Branding Guide for Travel Bloggers

Social Media Replaces Traditional Communication
Undoubtedly, digital marketing is revolutionizing the travel and tourism industry. Social media marketing has already replaced a large section of the traditional communication. For example, if we are traveling somewhere, we have a tendency to look at the pictures, reviews written by people, and other Twitter or Vimeo posts.

Manage your Online Reputation
200 new users contribute to TripAdvisor every minute (TripAdvisor, 2015)
95% of respondents in a TrustYou survey read reviews prior to booking. (Tnooz, 2015)4 in 5 TripAdvisor users will ‘always’ or ‘usually’ refer reviews before deciding on an attraction to visit, particularly Generation X (74%) and Australian travelers (82%) (TripAdvisor, 2015) 80% of the travelers look for summarized reviews is time efficient whereas only 59% preferred reading full-text reviews (Tnooz, 2015) What does it imply? It is a daily task to nurture your online presence and build your positive reviews especially when it comes to authoritative sites like TripAdvisor.

Social Media in E-travel Industry
97% of millennials say they post pictures while traveling, especially on Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook (Frederic Gonzalo, 2016)
27% of Twitter users create positive buzz for the brands they mention by sharing good travel experiences (Twitter, 2014)
39% of users on Twitter access the platform mid-journey (Twitter, 2014)

Visuals are the Best Marketing Toolbox
More than 53 million candid traveler photos on TripAdvisor (TripAdvisor, 2015) 76% of TripAdvisor users agree traveler-submitted photos influence the decisions regarding booking (TripAdvisor, 2015)
People’s willingness is increased by a piece of content by 80% if it is a colored visual (Xerox, 2014)

Video Bring you More Audiences
80% of views on YouTube are from outside the US (YouTube, 2015)
78% of people watch videos online every week (MWP, 2015)
According to Cisco 2015, streaming video will account for over two-thirds of all consumer Internet traffic by 2017. What does it imply? Well, for sure, it is a season to try videos. It is okay if your first video doesn’t gain huge transaction, but if you stick to the videos, you will surely receive the feedback.

Efforts on Instagram
Instagram is all about visual appealing, pictures, gifs, and videos, & so is traveling industry. What happens when these two meet? A high engagement, huge ROI, and it is a universal truth that Instagram creates high engagement, especially for travel brands. Your 2016 tourism marketing strategy should be investing more in the mechanics of gaining more followers.