Share The World
Started in Barbados, Travelling to the World
We started in Barbados and will travel the world.
Our vision is to network with local professionals and create a world-class site where travel professional, marketers, hotel owners, local photographers and artisans can present their properties and their work to the world.
<!—strong> – If you want to reach out, contact us and let’s chat!</a–>
By Ian R. Clayton – Author, Publisher and Founder of Travel startups including: Matchmaker.Travel, PersonaHolidays.com, LifestylesOfTheArtisan, Barbados.org, MarketinHotelsandTourism.com
Learn more about how Travel brands are using Instagram with Ian’s Instagram Tips for Hotel & Tourism Marketing
(i} – Ian R. Clayton (@irclay) | (ii) irclay repost @moumarion:⠀ | ( iii) Norway – Source: instagram.com/p/BwcaoUilSdU/
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