Brief #72: Six Marketing Predictions for Travel and Hospitality

This content originally appeared on July 22, 2021 as part of the Future of Marketing weekly email series. Subscribe here.

Welcome to Future of Marketing.

Each week, we send you the most relevant trends, resources, and strategies in social and user-generated content (UGC) from leading marketers and brands around the globe. 

Today, we're discussing: 

• Where travel and hospitality are heading
• How to create demand for your brand
• #BrandCrush: Poshmark 💘

We partnered with the world's leading travel industry research authority to give you the data and trends driving the future of travel, tourism, and hospitality. Grab your copy of the report here. 🎉

Where to next? ✈️

Over the last year, travel, tourism, and hospitality brands led with messages of safety, cleanliness, and empathy – but now that parts of the world are re-opening, consumer expectations are quickly changing. 

As new trends and expectations emerge, consumers are choosing brands with more than price and cleanliness as priorities. In our latest study with Phocuswright, we discovered six marketing predictions across travel and hospitality:

Social Commerce

• Expect direct ticketing and bookings through social media, merchandise, other retail sales, and post-experience offerings

Hybrid Experiences 

• More online channels will be used to promote localized or in-person experiences

Digital Accessibility

• Closed captions, Dark Mode options, alt text, and “CamelCase” hashtags are now expected (especially to accommodate people with disabilities)  

Sustainability

• One-third of US adults are spending more time thinking about climate than they did before 2020 (and the pandemic). We'll see more eco-friendly and “greener” experiences (and education from brands) surrounding packaging, single-use items and extensive use of plastic and other disposables, and sustainable food options

Business travel

• Forty-two percent (42%) of companies plan to resume domestic business travel in the next one to three months

Hyper-personalization

• Using data to improve the experience brands provide – like user-generated content (UGC) that resonates with consumer preferences 

To communicate these changes, brands across all industries can reinvigorate guests by using content that feels authentic and demonstrates REAL experiences. You just need to win your customers over with customer care, flexible options, and personalized experiences. 

How to create demand for your brand

When a brand engages with their audience online – such as liking a social media post or responding to their comments – it strengthens people's perception of the brand.

TELUS International reported eighty-three (83%) of surveyed Americans have posted UGC – including images (52%), reviews or testimonials (51%), and comments in forums/social/online communities (44%). Additionally, companies that incorporate UGC into their websites experience an 18% increase in revenue. This means brands that aren't engaging with this content are leaving revenue on the table. 

For inspiration, Loews Hotels repurposes UGC across multiple channels – from their website to the hotel lobby.

If you want to increase demand for your brand (and get more people talking about it), try this:

1. Create a loyalty program that incentives guests (or customers) to share their experience and come back to your business
2. Add UGC to your digital and physical marketing channels to demonstrate REAL experiences and encourage more people to create content about your brand
3. Continue your messages of safety and cleanliness 
4. Double-down on customer care
5. Focus on new and rising expectations

What we're learning

• Content Matters as Travel Recovers: Influencing and Activating Travelers 
• Supply and Demand in Hospitality: Should you Save your Marketing Budget? 
• Behind TikTok's Sweeping New Controls on Influencer Marketing 
• What Short-form Video Marketers Should Know About UGC
• TikTok Marketers Can Now Directly Sponsor Trending Creator Post

#BrandCrush: Poshmark 💘

Each week in #BrandCrush, we highlight exceptional brands that are channeling their customers' voice to connect more authentically with their audience.

You don't have to work in travel or hospitality to capitalize on the rise of revenge travel. Social commerce brands can cash in on this pent-up demand, too. 

Poshmark, the leading marketplace to buy and sell fashion, recently sent subscribers a newsletter, stating, “Your upcoming travel plans are calling” – where they promoted travel essentials like Louis Vuitton travel bags, Ray-Ban sunglasses, Triangl bikinis, and more.

Poshmark is also running a #MeetThePosher campaign on their community page to showcase testimonials from their self-made entrepreneurs. Scroll down and you'll notice Poshmark encourages people to meet more of their community by visiting #MeetThePosher on Instagram. 

That's a gold mine of user-generated content (UGC) Poshmark can re-share across their social media feeds, website, newsletter, and advertisements to demonstrate real people's experiences and build trust with their audience.

All they need is permission from the creators. ;)