Ever since the launch of Snapchat, every social media platform has been scrambling to come up with a similar tool that lets users broadcast their pictures or videos in real time. Of all those attempts, Instagram Stories has probably managed to garner the most attention. The photo-sharing platform has always remained a favourite for F&B brands looking to leverage the tool to market their business.

Why should you use it?

Because it offers an addictive and authentic way for people and brands to share with others. Instagram has an extremely active user-base, reported to be at 250 million daily active users. That gives your brand a much wider audience than any other traditional channel. It is also very easy to create content on Instagram story; nobody has to wrack their brains over a post for an hour. Get the picture right and you are good to go. It also gives a great base to experiment with different ideas. Put up an Instagram story and measure its response. Even if it isn’t good, the story will anyway disappear within 24 hours, giving you a clean slate to start off again. Additionally, much like Snapchat, Instagram also has a great armour of tools and filters to make your stories more engaging, creative and fun.

Here are some of the top ways you can leverage this new-age marketing platform for your hospitality brand –

#1. Use it to unveil new menu items – There’s nothing better than looking at great pictures of delicious food items on Instagram. Take beautiful shots of new menu items, or even the menu itself, and caption them with words from the chef or list down some of the ingredients for the dish. If you create an Instagram Story about your hotel or restaurant, makes sure to add a location sticker. This helps to share your stories to people who don’t follow you yet, as Instagram collates all stories around particular locations to show it to people in areas nearby.

Radisson in Noida has been happily experimenting with the platform for a while now.

Ramendra Pratap Singh, General Manager at Radisson Noida, says, “With the growth of mobile users, we strongly believe that Instagram is a critical guest engagement platform for the hospitality industry as we step into 2018. We have been leveraging Instagram Stories to promote the variety of F&B offerings and experience in various restaurant at Radisson Noida through visuals. This new format helps us staying current in feeds and creates a stronger recall for the brand.”

#2. Let influencers takeover your account for a day – Working with influencers on social media platforms is one of the best ways to connect with the young generation of consumers. Nowadays, a lot of brands let influencers take over their account and post content that speaks to their target audience through cross-promotion techniques. This way, brands can easily double their audience count. Additionally, takeovers are a great way to get in front of a new audience via someone who has already built up a following in that same domain and understands what users are looking for.

#3. Take the audience backstage – Giving your fans a glimpse into what goes on behind-the-scenes at your hotel or restaurant is a great way to make them feel like they’re part of the experience. Your brand could post a great picture on the feed, and then use Instagram story to showcase what went into making that shot perfect. Another great way is to post an Instagram story of the process of cooking a crowd-favourite dish, or even giving them a tour of the entire place. This lends more credibility to your brand as it depicts authenticity, and that is something that people love.

#4. Announce your event, send out its teaser – Is your hotel prepping for a big event? Do you have a band performing live in the evening? Then there is absolutely no better way to let people know about it than Instagram stories. By giving them tiny bits about how you are ramping up for the event, your brand can keep the buzz strong, and make sure more and more people turn up for the actual event later.

#5. Redirect users to longer pieces of content or even to your website – If your brand has an active blog, or if the face of your brand speaks about something relevant to the industry in general, make sure to entice your Instagram followers to check it out. Tell the audience what the content is about, give them a reason to read the entire piece, and then add the call-to-action to invite viewers to ‘click on the link in bio’ or ‘swipe up to read more’. You can also use this feature to display any particular offering or product and then redirect users to that content on your website as well. This not just gives you viewers on this platform, but also increases clicks to your main website.

Want more tips to navigate through Instagram stories? Read this.

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In its campaign to woo social influencers and become a single social media platform for everything, Facebook recently launched its new app Facebook Creator to create and promote videos on the platform.

This stand-alone app logs into Facebook and offers a dashboard showing engagement stats and even follower activity. With a variety of editing tools, wacky face filters and effects, it might just be one of the quickest way to go live with anything you’re interested in broadcasting from your Facebook account, complete with metrics and a message inbox.

This app could usher in a new era of travel influencing. Today, it’s hard to find a single social media stream that’s not filled with enticing pictures and videos about travel destinations, and often, it’s the popular individuals we follow on Snapchat, Instagram, or Facebook, who are behind the production of the content.

With the advent of the Creator app, bloggers and social media celebrities will now have a single platform to capture their target audience, instead of streaming videos on one and showing pictures on the other. According to statistics by Facebook, as of September 2017, close to 1.5 billion people on average log onto the platform daily and are considered daily active users. This gives the tourism boards a mammoth audience base to promote their destinations and services.

The app’s enhanced communication features are also expected to attract more influencers, with its incorporated inbox for all messages and comments posted on Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram. Having a unified inbox also means that the user doesn’t have to move through different apps just to reply.

Image source: The Verge

As more travel influencers move to the Creator platform, travel companies and tourism boards around the world can tap into their influence to promote exotic destinations or unique finds. The platform will also lend a certain authenticity to the find, thus luring potential travellers to book flights and getaways based on an influencers’ recommendations.

Moreover, the app ensures that data and analytics about the video is always made accessible to users, allowing them to regularly check any algorithm changes to their output. Knowing these key details about their follower demographics can help influencers focus on the type of video content they should post and reach out to travel brands who might be willing to promote their destinations in a particular way.

Travel Influencers are the new brand ambassadors. So, when a tourism board or a travel company works with them, it is not only the product or service that the Creator app will help promote, but it will also put the spotlight firmly on the destination, via breathtaking footage and fantastic visual content.

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Snapchat is fast emerging to be a popular channel for brands to connect with young audience. Over 400 million Snaps are shared everyday on the platform making it the right place to connect with young, inquisitive and digitally adapt travellers. Marriott Rewards, the popular loyalty program from Marriott International is introducing some of its properties and loyalty benefits to the Snapchat devotees through a four part series ‘Six Days, Seven Nights’. This series of four ‘Snapisodes’ is tailored specifically for Snapchat with an in-the-moment unscripted approach and shot in portrait.

“There are a million reasons to travel and thousands of great places to visit, and we have incredible properties in just about any destination our guests want to go,” says Amanda Moore, Senior Director, Social & Digital Marketing, Loyalty. “Six Days, Seven Nights introduces the Snapchat audience to the places, properties, people and program benefits that fuel our member’s experiences while travelling the world.”

Each three minute ‘Snapisode’ takes the viewers through new destinations, cultures, communities and Marriott properties through the lens of popular social media influencers, Tom Jauncey of Beautiful Destinations, Diipa Khosla, Sara Hopkins and Jen Levinson. The video series takes place in Berlin, Seoul, Dubai and New York following the host as they take viewers through their adventures. The series showcases four properties, Moxy Berlin Ostbahnhof, Renaissance New York Times Square, THE PLAZA Seoul (Autograph Collection Hotels), and one yet to be named.

At the start of the episode the host states their “mission” for the week, then sets out to tackle their objective, using insights and guidance from the hotel staff, locals and even audience members following along on the Marriott Rewards Snapchat channel.  In episode one, Jen Levinson, a notoriously picky eater, sets out to broaden her palate and discovered the best food Berlin offers, from currywurst to frog legs. In episode two, Tom Jauncey was challenged to capture the most epic shots of New York City – the higher the vantage point, the better. Throughout the episode, Tom brings Marriott Rewards members along from the depths of Grand Central Terminal to a birds-eye view of the Statue of Liberty via helicopter.

Parts of the ‘snapisodes’ have also been filmed using Snapchat Spectacles. With a highly visual approach and fast growth, Snapchat is emerging to be an interesting addition to the digital marketing plans of travel brands. Marriott International has been leveraging Snapchat for a while along with other popular travel brands like Conde Nast Traveler, WOW Air and Matador Network. This campaign further highlights the relevance of the social network for travel brands. If you are not using it yet for your brand, here is your quick start guide.

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Snapchat has just rolled out its first gadget, that happens to be sunglasses equipped with a micro camera which would capture videos all day long on a full charge.

The California- based tech giant which has over 100 million daily users including many young global travellers, also announced its rebranding to Snap. As per the news, the Spectacles would be available for purchase soon. The market reports the glasses to be priced at $130 a pair. The team has evolved beyond just the app and is now creating products that the consumer can relate more to.

“We’ve been working for the past few years to develop a totally new type of camera. We call it Spectacles!” said the team in a press statement.

The device would be able to connect to the Snapchat app via Bluetooth or WiFi and transfer the captured video into the format of the newest feature of circular videos. The tech boasts an 115-degree view from the perspective of the wearer and captures snippets of video intended for sharing at the service.

In a similar fashion, Go-Pro had unveiled its new Hero5 camera last week and a drone called Karma that has a cloud-based service for editing and sharing video in the hope for lifting profits. The device was an instant hit amongst sports enthusiasts who would exploit it for their daily pursuits and went to win a dozen thousand people sharing their videos on social networks and YouTube.

This exciting move comes with a fact that the market has been the perfect grooming ground for video content and the competition is catching up. Travel brands are now increasing to integrate Snapchat in their marketing strategy. Earlier in May this year, WOW Air had introduced SnapTravelers program through which four creative Snapchat users were flown to different destinations around the world with an idea of Snapchatting their journeys. In the U.S. cities of Los Angeles, Philadelphia are using Snapchat to give an insider view of what’s happening inside.

Also Read: Are you missing a trick by not using snapchat for your travel brand?

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Arguments are pouring in from almost everywhere on how the new ‘Stories’ feature on Instagram is strikingly similar to Snapchat. From praises to curses, the responses vary widely at this point. While this particular feature might not attract many new users, it will certainly get current users to use Instagram more often. On top of that, it is sort of giving users a new format without letting them escape to another platform. Many users who weren’t using Snapchat (or have given up any hopes of being able to figure out Snapchat) are experimenting with Instagram stories, partly out of curiosity and partly because it is right there in front of them in one of their favourite apps.

On the other side, many travel brands, including some major hotel chains, were starting to experiment with Snapchat and the stories could also be an interesting addition for brands. Here is why we think Instagram Stories is a feature worth experimenting with, for your brand:

1- No starting over

Yes we have highlighted the fact that Snapchat can be a great platform to add, especially if your travel brand targets younger audience. However, starting to build a fresh set of audience isn’t an easy job. Instagram Stories offer a middle ground by bringing elements of Snapchat and your existing Instagram audience together. You can start experimenting here and if this format works well, you can consider diverting some resources towards Snapchat as well.

2- Regain visibility

We hated it when Instagram decided to kill the chronological order of posts. While maintaining a decent posting frequency worked well for brands earlier, the algorithmic feed changed that. However, stories show up right on top when you open Instagram. So even if your posts are losing visibility, the brand can still be visible with the help of Stories.

3- Easier discovery

Snapchat doesn’t make it really easy for users to discover other users (or brands). That isn’t a problem with Instagram though. Hashtags and geotags help with discovery of your account and it is easier for people to find your brand and connect with it.

4- More audience

You know what is better than 150 million daily active users? 300 million daily active users. While Snapchat is growing fast and has an impressive user base, there is no way you can ignore the fact that Instagram is much bigger. On top of that, Facebook is known to be bullish on products it sees significant and that could work in your favour if you are using Stories.

5- No more overposting

Instagram posts are all about quality and brands post their best photographs at the right time to engage with the audience. However, at times, the social media platforms are also used to host campaigns or keep the audience posted on major developments and that means disrupting the posting schedule and even overposting. Stories could help you avoid that. Hosting a bloggers’ meet? Broadcast it through Stories. New office? Tell people through stories. Exhibiting at a travel fair? Stories again.

6- Different characters

The Instagram posts we see on most accounts are the exact opposite of Stories in most cases. While the posts have high quality curated content, Stories have more raw content. So the two can be used to post different content and present different characters of the brand. Things you might want to tell your audience but might not want to have on your Instagram profile. GoPro for instance posts amazing photos shared by GoPro photographers all over. On stories however, they have been sharing photos and videos of how some lucky GoPro users are going places. So you can be telling more than one story at the same time.

Have you tried using Instagram Stories for your brand yet? Do share any interesting ideas you might have on using it for travel marketing. Join the discussions on travel marketing and get inputs from the topic experts here.

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Instagram has turned Snapchatty and people are losing their minds over it. They are rolling eyes on this new Instagram feature that is ‘inspired’ by Snapchat. However, it is barely about who brought what feature first. If it is there and Instagram can pull it off in a better or even equally successful manner, there is nothing wrong with it.

Instagram is widely used by travellers to share their experiences but like any other social network, it is about quality and to some extent, social validation. Most people shoot hundreds of photos, dozens of them turn out to be decent, then they fine tune few of them to post on Instagram. It is all about showing your best so that people like your photos. People like your photos so you post more. One of the many reasons Snapchat is so successful is because there is little social validation. Instagram has done the same by introducing this new format of posts. You can now post photos of the weird things you do during your trip without the expectation of likes and they will disappear in a day.

People often delete media from social platforms, usually because they weren’t getting enough likes or it wasn’t as good as their other posts. The ‘stories’ will allow people to share photos that they want to share but weren’t doing because of these reasons. More content will be shared and it could also bring new users for this new feature. And as Instagram has essentially built Snapchat as an additional feature, the standard Instagram features will also see more users. This in turn will give more visibility to the standard Instagram posts which can never be a bad thing for brands looking to expand their reach through this platform, isn’t it?

Brands can also use the tool effectively during their campaigns. Often brands try to have a certain theme and character to their posts, which of-course is the right strategy for Instagram. However, during contests or campaigns, they either prefer to use different accounts or have to ditch their character, and even their publishing patterns. Stories would allow them to share this content without having to disrupt the standard publishing.

Apart from the ‘Stories’ that is making stories all over, the parent company Facebook has got some plans with live videos. While Instagram built a Snapchat into the app now, Facebook built a Periscope into the platform a while back. They have been pushing the live video feature aggressively and now sources suggest that Facebook has started testing ads between live videos. They are working with a small group of publishers at this point to let them insert short ads in live. These ads can appear after five minutes in a live stream and can be up to 15 seconds long.

When Facebook rolls out the feature, it is likely that advertisers will have the ability to create custom ads to be shown during live videos. Adage has reported that publishers will have control over what category of advertisers can advertise during their live streams and even turn it off. We might also see a revenue sharing between Facebook and the publishers. Certain things about the new ad formats aren’t clear yet but a public launch shouldn’t be far.

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WOW Air, the Icelandic low cost carrier, is giving a chance to four people to travel for free in a first of its kind contest. The airline has introduced SnapTravelers program through which it will send four creative Snapchat users to different destinations around the world. The participants who will be selected to travel to these locations will have to Snapchat the whole journey.

For the selected SnapTravelers, WOW air will take care of flights, hotels and activities during the trip and also provide with travel allowance for the trip. The SnapTravelers will take trips to 4 different destinations where WOW air operates with one of them being Iceland. The other three destinations will be chosen at random. The entire activity will be spread out over a course of 3 months starting in the month of June. The SnapTravelers will have to Snapchat the whole journey and it will be posted on WOW air’s social media accounts.

As you would have guessed, participants will have to Snapchat their way into this contest. To participate, you have to create a Snapchat story of up to 2 minutes in English, save the video and upload it on the contest page on the airline website. The entries are open till May 8 and results will be announced on May 17.

The young airline is trying to leverage social media in promoting themselves and with Snapchat fast gaining popularity with young travellers, using it for the job makes sense. Lately travel brands have been experimenting with Snapchat and some hotel brands were among the first movers. The visual approach of the platform works very well in telling travel tales and that is exactly what WOW air is trying to do here. If you are not using Snapchat for your travel brand yet, you can find your quick start guide here.

You can find more details on the contest here.

The post WOW Air is letting Snapchat junkies travel for free appeared first on TravHQ.

With the growing number of young travellers, it is becoming increasingly important for brands to market specifically to them. To be more visible to these travellers, they are leveraging newer platforms that play host to more such users. Snapchat is one app that is much loved by young travellers and has come a long way since its inception in 2011. It has more than 100 million daily active users sharing over 8,000 snaps per second. Thanks to the high rate of usage and a visual approach, it is catching up fast in travel industry.

Users are leveraging the app to share their travel experiences. Similar to apps like Periscope, the shared moments are mostly unrefined and without the validation from social network in form of likes. The ‘Our Story’ feature can be nicely used to broadcast major events and activities. Travel brands like Conde Nast Traveler, Marriott International and Matador Network are actively using Snapchat. Of course there are some limitations for brands at this moment and it might not be the right fit in marketing strategy of all travel brands but it is a platform that can’t be ignored.

Here are some tips if you are planning to integrate Snapchat into your marketing strategy:

#1- Create urgency

The stories on Snapchat expire after 24 hours. While some might see it as a downside as the content isn’t available for long, it can be a great way to send out discount deals or host flash sales. Once the audience starts to build up, this can be a great way to create a sense of urgency and in turn drive up the number of transactions. It will also boost your Snapchat community over time.

#2- Be quirky

This one goes without saying. As the audience are younger, you can go off your conventional serious tone and choose to be a little cheeky, of course if the character of your brand allows. Some humour will make sure that your audience remember you for long. Also don’t forget to use a mix of photos and videos. It has been observed that shorter videos engage more audience so try to keep them as short as you can.

#3- Share mega events

Similar to Periscope, your audience at Snapchat won’t mind a slightly shaky video or unprocessed photos. You can use it as an ‘in the moment’ platform and share updates from your events. This will keep the audience hooked for live updates from your brand.

#4- Go behind the scene

You can use Snapchat to give your audience a tour in the everyday life of your employees. This can also be done with the introduction of a face for your brand. Ireland’s Airline company Aer Lingus can be a good example. They have used Snapchat to take audience onboard inaugural flights and give sneak peek into the life of their employees.

#5- Use influencers

Travel brands often join hands with influencers for activities like fam trips and meetups. If it is the same story with your brand, you can use it as an opportunity to boost your Snapchat following. A string of snaps can be used to create interesting travel stories through your brand account attracting more audience. Account takeovers are also a good option to leverage the influencers’ audience.

If you are looking to connect with more young travellers, Snapchat is one platform that you shouldn’t leave out of the equation. A large fraction of the audience is under 35 years of age and uses the app frequently.

Do you use Snapchat for promoting your brand? What tips would you like to add to the list. Join the discussions on travel marketing and get inputs from the topic experts here.

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