6 ways visual UGC is evolving in the travel sector

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by Samuel Pordengerg May 25, 2023 News
6 ways visual UGC is evolving in the travel sector

Did it actually happen if it wasn't posted on social? When it comes to travel, I think we all have been guilty of sharing a pic or two of cool destinations we have visited.

It stands to reason that very few people book a holiday or hotel without doing their research, and that's because they want to find photos and videos that their friends have posted online.

This authentic, visual user-generated content is becoming central to how travel companies are marketing themselves. The impact user-generated content has on a person's discovery experience is highlighted by the upcoming Perspectives feature.

User Generated Content has become so popular because it provides social proof, while also saving brands money, as they can supplement professional photo shoots with a continuous stream of quality content that keeps their marketing fresh and engaging.

It drives conversion when compared to other content types. The attention of viewers and buyers is gained by the quality of the video. It is more relevant and can be a good friend. It's a bad day!

A growing number of travel brands are incorporating user generated content into their marketing strategies. There are a lot of opportunities to go beyond the basics. I see a lot of ways that UGC will evolve in the years to come.

Using AI to drive effectiveness and time savings

It has been impossible to avoid the buzz around artificial intelligence unless you have been living in the jungle. Many industries are trying to understand how they can expand their use of artificial intelligence, but some players in the UGC space have been using it for a long time. Before I joined Nosto, I co-founded a company called "Stackla" that was powered by artificial intelligence. The advancement of artificial intelligence and visual recognition technology makes it easier for travel companies to harness the power of machine learning to save time and make more informed decisions.

Artificial intelligence can help automate the management of visual content from social networks by identifying and auto-tagging the exact locations, scenes, events, Emotions and brands that are shown in every customer image or video. It's helpful for travel brands that have a lot of visual content.

Travel marketers will be able to identify and display the images and videos that are most relevant by using artificial intelligence and predictions.

The marketing decision maker still retains ultimate control and is able to minimize risks.

Smoothing the path to bookings with shoppable UGC

By making it shoppable, it can be made more interactive. People can click on a customer's photo of a hotel room they stayed in or an excursion that they went on and land on the hotel's website to make a booking. The buttons are added to the customer images. People are more likely to buy or engage in other activities if the process is quick and easy.

Integrating UGC throughout the customer journey

The majority of travel brands will start by sharing video on their social channels. The next step is to put it in their website and on pages about specific services or experiences to give more context to encourage bookings.

Now, companies are using authentic visuals in everything from digital and social ads, to email and even offline advertising, in order to improve the customer experience. Studies show that user-generated photos get five times the click-through rate of brand-created images.

With authenticity and fresh content key across all channels, you need a constant stream of new images and videos to overcome banner blindness. It's possible to meet this demand at a fraction of the cost of a professional camera.

If you want to use customer imagery in ads or on your website, you need to think about image rights. It is possible that you need images that are higher quality and resolution. Travel companies use portals where creators can upload higher-res images while also handling legal permission at the same time.

Personalizing the UGC experience

It's important that it's relevant to the interests of consumers. It's not going to make a difference if someone is browsing content about your ski vacations or not. According to the likes of visitors on-site behavior, companies are increasing their personalization of the user generated content on their websites.

It's possible to show customer images based on the type of holiday or destination people are looking for. It's a way of drawing attention to the other offerings. It can be more engaging to show recommendations for hotels or things to do in the city if someone has browsed or booked a flight to Barcelona.

Helping to build the employer brand

High staff turnover has been a problem for the travel and hospitality sectors. It is important to stand out from the competition.

Sharing authentic images and videos of what it's like to work in a hotel can help build your employer brand.

Employees are being encouraged to share images of their day at work. It is fed into recruitment channels such as career pages on websites and employer accounts on social media.

Tapping UGC as a source of business intelligence

What are their interests? By analyzing the types of images they post and engage with, you can get a sense of this. Informal market research can be used to collect feedback from guests. You can get clues on how they spend their time within your resort and what parts of the experience they most enjoy by seeing what trips they visit.

Central marketing teams may not be able to visit every location in their portfolio. They wouldn't have access to it otherwise.

A wide range of brands, hotels and resorts add it to their marketing armory to try to meet the insatiable desire for new content and the proven fact that consumers engage best with authentic, real-world images. There are many more ways in which visual UGC can deliver benefits, from being used as a source of business intelligence to helping attract and retain staff. It's time to go beyond the basics, get strategic and use the tools that support it.

The author is mentioned.