Every year around the holidays, digital travel marketers are swept away in a tsunami of “look-backs” and “looks-ahead” articles that highlight all the trends you probably missed and all the trends you CANNOT POSSIBLY MISS in the coming year.
Don’t feel bad. The truth of the matter is that trends, especially in the digital and social media space, are simply that – trends. Fickle, fleeting and sometimes only good the first time they’re executed (and completely passé by the second). As you stare down yet another year and, mostly likely, another mind-numbing directive from the powers that be to “go viral,” perhaps its best to take a cue from Apple and simply start the new year off by thinking differently.
Let's instead deconstruct some of these trends to identify what’s underpinning their success and learn how you can take advantage of them in 2016 – and beyond.
Be a Share-Worthy Lifestyle, Not Just a Destination: Smart destinations have seen the writingon the wall for some time now: travel isn’t just about visiting a place; it’s about experiencing a unique place. Even business travel via the bleisure trend has taken on a life of its own. Many destinations are responding by offering unique, diverse experiences for a wide range of customers, such as Bermuda catering to outdoors enthusiasts or luxury ranch Smith Fork Ranch in Crawford, CO, boasting a five-star, organic farmstead dining experience.
But living the lifestyle is only half of it for travelers; sharing it makes it real, and that’s where your social media efforts come in. It’s important that you think about exactly how you’re empowering guests to share their unique experiences during their time with you. Being digitally connected is no longer seen as a travel faux pas; rather, it’s an integral part of the travel experience to generate FOMO among friends and family and serve to provide you with real-time insight into what experiences are resonating most. From supplying GoPros and cutting socially shareable clips of guests’ experiences to highlighting “Instagram-able” moments and locations, you’ll not only drive quality social conversation and content, but also differentiate yourself organically from the competition.
Take Yourself to Them: Social media may be the best way to connect with travelers, but it’s hardly a tool that provides for a complete immersion in your destination. Simply put, today’s discerning traveler wants to go there… before they go there. Yikes. So what’s a destination to do? Some have started experimenting with new virtual reality trends such as Oculus and Cardboard that bring 360-degree video to travelers, allowing them to “try” a destination or tour before they buy.
Others prefer a simpler route, leveraging apps such as Periscope or Meerkat to offer live look-ins and directly engage with travelers in the process. At its core, though, this is about thinking outside your boundaries and doing everything possible to close the gap between your destination and your potential visitor. This is also where online meets offline. Whether a series of video or in-market experiential campaigns, there are various ways for destinations to go beyond simply connecting.
Reinvent the Way You “Care”: For all the slick marketing campaigns, it’s your attention to travelers’ needs through customer care that will separate you from the pack. And we’re not talking about the upsell. This is about helping, informing and enhancing travelers’ experiences at every stage of their journey, and – much like you’ve resolved to “take yourself to them” earlier – diving into the channels in which travelers are already looking for support.
Go beyond the classic “Twitter call center” like Hyatt did when it launched a pilot program with Facebook Messenger to connect with guests one-on-one. Learn where your audience is and make that extra effort in 2016 to let them know you’re listening and available to deliver the very best experience.
