Use Instagram stories in travel marketing to capture every moment and create spontaneous content that fits perfectly into the area of tourism!
Instagram Story has brought a much more spontaneous and simpler way of creating content and has allowed the new short-term content to display the most authentic elements of tourism offer, services, and experiences.
Users like Stories because they consider them to be more authentic, immediate, and more natural than planned content that is set in the form of publication.
Stories are excellent for creating spontaneous content and fit perfectly into the area of tourism. Use them to capture every moment: morning coffee in the hotel, preparation of a meal, sunset, moments from some event, the experience of horse riding, paragliding, and everything else that can be caught at the moment and which can be interesting for your followers.
Stories are particularly suitable for displaying situations that are “behind the scenes”. Use Story to tell the story of preparing some dishes straight from the kitchen; or to show how a maid makes a bed at the hotel; or to show an interesting story told by a local guide. Opportunities are endless; you only need imagination, a little creativity, and goodwill. You already have a phone and the Internet.
Why use Stories? Because they have all the attention!
Bear in mind that more people will see your Instagram Story than regular Instagram post. More and more people on Instagram watch at all the stories first, and then go over to the statuses, if they have time for it. Also, these regular posts are just being scrolled on, without much attention, while during Story checking, people are much more focused on that content.
Also, Stories are located at the very top of the screen, and when the application is launched, this is what the user first sees. And then, there is a psychological phenomenon here – FOMO or Fear Of Missing Out.
FOMO is a psychological phenomenon that first appeared among teens on Facebook but is now characteristic of almost all generations. That is a fear of missing out on something.
Have you ever just gone out to a party only because you didn’t know what you will miss if you don’t? That behavior is similar to the behavior of people on social networks. We often check Facebook just to see what’s happening, and not to miss out something.
With the appearance of Instagram Story, FOMO is getting stronger, just because the content of Instagram Story is time-limited and is available only for 24 hours. If we do not see them today, they will not be there tomorrow, and this only increases the fear of loss. By doing so, most users first check Stories, because they are time-limited, while there is time for regular posts, they will stay there. However, due to the ever-increasing number of stories that are being posted, we often do not check out the regular posts.
How to publish Instagram Story?
Most of the Instagram users are already familiar with this process and you can always ask someone to show you that, but it’s all very simple so you can quickly learn how to do it.
Here’s how to do it yourself …
Step 1: Go first to the image on your profile with the plus sign on it, as in the picture below.
There you will find the option to create your Story instantly. However, if you want to use one of the photos you’ve previously had, swipe on the screen from the top to the bottom.
Step 2: Choose one of the photos or videos you created in the last 24 hours. Keep in mind that the video can last only 15 seconds!
Step 3: Decorate the Story additionally, if you want.
Then, go to the Send to button in the lower right corner.
Step 4: Choose how to set up the Story. You can set it as your Story, and you can send it to some of your friends.
Select “Your story” and go to Share. And that’s it, your Story will soon become visible to all your followers, but also to those who are not if your profile is not private.
Note: It takes more time to set up a video and if you do not have a good internet connection at the time of upload, you may have difficulties.
How to use Instagram Story to promote travel products and services?
You can post the Stories randomly and spontaneously. However, it is much better if you develop a particular strategy in general for all the items you post, and then for the individual Story.
Yes, it is desirable that, before you create a Story, consider how to make that Story more beautiful and interesting. Since you can set up many different Stories during the day, and they will be shown to other users chronologically, you can use the Story series to tell a story, where each Story is a slide.
The Stories are definitely the right playground for all creative people. You can experiment with different ways of creating and decorating your Stories. As with the standard Instagram posts, you can mark Stories with a hashtag and location. Also, for tourism, it is very nice to use the widget for the current temperature.
You can also do Instagram Live, which you can sometimes insert in Story to refresh your account. Go live if you are on some event, show some nice moments or become a vlogger for a short time.
Try to publish Stories every day, or as often as you can. That way, your offer will always be on the top of the Instagram app for your followers. Consistency will eventually lead to a loyal audience that will follow every Story you upload, which is of paramount importance. This can be especially beneficial for travel agencies.
Read the statistics for each Story. At the bottom of the screen, you can see how many people have looked at each of your Stories, and if you drag the screen up, you will see who these people are. All this can help you understand what sort of Stories are the best choices for your followers.
You can download the most successful Stories and post them as a regular post on Instagram or on a Facebook page.
One of the best ways to get to know some useful tips about Stories good is to follow how others are doing it. Follow some hotels, tour operators, and DMOs from around the world! Often small local hotels are creating better Stories than large hotel corporations. Watch and “steal” tips from them.
Here are some examples from the hotels… Use the Story to show the preparation of a meal in a witty way:
Or to announce some events in the hotel:
Or to draw attention and special jubilees in your business:
You have to know that Stories bring great responsibility! Maybe it all seems like a harmless game, but it’s not like that. I know that in individual hotels, managers often give a green light to a trainee or a practitioner to put something on Story every day, thinking that there can be no harm. However, you should know that the inappropriate and inadequate Story can make huge damage to your online reputation and create a storm of negative reactions. Everyone can print screen what you publish.
Surely the best way to understand and master Instagram Story is to practice hard.
Stories are relatively new content types that still evolve, and constant monitoring of changes and new features is very important. Stories are important because they encourage authenticity and creativity, and also because they provoke a user’s fear of missed content which gives them considerable attention.
Also, Story has recently been introduced to Facebook, putting thus even more importance on this formal short-term content.
Do you use Instagram Story to promote the tourist offer? What is your previous experience?
