How Instagram Became My Travel Agent
Needing a few weeks respite from the daily grind, I of course turned to friends to help narrow down what destination would be best for my first solo international trip. After arriving in Scotland and getting a solid hotel recommendation from a consultant at Black Tomato, I was off to St. Andrew’s.
What began as a quick troll through my Instagram feed for a first-day cocktail locale, Instagram quickly became my guide for an entirely magical 14-day trip through Scotland. From my first cocktail, I followed the hashtag to find coffee the next morning, found a hiking trail two days later from someone who had stayed at the castle I had taken up residence in, visited a historic loch statue tipped off to me by searching the geotags nearby, and perused the best vintage shop in Edinborough from a leading fashion blogger I follow. At the end of the trip, I realized my experience was entirely curated to my passions and interests via Instagram.
Welcome to the new normal of experience travel.
As the world of marketing evolves and experience consumption explodes, what’s a traditional hospitality brand to do? How does storytelling come to life through digital? How can a brand thrive by finding the needle in a haystack customer that might be down the road or around the world? I’ve observed three things from my digital strategy work that I’d argue have legs in the new world of hospitality:
- Own your product. Know what your property is great at and what sets you apart from everyone else. If you do food, then really it’s every. thing. food. Yesterday that meant Zagat ratings and Michelin Chefs, today, that’s perfect Instagram shots, blogs from front and back of the house chefs, and videos from farm trips to see where ingredients come from. The Ritz Carlton and W Hotel used to sell their mattress and that would count as a “lifestyle” brand hotel. Today, it’s a classic inn hosting a pop-up shop with KJP or One King’s Lane partnering with a dozen influential interior designers to re-do a room to model latest trends and techniques. As customers become more savvy they can ferret out when you’re faking something. There is also increasing transparency about what you offer compared to your competition. Be the best at what you do and this will be obvious to your perfect guest.
- Know and find your customer. While this is certainly not a call to throw the baby out with the bathwater, as we pass through a massive generational shift in wealth, it’s critical to understand who your product is tailored to both today and going forward. This is both an internal exercise (are the rooms authentic, but on trend? Are the experiences traditional, but relevant?, but also an external one (who is tagging us on Instagram, what filters do they use when sharing stories on Snap, what is their influence reach, etc). And what’s exciting is, this isn’t rocket science any more, most of it is social best practices and the rest has rapidly evolving tech to help bring this customer to light (think audience segmentation, marketing automation, artificial intelligence, etc).
- Tell your story. With a solid product offering and an identified customer base, it’s business as usual right? If only. The world has changed when it comes to marketing, but the world of storytelling hasn’t. It’s just the medium has changed and the tools that support that effort have to as well. Video, influencers, on-going, two-way conversations that allow your customer to experience your product before, during, and after their stay are what will build brand loyalty.
It’s exciting to think of a world in which our travel, experiences are curated to who we each individually and can be as tailored as our own Instagram feeds. It’s a world being crafted as we speak...I’m excited to keep going on the journey