The Influence of User Generated Content - A Game Changer for Travel Brands

We each have our own preferences, some prefer the mountains, others the ocean. But one thing's for sure, holidays and trip plannings start with online research. And the star in all this - YOUR CUSTOMERS. Who better to give credible, authentic, and the (most) trustworthy information?

User-generated content (UGC) and social reviews have become crucial in the tourism industry to build brand reputation and grab (and keep) people’s attention. Nosto, an AI-Powered Commerce Experience Platform (CXP) has recently collaborated with leading global airline, Air France, where user-generated photos increased CTR by 4% and lowered CPC by 3% over campaigns using brand-created images.

Billy Fitzmaurice, an Account Executive at Nosto and avid traveller, shares how using brand advocates' content across the customer journey can forge deeper, more meaningful connections with customer, impacting the whole marketing funnel, from top to bottom.

“We’re spending so much money on the acquisition of these customers – if you bring the customer in a few clicks and they can actually make that experience purchase.”

He shares specifically about:

• Authenticity, digitalization and personalization being growth factors in customer engagement and acquisition.
• Trafalgar Tours’ “Trafalgar Unlocked Awards” UGC-driven campaign that helped to garner an engagement rate for prospecting ads which was 4 times higher than that without UGC.
• Increased leveraging on social media channels, such as organic influencers and micro-influencers, to enforce their brand position and reach out to customers.
• Using UGC in channels such as OOH advertising, print media and blog posts and hosting competitions to generate organic content would boost the authenticity of travel content.
• Connecting with people and keeping updated with trends is important for travel companies to forge more personalized bonds with consumers.

If you’re interested as a marketer to come up with innovative and dynamic campaigns without needing to create content yourselves, UGC is here to save your time! Get the ROI you intent by impacting and re-engaging customers using a people-centric approach, with insights from this interview!