ALL ABOARD!

TRAVEL CONTENT ON INSTAGRAM & PINTEREST Exactly What You Need to Know

DRIVING VISIBILITY The Nuts and Bolts of Hashtags and Pin Descriptions

Visual networks have become an essential part of modern travel, from using Pinterest to plan for trips to sharing the best photos from our vacations on Instagram. Pinterest and Instagram are all about Inspiration and Discovery, so it’s easy to understand why travel brands do so well on these networks; they are visual, mood -elevating, aspirational and inspirational, and those same adjectives also describe travel.

ARE WE THERE YET? Establishing, Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on the Visual Web

What is in this Guide1.2.3.

STEP 1

Pinterest and Instagram are unique in that users follow others and consume content primarily based on shared interests, not personal relationships. The travel brands

that are succeeding on Instagram and Pinterest go beyond simply posting images. Instead, they tap into their fan’s

passions with powerful visual storytelling that engages the huge community of travel enthusiasts on these networks.

The key to this is great content, so let’s take a look at what specifically is working for travel brands.

Your fans love you; show how much you love them back by

giving them a shoutout any time you repost one of their photos.

Team Piqora

Travel Content on Instagram and Pinterest

– EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

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Marketing on Instagram is about becoming a conversation leader, and you have to be careful about how you highlight your products. For example, Four Seasons Hotels is one of the top- performing hotel brands on Instagram, but while they regularly feature their hotels in their posts, they don’t focus on them. This is because they recognize that the more you try to hard sell products or services, the more Instagram audiences will shy away and become disengaged.

Instagram has become a go- to platform where airlines showcase their planes, hotels inspire travelers with beautiful photos of potential destinations and travel publishers fuel our wanderlust. It is the perfect channel for forging strong emotional bonds with your audience, and sharing your brand’s values, passions, and ethos.

FOUR SEASONS HOTELS HAVE AN ENTIRE SERIES OF #30DAYSOFENERGY IMAGES DEDICATED TO SHARING COMPELLING,

EMOTION DRIVEN STORIES OF PEOPLE’S TRAVEL

EXPERIENCES

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This starts with following basic etiquette such as not posting more than a few times a day, but another key factor is consistency; pick a theme, and

stick to it for a period of time. Doing so builds brand recognition and helps followers learn what to expect from you, while bouncing from theme to

theme can confuse users and cause un follows. So when you’re considering themes, think of why someone would turn to your brand for content.

For example, images of aircraft drive the most engagement for airlines. The average number of likes that Southwest Airlines generates on a “plane picture” is about 2,580, outperforming “people pictures” (which averaged

1,457 likes) by more than than 55 percent. This is because people expect to see images of planes from an airline, the same way they might expect

to see images of cars from a car company or clothes from a fashion brand.

A final key takeaway is that integrating User- Generated Content can be hugely powerful. Showcasing UGC is a great move, as it keeps those users

(and others hoping to get recognized) coming back for more, and our research shows that integrating UGC can boost engagement and increase

time on site by more than 16 percent. Just make sure that whenever you repost one of your follower’s photos, you attribute it to them; doing so

fosters powerful relationships and creates brand advocates.

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES KNOW

THAT A HUGE PORTION OF THEIR

FOLLOWERS ARE AVIATION ENTHUSIASTS,

SO THEY FOCUS HEAVILY ON IMAGES

OF THEIR PLANES

INSTAGRAM IS A VERY “HUMAN” NETWORK, AND

TRAVEL BRANDS HAVE TO THINK AND ACT LIKE PEOPLE WHEN IT COMES TO POSTING.

YOUR FANS LOVE YOU; SHOW HOW MUCH YOU LOVE THEM BACK BY GIVING THEM A SHOUTOUT ANY TIME YOU REPOST ONE OF THEIR PHOTOS, JUST LIKE CONDÉ NAST TRAVELLER DOES HERE

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Show the iconic locations of the areas around your hotels, but be careful when showing images of your hotels; images of scenery typically deliver more engagement

Images of amenities and services, especially pools and meals from yourmenus, also perform well

HOTELS

INSTAGRAM TRAVEL CONTENT RECOMMENDATIONS BY VERTICAL

Be wary of posting too many images of deals, offerings, hard selling is a fast track to turning Instagram audiences off

Images of travel destinations and attractions drive the most engagement

ONLINE TRAVEL AGENTS

Images of aircraft drive the most engagement

Consider mixing in images of destinations that your airline services

When showing images of people, consider UGC of passengers or photos taken by them; images of crew/employees typically drive less engagement

AIRLINES

Images of ships drive the most engagement

Consider mixing in images of destinations that your line services

”Destination Photos” for cruise lines are best when they include your ships in them

CRUISE LINES

UGC is huge! People love sharing imagesof their travels, so encourage yourfollowers to involve you

Include “Average Joes”. alongside Pros; people like seeing real people in real destinations in addition to high quality professional scenery photos

When posting UGC, be sure to give a shout out to your fan who posted the image; doing so will create an instantbrand advocate

TRAVEL PUBLISHERS

Images of iconic landmarks from your cityare great for driving engagement UGC is fantastic for tourism agencies; encourage people to post photos of your city to your profile with a creative, easy to remember hashtag such as #visitnorwayor #iloveny

TOURISM AGENCIES

When showing images of people, consider UGC of passengers; images of crew/employees typically drive less engagement

Selfies don’t work well for cruise lines; show people, not just faces

Photos of services offered, i.e. meals, drinks, water slides etc. are also effective

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When strategizing for Pinterest, travel brands should remember the two things that it is best for: Inspiration and Discovery. As on Instagram, travel brands should beware of the hard sell on

Pinterest. Pinterest is an extraordinarily powerful e- commerce engine, but even though many travel

brands offer reservations and other services directly online, you would do better to leverage

the tremendous power of Pinterest by helping your followers discover new locations they can travel to, and inspire them in their planning for

what to do when they get there.

Pinterest is a key component of the inspiration and planning phases of many

people’s travel process, and should be considered a priority by travel brands.

Pinterest even has specific tools available for travel brands, such as Place Pins,

which brands like the Travel Channel use to inspire their audience with awesome,

location -specific travel ideas.

SEASONS AND HOLIDAYS OFFER A HUGE OPPORTUNITY FOR TRAVEL BRANDS TO ENGAGE WITH BROADER PINTEREST AUDIENCES, JUST LIKE THE TRAVEL CHANNEL DID WITH THEIR NEW YEAR’S EVE AROUND THE WORLD BOARD.

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This is because on Pinterest, people want to imagine themselves in these exotic locations, as opposed to on Instagram where they seek to be inspired by the travels of others. So while a smartphone picture of one of your fans standing in front of the Eiffel Tower might perform well Instagram, a better strategy for Pinterest would be to show a beautiful, professional image of the Tower itself.

Our research shows that scenery images of travel destinations generate the most engagement. While this might not be a surprise, it’s important to note that while a “human” feel works great for images on Instagram, Pinterest travelers favor more professional photos, specifically those that do not focus on people.

CONDÉ NAST TRAVELLER OFFERS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF PINTEREST TRAVEL CONTENT

DONE RIGHT. THEY OFFER A HUGELY DIVERSE RANGE OF CONTENT, BUT THE IMAGES THAT

PERFORM BEST FOR THEM ON PINTEREST ARE BEAUTIFUL DESTINATION PHOTOS

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Diversity is key for a well rounded, engaging Pinterest profile, and you can be pretty open with what kind of content you post to your profile. This means travel brands don’t have to only feature images of scenery,

but should include content that appeals to Pinners in general. Ideas could include packing tips, seasonal travel locations, local attractions, or road trip recipes. Even if these “lifestyle” Pins don’t generate as much

engagement on a per- pin basis, including them broadens your reach and establishes your brand as adestination for people to draw inspiration from.

FROM COCKTAILS TO BEACH BAG PACKING

TIPS, MARRIOTT RESORTS RECOGNIZE THE POWER OF A DIVERSE, WELL ROUNDED

PINTEREST PROFILE

THE SECOND PIECE OF THE PINTERESTPUZZLE IS CURATING INSPIRATIONAL CONTENT

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Hotels are best served by using Pinterest to drive brand awareness and foster customer love, ratherthan hard -driving bookings

Images of amenities and services, especiallymeals from your menus, perform very well

Consider creating “things to do here” boards dedicated to the cities where your hotels are;these are very popular and drive tons of engagement

HOTELS

PINTERESTTRAVEL CONTENT

Be wary of pinning too many imagesof deals, offerings, etc.

Images of travel destinations and attractions drive the most engagement Inspire your fan’s plans with boards dedicated to the season’s hottest travel destinations

“Bucket List” boards of travel locations perform well

ONLINE TRAVEL AGENTS

Showcase the destinations that your line services, and feel free to incorporate your ships into them

Consider using Pinterest as a showcase of your fleet, including amenities offered on individual ships, meals, drinks, attractions, etc.

CRUISE LINES

Travel planning boards, to include destinations, local attractions, and even packing lists drive the most engagement

Consider using Pinterest to “tease”longer- form content on your main webpage Quick, simple Travel Tips drive a ton of repins

TRAVEL PUBLISHERS

Images of iconic landmarks from your city are great for driving engagement

“Insider” or local tips also perform well

TOURISM AGENCIES

Focus on destinations that your airline services, rather than your planes; Pinterest users care more about the destination than the journey

AIRLINES

RECOMMENDATIONSBY VERTICAL

STEP 2

Travel brands are part of one of the most active content categories on the Visual Web. People will be Pinning and posting before, during and after

their trips, and while this can be a great thing it’s essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way.

With more than 200M registered users, Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about their travel

adventures. Conversations are built around hashtags, but a lot of travel brands don’t capitalize on the potential of a good hashtag strategy. In fact, our research shows that 73% of brands don’t follow best hashtag practices.

By opting out, these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in, and more importantly lead these conversations.

CRUISE LINES ARE GREAT USING HASHTAGS TO MARKET THEIR SHIPS, SUCH AS PRINCESS CRUISES DID WITH THE LAUNCH OF THEIR #REGALPRINCESS

Driving Visibility THE NUTS AND BOLTS OFHASHTAGS

AND PIN DESCRIPTIONS

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You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations, and engage in them whenever possible. There are two ways to monitor brand mentions:

So how can you best harness hashtags? For starters, adding seven hashtags to each of your posts can lead to 23% more likes. A good mix is your brand’s name, a hashtag that your brand creates, and 3 5 hashtags that help get your posts included in the conversations you want them to be in. Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes, as people can view that as spam.

PIQORA’S DASHBOARD ALLOWS YOU TO TRACK HASHTAG METRICS

SUCH AS UNIQUE USERS, POTENTIAL IMPRESSIONS, PHOTOS POSTED TO HASHTAGS, LIKES, AND COMMENTS

HARNESSING HASHTAGS

1. BY TRACKING how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing conversations. Pay attention to the tone of these conversations, and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy.

2. BY ANALYZING the conversations around hashtags related to your brand, whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related. Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information.

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Having a detailed, well written description will make it easy for people to Pin from your site, and will have a huge payoff when they do. This is because your description will

form not only the Pin’s description on Pinterest, but also that image’s keywords for search results. You might have

only a few seconds to attract a Pinner’s attention. By simply adding a phrase, you can immediately give the context for

which your content is intended.

More than 90% of Pins originate from a website, not from a Pinterest profile. This makes optimizing your website for

Pinterest very important, so check out our Marketer’sGuide to Pinterest Website Optimization,

which is packed with simple ways to drivehuge increases in referral traffic.

ON PINTEREST, CONTEXT IS CREATED

THROUGH PIN DESCRIPTIONS

TOP TIPS: PIN DESCRIPTIONS AND HASHTAGS

Add descriptions to your Pins that include frequently searched words in the travel category.The most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long.

Remember, Pinterest is personal; adding the word “You,” makes the Pinner feel like you’re speaking to them.

Incorporate your brand’s slogan in your hashtags and any UGC hashtags, such asSouthwest Airlines’ #SWApic. Using up to 7 #hashtags can lead to 23% more likes.

Add Descriptions to your pins

Address the viewer

Use Branded Hashtags

STEP 3

Regardless of which metric you want to drive, it’s essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan. Posting to Instagram or Pinning

to Pinterest just for the sake of having a presence on these networks is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results. You’ll need a clearly

defined and established set of goals, and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed.

Instagram is teeming with original, highly creative

user generated content, and photo contests are a phenomenal

way for travel brands brands to source UGC from their fans.

Team Piqora

Are We There Yet? – ESTABLISHING, MEASURING AND

ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS ON THE VISUAL WEB

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A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on platform engagement. Brands can systematize and amplify

engagement by monitoring the following KPIs.

LOOK FOR SYSTEMATIC GROWTH OVER TIME IN ADDITION TO DAILY SPIKES, WHICH CAN BE THE RESULT OF SPECIFIC CAMPAIGNS OR HIGHLY ENGAGING POSTS

1. COMMENTS AND LIKES Comment counts reflect your brand’s ability to inspire your audience, while

likes provide insight into your audience’s engagement level. Comments shouldn’t be one sided; they are a fantastic opportunity to engage with your

fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates, and Piqora’s Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these

conversations on a broad scale.

2. NEW FOLLOWER GROWTHAn expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and

influence, and indicates that your content strategy is effective. Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth, as they can indicate that certain images

or campaigns are particularly effective.

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Pinterest is more than a platform for driving direct traffic to your website. It’s an ideal tool for building

your brand’s image and cultivating customer love. Rather than promoting ticket deals or flash sales,

focus on images and articles that inspire travel and adventure and depict a certain lifestyle that connects

with your audience. Pinterest is all about intent if people are pinning your content, they are showing

an intent to travel to these destinations and a desire for that lifestyle, which is a powerful driver for

purchasing decisions.

Keri Phelan, Sr. Customer Success Manager

at Piqora

Travel marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that helps foster intent and makes it easier for their fans to take action. For example, a great way for a travel brand to measure intent is to look at repins of their content.

Pinterest is great for driving e commerce metrics, but even ifyour brand isn’t focused on those it can still be a powerful tool.

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EXPEDIA’S “MY STORYBOOK” SWEEPSTAKES GENERATED

THOUSANDS OF PARTICIPANTS AND PINS AND HUNDREDS OF NEW BOARDS, PERFECTLY ILLUSTRATING

THE POWER OF A WELL -DESIGNED AND IMPLEMENTED PINTEREST PROMOTION

Instagram photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram, while Pinterest promotions are a great way to

drive engagement on your Pins, traffic to your Pinterest profile or website, and identify brand advocates and influencers. Both can be powerful

audience building tools, and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

Finally, Instagram is teeming with original, highly creative user generated content, and photo contests are a phenomenal way for

travel brands brands to source UGC from their fans. For more information, check out our in depth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram

Photo Contests.

Instagram Photo Contests and Pinterest Promotions can be a powerful accelerator for travel marketers to boost your

presence on these networks.

A WORD ABOUT THE POWER OF PROMOTIONS

TOP TIPS: MEASURING SUCCESS ON THE VISUAL WEB

Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective; they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience.

On Instagram, look for variance in ‘likes’ between your posts to see whatyour followers are and aren’t responding to.

Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest, so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success. ● Piqora’s analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing, both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical.

Qualitative and Quantative Evaluation

On Instagram, Variance of Likes is Key

On Pinterest, Engagement Drives Intent

The data and techniques discussed here are just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora. We’ve helped cruise lines, hotel groups, travel agencies, publishers and others achieve tremendous success, so if you’re interested go to

www.piqora.com and request a demo, we’d love to talk to you!

BON VOYAGE!

Travel brands have huge opportunities availableto them on the Visual Web. Every day, millions of

people turn to Pinterest and Instagram to discover new destinations, scout travel activities, and explore their world. For travel brands that can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real,

valuable content, these networks can be game changers.

Team Piqora