In today’s digital landscape, no company can survive without a web based presence. As customers shift to online media, corporations must divert their marketing efforts to the digital world. However, digital marketing can sometimes be routine and unengaging as many corporations delve into the identical marketing strategies.
This is particularly true for tourism corporations, which require engagement from users. Right now, the most important trend in tourism marketing is to involve customers and foster deeper connections with their audiences, giving rise to user-generated content (UGC) as a digital marketing tool. Read on to know the importance of and common strategies you need to use to leverage UGC in tourism marketing:
Importance of UGC in Tourism Marketing
UGC refers to any form of content created by customers moderately than the brand itself, equivalent to user reviews or photos and videos captured by your customers. Nielsen’s Global Trust in Advertising reported that 70% of consumers trust online customer reviews, a form of UGC, over other promoting. Here are some key the reason why it will be important:
1. Building Authenticity
By encouraging and sharing user-generated content on social media, you create the impression that your brand makes individuals interested and captivated with it. UGC also feels more authentic to prospective customers because it comes directly from the individuals who’ve used your services and feels more organic and real.
Potential tourists can see firsthand accounts of destinations, hotels, and activities, fostering a way of authenticity. It also makes it easier for potential tourists to envision themselves having similar experiences, and this relatability enhances the credibility of the content.
2. User Engagement
UGC is especially vital in tourism for the user engagement it brings. Unlike a product that your customers can later return, they’re purchasing an experience, and your previous customers serve because the social proof of the experience’s value. User engagement is of utmost importance in tourism marketing; prospective users want to connect with and hear about your previous customers’ experiences before deciding to avail of your service.
This also allows for community constructing. When one actively responds to user content through liking, commenting, or sharing, they construct stronger relationships with the community. Similarly, when the tourism company uses user-centric content, it fosters a deeper sense of reference to the audience.
3. Cost Effectiveness
UGC provides a relentless influx of fresh and diverse material at a minimum cost to the corporate. Travelers create and share photos and videos anyway; the one thing a tourist company needs to invest in is to repurpose them for his or her marketing campaigns. As such, the necessity for expensive photoshoots, video productions, and content creation teams is eliminated.
Similarly, the reach of UGC content is organic, and corporations don’t need to spend rather a lot to spread the content. Through social sharing, there is often enough organic reach for high-quality UGC to significantly amplify your tourism company. Similarly, you may engage with micro-influencers or on a regular basis travelers to further enhance reach.
4. website positioning and Online Visibility
UGC is a crucial way to improve your website positioning and online visibility. Search engines favor web sites that commonly update their content, and UGC provides a relentless stream of latest material. User-generated blogs also include a range of keywords and phrases which are more diverse than what your website positioning teams can give you. Similarly, users write in a natural, conversational tone, so long-tail keywords might be incorporated more naturally. This way, you may rank higher for area of interest and specific search queries.
Strategies for UGC
Here are some marketing strategies that leverage UGC:
1. Create Branded Hashtags
Companies have been leveraging hashtags since digital marketing arose as an idea. Branded hashtags are unique hashtags that corporations create specifically for his or her marketing campaign and encourage users to use them in their posts. To create an impactful branded hashtag, ensure it’s memorable and directly related to the brand so it could possibly collect and categorize UGC.
An acceptable hashtag will likely be short and sweet; if it is just too complex, users may misspell the words, and it would not register well online. Make sure you create a phrase that stands out so it is simpler for users to recall and associate it together with your tourism company. It should reflect your brand identity and values and encourage users to participate. You can do it by including a transparent call-to-action in your posts, equivalent to “share your moments through the use of #BrandedHashtag in your posts.”
Make sure your hashtag doesn’t have any unintended meaning or negative associations which will negatively impact your brand. A digital marketing agency like EnvisionIt can assist you give you impactful branded hashtags.
2. Run Contests and Giveaways
You can hold giveaways or contests as a tool to motivate content creation amongst your audience. They leverage the natural human desire for competition and rewards, encouraging users to engage together with your brand and produce content actively. They accomplish that by making a sense of excitement, community, and urgency, prompting users to engage together with your brand quickly and regularly. When they win a contest or giveaway, they’re likely to flaunt it on their social media, creating UGC on your company.
The types of contests rely upon the selection of social media platform. For example, photo contests of the destination sites or caption contests are best fitted to Instagram, while dance challenges or duet contests can work best on TikTok.
3. Feature Customer Testimonials
Your prospective users would love to hear about your services out of your existing customers who’ve already gone together with your tourism company. Customer testimonials and stories construct trust and credibility and function social proof of your claims. They also create an emotional connection between the brand and its audience and influence purchase decisions.
You can get customer stories in some ways. One-on-one interviews together with your customers are a simple and popular way to gather in-depth stories that might be featured in your website. Record video interviews with customers sharing their positive experiences and share them in your socials. Similarly, user-generated content campaigns might be run to collect testimonials, in which you encourage customers to share their stories in exchange for prizes or to be featured in your website.
Endnote
User-generated content generally is a powerful digital marketing tool, especially for tourism corporations. It provides authenticity and trust to your marketing campaigns, making them engaging and multi-dimensional.
Through marketing strategies like branded hashtags, contests, and customer testimonials, you may generate UGC to feature in your website and social media.
Read the complete article here
